Destiny 2 weapon crafting Patterns, Alloys, and Deepsight, explained

The latest annual release in Bungie’s ongoing sci-fi saga, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, overhauls a number of key systems and character subclasses. The most significant new addition, however, is definitely weapon crafting as made possible by some Darkness-based Pyramid “Relic” that’s discovered on Mars shortly after the campaign begins.

With it, you can craft a variety of weapons — including the new Glaive polearm archetype — and even enhance some existing weapons. You’ll need to invest a lot of time and resources into the experience, and the nuances aren’t immediately apparent. Thankfully, we’re here to explain everything from Deepsight Resonance to the best ways to farm Ascendant Alloy.

How does Deepsight Resonance work in Destiny 2?

In The Witch Queen, “Deepsight” refers to a new psychic power you unlock in Savathûn’s Throne World that functions similarly to True Sight in the Ascendant Realm and the special sight you’d get from consuming a Tincture of Queensfoil in the Dreaming City before that. In simpler terms, it lets you see hidden stuff like invisible platforms to jump on, but more importantly, it also means some weapons now resonate with your Deepsight.

Deepsight Resonance is a trait that can appear on any random weapon drop. It’ll pop up in the fourth slot under Weapon Mods in the weapon details screen, but the weapon’s thumbnail will appear with a red border even in the regular character screen. There’s no surefire way to farm for Deepsight Resonance, so you’ll just want to complete bounties, missions, quests, etc. in all areas of the game. Note that the type of activity will determine the drops, so if you want a Crucible weapon with Deepsight Resonance, you’ll only get one by playing Crucible.

Each weapon with Deepsight Resonance will come with an attunement objective, so you’ll want to get kills and complete activities with that weapon until it is complete. Doing this with every Deepsight Resonance weapon you acquire should be among your top priorities. More on the benefits later.

How to unlock Weapon Patterns in Destiny 2

You’ll unlock the Enigma Glaive Weapon Pattern as part of the story, but you’ll unlock additional Weapon Patterns in a few different ways. Here’s what you should do:

• Complete the main campaign for The Witch Queen
• Complete “The Evidence Board” exotic questline
• Attuning every weapon with Deepsight Resonance

In theory, every Deepsight Resonance attunement that you complete on a weapon listed at the Relic should grant you the Weapon Pattern. Keep in mind that Deepsight Resonance can also pop up on other random drops, so it’s not like every single weapon with a red border will get you a Weapon Pattern.

In short, just do all of the content The Witch Queen offers with a special focus towards Deepsight Resonance weapons, and you’ll be well on your way.

How to get Weapon Elements in Destiny 2

Here’s yet another weapon crafting mechanic tied directly to Deepsight Resonance weapons. There are six types of consumable crafting resources called Elements that are used to make weapons. Here’s a simplified breakdown:

1. Ruinous Elements — enhanced traits and exotic weapons
2. Neutral Elements — weapon frames, magazines, and traits
3. Adroit Elements — weapon performance traits
4. Mutable Elements — ability-boosting traits
5. Energetic Elements — ammo or reload traits
6. Drowned Elements — Raid-based enhanced traits

Every perk you’ve ever seen, along with the new perks introduced in The Witch Queen, now falls under one of these six categories.

When you get a Deepsight Resonance weapon, its core perks will determine which Elements it has. In the above example of a Recurrent Impact Machine Gun, Perpetual Motion corresponds with Adroit Elements and Headstone with Mutable. Hover your cursor over the perk, and you’ll be able to see for sure, and more importantly, the number you’ll see seems to indicate how much of that given Element you already have. Once the Deepsight Resonance is complete, you can extract one of the two corresponding Resonant Materials, aka the Elements.

Yeah, it’s a lot.

Practically speaking, once you have a Weapon Pattern unlocked and know the perks you want to put on it, you’ll want to farm for the corresponding Elements. One brilliant Redditor went through all of the work of identifying the Element type associated with every single weapon perk!

