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Bird of Prey & Harbinger mission - Destiny 2

The Bird of Prey Exotic quest in Destiny 2 rewards a unique ship, but you will need to start and complete the Harbinger mission first.

Sam Chandler

January 19, 2021 11:55 PM

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Bird of Prey, one of the final quests of the Season of the Hunt, has been released in Destiny 2. This quest rewards an Exotic ship but in order to get it, players must complete a challenging mission called Harbinger. It’s not clear how to start Harbinger or how to progress to new areas and the various encounters are tough as nails. For those who are able, bring a fireteam!

Bird of Prey quest

The Bird of Prey quest in Destiny 2 is picked up from Crow in the Tangled Shore. Completing this quest rewards an Exotic ship but completing the Harbinger mission within this questline rewards the Hawkmoon Exotic catalyst and another copy of Hawkmoon, albeit with random rolls. You must have Hawkmoon unlocked to gain access to this quest.

Step 1: Visit Crow in the Tangled Shore

Speak with Crow and collect the quest, Bird of Prey, from his Quest section. Next, you will need to get into the mission, Harbinger, which is not easy to find.

How to start Harbinger

The Harbinger mission does not appear on your map. To start Harbinger, you will need to go to the EDZ, specifically Trostland. Use the fast travel point in Trostland and then cross to the opposite side of the church. Look for the building near the entrance to Maevic Square, you should see a paracausal bird sitting on part of the wall.

Jump up and into the building and look for the fireplace. You will need to shoot a hole in the wall if there isn’t one already. Walk through and look for the button prompt to start the mission. When the mission starts, you will need to go back into the fireplace as the other avenues are blocked by Taken barriers.

Step 2: Feathers of Light

For this step of Bird of Prey, you will need to collect Feathers of Light from the Harbinger mission over several weeks. There are three feathers to be found in the miniboss section of the mission where you must defeat three Emissaries. There are also a couple of feathers in the caverns before the final fight. Feathers can also be earned by defeating the end boss.

Wizard boss room

Right before the Wizard room there is a feather in a cage. Use the red button on the wall to open the cage.

Phalanx boss room

The feather can be found up on the catwalk between the two turbines.

Captain boss room

This feather is right before the boss room, at the top of the cylinder room with the catwalks to climb up. The feather is on a box at the top.

Harbinger mission guide – Recommended Power 1270

The Harbinger mission has a recommended Power of 1270, making it more challenging than the Deep Stone Crypt raid and about as brutal as the Legend and Master Lost Sectors. As for completing the Harbinger mission, it can be easy to get lost in the first few hallways and some of the encounters are brutally challenging while solo.

When you first start Harbinger (by interacting with the fireplace in Trostland), work your way through the fireplace and follow the narrow path along. As you get to the alleyway with pipes, look along the right-hand wall for the next path onwards.

You’ll reach a part with a Hobgoblin sniping you. This section can be difficult to appraise, but in order to progress you must work your way along the cliff toward the dam in the distance. Start by jumping to where the Hobgoblin was (or just below it). The next jump is to a tree branch that is almost horizontal and pointing at the dam. From the tree, jump over to the dam wall and land on the lip.

Progress to a part where the wall slopes upwards. Walk up this and jump up the lips. On the right will be a platform you can stand on, below which is an open door in the wall. Get into this door to continue along the mission. Equipping a sword may make this easier as you can swing in mid-air to move laterally.

Continue through the dam, jumping up through a grate in the ground to reach the internal area. This is a long corridor full of Vandal Snipers as well as other Taken combatants. The goal is to damage each Emissary until they enter a little side room locked by Taken Blights. Destroy the Blights to gain access and then take out the Emissary.

When all three Emissaries are defeated, go to the end of the large turbine room to find a Phalanx defending a door covered in a Taken Blight. Destroy the blight and push onwards.

You will eventually reach the area where you fight the boss in the Lake of Shadow Strike. This room tasks you with surviving waves of enemies. The best place to hold up is down to the right behind a pipe and generator. The next wave of enemies won’t spawn until everyone is defeated, so take your time and focus on surviving.

The first wave of enemies consists of Taken Wizards and Thrall. Focus on thinning the Thrall and then take down the Wizards when it’s safe to do so.

The second wave will be an Unstoppable Phalanx, Sniper Vandals, and a Phalanx with an Arc shield. Take the enemies out in whatever order you see fit. Depending on who approaches your area first will likely be the deciding factor. Don’t forget about the Snipers as they will punish any mistakes.

The third wave will have two Unstoppable Champions, Goblins, and a Taken Captain. This will be about trying not to draw the attention of the Taken Captain. Other than slowly whittling down the health of enemies, there’s really not a grand strategy for this one. Stay safe and pop your Super if you need it.

When the Survive room is completed, you will need to continue along through a jumping puzzle and wind up in another boss room (these are the same as the quest to unlock Hawkmoon). This boss fight is about dealing damage, clearing enemies, and then dealing more damage. The main place you want to hold up will be on the cliffs on the side of the area.

Start the fight by dealing damage to the boss from the safety of the edges. Try not to get hit by its attacks, especially the fire. After dealing enough damage, the boss will disappear and enemies will fill the area. Defeat the enemies on your edge and then focus on clearing out the remainder.

When all the enemies are clear, the boss will come back in, at which point you will need to chip off more of its health. As its health falls down another threshold, it will disappear from the room and more enemies will spawn. Repeat the process of clearing enemies to get the boss back.

This repeats until the boss is defeated, at which point you will finish the Harbinger mission and be rewarded with another random-rolled Hawkmoon and the Hawkmoon Exotic Catalyst!

The Bird of Prey questline, and its Harbinger mission component, is no pushover. However, by using some specific strategies in the encounters, most players should hopefully be able to finish it and claim their Hawkmoon Exotic Catalysts. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Destiny 2 guide for even more helpful Exotic quest walkthroughs.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler