How to Get Cull's Shadow Exotic in Destiny 2

How to Get Cull’s Shadow Exotic in Destiny 2 Quick Summary:

• Cull’s Shadow sends players on a lengthy quest where you’ll do Hive rune puzzles, search missions, and a long exotic quest before the exotic finally drops.
• A Weapon of Sorrow is mandatory for revealing the hidden green Hive runes, so bring Thorn, Osteo Striga, Necrochasm, or Touch of Malice.
• The weapon itself comes from Oblation: Bloodline, but the chase for the full version with all catalysts continues in the follow-up missions.

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Cull’s Shadow Quest Overview

Cull’s Shadow is tied to one of those Destiny 2 exotic quests where the game expects you to figure things out by paying attention. You start on the Moon, solve a few Hive rune puzzles, look for hidden activity spots, and then move into the Oblation missions. The weapon itself drops from Oblation: Bloodline, but if you want the complete package, you’ll also need to unlock its four Soulfire traits. The good thing is that the quest has a pretty clear pattern and isn’t very obscure, unlike the Heirloom or Praxic Blade quests. The bad thing is that it happens on the Moon, which means a lot of tunnels and a lot of creepy Hive nooks and crannies. Before going step by step, here’s the full route for the quest.

Step	Objective	Location
1	Solve the first rune puzzle	The Scarlet Keep strike
2	Complete Suspicious Syndicate Activity 1	Anchor of Light
3	Complete Suspicious Syndicate Activity 2	Archer’s Line
4	Complete Suspicious Syndicate Activity 3	Sorrow’s Harbor
5	Complete Suspicious Syndicate Activity 4	Hellmouth
6	Launch the first exotic mission	Oblation: Bloodline
7	Get Cull’s Shadow	End of Oblation: Bloodline
8	Unlock Soulfire Succor	Post-Bloodline secret
9	Unlock Soulfire Rancor and Soulfire Zeal	Oblation: Soulfed
10	Unlock Soulfire Skewer	Oblation: Immolation

Just to be clear, steps 2-5 can be done in any order. I just placed them this way cause that was the order I completed them in. Most of the early part is just repeating the same puzzle in different places. Once you understand how the beige and green runes work, the quest gets much easier to follow.

What You Need Before Starting

The one requirement for this questline is bringing a Weapon of Sorrow. You’ll need one to reveal the hidden green runes used throughout the quest. The Weapons of Sorrow are:

• Touch of Malice
• Thorn
• Osteo Striga
• Necrochasm

Basically, any Hive exotic will do. For most players, Thorn or Osteo Striga are the easiest ones to get. Their sole reason for being used in this quest is that they allow you to see the runes that you will need to shoot throughout the whole questline. The puzzle structure is always the same:

• Find the beige Hive symbols on a gate or door
• Equip a Weapon of Sorrow
• Look around the room for hidden green runes
• Shoot the matching runes in the order shown by the beige symbols
• Read the order from top to bottom

That’s the core gimmick for most of the quest. Simple enough once you’ve done it once.

Step 1: Complete The Scarlet Keep Strike

Open the Moon from the Destinations menu and launch The Scarlet Keep strike. You can do this solo or with a fireteam. Play through it normally until the final boss room. When you reach the boss, don’t kill her immediately. Look at the gate behind her first. You should see three beige Hive symbols on it. Those symbols show the order of the hidden runes in the room. Now equip your Weapon of Sorrow. Once you do, green runes will appear around the arena. Find the runes that match the symbols on the gate and shoot them in the correct top-to-bottom order. Once you get it right, the gate will open. Go through it and interact with the green Hive crystal inside. After that, go back, finish the boss, and complete the strike. That unlocks the next phase of the quest on the Moon map.

Step 2: Suspicious Syndicate Activities

After finishing The Scarlet Keep, return to the Moon. You should now see several gray circles scattered around the map, marked as Suspicious Syndicate Activity. Each one starts with a green-glowing Cabal body. Inspecting the body gives you a clue. That clue points to a hidden Hive location nearby, where you’ll solve another rune puzzle and interact with another green crystal. The order you’ll do these activities in is mind-numbingly similar:

• Find the dead Cabal body
• Inspect it for the clue
• Follow the clue to the correct Moon location
• Find the Hive door with beige symbols at this location
• Equip a Weapon of Sorrow
• Shoot the green runes in the right order
• Interact with the green Hive crystal

You need to complete four of these in total. Play it with friends or watch a movie or something. The boredom express departs.

