How to get Essence of Desire in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 knows you want that shiny new auto rifle, and you can channel that aspiration into Essence of Desire during the game’s third episode, Heresy. Getting this resource lets you offset some of the RNG involved in the seasonal loot chase and ensure you get the drops you want.

Essence of Desire is a great complement to your loot chase in Heresy. And if you’re diving into the Nether, you’re bound to have your fair share of this resource. Here’s how to get Essence of Desire in Destiny 2 and what you can do with it.

What does Essence of Desire do in Destiny 2?

You use Essence of Desire to get more loot during Heresy activities. You can use this resource to get items on the Dreadnaught or fuel the magic from the Tome of Want, which lets you target drops.

If you played some of the older Destiny 2 seasons, Essence of Desire is essentially your main seasonal currency, which you can obtain by grabbing resources and converting them into different resources.

How to get Essence of Desire in Destiny 2

Essence of Desire drops from the Nether, but not directly. Harvesting nodes in the activity gives you Fleeting Metastasized Essentia, which in turn becomes Metastasized Essentia after completing encounters in the Dreadnaught.

After you’ve obtained enough Metastasized Essentia, interact with the totem inside Eris’ apartment to turn in your drops. Doing so transforms the Essentia into Essence of Desire and grants you some reprised loot for your trouble. Check your Inventory tab to make sure you’ve transformed as many resources as you could.

After borrowing the totem’s magic, you’re ready to use your hard-earned Essence of Desire however you want.

How to use Essence of Desire in Destiny 2

You can spend Essence of Desire in two ways in Heresy so far. The main one is to power the Tome of Want. The mysterious artifact works as a simpler form of focusing. Activating a ritual costs some Essence of Desire, so you must spend this resource if you want to target-farm some gear of your choice.

While you’re on the Dreadnaught, however, you may also find treasure chests that cost two Essence of Desire to open. These containers give you a random weapon from the Heretic Arsenal upon interacting with them. Think of it as expediting the Tome of Wants: the ritual gives out rewards up to thrice when you complete its objectives, but the chest immediately gives you one drop.

Those treasure chests award a random weapon, but the Scotopic Rune shows what’s inside. Equipping it requires enhancement rank two and 150 Sigil Shards, so you may not have it on hand immediately. In our limited testing, it seems the chests drop the same item type for all players in the instance, so only one guardian might need to run this rune.