Unlocking the Path of Ambition in Destiny 2’s Heresy expansion opens a hidden avenue to powerful rewards and unique upgrades for the Barrow-Dyad Exotic weapon. This secret vendor path requires players to delve deep into the Dreadnaught, complete key quests like “The Taken Path” and “Derealize,” and hunt down a rare Taken Worm in The Nether’s Hall of Souls. Once initiated, the Path of Ambition offers a fresh reputation track with exclusive perks and challenges that reshape your approach to the Suffocating Terror mechanic, making it a must-explore for ambitious Guardians seeking to master the new seasonal content.
In this Destiny 2 guide, we’ll walk you through what the Path of Ambition is, how it impacts the Barrow-Dyad Exotic, and how to find and finish the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest.
What is the Path of Ambition in Destiny 2?
The Path of Ambition in Destiny 2 is a new reputation system introduced in the Heresy episode that allows players to unlock and enhance the Barrow-Dyad Exotic weapon with unique perks and abilities. To access this path, players must complete specific quests, including “The Taken Path” and the “Derealize” Exotic mission, then find a Taken Worm in the Hall of Souls area within The Nether activity. Unlocking the Path of Ambition grants a new vendor with its own progression, rewards, and upgrades distinct from the default Path of Resolve. This path focuses on intensifying blight effects on single or high-priority targets, offering a different combat style and strategic advantages in various activities.
The Path of Ambition is the mirror of the Path of Resolve, which is the reputation track you start the episode with. Each path has its own reputation meter – which you’ll need to level up separately by doing seasonal activities – and Artifact perk enhancements for your Tome of Want.
As you level up along the Path of Ambition, you’ll also unlock new passives that will help you deal with the Suffocating Terror mechanic in Heresy in a different way than the Path of Resolve’s passives do. Certain boons and bonuses will also work differently depending on which path you have active, like the various enhancements in the Mysterium.
How to start ’Writ: Path of Ambition’ in Destiny 2
To start the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest in Destiny 2, first enter The Nether activity and reach the Hall of Souls area, which you can do on any difficulty including Explore by reloading the activity until you spawn there. Then, head to the location near the King’s Fall raid entrance under the bridge where you will find a Taken Worm; collecting this worm initiates the quest. Afterward, open the Destinations map and launch the “Writ: Path of Ambition” mission in The Last City. Completing this mission will grant you access to the Path of Ambition, allowing you to switch to this new progression path at the Shaping Slab in Eris Morn’s apartment by interacting with the Taken orb beside it.
To start the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest and begin your journey toward unlocking the Path of Ambition, launch a private instance of The Nether in Explore mode. Progress through the activity until you reach the Hall of Souls (where the Court of Blades is located). Alternatively, you can leave and re-launch the activity until it spawns you into the right area.
Once in the Hall of Souls, make your way to the Court of Blades with all the Thrall statues. From the portal/boss arena, walk past the statues until you reach the room with the weapon canister, the bridge, and the two doorways on either side. Go under the bridge.
When you drop down, you’ll instantly see a Taken Worm. Pick it up and you’ll receive the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest. You can now safely leave The Nether.
You’ll now have access to a new story mission (which you can access via The Last City) called “Writ: Path of Ambition.” Once you load in, follow the path – mirroring much of what you did in “Derealize.” Eventually, you’ll reach the big door that you sealed at the end of that quest, and it’ll be covered in Taken goop. Defeat the Wizard, stand on the platform, push forward until you’re teleported to the Shaping Slab, and then interact with it to fight some Taken.
With the mission complete, head back to Eris’ apartment and the Shaping Slab. To the right of the slab you’ll find a new pillar with a big Taken ball on it. Interact with it to “Embrace your Ambition.” This will turn the Taken ball white, complete the quest, and give you full access to the Path of Ambition – including the new Exotic perk function for your Barrow-Dyad.
Path of Ambition or Path of Resolve?
The Path of Ambition in Destiny 2 offers players a distinct progression track and gameplay style compared to the Path of Resolve. Unlocking it requires completing specific quests and activities within the Dreadnaught and The Nether, including finding a special Taken Worm and completing the Writ: Path of Ambition mission. This path enhances the Barrow-Dyad Exotic weapon by unlocking unique perks that intensify blight damage over time and cause blighted seekers to explode, making it ideal for focusing on single or high-priority targets. In contrast, the Path of Resolve generates blight quickly across multiple targets and is better suited for crowd control. Choosing between these paths impacts how you tackle seasonal content and how your Barrow-Dyad performs, with Ambition favoring precision and sustained damage, while Resolve emphasizes rapid blight buildup and area damage.
