Destiny 2 Grasp of Avarice dungeon guide and walkthrough

The Grasp of Avarice is Destiny 2’s fourth dungeon and part of the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack. This pirate-themed adventure is filled with loot from Bungie’s past, including some fan-favorite original Destiny weapons like Eyasluna, and more historical Bungie loot like the Claymore from Myth.

In this quick and easy-to-follow guide, we’ll help you navigate the depths of the loot cave so you can emerge victorious with an inventory full of booty.

If you haven’t done Grasp of Avarice before, make sure you grab the “And Out Fly The Wolves” quest from Xur so you can get the Gjallarhorn Exotic rocket launcher.

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Table of contents

• The loot cave and Burdened by Riches
• Getting past the traps
• The Scorch Cannon
• Phry’zhia The Insatiable boss
• The Sparrow bomb
• The cannons
• Captain Avarokk The Covetous boss

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The Cosmodrome and Burdened by Riches

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The Grasp of Avarice first drops you into the Cosmodrome. Run forward, and you’ll see some enemies gathered around the famous Destiny loot cave — if you’re unfamiliar, it’s just the small cave in the side of the wall. Stand outside the loot cave (enemies won’t spawn if you’re too close) and kill every enemy that appears.

Enemies will drop Exotic-looking Engrams that flash gold and red. This is your first introduction to the dungeon’s biggest mechanic: Burdened by Riches.

When you run over one of these Engrams, you’ll earn yourself a Burdened by Riches debuff. It lasts 25 seconds, and if you don’t get rid of it in that time, it’ll kill you. You can stack this debuff by picking up more Engrams, and each new stack refreshes the timer. But you’re going to have to get rid of them eventually. That’s where the crystals come in.

Inside the cave is a small, white crystal. If you stand next to the crystal while holding Burdened by Riches, the crystal will drain the debuff out of you, two stacks at a time. The more stacks you give the crystal, the more it will physically grow. Once it’s grown enough, a hole will open in the floor of the loot cave, and you’ll fall into the dungeon.

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Getting past the traps

Normally Destiny 2 dungeons are relatively straightforward, and we just need to explain the encounters. But the opening to the Grasp of Avarice is a bit different, and warrants an additional section. Because you’re trying to break into a pirate lair, there are booby traps everywhere.

Here’s how to avoid the booby traps and reach the first encounter.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

• Take the second door on the right in the Rusted Gangplank area. (The first will kill you.)
• Jump over the pressure plate in the floor or it will also kill you.
• Pull the lever on the terminal.

Don’t pull the switch at the end of the walkway in the Rusted Gangplank area. (It will launch you into space.)

Image: Bungie via Polygon

• Enter the newly opened pipe.
• Jump forward onto the platforms suspended in the middle of the room. If you stand on them too long you’ll plummet to your death. Don’t jump to the terminal across the way either — it’s another spike trap. Instead …
• Let yourself fall through the trap doors and fall strategically into the secret room on the right.
• Pull the lever, and make your way back to the room with the two doors.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Climb the wall fixtures on your right and keep climbing into the sky.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

There will be six pipes in front of you. Enter the third pipe on the right. You should see sunlight coming in from the grate above you. Step on the pressure pad to open the grate. Jump up.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Climb the fixtures in front of you, careful to avoid the pressure plate on the left, which is a spike trap.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

• Follow the path until you reach another switch. There’s a diagram here that shows doors open and closed. Pay attention to the board.
• Open the switch and move to the next room across the way.
• Turn the switch, zig-zag to the next room where you recently opened a door, and repeat until you reach the third switch room on the left.
• Then jump up and hit another Switch, opening the large doors on the side. Be careful, as these rooms are dark and full of traps.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

With the first big door open, backtrack to the first switch and defeat the enemies behind the newly opened big door.

Hit the switch here to open another big door across the way.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

There will be two doors in this next area. Take the one that leads forward and ignore the one on the left.

Congratulations, you’ve avoided most of the traps in this dungeon.

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The Scorch Cannon

Image: Bungie via Polygon

This is a very fast section that barely counts as an encounter, but it teaches you one of the dungeon’s other big mechanics: Scorch Cannons.

• Jump into the giant cylinder and go to the panel near the door marked one.
• Throw the switch to open door three.
• Go into three, defeat the enemies, and throw the switch there. The switch in three will open up door one, which is filled with enemies.
• Kill them and throw the switch, opening up door two.

Door two holds a Scorch Cannon.

• Have someone with good aim grab it, and move to door number four.
• Aim the Scorch Cannon at the energy box next to door four, specifically the cylinder in the middle.
• Shoot the Scorch Cannon at the cylinder three or four times, or shoot it once and then hold the trigger until the shot fully charges.

When you fully power the device, the door will open and the barricade will drop.

Move up the stairs and jump into one of the crevices so you don’t get crushed by a barrel.

Break the vent in the next room to put yourself on the path to the first boss encounter.

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Phry’zhia The Insatiable

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Phry’zhia is the dungeon’s first real encounter and is very easy. He’s here to make sure you know how the mechanics work in this dungeon.

The arena is broken into two sides: right and left. Each side has locked doors hooked up to energy devices. There’s a Scorch Cannon Vandal in the back of the arena and a crystal in the front.

Kill the enemies and have someone grab the Scorch Cannon. Open the right side doors to reveal a host of enemies. Kill them, pick up their Engrams, and quickly run to the crystal at the front of the room. Deposit your debuffs.

Now open the left side and repeat the process.