Suspicious Syndicate Activity 1: Anchor of Light

As I said, it doesn’t matter in which order you’ll do these activities, but for the sake of clarity I’ll start with the Anchor of Light first. Find the dead green-glowing Cabal body on the west of the circle and inspect it. The clue says: “Soulfire thrums deep within a princely temple.” That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anybody use the word “thrum”. The clue points to the Temple of Crota. Head there and go underground. Inside, you’ll find an ominous green hole in the wall. Go inside it. Eventually, you’ll reach a red Hive room with three beige symbols on the wall. Equip your Weapon of Sorrow, reveal the green runes around the room, and shoot the correct ones in top-to-bottom order. After the door is open, go inside and interact with the green Hive crystal.

Suspicious Syndicate Activity 2: Archer’s Line

The second activity is in Archer’s Line. Find the dead Cabal body near the south end of the circle, under the broken bridge, and inspect it. The clue says: “Soulfire seethes within a monarch’s shrine.” This means you need to go to the Shrine of Oryx. Head toward the dome structure in Archer’s Line. When you reach the correct room, you’ll find a Hive door with five beige symbols on it. Equip your Weapon of Sorrow, find the matching green runes, and shoot them in the correct order from top to bottom. After the door opens, go through it and interact with the next green crystal.

Suspicious Syndicate Activity 3: Sorrow’s Harbor

The third activity is in Sorrow’s Harbor. Find the glowing Cabal body on the north of the circle. It should be on one of the platforms, and inspect it. The clue says: “Soulfire surges toward a sorrowful revelation.” That clue sends you to the K1 Revelation Lost Sector. It’s a bit to the south of the center of this area. Go inside and make your way to the end. Near the final section, you’ll find another Hive door with beige symbols. Equip your Weapon of Sorrow and repeat the usual steps.

Suspicious Syndicate Activity 4: Hellmouth

The fourth activity is in the Hellmouth. The dead Cabal body should be inside one of the Hive structures in the area shown on the map above. The clue says: “Soulfire roils within the nocturnal Chamber.” Go into the Hellmouth, follow the trail of green Cabal bodies. You’ll eventually go into the Circle of Bones area. Turn right and continue toward the Chamber of Night. Once you reach the right room, clear the enemies and find the Hive door with beige symbols. Equip your Weapon of Sorrow, reveal the runes, and shoot them in the correct order. After the door opens, interact with the final green Hive crystal. Once that’s done, the next quest step becomes available.

 

 

How to Get Cull’s Shadow Exotic

After finishing all four Suspicious Syndicate Activity steps, open your Moon map again. A new activity marker should appear in the northeast part of the Moon in Sorrow’s Harbor. Go there, and to the right of the Keep entrance, you’ll find a cave that glows blue. Inside it, you’ll find a door. Interact with the door to launch the Oblation: Bloodline mission. From here on, the quest moves into the exotic mission chain. The mission has its own mechanics, but the general rule is pretty simple:

• If you get a Soulfire Charge, dunk it into a large chalice
• After you dunk the Soulfire Charge, you’ll be given Hive worms, yuck. Throw them at green crystals.

I’m not going to spoil the mission completely. I'll just explain the needed steps. Finish Oblation: Bloodline and beat the boss. At the end of the mission, you’ll get Cull’s Shadow exotic. Do not leave the mission right away. The first trait unlock is available immediately after.

How to Unlock Soulfire Succor

Soulfire Succor is the first exotic trait for Cull’s Shadow, and you can get it right after finishing Oblation: Bloodline. Soulfire Succor lets you partially reload the magazine from reserves when you destroy soulfire crystals with the weapon’s frontal blades. Here’s how to get the Soulfire Succor. 

1. Once you receive the weapon, turn around and leave the boss room. 
2. From there, turn right and start climbing up along the cave wall. It’s the classic jump puzzle. 
3. You need to make your way up to the large red Hive object above the area. When you get there, kill the enemies and look around for a Hive grimoire inside one of the red structures. 
4. Interact with it to activate the script. 
5. After that, go back to the boss room and equip Cull’s Shadow or another Weapon of Sorrow. 

