We have compiled some tips here to make your start and life in the content of the “Black Armory” DLC for Destiny 2 easier – whether as a beginner or veteran. This way, you won’t miss anything important about the Black Armory.
Who is this guide worth it for? Currently, numerous players spend their time in Destiny 2 with activities from the “Black Armory” DLC.
Some Guardians have already reached the Max Power Level and know all the activities. They have uncovered almost all the secrets surrounding the Black Armory.
However, there are also many Guardians who are just scratching the surface of this content. This guide is intended for them.
It summarizes everything important about the Black Armory and aims to ensure that you don’t miss any crucial aspects.
Unlocking the Forges – Here’s How
In the first premium DLC “The Black Armory”, everything revolves around the lost forges of the Black Armory. Besides the raid “Crown of Sorrow”, the forges are the centerpiece of the current content.
Want new DLC Exotics? Many of them are only available through the forges.
Want new weapons and gear from the Black Armory? Then there’s no way around the forges.
However, unlocking the forges is tied to extensive quests. Therefore, we have summarized everything important about igniting for you:
- Unlock the Völundr Forge – Here’s How
- Unlock the Gofannon Forge – Here’s How
- Unlock the Izanami Forge – Here’s How
The fourth and final forge, Bergusia, was originally tied to a massive puzzle. Only when the first player team has solved the puzzle should it be unlocked for everyone.
However, the puzzle proved too hard, after which Bungie swiftly unlocked the Bergusia Forge for everyone. Therefore, you don’t have to do anything specific – just unlock the three preceding forges.
The Most Important Mechanic of the Forges – What You Must Keep in Mind
If you have already unlocked the forges, then you are already familiar with this mechanic. However, many players still do not often know what it’s all about in the forges.
When you start a forge activity, you have to survive two rounds against waves of rushing enemies. During this time, the forge must be kept running.
To do this, you need to bombard the forge with batteries during the first two rounds (20 per round), which special elite enemies drop. You can recognize them by their bluish shimmering shield.
In addition, you must also ensure that time doesn’t run out, as the rounds have a timer that constantly counts down.
A major misconception is that time is extended with battery hits. That’s not really the case. You gain 4 seconds of additional time or more when you take down the bluish glowing enemies. Depending on the difficulty of the enemy, there is varying amounts of extra time. A battery, however, has little effect on the timer; it only grants 1 second.
It is therefore more important to gain time by killing elite enemies than to bombard the forge with the batteries. Otherwise, the round is over more quickly than you can keep up with throwing batteries.
In the third and final round, you will face a boss fight. Shoot down his bluish drones to destroy his shield. Then you can deal damage to the boss himself. By the way, you cannot extend time during the boss fight. The battery and timer mechanics are not applicable here.
These Weapons You Should Use in the Forge
While the choice of weapons always depends on your individual preferences and your available weapons, some weapon examples have proven to be particularly effective in the forges.
The following weapons are recommended for the forges of the Chain:
- The Thunderlord: Excellent for taking down bosses and smaller enemies
- Whisper of the Worm: Excellent for all forge bosses
- Risky: Particularly strong in the Gofannon and Bergusia forges. Due to the Arc damage there, the weapon becomes deadlier and your survivability increases
- IKELOS Shotgun: Excellent for taking out elite enemies
- Hammerhead Machine Gun: A good alternative for the power weapon slot with the right perks (for example, Rampage and Rampage)
- Sleeper Simulant: Good for elite enemies and against the boss
- Threat Level: If you rolled this shotgun from the new raid with “Barrel Shroud”, you can further improve it with mods and use it as a good alternative to the IKELOS shotgun
These Forge Weapons You Should Get
In the four forges, you can craft a total of 7 different forge weapons if you obtain the respective weapon patterns from Ada-1 and complete them. The weapons come with random rolls and can be farmed strategically. But which forge weapons are especially worth it?
- The Pulse Rifle High-Temperature: With the right rolls, you can get one of the best, if not the best pulse rifles currently available in Destiny 2 in the forges
- The heavy machine gun Hammerhead: Currently, there aren’t many MGs in Destiny 2. But MGs are strong, and this specimen, alongside the Thunderlord, is one of the most powerful alternatives for the power weapon slot.