Once you’ve grown the crystal enough, it will lower Phry’zhia’s shield. Hide behind the Crystal — or use a Well of Radiance — to stay alive and beat Phry’zhia down with rockets, fusion rifles, linear fusion rifle shots, or even swords.

If you don’t kill Phry’zhia after a certain amount of time, his shield will come back and you’ll need to repeat all of this again.

Once you’ve killed him, go through the door in the back and turn left.

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The Sparrow bomb defusal

Image: Bungie via Polygon

After running for a bit, you’ll come across a big door that leads to an even bigger space. Pull the left switch (not the right, which is a trap) and hop on your Sparrow.

At the end of the area, you’ll see a mine counting down. You need to reach this mine and stay in its area for about a full second to defuse it. If it goes off, you die. You’ll need to repeat this three more times, for four mines total.

Each mine only gives you 15 seconds, but you can extend the timers briefly by running your sparrow near some switches.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Mine A has a switch on the right near some trees.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

And another switch on the left overlooking a bluff.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Mine B has a switch on the right of the little tunnel.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

And another switch on the left ramp.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Mine C has a switch just through the metal ramp

Image: Bungie via Polygon

And another switch at the end of the tunnel on the left.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Mine D has a switch on the rock ramp on the right.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

And another switch in the right eye socket of the skull (your left), which you can get to by taking the cannon on the left.

When you defuse Mine D, you’ll finish the encounter.

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The cannons

Image: Bungie via Polygon

This encounter takes place in a giant lagoon. You’ll see a kind of mechanical metal hot air balloon stuck into the cave’s ceiling, with orange nodes around the sides. There are multiple platforms in each of these areas, and each platform has its own cannon (which you can move in multiple directions) and a Scorch Cannon Vandal.

Steal a Scorch Cannon and use it to activate the energy device connected to the cannon and jump your way onto one of the platforms. To launch yourself and your friends, make sure everyone who wants to fly is under the cannon before you shoot the power supply. If you’re trying to launch yourself, you’ll need to shoot the Scorch Cannon onto the power device, hold the trigger so it doesn’t blow up, move yourself under the cannon, and let go of the trigger.

You’re looking for what we’re going to call an “active” platform, meaning there are enemies on it — more specifically, you’re looking for a shielded Servitor called an “Abundance Monitor.” When you find the Servitor, angle the cannons and jump your way to the Servitor's platform — this may take multiple jumps, depending on where you’re going.

Clear the active platform of enemies, and pick up their Engrams when they die. Deposit them in the crystal in the platform’s center room. When you’ve done it enough, the crystal will grow and break the Servitor's shield. Kill the Servitor.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Instead of dying like normal, the Servitor will turn into a rolling cannonball. Walk up to the Servitor, and use your body to push it toward that platform’s cannon — be careful not to dump the bomb into the lagoon below. Once the cannonball is in place, rotate the cannon so it’s facing the orange node on the hot air balloon. With everything ready, use the Scorch Cannon to activate the cannon, launching the cannonball into the node.

If done correctly, you’ll take off a fourth of the “Fallen Shield” health bar. Repeat three more times to finish the encounter. Then ride the final cannon in the middle of the lagoon up to the final boss.

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Captain Avarokk the Covetous

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Captain Avarokk is the final boss of the Grasp of Avarice dungeon, and like the previous boss, he’s not too tough.

This room is broken up into four sections: three enemy platforms with chests hanging off the wall, and the ship/stage in the middle. Captain Avarokk will spend all their time on the stage while you and your buddies will hang on the enemy platforms.

Kill R-M80 and Grisprax

The first thing you need to do in this fight is kill Captain Avarokk’s two minions. There’s the Shank, R-M80 (read that out loud if you don’t get the ‍☠️ joke) and the stealth Vandal, Grisprax. These enemies have tons of health and will kill you very quickly if you get too close to their Captain.

R-M80 doesn’t drop any Engrams when you kill it, but Grisprax drops 10 Engrams. When it dies, jump on the stage, grab the Engrams, and deposit your debuff into the crystal in the center of the room — be very careful of the boss and use the crystal to shield yourself.

Scorch Vandal, power supplies, and the Scorch Cannon

With those Engrams deposited, kill the Scorch Vandal somewhere in the room and grab their weapon. There are three power supplies — the things you’ve been shooting with the Scorch Cannon — attached to the stage rigging. Have each of your friends take a different enemy platform and then fire the Scorch Cannon into the power supply until it’s fully charged. This will cause hammers on the walls to slam into the hanging chests, raining Engrams down.

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Dump Engrams, grow the crystal

If you’ve done this correctly, you should have 30 total Engrams split among you. Drop them all in the crystal, and then repeat. Including the Engrams from Grisprax, it took two rounds of dumping 30 Engrams to grow the crystal. There is some wiggle room, however, and after running the dungeon multiple times, we’re fairly certain you only need 60 engrams to grow it, not the full 70.

Kill Captain Avarokk

Once the crystal is up, the boss will teleport to the back of the room and just kind of stand there. Captain Avarokk will lose their shield, and you can shoot them from the crystal (we recommend similar weapons to Phry’zhia).

Like the first boss, you only have so long before Captain Avarokk’s shield comes back. If you don’t kill them after the first phase, you’ll need to repeat all of the above again.

Once Captain Avarokk is dead, the big chest in the back will swing open, and you’ll be able to collect your booty. And if this is your first time through, you’ll be well on your way to the Gjallarhorn Exotic rocket launcher.