Destiny 2: How To Get Red Death in The Final Shape

There are few fan-favorite Destiny weapons waiting to be brought over to Destiny 2 left. While some have begged and pleaded that Bungie brings back something like No Land Beyond, the Exotic Primary Sniper Rifle from the days of The Taken King, there are others with much more class and esteem. I am of course talking about fans of the Destiny 1, Year 1 Exotic Pulse Rifle, Red Death. Naysayers spouted that this day would never come thanks to the Crimson Exotic Hand Cannon, but what are they to say now? 

During the 2023 Destiny 2 Showcase, Bungie revealed that some of the eldest Destiny 1 Exotics would be returning. Things like Dragon's Breath from The Dark Below, Khvostov from Rise of Iron, and Red Death from Vanilla Destiny. While the sources for both Dragon's Breath and Khvostov are yet unknown, we have confirmation on how to acquire Red Death thanks to the Q&A that followed the showcase.

How To Get The Red Death Exotic Pulse Rifle in Destiny 2: The Final Shape

Thanks to Joe Blackburn, Destiny 2's Game Director, we now know not only that Red Death is returning, but how to get our hands on it. 

In the upcoming release of The Final Shape, Bungie is doing away with the Seasonal model that the game has used since 2018's Forsaken. Instead of four three-month-long seasons per year, Bungie will be introducing Episodes. There will be three four-month-long Episodes each year which will bring a new Episode Pass, similar to the current Season Pass that Destiny has now. These will effectively be the same thing, but each six-week Act will add an additional 50 rewards to the Pass for a grand total of 200 Episode Pass reward slots. 

Historically, there has been an Exotic weapon tied to the Season Pass each season. This tradition will continue with Episodes, and the first Episode Pass for the "Echoes" Episode will grant you access to the Red Death Exotic Pulse Rifle. 

Not only will this grant players immediate access to the Red Death Pulse Rifle on the day of release for The Final Shape, but this will ensure that anyone who plays or buys the Episode that year will be able to get their hands on it relatively easily. 

If you don't intend on purchasing the Episode, don't worry. Bungie is giving all players access to the full Episode and Episode pass that is active at the time of purchasing The Final Shape. That means that if you pre-order The Final Shape or wait to pick it up a few weeks after release, you'll still have access to Echoes and its Episode Pass. If you do wait until a later Episode to hop into The Final Shape and its content offerings, you'll have to wait until Red Death is added to the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. 

How Red Death is Changing in Destiny 2: The Final Shape

While details on Red Death's Exotic Perks' changes are sparse right now, we do know that Red Death will be a Solar weapon in Destiny 2, living in the Energy Weapon slot.

In Destiny 1, the Red Death Pulse Rifle worked similarly to the Crimson Hand Cannon in Destiny 2. For Red Death, each kill heals you and increases reload speed for a short duration. Crimson heals the user when killing enemies and precision kills will reload the weapon. The Crimson also has a Catalyst that grants an increase in Range, bringing it closer to the same effective ranges as its Destiny 1 counterpart. 

Season Pass weapons in Destiny 2 have always had a Catalyst Quest tied to them. As Episodes are making some slight changes to the way the seasonal model works in Destiny 2, it has yet to be confirmed if Red Death will have a catalyst of its own. 

That's everything you need to know about how to get the Red Death Exotic Pulse Rifle in Destiny 2: The Final Shape. Make sure you check out more about how Episodes will work in Destiny 2 and how to get the Ex Diris Catalyst in Season of the Witch!