Destiny 2 Guide: How to Unlock Ace of Spades in Forsaken

Warning! SPOILERS for Destiny 2: Forsaken ahead!

This week Bungie releases Destiny 2: Forsaken - a new expansion for the year-old sequel that is introducing new game modes, locations, enemies and weapons as well a brand new story. Among those new weapons will also be a few familiar exotics that have been reforged with new perks - including the Ace of Spades, Cayde-6’s trusty hand cannon, which comes with a perk that gives bonus damage when reloaded after a kill.

Forsaken’s story revolves around our Guardians getting revenge on Prince Uldren for the murder of Cayde-6. This includes getting back the Ace of Spades - which as we see in the Destiny 2: Forsaken trailers, Uldren uses to carry out the dastardly deed - earning it through one of the game’s exotic quests. Exactly how and when players will receive the Ace of Spades exotic quest, Cayde’s Will, remains unclear, but it’s most likely connected to completing Forsaken’s main story campaign.

Still, acquiring the Ace of Spades won’t be easy as defeating Prince Uldren or finishing the story. As with most exotic weapons quests, there will be several steps Guardians need to undertake in order to unlock the weapon:

1. Reclaim Cayde's gun, the Ace of Spades, from Uldren Sov.

Reclaiming the Ace of Spades from Uldren is merely the beginning. Chances are, players will receive the Ace of Spades upon defeating Uldren - though how our Guardians actually accomplish that remains to be seen.

2. Take the broken Ace of Spades to Banshee-44.

Once players have acquired the Ace of Spades - which, naturally, has been broken - they’ll need to take it to the gunsmith, Banshee-44, in the Tower. He’ll inspect the gun and give our Guardians a list of tasks to complete in order to gather the necessary data to tune the Ace of Spades specifically to our hands. (It’s a very personal gun, you see.)

3. Get 5 invasion kills with a Hand cannon in Gambit to collect the biorhythmic data Banshee needs to tune the Ace of Spades to your hand.

The first of Banshee's tasks is getting five invasion kills in Gambit with a hand cannon. Luckily, this step allows players to use whichever hand cannon they’re comfortable using, but it may still be challenging to get five invasion kills - kills of enemy players when your Guardians invades during Forsaken’s new mode, Gambit.

4. Eliminate 250 enemies in strikes with a Hand Cannon to collect the biorhythmic data Banshee needs to tune the Ace of Spades to your hand.

Having managed to kill five enemy players in Gambit with a hand cannon, players will next be asked to kill 250 enemies during strikes. This step, while easier in that it involves killing NPCs and not opposing players, may still be a daunting endeavor when it comes to racking up over 200 kills. Thankfully, Bungie has promised to improve strikes with Forsaken, doing away with Heroic Strikes and adding the option to choose a difficulty best suited for your Guardian's power level (300, 400, or 500).

5. Get 25 precision Hand Cannon kills in the Crucible to collect the biorhythmic data Banshee needs to tune the Ace of Spades to your hand.

By far the most challenging step in the Cayde Will’s questline, this one requires players to get 25 precision kills - so make sure to aim for the head - with any hand cannon while in the Crucible. This again means it’s back to a PvP activity instead of PvE, but for the most dedicated Destiny players, this won’t be an issue. Plus, Crucible matches now feature teams of six as opposed to only four, allowing more chances to land those head shots.

6. Search the solar system for Cayde's personal caches.

During the first year of Destiny 2, Cayde would give players treasure maps to help track down his many caches hidden on different planets. It’s possible that is what this quest step refers to, only this time players will need to find the caches without any maps to help. Of course, diligent players will remember where those caches are (while the rest of us will turn to searching the internet).

7. Cayde's personal cache is on Titan. Fight your way back into the Arcology to claim the parts you need to repair the Ace of Spades by completing mission "Ace in the Hole."

It’s unclear if finding the other caches is what triggers this mission on Titan, but regardless, players will next need to complete the mission “Ace in the Hole”, after which, they’ll receive the final parts needed to repair the Ace of Spades.

8. Bring the recovered Ace of Spades parts back to Banshee-44 in the Tower.

Return to Banshee-44 and receive your newly repaired, personally attuned Ace of Spades! Cayde would be so proud.