Destiny 2 guide: Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst, Presage Master difficulty

In February, Bungie launched the Exotic quest for the Dead Man’s Tale Exotic scout rifle in Destiny 2. In the new Presage, you can run through a haunted Cabal ship to pick up the Dead Man’s Tale, a highly modified scout rifle. But now, you can replay the mission on a much higher difficulty: Master.

Master Presage recommends 1320 Power and adds a 25 minute timer. But as a reward, Zavala will give you the Dead Man’s Tale Exotic Catalyst, which improves your already impressive new gun.

Here’s how to complete the Presage mission on Master difficulty, and where to find the Hidden Caches to upgrade your new Catalyst.

Unlocking the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst

Image: Bungie via Polygon

After you complete the Presage mission, Zavala will have a new task for you, a quest called “At Your Fingertips.” Pick up the quest and gather your fireteam. You’ll need to complete Presage on the new Master difficulty.

This version of Presage is quite a bit harder. While you can over-level the enemies in this version — unlike the default version of Presage, which forces you under Power — you also have a timer. You’ll need to complete the entire mission in 25 minutes, which is pretty tight.

If you’re already very familiar with the mission, you shouldn’t have much trouble — our group finished it on the first try. But if you’ve only run Presage once or twice, you may want to do a practice run or refresh your memory with our guide.

Presage Master locks your loadout and has Match Game, meaning you and your friends should make sure everyone has weapons to deal with Arc, Solar, and Void shields. The mission says it has Champions but it doesn’t.

Rush through the Presage mission without wasting any time on jumping or puzzle sections and you should get to the boss with about five or six minutes to spare. Take care of the boss and the timer will pause. Complete the mission and return to Zavala for the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst.

Upgrading the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst

You can upgrade the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst two different ways. You can gain percentage by getting kills with the Dead Man’s Tale, or you can pick up Hidden Cache’s inside the Presage mission. The fastest way to complete the Catalyst is a bit of both.

Getting kills with Dead Man’s Tale is pretty straightforward — you can farm them in a specific activity if you’d like, but we recommend just using the weapon on a regular basis. But the Hidden Caches inside Presage give a whopping 12% per Hidden Cache.

Unfortunately, it seems like these Hidden Caches are on a timer, so you can only get one new Hidden Cache per week.

As of March 2, there are three Hidden Caches available. Note that you need to complete Presage on normal or master each week before you can get the Hidden Cache — it has to be on your second run.

Hidden Cache 1

Image: Bungie via Polygon

After you complete the initial jumping puzzle — the spacewalk — you’ll end up in a mini-maze. Take your first left and blow up the vents in front of you. You’ll know you’re at the right one because there should be a mound of space fungus taking up the entire right vent. Walk through and interact with the data pad on the floor.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The pad will disappear and the door ahead of you will open. Walk up to the chest to get a weapon and gain progress toward your Catalyst.

Hidden Cache 2

Image: Bungie via Polygon

This Hidden Cache is almost impossible to miss. Go through the opening maze and progress through the mission until you reach a narrow blue hallway. The data pad is sitting on the floor — you have to step over it to proceed, so just watch your feet. Activate the data pad.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Turn around and you’ll see a trap door in the floor. Drop in to find the next chest.

Hidden Cache 3

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The third Hidden Cache is the easiest to describe. Once you’ve made your way into the ship, opened the big door to the landing zone, and taken your first trip on the Spores, you’ll find yourself in a room with a bunch of vines and a hanging Cabal. Turn right at the Cabal and you’ll find a data pad on the floor. Interact with it.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The door right in front of the data will open, and you’ll find a hidden chest inside. Walk up and loot the chest.

These are all the Hidden Caches currently available in the Presage mission. You’ll need to wait until next week if you want another Hidden Cache.

The Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst gives you a new perk

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Some Catalysts in Destiny 2 just give you some bonus stats, but the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst offers a powerful new perk.

This new perk increases the weapon’s rate of fire while shooting from the hip and removes the hipfire accuracy penalty. This should make Dead Man’s Tale a more powerful tool in clutch situations, and give you some versatility for close-range combat.

Like all Catalysts, you’ll also generate Orbs of Light on multikills once you complete the Dead Man’s Tale Catalyst.