How to get the Destiny 2 Ergo Sum sword and its Exotic Catalyst

Destiny 2 Ergo Sum sword
(Image credit: Bungie)

The Destiny 2 Ergo Sum Sword is a highly unique Exotic weapon that has lots of different Exotic perks it can randomly roll with, mashing it up with some of the game's most iconic weapons. To get it, you need to complete the Destined Heroes quest, which is the simple but quite lengthy main endgame quest that you pick up after completing the Destiny 2 The Final Shape campaign. However, that's only really the beginning for Ergo Sum as now you can get more random rolls of it in Destiny 2 to pursue your perfect god roll, and there's an Exotic Catalyst to get. Here's everything you need to know about Ergo Sum in Destiny 2, including the best rolls for it and how to get more drops.

Best Ergo Sum rolls in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 Ergo Sum sword perks inspection

(Image credit: Bungie)

Ergo Sum has a large selection of Frame, Blade, Guard, and Exotic perks that it can roll with – even its elemental damage can be either Arc, Solar or Void. However, it always comes with the Transcendent Duelist perk, which improves your Transcendence and makes the sword even better while you're Transcendent. That means it's best for Prismatic Subclasses, but it still works with all other Subclasses.

When seeking your ideal Ergo Sum roll, the Blade and Guard perks shouldn't matter that much, though I'd recommend looking for Jagged Edge and Swordmaster's Guard for maximum damage (the Exotic Catalyst also alleviates ammo issues). Here are some of the best Frame and Exotic perk combinations to look for, obviously depending on the kind of playstyle you want and perhaps which Subclass you're using:

  • Caster Frame + Wolfpack Rounds
  • Caster Frame/Wave Frame + Arc Conductor
  • Caster Frame/Vortex Frame + Perfect Fifth

How to get Ergo Sum in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 Ergo Sum sword Destined Heroes quest

(Image credit: Bungie)

Ergo Sum is a reward for completing the Destined Heroes quest, which you can collect from Ghost in the Lost City Tower after finishing the Destiny 2 Iconoclasm mission to end the Final Shape campaign. While this endgame quest is reasonably simple, it is quite long, tasking you with completing several Adventure missions. Here's what you need to do:

  1. Listen to the audio message left on the radio next to Ghost.
  2. Complete the mission Queens, Part I. The mission isn't tool long but is quite heavy on mechanics, requiring you to use Hive swords to kill enemies and reflect elemental projectiles at matching nodes.
  3. Speak to Micah-10 at the Arbor of Light in the Lost City Tower and collect the Convalescence: Rootbound quest. You don't need to complete this quest for Destined Heroes, but it will eventually lead to you getting the Convalescence: Budding quest to get the Destiny 2 Microcosm Exotic Trace Rifle. You'll also be coming back here a lot to do various quests for Micah, including Destiny 2 Alone in the Dark.
  4. Speak to Cayde-6 in the Lost City Tower and collect the Wild Card Exotic quest. Again, you don't have to complete this quest for Destined Heroes but it's worth doing to get the Still Hunt Exotic Sniper Rifle.
  5. Speak to Ghost and collect the 'Lost in the Light' and 'Found in the Dark' quests.
  6. Complete Lost in the Light. This quest gets you more Prismatic Subclass abilities and tasks you with helping Mithrax in The Hollow, Parts I and II Adventures.
  7. Complete Alone in the Dark. Similarly, this quest unlocks the last couple of Prismatic Subclass abilities for you and has you helping Commander Zavala and Caiatl in Home, Parts I and II.
  8. Complete Queens, Part II. Head back to the Lost City Tower to begin this Adventure mission.
  9. Speak to Ghost again. He'll give you an item called the Dyadic Prism.
  10. Use the new landing zone on the Pale Heart map to reach the Sacrarium, then start the 'Hope' mission. This mission takes about one minute and ends with you getting your first Ergo Sum, completing the Destined Heroes Exotic quest!

How to get more Destiny 2 Ergo Sum rolls

Destiny 2 Ergo Sum sword Pale Heart Pathfinder reward

(Image credit: Bungie)

Now that you've unlocked Ergo Sum in Destiny 2, you can start pursuing your ideal god roll with all the perks you want. Here's where to look:

  • Pale Heart Pathfinder: Each week, your first two Pale Heart Pathfinder completion rewards are guaranteed to give you an Ergo Sum, so you can get at least two every week by resetting your Pathfinder.
  • Overthrow Level 4 chests: Defeating any Overthrow final boss and opening the reward chest has a chance to give you an Ergo Sum roll. If you've completed the Destiny 2 Dual Destiny mission as well, you could get an Exotic Class item roll instead.
  • Grandmaster Excision: You are guaranteed to get one Ergo Sum roll upon completion.

How to get the Destiny 2 Ergo Sum Exotic Catalyst

Destiny 2 Excision mission Grandmaster rewards Ergo Sum catalyst

(Image credit: Bungie)

The Exotic Catalyst for Ergo Sum is a guaranteed drop from completing the Destiny 2 Excision activity on Grandmaster difficulty. The problem is that Grandmaster Excision isn't exactly easy and requires a lot of patience and time, so make sure you check out the separate guide linked above for tips on how to beat this mission on its hardest difficulty.

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Will Sawyer
Guides Writer

Will Sawyer is a guides writer at 12DOVE who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.