Destiny 2 Expunge mission: How to start Expunge: Styx explained • Eurogamer.net

How to start the Expunge: Labyrinth mission in Destiny 2

The first Expunge: Labyrinth mission is part of the ongoing seasonal Path of the Splicer questline, debuting during the third week.

To start Expunge: Labyrinth, you must be up to date with the Path of the Splicer questline. Once you have completed Path of the Splicer I and II from previous weeks, it’s time to visit the H.E.L.M. social space.

Head all the way to the Splicer Servitor location on the west side of the hub. Once in there, talk to Mithrax and start Path of the Splicer III. He will give you a similar mission to the ones before, but with the key difference being that it will take place in the Tangled Shore.

First of all, complete the weekly Override mission (accessed from the H.E.L.M. destination tab). These start at around 1250 power level and ramp up from there during the mission. Before jumping into matchmaking, make sure to have at least one Key Code crafted beforehand. Along with completing Override, you’re tasked with opening a Conflux Chest at the end using said item.

Once you’re done with the boss, open the Conflux Chest located to the side the regular boss chest as usual (if another player has already ‘opened’ it, don’t worry, interact with it all the same with the prompt on screen).

Along with the new loot is the ‘Message received’ quest step. Return to Orbit and talk to Mithrax again through the Splicer Servitor. He will then grant access to Expunge missions.

The first Expunge mission, Labyrinth, can then be found in the Tangled Shore.

How the Expunge: Labyrinth quest works in Destiny 2

The Expunge: Labyrinth mission is closer to Beyond Light’s Exo Challenges or the Interference missions from 2020’s Season of Arrivals than recent Harbinger and Season of the Chosen’s Presage quests, in that it’s part of a wider questline and doesn’t result in an Exotic at the end of the Vex tunnel.

The mission itself, however, does offer some similarities with those recent quests – in that you can expect some light puzzle solving, plenty of platforming and, of course, several combat encounters.

The first mission, Expunge: Labyrinth, has you exploring a different side of the Vex Network, presented as a rather maze-like set of corridors and floating platforms. Objectives vary from moving through the labyrinth, facing Barrier Champions, and depositing Data Spikes as you rush through the levels to get to the deposit stations.

We hope you have been practicing your acrobatic skills in past Override missions, as this one will certainly test them in new ways.

Expunge: Labyrinth is a short and straightforward enough mission that a walkthrough isn’t required, but some tips from us include:

• If you’ve been ignoring Splicer Gauntlet upgrades up to this point, then this is the time to pay attention to them. Upgrades like Codestrider and Codebreaker (the one you obtain when accepting the mission) will prove immensely helpful when navigating the puzzles.
• Make sure to time your mid air jumps correctly – give yourself some time beforehand, especially when you’re falling down to what seems like small surfaces at first, as they will most likely be long corridors that are being blocked by another structure.
• Keep an eye opened for floating orbs that you can shoot at, since they will make surfaces appear after being destroyed.
• If you meet the recommended power level (1290) it’s likely that you’ll be able to withstand the attack from regular enemies. If that’s the case, once you have the Data Spike on your hands, make a run for it and deposit the data as soon as possible. You can take down the Vex later.

In terms of requirement, the mission has a 1290 power level recommendation. You can either group up or do it solo, as it won’t present a massive challenge. We recommend doing a regular run exploring the labyrinth before attempting to do it on your own. If you’re looking to add an extra difficulty layer, the seasonal challenge ‘Expedited Expunge’ tasks you with completing the mission in 10 minutes or less.

You can see how to do this as part of a significant (and tricky to pull off) shortcut from Esoterickk on YouTube, as well as the start and end of the mission performed solo:

How to start the Expunge: Styx mission in Destiny 2

The second Expunge: Styx mission is part of the ongoing seasonal Path of the Splicer questline, debuting during the third week.

To start Expunge: Styx, you must be up to date with the Path of the Splicer questline. Once you have completed Path of the Splicer I, II and III from previous weeks, it’s time to visit the H.E.L.M. social space.

Head all the way to the Splicer Servitor location on the west side of the hub. Once in there, talk to Mithrax and start Path of the Splicer IV. He will give you a similar mission to the ones before, but with the key difference being that it will take place in Europa.

First of all, you’re going to need to have collected Ether and created at least one Key Code beforehand. We already had a spare from last week, so the quest automatically skip the first few steps and sent us to the weekly Override mission (accessed from the H.E.L.M. destination tab). Friendly reminder that these start at around 1250 power level and ramp up from there during the mission. Along with completing Override, you’re tasked with opening a Conflux Chest at the end using said the Key Code.

Once you’re done with the boss, open the Conflux Chest located to the side the regular boss chest as usual (if another player has already ‘opened’ it, don’t worry, interact with it all the same with the prompt on screen).

