Destiny 2 – How to get the best weapons from the Menagerie
The Menagerie was introduced during season 7 of Destiny 2 and remains one of the most fun, matchmade activities you can do in Destiny 2 – and the loot feels rewarding. Together with the Chalice and runes, you can pick and choose which weapons you get from the chest at the end. The following is a guide for how to get the best weapons from the Menagerie.
The Menagerie is a location within the Leviathan, which you can find on Nessus. It is unlocked after acquiring the Chalice of Opulence from Benedict 99-40 in the Tower and completing the following questline (you can find a guide for that quest here).
You’ll need runes to be able to pick and choose the weapons and you’ll also need to upgrade your Chalice with a currency called Imperials. You’ll be walked through this process in the intro quest, but if you want some extra imperials to speak to Werner on the barge and pick up Rune Finder, pop that consumable and that will help you gather runes from activities in Destiny 2. You can also open chests on the barge for extra imperials. For the full set, you’ll want to upgrade to Rune Compatibility III.
Let’s get into the best weapons and how to get them.
Imperial Decree
Imperial Decree is an aggressive frame shotgun which increases the rate of fire after a kill. It’s a 55 rpm shotgun with 4 in the mag. This has a great impact base stats of 80 and not bad reload speed of 41. This one can roll with Swashbuckler, Rampage, Trench Barrel, snapshot sights, feeding frenzy, graverobber, full auto, and slideshot.
As it’s a shotgun, you’ll need to upgrade to rune compatibility III. Once you have upgraded then slot a rune of wealth in the top slot and any green rune in the left slot.
Waking Vigil
For the Chalice, you’ll want to load up a Rune of Desire in the top slot and any green rune in the left slot. If you’re short on runes, get the rune finder from Werner on the Barge on Nessus and open up the chests on the barge. Once you have the right runes in the right slots of the Chalice, run the Menagerie and you’ll get that drop at the end.
Waking Vigil is a 150 rpm hand cannon with 12 in the magazine. This is an energy hand cannon too, so could be paired up with useful kinetic weapons like Revoker, Supremacy, Dust Rock Blues or SUROS Regime.
The stats on this weapon are great, as well as the fast-firing rounds per minute, you have big impact stats with 80, great handling 67 and reload speed 60. In the hidden stats, there’s 85 aim assist and 98 on recoil, so it’s another good one for controller users.
Austringer
Once you have a green rune and a red rune slot them into the right place. The Green goes at the top and the red rune goes on the left.
Austringer is an adaptive frame kinetic hand cannon and has a 140 rpm with 11 in the magazine. It’s got base stats of 84 impact, meaning it’s going to hit guardians hard in PVP. The base range on this weapon is 51, so if you can get range perks or a barrel on this gun then that’s going to help you out. It’s also got 64 for stability so it’s not going to jump around too much in your hands.
It can drop with Opening Shot, Rampage, Rangefinder, Outlaw, Triple Tap and more. The curated roll on this one is Rangefinder, Outlaw although Rampage and Outlaw would be great too.
Erentil FR4
You’ll need to have upgraded your chalice, and you’ll need a Rune of Excess in the top slot and any blue rune in the left slot.
Erentil is a high-impact frame, energy fusion rifle that’s got an 860 charge time and 5 in the magazine. It’s got high impact stats of 95 and a pretty good range of 59. Good perks on this gun include Firmly Planted, High Impact Reserves and Back Up Plan
The curated roll comes with Under Pressure for improved stability and accuracy as the magazine gets lower, also Accelerated Coil for the faster charge time and Liquid Coils for an increase in damage.
Dust Rock Blues
The recipe for the chalice is a Rune of Wealth in the top slot and any blue rune in the left slot. Once you have the runes in the right slot, load up the menagerie, run through, kill the boss at the end and open the chest to get your Dust Rock Blues.
Dust Rock Blues is a precision frame legendary shotgun found the kinetic slot, so it pairs well with good energy weapons. It’s got good range and impact stats which can drop with smoothbore for range and moving target for movement speed and target acquisition.
Throne Cleaver / Gold Tusk
The swords from the Menagerie are slightly different from the other weapons. You don’t need the Chalice for these, you simply need to run a Heroic version of the Menagerie and there’s a chance the boss will drop one at the end. Each class gets a sword – Hunter (Gold Tusk), Warlock (Death’s Razor) and Titan (Throne Cleaver).
Swords were buffed in Season of the Worthy, Check out the full changes in the 2.8.0 patch notes.
Beloved
Once you have 2 slots available the top slot required a Rune of Jubilation and the left slot is any red rune.
Beloved is an adaptive fire frame sniper, 90 RPM with 5 in the magazine. It’s solar damage and the curated roll comes with Box Breathing and No Distractions. It’s Solar damage, energy sniper that takes special ammo. This has an impact of 70 so it’s going to hit guardians hard in PVP.
Let me know down in the comments what you think of the Menagerie? What loot have you got and are there any weapons not on this list you think should be there?
That’s it for this guide for how to get the best weapons from the Menagerie. For more Destiny 2 content like this check out the Shadowkeep Guide or check out the YouTube Channel.