KEY POINTS

  • The Parasite is a reward for completing the "Of Queens and Worms" quest
  • Players must complete the main story campaign of "The Witch Queen" first
  • The weapon can deal extreme amounts of damage in one hit

One of the iconic exotic weapons this season in “Destiny 2” is the Parasite, a grenade launcher that shoots oversized worms instead of traditional projectiles. This might sound like a gimmick at first, but it’s incredibly powerful for both add-clear and boss damage.

Like the Ager’s Scepter and many other exotics in the past, Parasite comes with a quest. However, this one is tied directly to the main “Witch Queen” campaign, and it can only be started after players beat the final mission.

After defeating Savathun in the final battle, players will receive a new task from Mara Sov. This will kick off the “Of Queens and Worms” questline, which will have players babysit the Witch Queen’s old parasitic worm in exchange for information.

The Parasite can deal extremely high damage when fully stacked - Destiny 2
The Parasite can deal extremely high damage when fully stacked Destiny 2

Here are all of the steps needed to finish this quest:

  1. Speak to Mara at the Enclave
  2. Complete the “Birthplace of the Vile” strike at the Throne World
  3. Talk to Fynch
  4. Find the Cryptolith rune at the Temple of Cunning
  5. Kill Scorn at the Throne World
  6. Pick up the incubator at the Sepulchre Lost Sector in the Fluorescent Canal
  7. Complete three patrols at the Fluorescent Canal
  8. Find the Cryptolith rune at the Queen’s Bailey
  9. Grab the incubator inside the Metamorphosis Lost Sector at the Miasma region
  10. Find the Deepsight Cache at the Alluring Curtain
  11. Grab the incubator found in the Extraction Lost Sector at the Quagmire region
  12. Talk to Fynch
  13. Finish the Parasitic Pilgrimage mission

The quest is fairly straightforward, and players will be guided accordingly by quest markers. At this point of the game, players should be well over 1,500 Light, and they should be more than capable of finishing the content related to the quest with ease.

During the final segment of the Parasitic Pilgrimage mission, players will have to use the Parasite grenade launcher as part of the quest. After that, the weapon will be theirs to keep.

The Parasite gains damage-boosting stacks for every kill they score with other weapons before firing a worm at enemies. At 20 stacks, each worm can deal up to 300,000 damage, making it one of the best burst damage weapons in the game.

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