Destiny: The Taken King – Your Guide to Exotic Blueprints

This Prima feature covers Exotic Weapon Blueprints in Activision and Bungie’s Destiny: The Taken King. You will see information for both Year 1 and Year 2 weapons, along with info on how to upgrade your current gear. Keep in mind Year 2 Exotics cannot be unlocked until you reach Level 40 in Destiny. Having trouble doing this? We have a guide for that.

For more Destiny: The Taken King, visit our free walkthrough and guide, where you’ll find the below features and plenty more.

• Destiny: The Taken King – Hunter Subclass Quest Guide
• Destiny: The Taken King – Titan Subclass Quest Guide
• Destiny: The Taken King – Warlock Subclass Quest Guide
• Destiny: The Taken King – Armsday Reputation Guide

Before we begin, remember you cannot use Year 2 Exotic weapons until The Taken King debuts on September 15. For now, you’re free to visit the kiosk located in the Hall of Guardians, where you’ll view the weapons making The Taken King transition. The formerly all-powerful Gjallarhorn and Ice Breaker are stuck at Year 1 levels, while Red Death and The Last Word receive sweet Year 2 enhancements.

What Are Exotic Weapon Blueprints?

These are exotic weapons you will pick up (or have already found) while exploring different environments in Destiny. See what lay in store for your current arsenal by visiting the Hall of Guardians at the Tower and checking the kiosk on the right. Look for it behind the Warlock Vanguard, Ikora Rey. You will be on the Collection 1 tab, but also have Year 2 Primary, Year 2 Special and Year 2 Heavy weapons, the majority of which the game displays as engrams.

Now check out the Collection 2 tab, where the game displays Year 1 Primary, Year 1 Special and Year 1 Heavy weapons. This list includes exotics you picked up during Year 1. No engrams here. You need to have found the weapon for it to appear in this section of Destiny.

How Do Year 1 Exotics Work?

Let’s say you have a Year 1 Gjallarhorn. You dismantle the rocket launcher and it’s gone forever, right? Thankfully, you’re able to retrieve it from this kiosk. Basically, once you uncover the blueprint you will be able to have access to the weapon forever, but there’s a catch. If you dismantle a weapon in your inventory and then attempt to get it back from the kiosk, you must fork over one Exotic Shard and 2,500 Glimmer.

How Do Year 2 Exotics Work?

While on the Collections 1 tab, the weapons displayed will be available for a Year 2 upgrade when The Taken King debuts, but you must reach Level 40.

In the above image, you’ll see Red Death upgraded to the max, a 170 Year 1 attack rating. Now look at the below screen. Red Death is listed, and since we found the Year 2 Blueprint, it has a 280 attack rating. Rather than wait for this weapon to be made available in The Taken King DLC, we can access it from the kiosk at the right time and then upgrade the gun to Year 2. Doing this requires 150 Legendary Marks.

What are Legendary Marks? This serves as the new virtual currency in The Taken King. It combines both Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks into one total.

If a weapon appears as an engram, this means you haven’t found it yet. Not to brag, but we already have Red Death.

We’ll have plenty more on The Taken King in the weeks ahead.