Starcrossed

Starcrossed
Information
Season	23
Type	Exotic Mission
Quest	Wishing All The Best
Starting NPC	Crow
Start	H.E.L.M.
Location	Black Garden
Recommended Power	1810 (Normal), 1830 (Legend)
Description	The stars will be your guide through the Dreaming City and beyond. Complete your mission and claim a weapon of great power lying hidden within the Black Garden.
Friendly NPCs	Riven, Crow
Enemy Types	Vex, Taken
Bosses	Akardon, Pitiless Mind, Ixion, Covetous Mind
Prerequisite	Complete Week 4 of "Wishing All The Best" seasonal story
Previous	Apophasis
Rewards
Equipment	Wish-Keeper
Items	Enhancement Core, Enhancement Prism

"(Normal),1830(Legend)" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 1810.

Overview

Starcrossed is an Exotic Mission introduced in Destiny 2 during Season of the Wish. The mission tasks Guardians with navigating the Black Garden to recover one of Riven's missing Ahamkara eggs that was stolen by the Sol Divisive Vex. Upon completion, Guardians are rewarded with the Wish-Keeper Exotic Strand Combat Bow, a craftable weapon with a Deepsight pattern on first clear.

The mission became accessible during Week 4 of the "Wishing All The Best" seasonal quest, after completing the "Apophasis" mission where Riven's egg was stolen. After its initial release, Starcrossed joined the Exotic Mission Rotator alongside other missions such as Presage, Avalon, Operation: Seraph's Shield, and Vox Obscura.

Story Context

During Season of the Wish, the Guardians formed an unlikely alliance with Riven of a Thousand Voices, the last known Ahamkara. In exchange for helping recover her remaining uncorrupted eggs scattered throughout the Ascendant Plane, Riven promised to grant the fifteenth and final wish that would allow Guardians to follow The Witness through the portal into the Traveler.

In Week 4 of the seasonal storyline, one of Riven's eggs was detected in the Black Garden, but the Sol Divisive Vex - who worship The Witness as a deity - managed to steal it before the Guardians could secure it. This theft enraged Riven, who then revealed a secret path into the Black Garden, giving Guardians a chance to recover her stolen egg.

The Starcrossed mission represents the Guardian's journey into the Black Garden to recover this stolen egg, battling through Vex forces and ultimately confronting Akardon, Pitiless Mind, the Vex Mind responsible for tracking and trapping Riven's egg.

Mission Structure

The Starcrossed mission consists of three main encounters, multiple jumping sections, and several hidden chests that contain valuable rewards including Deepsight Resonance weapons and Wish-Keeper upgrades.

Difficulty Options

The mission offers two difficulty variants:

• Normal - Imposes a -5 Power Penalty with Solar & Stasis Surges, Void Threat modifiers active
• Legend - Imposes a -15 Power Penalty, includes Unstoppable Champions in the first and third encounters, Locked Loadout, and Extinguish on fireteam wipe

Main Mechanics

Starcrossed introduces several key mechanics that players must utilize throughout the mission:

• Sire's Obligation - A buff obtained from blue pools of light that lasts for 45 seconds and allows Guardians to damage Obdurate enemies and see Last Wish symbols.
• Dam's Gift - A buff obtained from red pools of light that lasts for 45 seconds and allows Guardians to safely traverse orange mist areas that would otherwise cause damage.
• Crowned by Dragons - A combined buff received when both Sire's Obligation and Dam's Gift are active simultaneously, enabling Guardians to damage otherwise immune enemies and traverse dangerous areas.

Encounter Breakdown

Phase	Objective	Major foes
Overland	Platforming and introduction to Sire's Obligation	Vex Goblins • Harpies
Open the Way	Defeat three Obdurate Phalanxes in symbol order	Taken Obdurate Phalanx
Transit Mechanism	Kill Gatekeeper Wyverns behind Dam's Gift mist and ignite Vex nodes	Gatekeeper Wyvern ×3, Ixion, Covetous Mind
Roost	Combine buffs to open the vault door	Mixed Vex/Taken
Akardon, Pitiless Mind	Destroy two Pitiless Attendants to drop the Hydra's shield, then defeat Akardon	Akardon (Hydra) • Pitiless Attendant Phalanx ×2

Encounters in Detail

The Overland

The mission begins with Guardians traversing a section of the Black Garden that resembles the opening area of the Garden of Salvation raid. Players must navigate across large branches and rocks, shooting bulbous plant pods to create temporary platforms.

Upon exiting the initial jumping section, Guardians encounter the first major mechanic involving the Sire's Obligation buff, which allows them to damage the Obdurate Phalanx enemies blocking their path. The symbols above locked gates indicate the order in which the Phalanxes must be defeated to progress.

Transit Mechanism

The second major encounter introduces the Dam's Gift buff, which protects Guardians from the orange mist areas. Players must use this buff to navigate through three passages (left, right, and middle) to find and defeat Gatekeeper Wyverns. Once the Wyverns are defeated, players can interact with Vex nodes to unlock the path forward.

After defeating all three Wyverns and activating their respective nodes, a Vex boss named Ixion, Covetous Mind spawns in the central area along with waves of enemies. Defeating this boss completes the encounter.

Vex Platform Jumping Puzzle

Following the Transit Mechanism encounter, Guardians face a jumping section featuring moving Vex platforms. This platforming section focuses more on timing than covering large distances. Players should look for small sources of light that indicate the path forward.

Roost - Barrier Deactivation

The third major encounter combines both mechanics from previous sections. Guardians must obtain both the Sire's Obligation and Dam's Gift buffs (creating the Crowned by Dragons buff) to defeat three Obdurate Phalanxes in the correct order as indicated by the symbols above the barrier.

