Destiny 2 Festival of the Lost 2021 guide

Festival of the Lost is back in Destiny 2, and it runs from Oct. 12 to Nov. 2, 2021. The Haunted Forest is not the activity headlining the event. Instead, Festival of the Lost 2021 brings the new Haunted Lost Sectors mode, which a cross between a Lost Sector and a Crucible Control match.

In this Festival of the Lost 2021 guide, we’ll teach you how to earn Spectral Pages and cleanse them into Manifested Pages, as well as earn yourselves new rolls of the Jurassic Green pulse rifle. And if you held onto that pesky Ascendant Lens for a full year, we’ll teach you how to turn that in, too.

How does Festival of the Lost 2021 work?

Festival of the Lost 2021 works like a mini-seasonal event. If you’re familiar with the play core playlist to get currency > turn currency into other currency > spend currency to progress the event formula, you should have an easy enough time figuring it out. The short “Gone But Not Forgotten” quest will teach you the basics.

The idea is that by running Strikes, Crucible matches, Gambit matches, seasonal activities, and basically anything, you’ll earn Spectral Pages — that is, as long as you’re wearing the Halloween mask Eva Levante gives you at the start of the event. Once you have some Spectral Pages, you’ll need to jump into the Haunted Lost Sectors activity to transform them.

The Haunted Lost Sector drops you at the start of a Lost Sector alongside three other players — you’ll matchmake if you don’t go in with pals. You’ll need to battle through the Lost Sector’s halls, decked in Halloween garb, until you reach the area with the Summoning Rituals. A select number of the ritual sites will become active every few seconds, and you’ll be able to stand inside them to summon a Headless One — a mini-boss you need to kill. For every Headless One you defeat, you’ll transform one of your Spectral Pages into a Manifested Page.

Back in the Tower, you can turn in your Manifested Pages to the super creepy Book of the Forgotten, which will net you some new lore and goodies.

What do I get out of Festival of the Lost 2021?

You can see all of Eva’s rewards by chatting her up in the Tower

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Aside from the inherent satisfaction of cheering up everyone’s favorite space grandma, Eva Levante, there are actually some decent rewards with this year’s Festival of the Lost.

The new Jurassic Green pulse rifle, alongside past Festival of the Lost weapons like the Horror’s Least and Braytech Werewolf auto rifles, can drop when you complete Haunted Lost Sectors. And the more Manifested Pages you turn in to the book, the more likely you are to get a reward.

You also get candy from pretty much anything during Festival of the Lost, which you can use to purchase new masks from Eva or goodie bags filled with even more weapons.

Outside of the guns of Halloween past and present, there’s also a special sparrow, shader, and emblem that you can only earn by completing special Festival of the Lost 2021 Triumphs.

What do I do with this Ascendant Lens?

Mara will explain the Ascendant Lens to you then tell you to go away

Image: Bungie via Polygon

If you played Festival of the Lost 2020, chances are you picked up the mysterious Ascendant Lens from Spider. Up until Festival of the Lost 2021, it’s been absolutely worthless, just taking up space in your inventory. But if you saved it all this time, you’ll find a new use during this year’s event.

If you still have the Ascendant Lens, take it the HELM and go to the Awoken wing. Walk through the portal and talk to Queen Mara. She’ll trade you your Lens for the Bottomless Goody Bag, which contains Enhancement Prisms, three Jurassic Green pulse rifles, and a bunch of Spectral Pages.