Festival of the Lost celebration has returned in Destiny 2, meaning that it’s time to back to spooky times once again this year. 2020’s version of the event will feature a pack of new guns, as well as a bunch of cosmetic content. For example, players can get their hands on the Horror Story or BrayTech Werewolf auto rifles. You’re going to need plenty of Candy to earn these rewards though, luckily that’s pretty easy to farm for.
There is a new item though, Cipher Decoders. The new Haunted Forest zone has a sequence to unlocking the rewards for each run, involving unlocking five hidden chests. You need Cipher Decoders to get these suckers open. So if you’re farming for high-end rolls, this is another item you will need to farm, here’s how.
How to Get Cipher Decoders
The grind to get these is much harder than getting Candy for the event. You have no guaranteed spawns for the Ciphers like you do with the Candy. I’ll say again, no activity is guaranteed to drop a Cipher when you complete it. You can possibly unlock Cipher Decoders by completing activities other than the Haunted Forest. You’ll be awarded one upon completing a Gambit, Crucible, or Strike while wearing an event mask. You could also get a Cipher Decoder from Patrols or Nightmare Hunts, although this seems just as inconsistent. Heroic Story Missions also seem to be another source, although these may take a while.
You can get these from any mission that’s active though in the event. There are some reports that Bounties on Eris are good for farming the item. There are multiple spots on Eris that spawn the bounties as well. Here are the bounties on Eris you should look for, and what locations they can spawn in:
- Anchor of Light – “kill any enemy” Bounty and the “Find Toland” Bounty
- Archer’s Line – “kill any enemy” Bounty and the “Find Toland” Bounty
- Sorrow’s Harbor – “kill any enemy” Bounty and the “Find Toland” Bounty
Just run those three bounties and get plenty of Cipher Decoders.
For starters, you need to know where to access the new content. You can access the Haunted Forest from your Director. Just bring up the map of the Tower in the Destinations tab, and at the top, above Eva’s new icon, you will find the Haunted Forest icon. You will then need to visit Spider and pick up the quest to play a round in the Crucible, a Gambit Match, or a Strike to earn a Cipher Decoder. After that, you will be able to go on your first run in the Haunted Forest.
You will need to pick up a mask from the stand by Eva in The Tower’s courtyard to get going. Once you have the mask you can begin your farming runs.
How to Use Cipher Decoders
Now that you have a few of the Cipher Decoders, it’s time to move on to actually getting those sweet rewards. There are five chests you’re after. Each of them is set at a certain point within the Haunted Forest. You have to unlock the chests found at the end of the run. When you finish the timer and survive the swarm, you will be teleported to the treasure room. Use your Ciphers to unlock a chest and claim the rewards within. There are six in total, while five of them need Ciphers to open.
Rewards you can earn from these chests include masks, the Horror Story, the Braytech Werewolf, or even random other Exotic or Legendary gear bits. You will also find random material chests throughout the zone on each level. These can contain caches of Candy and Chocolate Strange Coins. The locations of these smaller reward caches appear to be entirely random.
