The Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains quests challenge you to read clues, explore the solar system, and uncover treasure in Season of Plunder. There are three Cryptic Quatrain quests in total and each one begins when you collect a Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart. With a cryptic clue in your ‘Quests’ tab, read the quatrain and decipher the clue within using the highlighted letters. These clues aren’t too challenging at first, but they can get a lot less clear later, so here are all the solutions to the Cryptic Quatrain quests in Destiny 2.
Cryptic Quatrain 1:
Cryptic Quatrain 2:
- Dreaming City Bay of Drowned Wishes Lost Sector
- Lake of Shadows Strike
- Expedition with a Sword
- Well of Flame on Nessus
- Nessus Treasure
Cryptic Quatrain 3:
- EDZ Quarry Lost Sector
- Exodus Crash Strike
- Ketchcrash with Hand Cannon and Arc Subclass
- Captain's Atlas Crude Cipher
- Cipher puzzle
- Cosmodrome vessel pointing to see in the Forgotten Shore
- Forgotten Shore cave near three pillars
How to get Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrain quests
To get the Cryptic Quatrains quests, you need to pick up the Small, Medium, and Large Treasure Beacons from the Star Chart in the HELM. However, each Treasure Beacons can only be collected once you reach a certain Rank with the Star Chart by earning Savvy:
- Small Treasure Beacon: Unlocked at Rank 7 for Cryptic Quatrains 1
- Medium Treasure Beacon: Unlocked at Rank 10 for Cryptic Quatrains 2
- Large Treasure Beacon: Unlocked at Rank 16 for Cryptic Quatrains 3
Get Savvy by completing Ketchcrash and Expedition missions – you can learn more about all the Destiny 2 Season 18 activities with our guide. Once you’ve reached the required rank, collect the Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart rewards and you’ll get a Cryptic Quatrains quest. You can complete the quest and then grab the next Treasure Beacon once you’ve unlocked it to continue the mystery.
Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains 1
Get the Small Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart and you can begin Cryptic Quatrains 1. Here are all the yellow clues and their solutions:
Begin, search, on, moon
Pretty self-explanatory, this one. Just go to the Moon, but you can get ahead on the next clue by landing at Sorrow’s Harbor in the northeast of the Moon map.
Harbor, sorrow, lost, revelation, chest
If you’re not already there, head to Sorrow’s Harbor on the Moon, then clear out the K1 Revelations Lost Sector and loot the chest at the end of it.
Cosmo, fallen, saber, strike
For this clue, you just need to complete the Fallen Sabre Strike on the Cosmodrome. Find and select the Fallen Saber Strike node on the Cosmodrome map to load into the Strike directly – you do not need to get lucky finding this Strike in the Vanguard Ops playlist.
Europa, even, tide, hook, cranes, search
After you’ve completed the Strike, head to the Eventide Ruins on Europa. Straight ahead of you, you’ll spot a pair of cranes above an area lit with orange lights with a large, icy rock in front. Head over to this rock and there will be a green Fallen symbol in the snow, marking where you need to dig. Do so, and you’ll get one piece of Season of Plunder gear, five Destiny 2 Map Fragments, and a Crude Cipher Fragment which you’ll need later.
Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains 2
Collect the Medium Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart to begin Cryptic Quatrains 2. All the yellow clues and solutions are here:
Bay, chest, drown, mist, dream, lost, wish
Not quite so self-explanatory, this one. Travel to the Dreaming City and turn around as soon as you land to find the Bay of Drowned Wishes Lost Sector. Go through the Lost Sector, clear out the enemies, and loot the chest at the end.
Dead, lake, shadows, strike
For this step, complete the Lake of Shadows Strike. As with the Fallen Saber Strike, you can just find and select the Lake of Shadows Strike node on the EDZ map to go directly into the Strike.
Expedition, sword, wield
This step just requires you to complete an Expedition mission with a Sword equipped in your Heavy weapon slot. You don’t even have to deal damage with your Sword, but if you do, the Destiny 2 Lament Exotic Sword is a good choice that will cleave through the bigger enemies towards the end.
Nessus, column, cistern, pyramid’s imprint, pass through
To solve this clue, you need to head to the Cistern landing zone on Nessus and then use your Sparrow to reach the large stone tower called the Well of Flame – it’s in the western area of the map. Climb up to the tower’s entrance, which is a large triangle-shaped doorway, and you’ll easily notice another green X-marks-the-spot symbol that you need to interact with to get the final clue for Cryptic Quatrains 2.
Fluid did fall from the sky, broken sphere, treasure
From the Well of Flame, head to the northwest part of the Cistern – this is where one of the Injection Rig Destiny 2 Heroic Public Events takes place. There is a rocky sphere partially buried in the ground and nearby, you’ll discover another green symbol which you can dig up. You’ll find more Season of Plunder gear, 10 more Map Fragments and the second Crude Cipher Fragment, but you’ll need further instructions to combine them.
Destiny 2 Cryptic Quatrains 3
Collect the Large Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart to begin Cryptic Quatrains 3. These are all the yellow clue phrases and their solutions:
Dead, sunken, lost, quarry, chest
To kick off the final Cryptic Quatrains, head to the north-western area of the EDZ called the Sunken Isles and complete the Quarry Lost Sector. Remember to loot the chest at the end.
Crash, exodus, one life to live
This tricky step tasks you with completing the Exodus Crash Strike on Nessus without dying. Make sure you select the Exodus Crash Strike node on the Neussus map to go straight into it. This Strike is full of exploding Shanks and trip mines, so try not to die carelessly.
Catch crash, lightnin’ did arc through me bones, hand cannon
Complete a Ketchcrash mission using an Arc Subclass and a Hand Cannon weapon.
Atlas, crude, cipher, two beacons
For this clue, open your Captain’s Atlas and craft the Crude Cipher using those fragments you got in the previous Cryptic Quatrains quests. This will open some secret compartments on the atlas which you’ll need to fill for the next clue.
Dusk, left, light, right, salvation, center
Slot in the correct Fallen house sigils into the secret compartments of the Captain’s Atlas. House Dusk goes on the left, House Salvation goes in the middle, and House Light goes on the right.
Cosmo, shore, forgotten, vessel that pointed to sea, mast
Now head to the Forgotten Shore area of the Cosmodrome. In the southern part of the Forgotten Shore, you’ll find a beached and rusted boat (it’s also the entrance to the Veles Labyrinth Lost Sector which is marked on the map) which holds a green symbol at the front near the mast. Investigate the symbol for the final Cryptic Quatrains 3 clue.
Cave, stream joins its mother, pillars of three, treasure
For the final clue, you need to find the part of the Forgotten Shore where the river that flows in from the west roughly meets the sea. You’ll spot three concrete pillars lined up along the river, and you’ll be able to spot a cave in between them. Head inside the cave and dig up the green symbol to get your rewards: even more Season of Plunder gear, including some weapons with Deepsight Resonance, and the Charge of Light Exotic Sparrow.
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