Seeing our heroes finally enter the Pale Heart of the Traveler to take the fight to the Witness, The Final Shape is the bombastic finale of the decade-long Light and Darkness saga. Throughout the Destiny 2 The Final Shape missions and campaign quests, you’ll explore the Pale Heart, battle the Dread, and learn more about the Traveler.
Not just that, you’ll also be able to earn brand-new Destiny 2 The Final Shape Exotics, including weapons, armor, and class items. There’s also the Destiny 2 Overthrow activity to keep you occupied once you’ve finished The Final Shape mission list.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape Missions List
The Destiny 2 The Final Shape mission list features the following eight campaign missions and additional quest objectives:
- Mission 1: Transmigration
- Mission 2: Temptation
- Mission 3: Exegesis
- Mission 4: Requiem
- Mission 5: Ascent
- Quest: The Message
- Strike: Liminality
- Mission 6: Dissent
- Mission 7: Iconoclasm
- Raid: Salvation's Edge (not required)
- Mission 8: Excision
This is a similar length to The Witch Queen and Lightfall, both of which featured eight missions in their main campaigns, and a variety of post-campaign activities.
If you had played before The Final Shape raid was released on Friday, June 7, 2024, then you only had access to the first seven missions. The eighth, final mission was only unlocked after the World First Raid race had finished, wrapping up the end of The Final Shape’s campaign story and making way for the first Episode, known as Episode: Echoes.
The final mission, Excision, is a triumphant finale to the Light and Darkness saga that you don't want to miss - or have spoiled for you. I highly recommend you play through The Final Shape mission list before reading the in-depth rundown of each mission below. With that said, care has been taken to be light on spoilers in the following overview of each mission.
Importantly, each mission also unlocks Prismatic Supers, grenades, melee abilities, and Aspects that let you further develop your Prismatic build. Take a look at our guides to the best Destiny 2 Prismatic Warlock builds, Prismatic Titan builds, and Prismatic Hunter builds to find out more.
Transmigration
Transmigration is the first mission in The Final Shape missions list and sees the Guardian enter the Traveler at long last. Here, you will have to fight your way through reimagined versions of the Last City and the Tower from Destiny 1.
Most importantly, you will unlock Prismatic near the end of Transmigration, giving you access to the subclass almost right from the start of The Final Shape’s campaign missions.
Temptation
Mission two, Temptation, follows the Guardian as they explore The Landing in the Pale Heart in search of Crow, who was the first to enter the Traveler. It's pretty simple as far as missions go, tasking you with taking out groups of enemies and solving simple puzzles to progress.
Temptation gives us a great insight into Crow in The Final Shape, as well as strong interactions with Cayde-6.
Exegesis
Exegesis, the third mission, is focused on finding Ikora, which predominantly takes place in The Blooming area of the Pale Heart. Again, it's about what you'd expect, seeing you fighting groups of the Witness' army and completing puzzles. In this case, that's killing Psions to collect keys to spin various locks, and collecting Light and Dark motes to dispel barriers blocking your path.
No spoilers, but this mission finishes with one of the most touching moments in all of Destiny. I won't lie, it made me tear up.
Requiem
Mission four, Requiem, takes place in The Seclusion and focuses on Zavala, seeing you explore more of the Titan Vanguard's past, including his home with his wife and son. This will be a touching moment for many long-time fans, no doubt, with a big impact on the direction of the narrative going forward.
The main puzzle mechanic in this Final Shape mission is various symbols that you need to match. Certain enemies drop runes when defeated that correspond to various plates that you need to stand on to dispel barriers. While this isn't all that problematic in most encounters, there are some rooms where enemies will be all over the place, making it hectic to check which runes you need to activate.
In a rare event in Destiny, you actually get to fight alongside Zavala during this mission. He... doesn't exactly do much, choosing to fire at enemies from behind his shield, but it's a nice touch to get to fight with our Commander.
Ascent
Ascent is the fifth mission and sees you traverse the outskirts of the Pale Heart before scaling a massive glacier, which is a recreation of the Cosmodrome Wall. Here, you will fight your way through the Witness' forces to emerge on the other side, ending the mission where your story began...
You will also unlock the new Light subclass Supers at the end of Ascent. If you're playing with Prismatic, then worry not as these Supers are also available in the Prismatic subclass too.
The Message:
After completing Ascent, you must complete The Message Part 1-3. Although it's not strictly a 'mission', this quest is part of the main narrative and is required to continue. Each part of The Message will send you to a Pale Heart Lost Sector to learn more from the Traveler. Although the Lost Sectors are surprisingly long, they're arguably the most stunning and detailed yet, and the revelations in the quest are impactful.
Liminality:
Once you've completed The Message Part 1, 2, and 3, you will then have to complete Liminality, the new Strike. While it's also not technically considered part of The Final Shape missions list for the campaign, it's required to progress to mission six, Dissent.
Dissent
Dissent is the sixth mission in The Final Shape and is quite possibly the best yet. Seeing you chase after Zavala with Cayde, Crow, Ikora, and even Zavala's Ghost, Targe, it's a tense mission indeed.
Dissent has some of the biggest lore revelations, including details on what the Witness is exactly, and how to defeat it.
After fighting hordes of enemies and pushing further into the Witness's territory, Dissent ends with an intense and climactic boss fight before you have to escape from the area as the ground disappears under your feet. This section is tricky on Legendary, especially as you will need to become Transcendent during the second boss phase, which involves putting yourself in harm's way.
Iconoclasm
Mission seven, Iconoclasm, is the final mission before the Salvation's Edge raid. As you might expect, nearing the end of The Final Shape campaign, Iconoclasm is seeping with lore and revelations as you head to the Witness's ritual site. It's also home to some tricky boss fights and encounters.
