How to get the Destiny 2 Khvostov Exotic weapon

Destiny 2 Exotic Khvostov auto rifle
(Image credit: Bungie)

Acquiring the Destiny 2 Khvostov Exotic means you’ve got to plunder the Pale Heart for Motes of Light, Lost Encryption Bits, and hidden Traveler collectibles. You’ve got to find 32 different items in total to unlock the ultimate form of Destiny's first weapon, so it’s a long process but one that is definitely worth it as the Khvostov is one of the best Exotics in Destiny 2 The Final Shape, mostly thanks to its ricocheting bullets. To help you get the Exotic Khvostov in Destiny 2 as quickly as possible, I’ve laid out everything you need to collect and what to do with those items below.

How to unlock the Exotic Khvostov in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit Region chest

(Image credit: Bungie)

Getting the Khvostov in Destiny 2 is a serious collect-athon, requiring you to gather the following items from numerous sources, which then combine into their own unique key items:

  • 15 Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bits: 9 from the Pale Heart Region Chests and 6 from secret junk piles in Cysts. These automatically combine into a Lost Encryption Code.
  • 17 Motes of Light: 9 from defeating all Overthrow Level 4 bosses across the Landing, Blooming, and Impasse, and 8 from collecting all Destiny 2 Visions of the Traveler. These automatically combine into a Mote of Primordial Light.

You can get most of these items quite easily while repeatedly playing through the Destiny 2 Alone in the Dark quest as it'll get you to play Overthrow and Cysts. Note that when defeating the nine Overthrow bosses, the Mote of Light they provide is a physical loot drop from the boss itself, so make sure you grab the little, purple item. Although, annoyingly, I found that Koftiks, the Taken Servitor boss in the Blooming, very unreliably drops a mote, so you may need to kill it several times before you get lucky.

Once you've got all those items and they've combined themselves into their respective keys, here's what you do to get both the Legendary and Exotic version of the Khvostov:

  1. Open the Lost Encryption Code chest in the Pale Heart Cosmodrome wall to get the Legendary Khvostov. You can easily reach the chest by fast-travelling to the Impasse, then running back through the wall towards the Divide. Opening it rewards you with the Legendary Khvostov and consumes the Lost Encryption Code.

Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Code chest in the Divide wall

(Image credit: Bungie)
  1. Place all eight Visions of the Traveler on the podiums in the Lost City Tower. This spawns a small gold chest in the pond behind the podiums.

Destiny 2 Visions of the Traveler collectible podium in tower

(Image credit: Bungie)
  1. Unlock the gold chest to get the Exotic Khvostov 7G-0X. You must have the Mote of Primordial Light in your inventory, and you must have unlocked the Legendary Khvostov to open this chest, and when you do, you’ll get the Exotic Khvostov.

Destiny 2 Exotic Khvostov unlock from gold chest

(Image credit: Bungie)

And that's it! You've now got the Exotic version of Destiny's first ever gun, complete with powerful ricocheting bullets that are even better when you collect Orbs of Power. Remember, you still have the Legendary version of the weapon too, which feels similar and has a good selection of perks to choose from. Make sure you complete The Final Shape set and get the Destiny 2 Microcosm Trace Rifle, Still Hunt Sniper Rifle, and Destiny 2 Ergo Sum Sword too.

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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.