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Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Pain And Gain exotic quest guide

How to get the Exotic Riskrunner gun in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep

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There’s a new Destiny 2 expansion out in the world, so you know what that means: let the grind begin! Shadowkeep doesn’t waste any time putting its players on the loot chase, giving you a new Exotic quest right from the get-go. The new Pain and Gain quest rewards you with Riskrunner, an Exotic submachine gun, as well as its catalyst.

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If Riskrunner sounds familiar, that might be because it’s been in the game since launch as a reward for completing one of the main campaign’s first missions. While that might be disappointing for veteran players looking to get some new gear, Riskrunner does drop as powerful gear, making it valuable for players who want to level up quick for the raid. Here’s how to complete the Pain and Gain quest and get your hands on Riskrunner.

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Step 1: Joy In Suffering

To start, head over to the Tower and speak with Banshee-44, the gunsmith. Once you accept the quest, you’ll get a short to-do list:

  • Complete a Lost Sector in the EDZ
  • Heroic public event completed
  • Nightfall strike completed

This step is as straightforward as they come. Since every character starts at 750 power, you should have no problem checking these off. Pick any Lost Sector in the EDZ, beat the boss enemy inside, and loot the chest to complete this. If you want to kill two birds with one stone, you can take care of the public event step while you’re there as well. For newcomers, every public event can be turned heroic by completing a secret condition. Each one is different, so you may want to research a few first if you’re feeling lost.

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The Nightfall step isn’t terribly daunting either, though you’ll need to gather a fireteam to complete it. Pick the lowest power level mode to finish this off and open the next step of the quest.

Step 2: Risk/Reward

Once you’ve completed step 1, open up your director and go to the EDZ. You’ll see a new mission there called Risk/Reward. This mission is a bit of a throwback for Destiny veterans, taking you back to the Cosmodrome from the first game.

To start, you’ll need to defeat three Dusk Captains scattered around the map. The captains show up one at a time, so you’ll need to kill other enemies in the area to spawn the other captains. Once that’s completed, you’ll be prompted to “Traverse The Chasm.” Follow the marker into a secret area, which will require you to do a lot of jumping to navigate. Keep following your marker and you’ll eventually find Arc Conductors. Pick these up and you’ll get Riskrunner.

To finish the mission, you’ll kill some Fallen raiders with Riskrunner, giving you a chance to try it out. Completing this will reward you with the weapon’s catalyst, which will give Riskrunner some extra oomph. Once that’s done, talk to Banshee-44 again to formally complete the quest.

If you already have Riskrunner and its catalyst, there’s not a lot of incentive to do this aside from the power levels. But for new players, this is an easy way to get your first Exotic without going through many hoops, so knock this one out while you’re working on Shadowkeep’s campaign for an early boost!

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Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
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