Destiny 2 Masterwork Core sources and Catalysts list
Destiny 2 Masterworks are rarer and more worthy versions of weapons and armour.
Masterworks allow you to upgrade Legendary weapon or armour by coffers stat boosts, the ability to drop Super orbs and kill trackers - giving you something to aim towards as you halt to play in the end game.
Not only are they available for Legendary weapons and armour, but with the introduction of the Warmind DLC Exotics too, in the form of Masterwork Catalysts. These are unlocked differently, and many require a heavy dose of luck.
Latest update (October 17th): Festival of the Lost has introduced the Fighting Lion Catalyst, with a weekly bounty which helps complete it faster.
On this page:
How to get Masterwork Cores
Masterwork Cores are a resource to employ on upgrading your favourite Legendary weapons or armour into Masterwork versions.
There are multiple ways to get Masterwork Cores in Forsaken. Confirmed methods include:
- Purchased from Spider in the Tangled Shore (10 Legendary Shards, doubles in price for each purchase on the same day)
- Dismantling Masterworked weapons or armour
- Reaching the weekly milestone when your Clan is at Rank 6
- Completing Masterwork objectives on Solstice of Heroes armour pieces
More sources coming soon!
How to upgrade Masterworks in Destiny 2
Before Forsaken, Masterwork upgrades were binary - weapons were or weren't Masterworks - but now they worthy up across ten tiers. Each tier will cost resources - Glimmer, Legendary Shards and Masterwork Cores - allowing you to invest as much or as small as you like.
Here's what you get for Masterworking weapons, and when:
- Tier 7 - Kill tracker (you can now determine to display Vanguard or Crucible kills yourself, and for free at any time)
- Tier 10 - Stat boost; generates Super Orbs on multi-kills (weapons), -3% reduced damage when using Supers (armour)
You'll be able to tell if a weapon has been fully Masterworked thanks to the golden frontier a weapon has in your inventory.
Though these aren't huge advantages over existing weapons, there are some useful benefits, such as additional Orbs coming in useful for sketch Supers faster during team-centric activities such as Strikes, Raids and Crucible matches.
It looks to be far more expensive to completely Masterwork a weapon now - with aussiehalo from Reddit proverb it'll cost 10,000 Glimmer, 27 Legendary Shards and 17 Masterwork Cores. It's possible Masterwork Cores will be easier to find in Forsaken as a result - but we'll have to wait and see.
Destiny 2 Masterwork Catalysts explained
Like Legendary Masterworks, it's possible to get Exotic Masterworks. You have to earn Catalysts to upgrade these weapons, giving them additional perks, the ability to drop multiple Orbs with multi-kills and kill tracking.
How to get Masterwork Catalysts
Catalysts will drop for an Exotic weapon at random but only concept certain requirements. If you investigate an Exotic weapon, you will peek they have a Masterwork Catalyst slot. Hovering the cursor over them scholarships you a clue of how to unlock it:
- Kill any enemy: Borealis, Crimson, D.A.R.C.I., Tractor Cannon, Worldline Zero
- Kill any enemy on Nessus: Sturm
- Heroic Adventure completions: The Huckleberry
- Crucible victories: Jade Rabbit, Vigilance Wing
- Kill Nightfall / Heroic Strike bosses: Merciless
- Leviathan Raid Part completions: Skyburner Oath
- Prestige Leviathan Raid section completions: Legend of Acrius
- Prestige Eater of Worlds Part completions: Telesto
- Prestige Spire of Stars section completions: Sleeper Simulant
- Faction Rally reward: Graviton Lance, Sweet Business and Sunshot
- Nascent Dawn Quest reward: Polaris Lance
- The Whisper on Heroic question reward: Whisper of the Worm
- Solstice of Heroes event: Get Solstice armour for a tiny time, and upgrade to Legendary before the arrival of Year 2
- Festival of the Lost 2018 drop: Fighting Lion
Thanks for ebolaxb on Reddit for filling in the gaps with the over list.
Masterwork Catalysts are literal drops - they are golden pyramids you pick up. When you do, they won't Go in your inventory, but will show up whenever you investigate that Exotic weapon. Here's the Tractor Cannon dropping, for example:
It must also be noted you need to own the Exotic for the Catalyst to drop - but you don't need to have it equipped or on your Guardian for it to Go. Whether you need it in your Vault is new question - so it might be worth having it there just to be safe.
How to use Catalysts and their Masterwork Perks explained
Once a Catalyst has dropped, investigate the weapon, hover over the slot and apply it. This grants you one of the upgrades - the ability to drop multiple Orbs with multi-kills - but the new perks are missing.
The Catalyst must be fully activated by performing further activities in order to unlock the bonus perk:
| Exotic Weapon | Catalyst completion method | Masterwork Perk |
|---|---|---|
| Borealis | 150 Arc, Solar and Void Kills | 20 Reload Speed |
| Crimson | 300 precision kills | 20 Range |
| D.A.R.C.I. | 300 precision kills | 20 Stability |
| Fighting Lion | Bounty and Kill completions | Kinetic and Power weapons gain terms of increased handling and accuracy |
| The Huckleberry | Enemy kills | Adds quick kills to magazine before reloading perk |
| Jade Rabbit | 250 Crucible kills | 30 Stability |
| Legend of Acrius | Defeat enemies | Increased reload rapid and ammo reserves (now 6) |
| Merciless | Defeat enemies with Merciless | Increased Range and Stability |
| Polaris Lance | Enemy Kills, Kills with Perfect Fifth perk | Dragonfly perk (precision Facilities create elemental explosion) |
| Skyburner Oath | Defeat Cabal enemies | Increased range |
| Sturm | Kills with both Sturm and Drang equipped | Extra procedure and handling |
| Telesto | Complete all Lost Prophecy Verses | Increased ammo reserves (now 7) |
| Tractor Cannon | Enemy kills | 70 magazine size, 50 weapon size, increased ammo reserves perk |
| Vigilance Wing | Crucible SMilitaries, 5 Blood for Blood medals | Holding down trigger fires in full auto perk |
| Whisper of the Worm | The Whisper Heroic completions and chests | Boosts wound after aiming |
| Worldline Zero | Use Tesseract conflict on final Escalation Protocol boss | Reduces activation time of Tesseract perk |
Thanks for ebolaxb on Reddit once more as well as brndnvn for the Worldline Zero completion diagram for help with the above.
How Masterworks worked in Destiny 2 Year 1
Masterworks were previously random drops once you hit a hazardous Power level. They can come from anywhere you'd get Legendary weapons or armour in the game - whether it's dropped during an agency, from chests or Engrams.
There is also a "very high chance" of receiving Masterwork loot from the following:
Note - all Raid Masterworks are earned from raid drops, and not Engrams or vendors.
So while playing the ended activities will give you better chances, the long and mopish of it is the more you play, the higher your chances of pulling Masterworks are.
Then, the more Masterworks you receive, the more you can dismantle for Masterworks Cores to exhaust upgrading the Legendary weapons you use most.
