How to get all Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bits
Get all of the Pale Heart's Lost Encryption Bits in Destiny 2 to create a special key needed to unlock the Khvostov
- Landing Region Chest 1
- Landing Region Chest 2
- Landing Region Chest 3
- Blooming Region Chest 1
- Blooming Region Chest 2
- Blooming Region Chest 3
- Impasse Region Chest 1
- Impasse Region Chest 2
- Impasse Region Chest 3
- Sword Dance Cyst
- Searing Light Cyst
- Aerial Ace Cyst
- Moth-Infested Cavern Cyst
- Slayer Trial Cyst
- Smothering Darkness Cyst
The Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bits are a crucial collectible to gather in the Pale Heart if you want to unlock the Khvostov Exotic Auto Rifle. You'll find one of these Bits in all the Region Chests and Cysts across the Destiny 2 The Final Shape destination, so you'll have to do a fair bit of deep exploring to find everything, though playing Overthrow and other quests will make this a little more rewarding. Here are the locations of all 15 Lost Encryption Bits in Destiny 2 to speed up the collecting process.
All Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit locations
There are 15 Lost Encryption Bits to find across the Pale Heart in Destiny 2 – one in each of the nine Region Chests and one in each of the six Cysts. That means you can easily get them just by patrolling the Pale Heart and by completing the Destiny 2 Alone in the Dark quest several times as the Cysts are a part of that.
There are three Region Chests in the Landing, Blooming, and Impasse. All of them are hidden but some are much easier to find than others, particularly if you're checking where they're marked on the map. Meanwhile, the six Lost Encryption Bits found in Cysts are found in secret junk piles, but you can easily backtrack to most of them after you've completed the Cyst challenge.
Upon getting your 15th Lost Encryption Bit, they'll all automatically combine into a Lost Encryption Code, which you can use on a special Region Chest found in the Cosmodrome wall that links the Impasse and the Divide – the chest is easy to reach and impossible to miss by fast-travelling to the Impasse, then heading back through the wall. This chest gets you the Legendary version of the Khvostov which you need to unlock the improved Exotic Destiny 2 Khvostov. Here's where you can all the Lost Encryption Bits in Region Chests and Cysts:
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Landing Region Chest 1
Head to the waterfall towards the southwest corner of the Landing, then climb up into the top window of the building to the left of it. You can use the surrounding trees to get up there. Once inside, head through the cave into the room with pink lights and you'll find the Region Chest containing a Lost Encryption Bit.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Landing Region Chest 2
Go through the cave roughly in the middle of the Landing – you can head inside via an entrance next to the big water pond area.
Halfway through this cave, there is drop which you can jump down using to ledges to reach the Region Chest and another Lost Encryption Bit.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Landing Region Chest 3
To round off the Landing Region chests, head to the wooden footbridge closest to the path that leads to the Refraction. Directly below it, there's a waterfall, and behind that waterfall is the third Region Chest. There are lots of rock ledges you can use to get down there safely too.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Blooming Region Chest 1
This Region Chest is at the top of this tree in the Blooming. It's on the north side of the region, almost right in the middle.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Blooming Region Chest 2
Not far off, you can find the next Blooming Region Chest. Head to the northwest corner of the region and you'll find the chest tucked behind a large rock.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Blooming Region Chest 3
The final Blooming Region Chest can be accessed by heading through two possible caves in the northeast to reach a hidden area amongst the giant rock formations of the cradle.
In this area, you can find the Region Chest and its Lost Encryption Bit on a ledge against a tall rock formation.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Impasse Region Chest 1
From the Impasse Landing Zone, turn around and jump down the cutout in the ground using the step-like formations. You'll find the Region Chest in an underground nook.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Impasse Region Chest 2
On top of the tallest building in the pale gray Darkness structure that takes up the northeast corner of the Impasse.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Impasse Region Chest 3
Between the entrance to the Broken Deep Lost Sector and the Cosmodrome wall section in the southwest section of the Impasse, you'll spot this small cave entrance off the ground. Jump up and head through to find the final Region Chest and ninth Lost Encryption Bit.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Sword Dance Cyst
As you enter the second room with Void crystals in, look down at the far end to spot a tall archway. Head down there and use your sword to clear the gunk and you'll reveal the Lost Encryption Bit. Because you need a Hive sword to break through, you cannot backtrack after completing the Cyst challenge as you lose your Hive sword.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Searing Light Cyst
Head through the tunnel lit with purple lights and bear left. You'll quickly come to a dead end with the Lost Encryption Bit on the floor.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Aerial Ace Cyst
Jump through the tunnel with the purple block just touching the Darkness lava until you reach solid ground.
On your right, there's an easy-to-miss gap in the wall just beyond a mass of Darkness brambles that you have to crouch to fit through. You'll find the Lost Encryption Bit through there.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Moth-Infested Cavern Cyst
In the first room of the Moth-Infested Cavern, which is also where you start the Destiny 2 Dual Destiny mission, you'll find a secret cave below the main Hive plate. Head through and grab the Lost Encryption Bit at the end.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Slayer Trial Cyst
After defeating the big Hive Ogre Balakh, the Unseeing, head through the tunnel with the gnarled tree growing outside. You'll find another tree and the Lost Encryption Bit is just behind it.
Destiny 2 Lost Encryption Bit, Smothering Darkness Cyst
After completing Smothering Darkness, head inside the tunnel with the purple, rectangular block above it. You must drop down into a trench and bear right, then you'll eventually run into the Lost Encryption Bit on the ground at a dead end.
Now that you've got the Legendary Khvostov, you need all the Motes of Light to unlock the Exotic version. You'll have to find the Destiny 2 Traveler collectibles in the Pale Heart to get eight and kill Overthrow bosses to get the rest, but you can get some Destiny 2 Ergo Sum rolls while you're doing this.
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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.