In the back-right corner, you should find a door with three beige Hive symbols. With the weapon equipped, green runes will appear around the room. You know what to do. Once you finish the puzzle, Soulfire Succor will unlock. This is one of the easiest steps to miss, mostly because the mission looks finished already. It isn’t. Destiny likes doing that.

How to Unlock Soulfire Rancor

Soulfire Rancor is tied to the second mission in the chain, Oblation: Soulfed. Once it’s available, launch it from the Moon. Soulfire Rancor's trait makes soulfire crystals detonate when the enemy is close by. Check the step-by-step guide to unlock Soulfire Rancor:

1. Play through the mission until you reach the room where you throw Hive worms at two green crystals. You’ll know what I’m talking about once you reach it. After both are hit, a doorway in the upper-left area opens.
2. Go through that doorway, then turn right. Drop down onto the statue that looks like it’s holding platforms. Turn around, and you’ll see a small ledge to the right of you. Jump on it.
3. On the ledge, you’ll find a Hive button. Interact with it. You should get a message saying that a door has unlocked deep within the fortress. That means you’ve done the step correctly.

Now continue through the mission as normal. Later on, you’ll go through a section where you fall through narrow holes while avoiding Hive traps. Right after that, you’ll reach a room with lots of Hive doors on the walls. One of these doors will be open. Go inside and interact with the Hive book. Then continue the mission and finish the boss encounter. At the end, a loot chest will spawn and award Soulfire Rancor. You should also see another Hive book appear at the top of the stairs after the fight. Interact with it. Don’t return to the orbit just yet. Check the next Trait unlock segment.

How to Unlock Soulfire Zeal

Soulfire Zeal is also unlocked in Oblation: Soulfed, right after the boss fight. Don’t be in a hurry to end the mission now. After the boss dies, the game spawns a green pool that lets you finish the activity. Ignore it for now. Instead, go behind the boss arena and equip Cull’s Shadow. Hidden green runes will appear in the hands of the Thrall statues there. This time, you won’t get beige symbols on a door showing the order. Instead, the order is displayed on the left side of Cull’s Shadow itself. Look at the small Hive symbols on the weapon and shoot the green runes in that same top-to-bottom order. Once you shoot the correct runes, Soulfire Zeal will unlock. The Hive button will spawn behind you. Press it, and you’ll get the Trait. This is probably the coolest puzzle in the whole chain. It’s not tough, but it gave me that wow effect, even though it wasn’t something grandiose. Idk, maybe I’m just easy to impress.

 

 

How to Unlock Soulfire Skewer

Soulfire Skewer is the fourth and final trait for Cull’s Shadow. After unlocking Soulfire Zeal, look nearby for another Hive button. The fireteam leader needs to interact with it. This launches the last mission in the chain, Oblation: Immolation. There are no extra secret books or rune puzzles for this one. Just complete the mission, and Soulfire Skewer will be awarded automatically at the end. The Soulfire Skewer Trait causes your weapon’s frontal blades to inflict corruption when the nearby soulfire crystals detonate.

All Cull’s Shadow Exotic Traits

Here’s a quick breakdown of all four traits and where they come from.

Trait	Mission	How to Unlock
Soulfire Succor	Oblation: Bloodline	Find the post-boss Hive book, return to the boss room, and solve the rune puzzle
Soulfire Rancor	Oblation: Soulfed	Activate the hidden button, find the open Hive door after the trap section, and grab the book
Soulfire Zeal	Oblation: Soulfed	After the boss fight, use the symbols on Cull’s Shadow to solve the rune puzzle near the statues
Soulfire Skewer	Oblation: Immolation	Complete the final Oblation mission

Follow all these steps and get your hands on the newest exotic in Destiny 2. The Cull’s Shadow exotic is a Fusion Rifle that uses Special Ammo. It serves as a hybrid of melee and glaive. The mechanic around it is generating soulfire charges through melee finishers and using them to corrupt enemies, poison them, or create explosive crystals.

Read our other Destiny 2 guides:

• Gahlran Boss Guide
• Argos Boss Guide
• Calus Boss Guide

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