A Gamer’s Guide to Finding Xur in Destiny 2
In Destiny 2, players can improve their character’s stats by acquiring exotic or legendary gear items from the mysterious merchant known as Xur. He is the ultimate go-to non-player-character (NPC) in the game when players need to improve upon their character’s stats. Even just one single exotic item from Xur could be just the ticket to building a character to best meet what the player seeks for the strongest build possible they can put together as a gamer. However, in order to do business with him, you need the currency known as Exotic Cipher in order to do it. This item gets you an Exotic Engram. By selling a small number of Legendary Shards, you can also access other gear he will have up for sale.
About Destiny and Destiny 2
When Destiny was first released as an online-only, multiplayer first-person shooter video game on September 9, 2014, it was published by Activision. The development company, Bungie, is also the same company behind the Halo series. As for Destiny, it was released as a console game for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One units. The game is set up in a mythic science fiction environment where it was a first-person shooter mixed with rich role-playing content. Players have the option to either play up against the environment (PvE) or against another player (PvP). While in PvE game mode, it is a three-player strike team and six-player raids. There is also a free patrol mode available for each destination that happens to feature public events. The PvP game mode is set up with objectives in mind in the team against team environments. There is also the most common multiplayer first-person shooter mode known as deathmatch.
Each player does this as a Guardian, the role that is assigned to protect Earth’s last surviving city while they wield a power called Light. The protection of this city is from the different alien races featured in the game. Also in the game, Guardians are to help revive the Traveler, a celestial entity as you journey to different planets to investigate, plus destroy alien threats as a means to save humanity from their invasive forces. Since Destiny’s first launch in 2014, there have been four expansion packs to broaden the story. From 2014 until 2018, while Bungie was still with Activision, The Dark Below was the first of the expansion packs released, which was December 2014. The second was May 2015’s House of Wolves, which was then followed by The Taken King in September 2015. The fourth and final expansion was Rise of Iron, which came out in September 2016, but only for players using the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One units. At this point, neither the Playstation 3 consoles nor the Xbox 360 consoles were being supported with content updates. Destiny was regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made, despite some criticism against the game’s storyline and post-campaign material. Otherwise, the Halo-like mechanics that made Destiny what it is contributed as a factor why the game earned $325 million USD in sales within the first five days of its release.
This served as a record as the biggest franchise launch in video gaming history. In 2014, Destiny was awarded Game of the Year and it won an award from Best Game at the 2014 British Academy Video Game Awards. In September 2019, Destiny 2 was released. Originally, it was supposed to become out in 2016, but Bungie announced it wouldn’t be until 2017. However, instead of a whole new game release, expansion packs were installed instead. However, when Destiny 2 finally did get released in 2019, all the veteran players from the original Destiny series were rewarded by Bungie as an acknowledgment for the achievements they made in the first game. This meant for each player who reached Level Twenty and completed the Black Garden quest would have everything the character already possesses in appearance would be carried over. However, the gear and power would not. When Destiny 2 was confirmed as a sequel on March 27, 2017, it was followed up with a narrated teaser trailer showing the infamous Tower of the original Destiny under attack by the Cabal. The full trailer revealed the three-class Vanguards, Commander Zavala, Claye-6, and Ikora Rey as they rally the Guardians in the war-ravaged Tower. The Red Legion’s leader, Ghaul, charges the Cabal to attack the Tower and wipe out the human race. It was announced the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles could access Destiny 2 upon its release, as well as Microsoft Windows. In October 2017, it was admitted only Battle.net would serve as the hosting platform for the game instead of Steam. However, as of October 2019, after Bungie separated from Activision, Destiny 2 was removed from Activision’s online platform site and the game is now published through Steam.
About Xur
First off, who is Xur? Agent Xur of the Nine is the mysterious vendor that usually appears on Destiny 2 between five o’clock in the morning on Fridays, Eastern Standard Time, and hangs around until the same hour come Tuesday morning, bringing exotic and legendary gear for Guardians to purchase through the exchange of Legendary Shards. At least this is what he has been doing recently. However, Destiny 2 sometimes changes things up, but he always first shows up early Friday morning as the game’s version of a traveling salesman seems to know the weekend is the best time to do business with shoppers. Upon each visit, Xur always has at least an exotic weapon, an exotic armor piece for each of the three classes, as well as a Fated Engram and an Exotic Cipher quest. Each exotic armor, as well as legendary armor, has its own stat distributions that are randomly arranged as Xul sells them. The Exotic Cipher quests he offers are actually bounties that offer you, as a player, an opportunity to collect an exotic cipher. These are only offered once a week. As for the Fated Engrams, these are the best items Xur has available to sell. These grant you one piece of non-duplicated exotic gear for your character. These are quite expensive at ninety-seven Legendary Shards but are easily the best method to exercise should you wish to expand your collection of exotic gear and items. You can also obtain a second Fated Engram by exchanging an exotic cipher. At the most, you can acquire two Fated Engrams from Xul per week. Should you happen to own every exotic gear or item there is, Xul will guarantee you an exotic armor piece with randomized stats.
