'Destiny 2' Loaded Question Quest Guide: Season 5 Vanguard Pinnacle Weapon

With a new Destiny 2 season comes several new epic pursuits that let players acquire some of the most powerful weapons the game has to offer. For the first time ever, Vanguard activities get their own pinnacle weapon during Season of the Forge called “Loaded Question.” So how can players get it?

Now that Season of the Forge has arrived in Destiny 2 as of November 27, the light level cap has been raised to 650. A slew of new pursuits was also released so players can start grinding their way towards achieving three new pinnacle weapons. The Black Armory expansion doesn’t begin until December 4, so three new pursuits — one each for Vanguard Strikes, Gambit, and the Crucible — will take up the bulk of players’ time starting ASAP.

Bungie previously revealed everything there is to know about Season 5’s pinnacle weaponry via the November 21 “This Week at Bungie” blog post, including every step needed to acquire each weapon.

Loaded Question is a high-impact Arc-powered fusion rifle with a base model that’s really common for fusion rifles. But its unique perk, Reservoir Burst, makes it so that the initial blast is much more powerful: “When the battery is full, your next burst deals additional damage and causes enemies to explode on death.”

Overall, the perk feels a bit underwhelming, but players would be hard-pressed to find something that’s better at handling a large group of smaller enemies like a swarm of Hive Thrall.

Here’s every step in the quest for Loaded Question:

Step 1

Pick up the quest from Zavala

Just like with other pinnacle weapons like Breakneck, players have to pick up the quest from the corresponding vendor. In this case, it’s Zavala, who also has a quest called Danger After Dark that leads to an updated version of the Nightshade pulse rifle

Step 2

Complete all the following objectives in Strikes or Nightfall; you can earn progress toward these goals at the same time.

500 Fusion Rifle kills (in any strike or Nightfall)

1000 Arc kills (in any strike or Nightfall)

40 strike or Nightfall completions

The structure of this pursuit is virtually identical to that of Breakneck, with several tasks tailored to the specific weapon type — in this case, fusion rifles — stacked on top of each other. The obvious choice here is to go into every Strike with a fusion rifle equipped in the energy and power weapon slots, better yet if they’re Arc-powered. There’s no such thing as a kinetic fusion rifle, so there’s no use worrying about that slot.

Also, don’t forget to always use an Arc-based subclass. That’s Arcstrider for Hunters, Striker for Titans, and Stormcaller for Warlocks. We also suggest using Destiny Item Manager to plan a preset loadout that focuses exclusively on fusion rifles and Arc. The Queenbreaker is perhaps the single best weapon to use when pursuing Loaded Question.

Overall, these steps might seem daunting. Completing 40 Strikes is very time-consuming but totally doable by the end of Season 5. And the various kills will come quickly enough so long as players are lucky enough to have two Arc-powered fusion rifles at their disposal.

Because light level advantages come into effect in Strikes, the quest for Loaded Question is actually more difficult than the Gambit-based one for Breakneck but definitely easier than the one for the Mountaintop. Players don’t really need to worry about light level in Gambit or the Crucible, but for Loaded Question, they might need to infuse some of their fusion rifles up to a higher level.

If there’s one pinnacle weapon that’s skippable in Season 5, however, it’s this one. Hardcore Destiny 2 weapon collectors won’t care about that. And for any fusion rifle enthusiasts, Loaded Question is probably a must-own weapon.

Related video: Watch Bungie’s latest ViDoc for even more on “The Road Ahead,” including Season of the Forge and everything beyond.