Akardon, Pitiless Mind

The final encounter pits Guardians against Akardon, Pitiless Mind, a large Vex Hydra. The arena is filled with orange mist, requiring the Crowned by Dragons buff to survive. Players must maintain this buff by periodically refreshing it at the wells on both sides of the arena.

Two Taken Phalanxes called Pitiless Attendants appear on either side of the arena. Defeating them removes Akardon's rotating shield, making it much easier to damage the boss. Throughout the fight, Akardon summons waves of Vex enemies, including Seekers that can detain players and Goblins that can shield the boss.

After defeating Akardon, players can proceed through the newly opened doorway to find Riven's missing egg and a chest containing the Wish-Keeper Exotic Combat Bow.

Hidden Chests and Secrets

Starcrossed contains four hidden chests throughout the mission that reward players with Undying weapons with a chance for Deepsight Resonance, as well as Intrinsic upgrades for the Wish-Keeper Exotic Bow. These chest rewards are limited to once per week per character.

1. First Chest - Cave drop-down shortly after spawn, in an alcove below a big tree branch 2. Second Chest - Left of the first outdoor area, behind a waterfall, requires Dam's Gift to reach (Snareweaver II upgrade) 3. Third Chest - Between first and second encounters, left path, requires Sire's Obligation and Crowned by Dragons (Snareweaver III upgrade) 4. Fourth Chest - After second encounter, dark hallway with orange smoke, requires Dam's Gift (Snareweaver IV upgrade)

Celestial Anomalies

The mission also contains several Celestial Anomalies associated with Constellation quests for unlocking the Wish-Keeper's catalysts. These require players to locate specific points in the mission (or in some cases, the Dreaming City), interact with a beam of light, and shoot stars in the sky with the Wish-Keeper bow to form constellations.

Rewards

Wish-Keeper Exotic Bow

The primary reward for completing the Starcrossed mission is the Wish-Keeper Exotic Strand Combat Bow. This weapon was discovered among the fossilized remains of Taranis, Riven's mate, in the Black Garden.

Wish-Keeper comes with the following perks:

• Snareweaver - Precision hits and final blows build energy towards a Snareweaver arrow that can be fired from the hip. On impact, Snareweaver arrows create a pattern of traps that suspend nearby targets.
• Silkbound Slayer - This weapon deals bonus damage to suspended targets.

Catalysts and Upgrades

Wish-Keeper can be enhanced with four different catalysts, each unlocked by completing Constellation quests and then completing the Starcrossed mission on Legend difficulty:

• Enduring Snare Refit - Snareweaver traps last longer (Constellation: Tower, Overland near Sire's Obligation)
• Multi-Threaded Snare Refit - Snareweaver traps can suspend more targets (Constellation: Lock, Dreaming City Spine of Keres)
• Vorpal Weapon Refit - Increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active (Constellation: Pair, Roost near Dam's Gift)
• Hatchling Refit - Precision final blows or rapidly defeating targets with a non-precision weapon spawns a Threadling at the target's location (Constellation: Wish, Dreaming City Gardens of Esila)

Other Rewards

• Undying weapons with a chance for Deepsight Resonance from hidden chests
• Wyrmguard armor set from Season of the Wish
• Pinnacle gear rewards for weekly Legend completions
• Armor piece rewards for weekly Normal completions
• Various Triumphs including:
  • Binary Stars - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed"
  • Constellational Alignment - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" solo
  • Ahamkaraborn - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" on Legend difficulty
  • Wish Upon a Dragon - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" without dying
  • Supernova Sprint - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" in under 20 minutes

Strategies

Recommended Loadouts

• Subclass Recommendations:
  • Threadrunner (Hunter) - Grapple grenades are ideal for traversing combat arenas, and pairing with Cyrtarachne's Facade grants Woven Mail for damage resistance
  • Berserker or Sunbreaker (Titan) - Provides excellent add clearing capabilities
  • Dawnblade or Shadebinder (Warlock) - Offers good mobility or crowd control

• Weapon Recommendations:
  • Bring an Exotic Primary and a Rocket Launcher. With Heavy Finder mods on your helmet, your Exotic Primary should generate Heavy ammo
  • Dragon's Breath is particularly effective against Akardon as it allows for high damage while staying in cover
  • Kinetic weapons like The Supremacy or Conditional Finality pair well with energy exotics

Boss Fight Tips

• Maintain the Crowned by Dragons buff at all times by refreshing at the wells
• Focus on killing the Pitiless Attendants first to remove Akardon's shield
• Use the sides of the room for cover, as enemies don't frequently venture there
• Prioritize clearing Taken Goblins as they can shield the boss
• Watch out for Seekers that can detain you, making you vulnerable
• On Legend difficulty, assign roles for buff management to maintain the buffs efficiently

Triumphs

Completing the Starcrossed mission under various conditions will award several Triumphs:

• Binary Stars - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed"
• Constellational Alignment - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" solo
• Ahamkaraborn - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" on Legend difficulty
• Wish Upon a Dragon - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" without dying
• Supernova Sprint - Complete the Exotic mission "Starcrossed" in under 20 minutes

Trivia

• Starcrossed is the second Exotic mission to feature both Vex and Taken enemies, after Avalon.
• The mission's buff system mirrors Garden-of-Salvation mechanics, a deliberate callback noted by Bungie developers.
• Following the launch of The Final Shape, Starcrossed was added to the weekly Exotic Mission Rotator, making it available on a recurring basis.