Destiny 2 Hawkmoon: Feather locations, random rolls, and more explained
How to get Hawkmoon in Destiny 2
The Destiny 2 Hawkmoon managed to revive the spirit of the original hand cannon while introducing a new type of randomly rolled Exotic, and all without breaking the Crucible. The new version of the Hawkmoon comes from a fun and memorable questline tied to a unique mission (which you can replay to farm multiple versions), and while it's mostly straightforward stuff, some of those quest steps can also be a little finnicky, so we've rounded up everything you need to know to get the Destiny 2 Hawkmoon.
As the Crow Flies - Feather locations
After you start the quest As the Crow Flies by talking to Spider in the Tangled Shore, you'll need to find five feathers which are hidden around the solar system. Here are all five feather locations:
Feather one - Outside Spider's lair in the Tangled Shore
Leave Spider's lair and look on top of the barrel to your left.
Feather two - Sludge in the EDZ
Land at the Sludge landing zone in the northeast EDZ and look for a broken pipeline straight ahead. The second feather is up on the platform beneath the left side of that pipeline, dead ahead of the Lost Sector.
Feather three - South spawn in the Cosmodrome
Set down at the landing zone next to Shaw Han and immediately jump up the pillar nearby. The third Hawkmoon feather is on top.
Feather four - Blind Well gates in the Dreaming City
Go to the Dreaming City and head for Blind Well, marked by the giant blue gates in the distance. As soon as you reach those gates, look for the feather on the left column; do not go inside Blind Well.
Feather five - Shrine of Oryx on the Moon
Land next to Eris Morn on the Moon and head left into Archer's Line. Once you're there, head straight back to the busted research station and into the Hive entrance. Follow the Hive architecture downward until you reach a big room with a giant crystal chandelier and multiple branching paths. Look for the mechanical looking room with a giant circular path in the back – the same one you took in the Season of the Hunt opening mission. Follow this path until you reach the Shrine of Oryx, and grab the feather in the back of the room.
Let Loose Thy Talons - Cry from Beyond Mission
Collecting all the Hawkmoon feathers will unlock a new subquest called Let Loose Thy Talons, and it starts with a unique mission in the EDZ. This mission starts in the Sludge Lost Sector and leads into a small new area filled with Taken. Just follow Crow's directions and deal with Taken as they come.
Let Loose Thy Talons - Generate and collect Orbs of Power
Next you'll need to generate and collect Orbs of Power. You get points for making them and picking them up, so try to do both whenever possible. You can make orbs using a fully masterwork weapon or with a good roaming Super, and you can kill enemies anywhere in the game.
Let Loose Thy Talons - Investigate the Coordinates mission
Now it's time for another mission in the EDZ, this time located near the main spawn point. The mission will be marked on your map and will also challenge you to find some feathers. Thankfully, unlike before, the feathers inside will be marked for you, so this is pretty straightforward. The path is pretty linear, so just keep your head on a swivel and watch for feathers. We got turned around at the final boss a bit – which you have to weaken by hitting it with orbs dropped by glowing Taken – so if you find yourself missing a feather at the end, try checking at the top of the silo before the final boss.
Let Loose Thy Talons - Kill Champions or Guardians
This is the longest step in this quest: you can either kill 200 players in the Crucible, or around 34 Champion enemies in either high-tier Lost Sectors or Nightfall Strikes. Legend Lost Sectors are best for solo players, while Nightfalls will work well with a group, especially because you can farm checkpoints.
Let Loose Thy Talons - The Crow and the Hawk mission
With that done, it's time for one more unique mission. This is the most straightforward of them all apart from some slightly finicky platforming, so again, we won't spoil what's to come. You might want to put on a sword to swing over to hard-to-reach platforms, but otherwise, you can just follow the prompts until you reach the final boss. It uses the same mechanics as the previous boss: kill glowing Taken, grab orbs, and throw them at the boss to strip its shield. Repeat until dead.
Voila! Hawkmoon is yours. This Exotic hand cannon gains stacks of Paracausal Shot each time you land a precision hit or get a kill, and the final round of each magazine deals bonus damage based on how many stacks you have. Not only that, after you obtain one Destiny 2 Hawkmoon via the quest, future Hawkmoon drops will come with random rolls. We're still waiting on the designated mission that drops duplicate Hawkmoons, so for now focus on getting used to the base roll and feeling out which stats you might want to boost with other perks.
Hawkmoon is the first and only Exotic weapon to feature random rolls, and the right perk could add a lot to the weapon's performance, especially standouts like rangefinder and killing wind. That said, it feels to shoot nice out of the box. Just don't expect to idly two-tap Guardians like the original model could.
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Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.