Destiny 2 Make Bows, Not War Exotic Bow Quest Guide - How To Earn The Leviathan's Breath

Destiny 2's Season of Dawn is quickly coming to an end, and we'll soon have a new slate of Exotics to chase. The good news is, there's you can still go after the older ones, such as Dawn's Bastion and Devil's Ruin--as well as last season's Heavy ammo Exotic Bow, Leviathan's Breath. To get the bow, you need to complete Make Bows, Not War, a quest you can get from Banshee-44. Like all Exotic quests, the steps to earn the Leviathan's Breath bow are pretty involved, and require you to grind a lot of kills and figure out a few secrets, including the location of Banshee's workshop.

Leviathan's Breath is capable of firing heavy bolts that can stagger unshielded enemies. When the bow is fully drawn, it also creates a concussive blast that knocks back other enemies. The bow does massive damage and seems highly useful against bosses and in the Crucible, and it seems like it'll be very useful in situations like the Garden of Salvation raid. (And if you're not a fan of bows, worry not: the Xenophage Exotic quest is here for you to chase as well, although it's significantly tougher to earn than Leviathan's Breath.)

You can kick off the quest by visiting Banshee-44 in the Tower, who will give you schematics and send you to find his workshop. The trouble is, he doesn't say how to get into it, but alludes to Cayde-6 having an idea of a secret back entrance. Since we know Cayde used to hang out in the Tower's Hangar section, that's the first stop. You can see where to find Banshee's workshop below or check out the video guide above.

How To Find Banshee-44's Workshop

• Head to the Hangar and turn left. Look for the staircase in the back corner that leads up to the second-floor catwalks. This is where you go to meet Xur when he comes to the Tower.
• Up on the second floor, follow the catwalks back toward the entrance to the Hangar. If you look over the door, you'll see another catwalk you can't reach unless you jump. Hop over to it and you'll find a vent entrance.

• Follow the vent through and you'll enter a series of rooms. When you hit the one full of shelves, look up. In the back of the room is a shelf you can climb to reach another vent. Jump into it.

• Keep following these vents until you drop into a cylindrical shaft. Use the platforms to climb to the top and find the exit.

• Work your way through the path forward until you finally hit Banshee's workshop. Approach the weapons locker at the far end and interact with it to get another quest step--it seems you need the keys to unlock this thing, so head back to Banshee.

Leviathan's Breath Quest Steps

The rest of the steps have been datamined and posted on Reddit by user Lloydle. We're still verifying the steps, but these datamines tend to be accurate and should give an idea of what you're up against.

The Back Way

"Banshee-44 wants to give you a weapon stored in his workshop, but he didn't specify how to get in. Locate the hidden entrance to Banshee's workshop and find the weapon." (See the steps above.)

Where Are the Keys, Sir

"You found a Bow in a display case in a room that's got to be Banshee's workshop. Problem is, the case is locked. Return to Banshee to complain. (Politely, of course.)"

Complete this step by visiting Banshee, who then tells you that you'll be stuck trying to decrypt the keycode to get into his weapons locker. That includes several steps of completing activities and killing enemies.

Intro to Safecracking 101

"You need a rotating keycode to access the Bow in Banshee's workshop, but the original has been lost. You'll have to generate a new code following the same steps that Banshee did. First on Banshee's list is to get out into the field to seed a key generator with combat data. Seed data for a new keycode by completing Gambit matches or Vanguard strikes. Gambit Prime matches and Nightfall strikes grant the most efficient progress."

Your job here is to generate "data" by completing activities--specifically, Strikes or Gambit Prime matches. The quickest way to get through this is by running Nightfall Strikes, which give you 50% completion with each one. But really, you can run whatever you need for your weekly Powerful drops to complete this step quickly. Regular Strikes will give you 20% progress with each completion, while Gambit Prime matches award 35% if you win and 25% if you lose.

Advanced Safecracking 201

"The key generator is seeded with viable combat data, and it can now output keycodes… but to constrain the possible set of generated codes, Ghost says you'll need to provide the generator with some more targeted data. Literally. Use a Bow to land precision final blows against Vex or Cabal."

For this step, you might think that heading into the Vex Offensive activity will get you quick progress. You'd be wrong, however; there are too many competing Guardians in the activity, and landing precision shots with a bow on many kinds of Vex is a bit finicky. For best results, head to Nessus, where you can find Vex and Cabal, or better still, the EDZ, where you can get kills with your bow and credit for this week's Flashpoint.

Economics of War

"The key generator needs just a little more data before you're ready to return to Banshee for final authentication. To further limit the possible codes the generator can create, you'll have to recreate the conditions under which Banshee programmed the first codes: fighting Red Legion forces during the Red War. Complete an epic reprise of strike 'The Arms Dealer' in the European Dead Zone on Earth."

Open the EDZ map on the Director to find the node for loading the Strike. The Director will tell you it's Power level 900, but that's a little deceptive--especially in the final fight, this Strike is a pain thanks to its modifiers. Blackout means you get no radar and take extra damage from melee attacks, so you'll need to put special emphasis on clearing enemies and making sure nobody's coming up behind you. Enemies are also harder to stagger and generally more resilient, so bring your best weapons.

Most of the Strike is pretty straightforward, but the final fight with Bracus Zahn sees a big change also: orbital strikes. These are missiles fired from a ship above you, in a similar fashion to what you see during the Cabal Excavation public event. Red rings appear on the ground that damage you if you stand in them, and missiles will shortly fall in those spots that will take you out. The attacks will consistently follow you and they do big damage, so you need to keep moving.

For loadout, you want weapons that will deal big damage to Zahn, as well as reliable enemy-clearing guns. The Recluse was especially helpful for keeping things from getting too hairy during the fight, as was Mountaintop or another grenade launcher with Spike Grenades. If you've got a free slot, a strong sniper rifle might help put the hurt on Zahn quickly as well. You want to try to do big damage to the boss if you can, because dealing with waves of minion enemies is where the fight can fall down, especially with snipers, orbital strikes, Zahn himself, and Centurians to deal with. My strategy included clearing all enemies as quickly as possible before turning attention to Zahn, but my team wound up saving most of our focus on him for the end phase of the fight, when he stops using the high platforms to hide. Put a focus on staying alive to outlast Zahn and you'll emerge victorious.

Applied Cryptosecurity

"You've completed all the necessary calibrations on the key generator. The only thing remaining is a biometric authentication from Banshee. Return to Banshee-44 in the Tower."

Once you clear the Strike, the quest is all but over. Return to Banshee to get your key code, then head back to his workshop to get your Leviathan's Breath.

Martial Archery 401

Return to Banshee's workshop to claim the Bow.

Check back for more info on Leviathan's Breath as we work through the quest. In the meantime, there are more Exotic weapons to track down in Shadowkeep and the Season of the Undying. Those are Deathbringer, a Hive-themed rocket launcher that works more like a mortar, and Divinity, the Garden of Salvation Raid trace rifle that includes a lot of puzzle-solving.