More important than a new rep track or rewards is how your the path you choose will impact your Barrow-Dyad’s secondary perk, Taken Divergence.
The perk says “this weapon resonates with your choices,” but if you look under that, you’ll see a tooltip that tells you an effect that’s being provided to you based on your currently selected path. Here’s how the Barrow-Dyad changes depending on which path you’re on:
- Path of Resolve: Hitting three different targets generates a large amount of blight. Blighted Seekers bore through targets.
- Path of Ambition: Blight generated increases the longer this weapon remains on a target. Blighted Seekers burrow into targets and explode.
These two modes change the type of content that Barrow-Dyad is good for.
The Path of Ambition makes Barrow-Dyad hit much harder against single or priority targets, and is what we’d recommend using most of the time. We recommend the Path of Resolve when you’ll be in an encounter full of enemies and need to kill them all as quickly as possible – like the early rounds of Onslaught or Court of Blades. But while using the Path of Resolve, Barrow-Dyad acts as a poor man’s Osteo Striga (from the Witch Queen expansion), so you should just use Osteo if you have it.
The Taken Divergence perk is unlike anything Bungie has really done with an Exotic in the past – making a reputation track impact an individual gun. With that in mind, it’s currently unclear what will happen to this perk once the episodic content from Heresy is retired after Destiny 2: Codename Apollo launches this summer.
What secret steps unlock the Path of Ambition in Destiny 2
To unlock the Path of Ambition in Destiny 2, follow these secret steps:
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Ensure you have completed the “The Taken” Exotic quest and the “Derealize” Exotic mission as prerequisites.
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Enter the activity called The Nether (you can use any difficulty or the Explore mode) and reach the Hall of Souls area, also known as the Court of Blades region.
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From the portal or boss arena in the Hall of Souls, walk past the Thrall statues until you reach a room with a weapon canister, a bridge, and two doorways. Go underneath the bridge.
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Drop down beneath the bridge and immediately pick up the special Taken Worm (also called a Tithing Wormspawn). This action starts the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest.
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Exit The Nether and open the Last City map to launch the new “Writ: Path of Ambition” mission. This mission takes you through familiar areas from the Derealize mission, culminating in a fight against a Taken Wizard and other enemies.
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After completing the mission, return to Eris Morn’s apartment. Near the Shaping Slab, interact with the new Taken orb on the right side of the slab to “Embrace Ambition.” This changes the orb to white and unlocks full access to the Path of Ambition, including its unique vendor progression and Barrow-Dyad Exotic upgrades.
This secret path offers a distinct reputation track and new passive abilities that alter how you handle the Suffocating Terror mechanic in the Heresy expansion.
What hidden clues reveal the true steps to unlock the Path of Ambition
The hidden clues to unlocking the Path of Ambition in Destiny 2 revolve around exploration and subtle environmental hints within the Dreadnaught’s Nether activity. Players must first have completed the “The Taken Path” Exotic quest and the “Derealize” Exotic mission. Then, by entering the Nether and reaching the Hall of Souls (Court of Blades area), players are guided to look beyond the obvious boss arenas and portals. The key secret is to walk past the Thrall statues to a room with a weapon canister, a bridge, and two doorways, then drop beneath the bridge to find a glowing Taken Worm. Interacting with this worm triggers the “Writ: Path of Ambition” quest, which is the gateway to unlocking the path.
Additional subtlety lies in the quest markers sometimes directing players incorrectly (e.g., sending them to the Nether instead of the Court of Blades), requiring careful navigation and attention to the environment to locate the worm. After completing the secret mission spawned by the quest, players return to Eris Morn’s apartment, where a new white Taken orb appears next to the Shaping Slab. Interacting with this orb to “Embrace Ambition” finalizes the unlock and switches the player’s progression to the Path of Ambition, revealing new upgrades and passive abilities.
Thus, the true steps are revealed through environmental exploration, quest prerequisites, and subtle interactables like the Taken Worm and the orb beside the Shaping Slab, which together form the hidden pathway to the Path of Ambition.