Along with the new loot is the ‘Complete Expunge: Styx on the Moon’ quest step. Unlike the previous steps for Expunge: Labyrinth, you won’t have to talk to Mithrax this time around.

The second Expunge mission, Styx, can then be found in the Moon.

How the Expunge: Styx quest works in Destiny 2

The Expunge: Styx mission is closer to Beyond Light’s Exo Challenges or the Interference missions from 2020’s Season of Arrivals than recent Harbinger and Season of the Chosen’s Presage quests, in that it’s part of a wider questline and doesn’t result in an Exotic at the end of the Vex tunnel.

If you’d like a closer comparison, Expunge: Labyrinth serves as a good example. There are variations here and there, but it retains much of its familiarity. While the former had you traversing through a maze-like set of corridors and platforms, this one is all about powering and using a total of three keys.

For starters, the first part of the mission is identical to Labyrinth, in which you’ll have to make your way through moving gaps in the level. From there, you’ll recognize the long corridor with the moving lasers. Exit the area and you’ll begin to see the new Styx side of Expunge.

It’s rather straightforward from here. You’ll have to damage a pair of floating fragments until they become a key. Then, you’ll have to take that key with you towards a data terminal.

There are floating light blue cubes that act as checkpoints – you only need to move across them to activate them. If you die, the key will now respawn there, so you can pick right where you left off. You’ll have to repeat this a total of three times to unlock the final encounter.

Expunge: Styx might be kinder than we were expecting, but some tips from us include:

• Once more, if you’ve been ignoring Splicer Gauntlet upgrades up to this point, this is the time to change that. Upgrades like Codestrider and Codebreaker will prove immensely helpful when navigating Expunge.
• The long corridor with the moving laser is daunting, but you should take it step by step. As soon as you’re able to move out of the main way and hide behind a wall, stay there even if the lasers aren’t coming and just hold in place. You’ll make it across in no time!
• We recommend for either you or another person in the squad to carry a sniper rifle, as there are many enemies who will pester you from a long distance and can be rather annoying.

• In a similar fashion our advice for Labyrinth, we recommend you to just make quick escapades instead of trying to take down all enemies to make a safe route to traverse with the key. Reinforcements will appear shortly either way, so it’s best to just get to the nearest checkpoint instead.
• The key will expire after a few seconds, but passing through the floating orbs to create a checkpoint will reset that timer – we even managed to get one key from point A to B without dying, but don’t worry if you are taken down as the checkpoints will help to shorten the distance.
• You can easily double jump to get past the laser walls, but if not possible, you’ll see platforms around them every time, which are a good alternative.

• The final encounter might be tough, but it’s possible to use a upper location that is just across the boss’ location, which has a pillar on the left that can be used for cover in case you need a breather.
• Lastly, keep in mind that once the boss is at half health, you will have to power a fragment and create a key to deposit across the room. Lasers will appear, but if you follow our tips above, you’ll be back into the fight in the blink of an eye.

Aside from some lasers and the odd platform here and there, you shouldn’t have any problem doing this either with a group or solo, even if you’re below the 1290 Power Level requirement. Sadly, there is no Expedited challenge this time around, where you would previously be tasked with completing the Expunge in 10 minutes or less.

Season of the Splicer has arrived!

Recently added is the Expunge mission, new Nightfall weapons such as the Uzume RR4, and the Vault of Glass, which sees the return of Vex Mythoclast and Fatebringer.

Next week, we’ll be able to sample the Destiny 2 crossplay beta.

New features include transmog and materials Synthstrand, Synthcord and Synthweave, the Splicer Gauntlet and Decrypted Data used to upgrade it, the Aspect of Interference quest, and several new Exotics and a new max level cap.

As well as XP farm and Glimmer farm suggestions.

Expunge rewards and what we know of future Expunge missions in Destiny 2

Neither Expunge: Labyrinth nor Expunge: Styx result in an Exotic, nor, unfortunately, does it provide a Pinnacle gear, despite how it was previous advertised – at least, not until a weekly challenge will be introduced from June 15th. Instead, you will get a high stat armour piece in a different slot across the next four weeks:

For the next 4 weeks the weekly Expunge mission will give you a high-stat armor piece in a different slot each week. Sorry for any confusion, we’ll give more info on what other rewards you can expect from the Expunge mission in this week’s TWAB. https://t.co/X8OaaSZAQ7

— Cozmo (@Cozmo23) May 26, 2021

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There is the tease of “other rewards” however – and with a total of six updates mentioned on the Season of the Splicer roadmap, including at least one more mission called ‘Tartarus’, and datamines hinting at a special ‘Delphi’ mission which has an optional flawless challenge (thanks T_Gamer-mp4 on reddit). Between that and the speedrunning Triumph mentioned above, there looks to be many reasons to pursue these missions beyond the seasonal story.

See you next week!