Destiny 2 Wayfinder's Compass explained: Compass calibration, artefact unlocks and power bonuses explained

Publish date: 2022-06-08
The Wayfinder's Compass is your primary quest item as you progress through Season of the Lost in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2 Wayfinder's Compass is a quest item introduced in Season of the Lost.

Similar to the Splicer's Gauntlet in Season of the Splicer, as well as the Hammer of Proving in Season of the Chosen, the Compass allows you to earn rewards by reaching certain milestones. But in comparison, it has been simplified greatly.

The Compass is charged with XP to gain access to artefact mods, while increasing the calibration level unlocks upgrades that will help you in the new seasonal activities.

This page will explain how the Wayfinder's Compass works, including details on compass calibration as well as how to gain access to artefact unlocks and power bonuses.

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How the Wayfinder's Compass works in Destiny 2 in brief

To start using the Wayfinder's Compass, you need to progress through Mission Cocoon, which is the introductory seasonal quest, Wayfarer's Voyage.

This begins as soon as you log in Destiny 2's Season of the Lost for the first time. You'll have to search for Mara Sov in the Dreaming City, stumbling upon a number of iconic characters in the way as the story sets the conflict to come.

By the end, Wayfinder's Voyage I will start, which will automatically lead you to use the Wayfinder's Compass. This will become available to use both in your inventory screen and in the H.E.L.M. hub space.

Here's an overview of the uses from the Wayfinder's Compass:

  • Collect Parallax Trajectory from playlist activities, Ascendant Anchors, public events, and by defeating enemies across the Solar System. Use it to purchase Wayfinder's Compass upgrades.
  • Complete Seasonal Challenges, such as Ascendant Ballast and Ley Line Rumours, to increase your Compass Calibration level.
  • Gain XP from anywhere across the game and use it to gain access to power bonuses and artefact mods.

    • It's worth keeping in mind that, unlike previous seasons, you don't need to charge the Wayfinder's Compass. In addition, it does not appear in your quests screen - only in your character screen and in the H.E.L.M. station.

    That's the essentials - but if you want more specifics, the following sections on how Compass Calibration and Wayfinder's Compass upgrades work can help.

    How Wayfinder's Compass Calibration works in Destiny 2 explained

    Let's start with the use of the Wayfinder's Compass in the H.E.L.M. social hub space.

    Along with offering bounties and eligible rewards every now and then, the vendor works primarily as a Compass Calibration station.

    Instead of using currencies such as Decrypted Data, Wayfinder's Compass Calibration is upgraded by completing selected seasonal challenges.

    In short, not all seasonal challenges will count. Those that do increase your Compass Calibration level have a small compass icon, indicating that this is one of the rewards.

    As soon as you hover over the challenges' descriptions, this will immediately become clear.

    Some challenges like Ascendant Ballast and Ley Line Rumours are some of them - you can expect around at least two per week, based on what we've seen so far, and these usually are activity specific.

    At the very least, these seasonal challenges will remain available in subsequent weeks in case you missed them the first time around, so don't fret, as you'll be able to catch up then.

    Wayfinder's Compass abilities and rewards, including Barrier Breach, True Sight and Safe Passage explained

    When accessing the Compass from the Compass Calibration screen at the vendor, you will notice three rows of unlockable abilities, titled as Wayfinding, Envisioning and Harmonizing.

    These can all be purchased using Parallax Trajectory, but the requirements vary.

    Some of them will ask for a certain Compass Calibration level, while others won't be up for sale until you reach a specific step in the Wayfinder's Voyage questline.

    These include three abilities that will become useful during Season of the Lost activities. The list is as follows:

  • Barrier Breach: Unlocked after completing Wayfinder's Voyage step 3
  • True Sight: Unlocked after completing Wayfinder's Voyage step 11
  • Safe Passage: Unlocked after completing Wayfinder's Voyage step 17

    • In summary, be patient! Season of the Lost is here to stay for a long while, so you will be unlocking more of these upgrades as you go.

    Season of the Haunted is here! Get up to speed with our levelling guide. For The Witch Queen, learn how to get Exotics including Dead Messenger and Parasite. Late last year, we saw the Bungie 30th Anniversary, which adds the Grasp of Avarice dungeon, Strange Coins and new Exotics, including the Gjallarhorn and Forerunner.

    How the Wayfinder's Compass Artefact work in Destiny 2 explained

    There's another use for the Wayfinder's Compass in your inventory screen.

    This may seem overly complex at first, but it's rather straightforward. The main element used here is XP, so you don't really need to do anything specific. Of course, purchasing bounties with Glimmer before taking part of weekly and daily activities will help a great deal.

    After hitting certain milestones (which are always displayed when you hover over the compass), you will unlock both power bonuses and artefact mods.

    Basically, artefact unlocks serve as a currency of sorts to purchase artefact mods. These can be then slotted into your gear as regular mods. Bear in mind that you can only have a total of 12 artefact unlocks, so, only 12 artefact mods will be up for purchase.

    That being said, you can reset your unlocked artefact mods by spending a couple thousand Glimmer a pop. That being said, the price will increase with each subsequent reset, so plan accordingly.

    Power bonuses, on the other hand, increase the overall XP cost of leveling up the Compass. If you thought it would be easier, well, this is Destiny we're talking about.

    There are a few interesting mods further down the line that are definitely intriguing, so if anything, make sure to stock up on artefact unlocks for them.

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