Xul’s Locations
According to one of the loot guides offered by The Gamers, there is an acknowledgment Bungie has begun sunsetting planets, which now makes Xul easier to locate. There are only three potential spawn points he will appear. There is EDZ, Nessus, and the Tower. Randomly, he will arrive at any of these locations on Friday and remain there until Tuesday, which is the day of Destiny 2’s weekly reset cycle. EDZ Location – Once your character spawns at the winding cove belonging to EDZ, proceed from the shore to reach the destroyed road that’s up ahead. You will then need to steer to the right at its fork and simply follow that trail. Continue until you encounter a group of Fallen that will be located near a dirt path. Once you’ve defeated the Fallen horde, look for a cave entrance at the cliffside. You will then need to run through the small cliff in order to reach an abandoned Fallen Skiff. You will see Xur standing before you on its right. Nessus Location – From Watcher’s Grove on Nexxus, follow the path north after you’ve spawned until you reach a giant red tree. Hopping off your Sparrow, you now need to climb up that tree. Xur is located on the tree’s branch that is facing south. Tower Location – In the tower’s hanger, Xur can be found on the right side of the map. Once you appear on this particular map, head left so you can enter the large hanger area. From there, turn left and make your run, heading north, to the end of the hanger. There will be a flight of stairs located on the top left corner you will need to climb before you can officially meet up with Xur. There is also the website, Where Is Xur, that always has on display where Xur is expected to appear next and when. The countdown clock serves as the best guide to be where you need to be so you can do business with this mysterious, and sometimes annoying, merchant.
About Exotic Engrams
An Exotic Engram is what provides a player with a random exotic item that will mainly be something you don’t already have yourself. Destiny 2 and Xur will go to great lengths to ensure you don’t receive a duplicate exotic piece of armor, each of which has its own random set of stats. In order to purchase an Exotic Engram, you need an Exotic Cipher. These are available as completed quest rewards by Xur, which he offers once a week. Should you do business with Xur, he offers exotic armor and exotic weapons that are available for purchase in exchange for legendary shards. On average, these items cost anywhere between twenty to fifty shards. The exotic weapon he sells you is usable by all of your characters and can be stored in your vault so that you can transfer them later on in the game. Regardless of what class of character you’re laying, the exotic weapon Xur sells you is completely usable. This is somewhat different than the exotic armor as they can only be used by the specific class of character it’s been bought for. There is a piece for each class that is available as an armor piece and can also be used as a random part. However, these items are transferrable between your own set of characters that may not share the same class as these can be stored in your own personal player vault. When visiting Xur, he has one quest for you called Xenology. Should you accept and complete it on time, he will offer you an Exotic Cipher for your service. This is only a once-per-week quest, but if you’re hunting down this extremely difficult-to-find commodity, this is at least one way to go about it. Should you accept the quest, be sure not to cancel it unless you absolutely need to. A canceled quest will not be replaced with a new one that same week. You will have to wait until Xur comes around the next time.
Suggestions Regarding Xur
Since you can only hold one Exotic Cipher at a time, it is recommended to use this item to either get a random exotic item in the form of an Exotic Engram from Xur or use it at the Monument to Lost Lights for a specific exotic item. Also, since the non-exotic items Xur has for sale when he arrives are cheap, it is in your best interest to reach him when he appears and buy what you may be able to use later in the game, or with any of your other characters and builds. Your best bet is to buy from Xur, then store them in the vault. This also helps your other characters a great deal should you be playing more than one. Also, save up on your Legendary Shards so that you can do business with Xur each time he shows up. According to Game Rant, 2022 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Destiny franchise, Xur’s role in Destiny 2 continues to change as the content creators behind the game strive to keep a healthy player base, as well as trying to win over new ones. The site features a collection of recommended items players may want to keep an eye out for as they strive to build the characters in their roster according to their personal preferences.