• Adagio — Ruinous
• Adaptive Munitions — Ruinous
• Adrenaline Junkie — Ruinous
• Archer's Tempo — Energetic
• Blunt Execution Rounds — Ruinous
• Bottomless Grief — Energetic
• Box Breathing — Ruinous
• Celerity — Adroit
• Chain Reaction — Ruinous
• Chill Clip — Ruinous
• Clown Cartridge — Energetic
• Cold Steel — Mutable
• Compulsive Reloader — Energetic
• Cornered — Adroit
• Counterattack — Ruinous
• Danger Zone — Ruinous
• Demolitionist — Mutable
• Desperado — Energetic
• Disruption Break — Mutable
• Dual Loader — Energetic
• Duelist's Trance — Adroit
• Eager Edge — Mutable
• Elemental Capacitor — Adroit
• Encore — Adroit
• Energy Transfer — Mutable
• Ensemble — Adroit
• Explosive Head — Ruinous
• Explosive Light — Ruinous
• Eye of the Storm — Adroit
• Feeding Frenzy — Energetic
• Firefly — Ruinous
• Firing Line — Ruinous
• Flash Counter — Mutable
• Focused Fury — Ruinous
• Fourth Time's the Charm — Energetic
• Frenzy — Ruinous
• Full Court — Ruinous
• Genesis — Energetic
• Golden Tricorn — Ruinous
• Harmony — Ruinous
• Headstone — Mutable
• Heating Up — Adroit
• Immovable Object — Mutable
• Impulse Amplifier — Adroit
• Iron Gaze — Adroit
• Iron Grip — Adroit
• Iron Reach — Adroit
• Kickstart — Ruinous
• Killing Wind — Adroit
• Lasting Impression — Ruinous
• Lead from Gold — Energetic
• Moving Target — Mutable
• Mulligan — Energetic
• Multikill Clip — Ruinous
• No Distractions — Adroit
• One for All — Ruinous
• One-Two Punch — Mutable
• Opening Shot — Ruinous
• Osmosis — Mutable
• Outlaw — Energetic
• Overflow — Energetic
• Perpetual Motion — Adroit
• Rampage — Ruinous
• Rangefinder — Adroit
• Rapid Hit — Adroit
• Recombination — Ruinous
• Reconstruction — Energetic
• Redirection — Ruinous
• Reservoir Burst — Ruinous
• Rewind Rounds — Energetic
• Shield Disorient — Ruinous
• Shoot to Loot — Energetic
• Snapshot Sights — Adroit
• Sneak Bow — Adroit
• Stats for All — Adroit
• Steady Hands — Adroit
• Subsistence — Energetic
• Successful Warm-Up — Adroit
• Surplus — Mutable
• Surrounded — Ruinous
• Swashbuckler — Ruinous
• Sympathetic Arsenal — Energetic
• Thresh — Mutable
• Tilting at Windmills — Mutable
• Tracking Module — Adroit
• Trench Barrel — Ruinous
• Tunnel Vision — Adroit
• Turnabout — Mutable
• Underdog — Energetic
• Unrelenting — Mutable
• Unstoppable Force — Mutable
• Vorpal Weapon — Ruinous
• Wellspring — Mutable

If you want to put Outlaw and Firely onto your crafted weapon, for example, you’ll need Energetic and Ruinous Elements, respectively. You’ll have to spend quite a bit of timing using your weapon to level it up enough for you to craft your perfect tool of destruction. So this is very much so a long-term relationship you’ll be forging.

How to farm Ascendant Alloy and Resonant Alloy in Destiny 2

Alloy materials are the core materials needed to forge and reshape weapons, with Resonant Alloy being the basic resource. The only way to get it is by dismantling Legendary purple weapons. That may sound like a sacrifice, but nobody actually uses common greys or uncommon blues. (Seriously, Bungie, just get rid of them!) Play the game enough, and you’ll have too many guns anyway. Figure out what models, archetypes, and perks you like. Dismantle the rest, and you should steadily build up a treasure trove of Resonant Alloy.

Ascendant Alloy, however, is a different story.

They’re used to forge enhanced traits and craft exotic weapons, which makes them one of the single most valuable resources in the game right now. As such, they’re hard to come by. Say hello to your new most essential weekly ritual: Buying one from Master Rahool.

The Tower’s Cryptarch, Master Rahool, sells one per week for the gut-punching cost of 300 Legendary Shards. You can also acquire one when you reach Rank 16 with Gunsmith Banshee-44. You can also potentially receive them from weekly Campaign missions or by participating in the Wellspring activity in the Throne World after you complete the campaign.