Destiny 2’s Pathfinder loot system explained

Destiny 2‘s all-new The Final Shape DLC is, in many ways, a showcase of everything this franchise could be at its absolute best. Some of its new systems, however, are still rather untested, with players being unsure what to make of them. Take the new Pathfinder system, for example.

After you’ve taken down the big bad of the DLC (for the first time) and begun engaging with The Final Shape‘s post-campaign progression systems, you will inevitably come across one of the several new Pathfinder interfaces strewn across the Director UI. Pathfinder is a one-size-fits-all Bounty replacement, providing a clear and pointed look at certain loot and currency items to prioritize. As shown in the screenshot below, it’s a neat and traditionally beautiful interface that sadly still needs work to truly come into its own. Here’s a brief rundown on why, and more of an in-depth look at how The Final Shape’s Pathfinder loot system works.

The Finale Shape’s Pathfinder loot system explained

Destiny 2‘s new Pathfinder feature gives you a wide overview of how to progress through your active Season Pass, earn a fair chunk of snazzy loot, and a non-insignificant amount of currency. You do so by completing your randomized array of objectives from left to right, and depending on which Pathfinder you open up, you’ll either be looking at location-specific objectives (i.e. Pale Heart missions) or activity-based ones, instead.

The good news is that Pathfinder saddles you with an impressively large number of different objectives. the Pale Heart Pathfinder specifically, for example, will send you off to take down world bosses, complete Lost Sectors, take down enemies in a particular way, help Ghosts in their plight, and a whole roster of other missions. It’s all good fun, especially when you can just complete one objective after the other without leaving the location at all.

The bad news, however, is that the activity Pathfinder handles this insistence on variety in a different way, and you’ll often need to jump from one playlist to the other to clear your tasks. In effect, this means you’ll often have to play PvP and/or Gambit PvPvE matches to actually unlock your Pathfinder Engrams.

Another slight downside to the Pathfinder loot system is that it’s not immediately obvious where to find it. Each interface is located in a different spot on the UI, so the Pale Heart’s Pathfinder is found in the upper left corner of the Pale Heart’s Director map, while the activity Pathfinder is in the Vanguard Director UI.

At the time of writing, only the Pale Heart and the core playlist activities have their own respective Pathfinders, but the system seems too comprehensive not to be applied to most major content releases moving forward. I recommend getting used to it, with that in mind. As outlined in the featured Reddit post, many players are still unsure how to feel about Pathfinder as a whole, but Bungie is bound to tune it up as time goes on, so improvements should be coming down the line.