Like previous missions, the main puzzle mechanic here is the glyphs dropped by certain enemies, which you will have to mentally keep track of. During the boss fight against Dolgith, Blade of Reasoning, you will have to enter an alternate dimension for this puzzle, where you have to defeat two mini-bosses to drop the glyphs, all while maintaining the protective 'shielded from Darkness' buff. Once you've done this, you must charge the Relic to disable the boss' shield.
Later, you will have a similar boss fight against subjugators while attempting to commune with the dissenters to stop the Witness. This fight follows much the same mechanics as the previous fights, only now you have to use the Relic to protect yourself from attacks at specific intervals.
Once you've wrapped up this mission, you've finished the main campaign missions. Our heroes have been forced to retreat, but not without a crucial blow to the Witness. However, this is where the raid comes into play. The Final Shape raid, Salvation's Edge, saw players weaken the Witness even further, paving the way for the true finale to The Final Shape - Excision.
Excision
Excision is the real final mission in Destiny 2 The Final Shape and the series' first-ever 12-person activity. On a scale never before seen in Destiny, 12 players alongside all our allies - including Caiatl, Nimbus, Savathun, and literally everyone else - finally take the deal the big blow to the Witness. It's the most bombastic mission in the entire The Final Shape campaign, with multiple phases, including gathering powerups and, of course, damaging the Witness itself.
You're also treated to some of the most emotional, impactful, and significant dialogue and cutscenes in the series' history. Seriously, play this mission for yourself to not miss out or have the impact spoiled for you.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape Quest Steps
On your journey to complete all The Final Shape missions, you'll be guided by the quest creatively called 'The Final Shape'. This quest will point you towards your next objective if you get lost, whether it's the next mission, interacting with a character, or completing a required sub-quest.
Spoilers ahead for all quest steps, including the final eighth mission!
The Final Shape quest is comprised of the following 34 steps:
- Begin your trek through the Pale Heart and search for Crow.
- Join Cayde and Crow in Refuge of Repose.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Repose.
- Listen to the radio at Refuge of Repose.
- Search for the wreckage of Ikora's ship.
- Reunite with Ikora and Cayde at Refuge of Silver Wings.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Silver Wings.
- Listen to the radio at Refuge of Silver Wings.
- Press further ahead through the Pale Heart and look for Zavala.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Home.
- Listen to the radio at Refuge of Home.
- Scale the treacherous ice wall with Cayde and Crow.
- Discuss the next move with Ikora, Zavala, and Crow.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Beginnings.
- Listen to the radio at Refuge of Beginnings.
- Attempt to commune with the Traveler in the Broken Deep.
- Attempt to commune with the Traveler in the Forgotten Deep.
- Attempt to commune with the Traveler in the Blooming Deep.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Beginnings.
- Listen to the radio at Refuge of Beginnings.
- Clear a path through a blighted pass, and uncover a long-buried past.
- Crow is going to try to talk Zavala down. This may not end well.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Wishes.
- Help Targe find Zavala, before it's too late.
- Support Zavala at Refuge of Endings.
- Confer with Ghost at Refuge of Endings.
- Confront the Witness in the place where it was made.
- Confer with Ghost in the Lost City.
- Complete the "Destined Heroes" quest.
- Track down an unknown threat with Cayde and Crow.
- The final shape looms. There isn't much time to prepare. You won't be able to defeat the Witness alone. Recover powerful artifacts across the Pale Heart, rally your allies, and fortify the Traveler's Light. Only through your combined strength will you prevail.
- Confront and unmake the Witness.
- Return with Ghost to the Lost City in the Pale Heart.
- Confer with Ghost in the Lost City.
Once you've completed all 34 steps in The Final Shape quest, you've officially completed this landmark expansion. Well, unless you've still got post-campaign quests to complete or Exotics to hunt down.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape Quests
The Destiny 2 The Final Shape quests are:
- The Final Shape - Main campaign quest
- The Messenger 1, 2, and 3 - Main campaign sub-quest
- Wild Card - Exotic post-campaign quest
- Destined Heroes - Exotic post-campaign quest
- The Heart's Depths - Exotic quest
- Convalescence: Budding - Exotic post-campaign quest
- Convalescence: Greenery
- Convalescence: Rootbound
- Convalescence: Underbrush
- The Ascendant
- The Desperation
- The Hellmouth
- The Illusion
- The Oracle
- The Past
- The Return
- The Shadows
- The Veiled
- The Visitation
- Alone in the Dark
- Found in the Dark - Unlocks Prismatic features
- Lost in the Light - Unlocks Prismatic features
The most important quest is Wild Card, which must be completed (alongside the campaign) to access the raid. Completing Wild Card will also unlock the Exotic sniper rifle Still Hunt.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape Legendary Campaign Mode
The Final Shape has a Legendary campaign mode that increases the difficulty and disables Activity Power, ensuring that you are always at a set Power level below the mission difficulty. Legendary mode is designed for experienced players and teams with a solid understanding of their builds and loadouts.
As a reward for beating The Final Shape Legendary campaign mode, you will get to choose an Exotic armor piece from the new additions in this expansion, as well as raid-ready armor. Check out the Destiny 2 The Final Shape Legendary campaign rewards to find out more.
Well, that covers all the latest details on the Destiny 2 The Final Shape missions list for its campaign, including Legendary difficulty and additional quests. Exploring the Pale Heart will also progress you through the fresh new Destiny 2 Pathfinder system, so learn how that works for bonus rewards.