- The Sword Stryker’s Reliability: With the right perks, this sword becomes an absolute DPS monster. One of the best swords in Destiny 2
- The hand cannon Kindled Orchid: This hand cannon can roll with both Kill Clip and Rampage simultaneously. If you also have the extended magazine on this shooter, then you have one of the currently strongest hand cannons in the game
How to Effectively Farm Forge Weapons
Once you have unlocked one of the 7 forge weapons for the first time, you will need to do significantly less for all subsequent instances of that weapon than the first time. You still need to obtain the respective weapon pattern from Ada-1 each time, but to complete it, you only need two steps.
First, you need to achieve a specific number of multi-kills or headshots. Then you must collect radiant seeds from elite enemies. Both steps can be easily completed on Mars.
To do this, go to the Lost Sector Core Terminus at the landing zone in the Braytech Futurescape area. Run the sector 2 times, and you should have everything together. There are more than enough enemies to easily complete the first step. You also receive 10 radiant seeds per kill from the sector boss, so you can gather the necessary 20 in two runs.
These Exotic Weapons You Only Get Through the Forges
The “Black Armory” DLC introduced a total of 5 new exotic weapons into the game. Three of them are exclusively available through the forges:
- This is how you get the exotic bow Le Monarque
- This is how you get the exotic fusion rifle Jötunn
- This is how you get the exotic sniper rifle Izanagi’s Burden
And this is how you get the other two weapon exotics from the first premium DLC:
- This is how you get the exotic grenade launcher Anarchy
- This is how you get the exotic hand cannon The Last Word
How to Get the Armor of the Black Armory
The forges not only have weapons but also armor sets for each of the three Guardian classes. These look cool and are also a requirement for the Blacksmith title. However, many players still wonder how to actually obtain these armor pieces.
Currently, there are three sources for this:
- Ada-1’s major weekly challenge rewards you with a guaranteed piece of forge armor you don’t already have. Only when you have a complete set will duplicates be given
- You can also obtain a forge armor piece from the rare bounty that you can randomly get when handing in the Black Armory bounties from Ada-1
- You can purchase the item “Forge Polymer” from Ada-1 (on the second page), which allows you to receive a random forge armor piece after crafting any weapon from the Black Armory – but below your power level
Rumors of random drops in the forge activities have not been confirmed.
These Secrets Are Hidden in the Black Armory
Before the release of Forsaken, Bungie promised to introduce more puzzles and secrets to Destiny 2. They kept this promise with the Forsaken expansion. But the Black Armory also has a lot of puzzles and riddles to offer.
If you solve them, you can secure special rewards like emblems or ghost shells. You can approach the following riddles around the Black Armory:
- This is how to get the secret emblems Rasmussen’s Gift and Sato’s Secret
- This is how you get the secret emblem Meyrin’s Vision
- This is how to solve the riddle surrounding the mysterious data pad
- This is how to solve the notorious Niobe Labs puzzle
The Black Armory Has Cool Lore – Don’t Miss It
Even if it may not be obvious to many players at first glance, the Black Armory offers interesting lore and tells a cool story surrounding Ada-1, the founding families, and the forges.
This background knowledge is only accessible through a total of 18 lore books or pages, which can drop randomly in the forges. The drop rate is very low, and many players have still not been able to find any or only a few of these pages despite numerous completions.
That’s a shame because the lore makes the forges shine in a whole new light and gives the activities a deeper meaning. If you don’t want to wait for your luck and want to take a closer look at the lore, you can do so on this page of the Ishtar Collective: The 18 lore entries of the Black Armory.
How to Complete the Raid Crown of Sorrow
With the “Black Armory” DLC, a new raid has been introduced after the Forsaken raid “Last Wish” – Crown of Sorrow. This is not a raid subclass but a full standalone raid.
If you want to tackle the raid, we have a two-part guide that takes you step by step through all passages and boss encounters and explains them in detail. You can find more about it here:
