Destiny 2‘s Episode Heresy kicked off with the Tome of Want, a loot-focusing system that lies somewhere between the controversial Tonics and the beloved Engram Focusing from previous seasons.
The Tome of Want is Bungie’s response to the dreaded Tonic system from Episode Revenant. Tonics’ design was wildly unpopular: it took too many resources, was too convoluted, and didn’t give enough rewards—and it doesn’t help that the studio didn’t address this until nearly halfway through the episode.
In Heresy, the Tome of Want is one of the main ways of getting drops from the Heretic Arsenal. Here’s our guide on using Destiny 2‘s Tome of Want to get more rewards, focus loot, and get more resources.
What does the Tome of Want do in Destiny 2?
The Tome of Want lets you narrow down what type of equipment you’ll get from certain activities and even improves some artifact mods. In essence, you can spend specific Heresy resources to power rituals that grant you weapons and armor of your choice. Think of it as Engram focusing with many extra steps.
Find the Tome of Want in your inventory, above your items and right by the Tonic section if you unlocked it for Revenant. If you’ve played older seasons, you may find the Tome of Want reminiscent of Bungie’s antiquated seasonal models (flashbacks to Lure Charges in Season of the Hunt). We’ve listed what you need to know below.
How to use the Tome of Want in Destiny 2
Starting any ritual requires Essence of Desire, which drops from Heresy activities. It’s the first step in getting your rewards, and the Tome of Want has no effect without an active ritual.
The Tome has two main components: Ritual Rites and Tome Engravings. The former is responsible for your rewards, while the latter works like Volatile Tonics whenever the Tome is gathering power. Each ritual grants you up to three of the same reward, determined by its main elements: Scriptures, Crumbling Scriptures, and the rite itself.
- Scriptures: Lock in on a broad reward type (episodic weapons, episodic armor, reprised weapons, world drops, and resources)
- Crumbling Scriptures: Refine that reward type (auto rifles, linear fusion rifles, swords, grenade launchers, and machine guns).
- Crumbling Scriptures are optional.
- Ritual of Desire: The energy that powers up the ritual with your main seasonal currency.
Blue-rarity scriptures can be used infinitely, but Legendary Scriptures and above are consumed when selected. You can narrow down broad categories as long as you want, which can already help if you don’t have any more resources. There’s no time limit on rituals, either. Exotic Scriptures award upgrade materials such as Ascendant Shards and Ascendant Alloy, but they’re relatively hard to get.
How to focus weapons and armor with the Tome of Want
Choosing your reward with the Tome is a matter of picking the right parts to set up your ritual. If you’d like to target the Adamantite auto rifle, for instance, you’d get the best results from:
- Scripture: Episodic weapons
- Crumbling Scripture: Auto rifles
- Ritual of Desire: Active
If you want the reprised Temptation’s Hook sword, on the other hand, use Scripture: Reprised Weapons and the Crumbling Scripture: Swords. The ritual remains the same, since it’s an on-off state.
You can switch rituals while one is active by choosing Suspend Ritual in the appropriate tab. This lets you pick a new reward, but used Scriptures and other currencies will go to waste.
Once you’ve selected your rewards and activated your ritual, you must gather power for the Tome to work its magic—and that’s where your loot comes from.
How to get loot with the Tome of Want
Like old seasonal tools, you can power the active ritual by completing playlists and episode activities, defeating other guardians, and taking down powerful enemies in Heresy activities. Once you’ve fueled the ritual and the magic has run its course, you’ll get a drop and consume one charge. The effect ends once you run out of charges, at which point you can start the loop over again.
For instance, we were at 44 percent power on the first charge and around halfway to our first drop. After that, we still had two drops from the ritual before it was exhausted, letting us try again.
While the Tome is the main way to fine-tune loot, you can obtain good seasonal rewards from The Nether, Heresy’s flagship seasonal activity. Having an active ritual boosts your rewards, but if you’re out of resources, stop by the Dreadnaught to stock up.
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