Cloudstrike has become a weapon that every Guardian should have in Destiny 2, with ample reasons for use in both PvE and PvP activities.
Today, we will cover the steps needed to unlock the Cloudstrike, as well as its Catalyst. Let’s get started!
Recommended Read: How to Get Quicksilver Storm in Destiny 2
To get Cloudstrike in Destiny 2, unlock the Europan Explorer II Sabotage to gain access to high-difficulty Empire Hunts from Variks. Completing these Empire Hunts on any difficulty will have a chance to reward Cloudstrike.
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How to Get Cloudstrike in Destiny 2
Cloudstrike is exclusive to the Beyond Light Expansion and is rewarded for completing high-difficulty Empire Hunts.
To unlock Cloudstrike, you will first need to purchase Beyond Light and complete the Beyond Light campaign.
After beating the campaign, visit Zavala in the Tower. He will give you the quest Reclaiming Europa. This quest will send you to Variks in Europa.
He will have you complete a short mission named Sabotaging Salvation.
After finishing Variks’ mission, you will unlock access to the Sabotage tab when speaking to Variks.
This tab offers a variety of upgrades you can purchase with Herealways Pieces.
You are going to need to purchase and complete the Europan Explorer quest. This quest will have you kill 50 enemies with Kinetic weapons, 50 enemies with Energy weapons, and 25 enemies with Power weapons. This is easiest when running lost sectors or Public Events.
Completing the Europan Explorer quest will unlock the Europan Explorer II quest for purchase from Variks.
To complete this quest, you will need to defeat 30 powerful combatants while in an Empire Hunt. If you don’t have access to Empire Hunts yet, be sure to check out our guide on How To Unlock Empire Hunts.
The easiest way to complete Europan Explorer II is by purchasing The Dark Priestess Empire Hunt. This Empire Hunt has many powerful enemies near the start of the Hunt.
Defeat them, take the lift up, and defeat any powerful enemies there. You’ll want to abandon the activity and restart to quickly farm the opening section of this Hunt again.
After defeating your powerful combatants, speak with Variks to finally unlock access to rotating higher-difficulty Empire Hunts. These Empire Hunts are accessed separately from Variks on your Map tab.
If you hover over the difficulty options, you’ll see that every difficulty has a rare chance to drop the Cloudstrike Exotic upon completion.
This means there is no reason to run anything other than the lowest-difficulty Empire Hunt, as you’ll be able to clear it much faster than the other difficulties.
From here on, it is a matter of luck. Just keep farming the lowest-difficulty Empire Hunt until you get the Cloudstrike to drop.
How to Get Cloudstrike Catalyst
After you have unlocked the Cloudstrike Sniper Rifle, you will then be able to unlock its Catalyst. The Catalyst will drop randomly after completing any type of playlist activity.
Playlist activities include Strikes, Nightfalls, Vanguard Ops, Gambit matches, and Crucible matches.
Just like the Cloudstrike itself, obtaining the Catalyst is up to chance. Once you get the Catalyst to drop, you will need to kill 400 enemies with the Cloudstrike to complete the Catalyst.
There are no restrictions as to where to get these kills. Feel free to load into a Kali checkpoint from the Last Wish Raid for some quick and easy kills.
While 400 kills is a lot, the good news is that it is well worth it.
The Catalyst for Cloudstrike grants it an additional 25 Handling, which is nice. It also grants the weapon the Triple Tap Perk.
This will return one round to the magazine after every three precision shots hit in rapid succession.
With a base magazine size of seven rounds, Triple Tap will effectively give you a magazine size of ten, which is a lot for a Sniper Rifle.
Considering the lightning storm can be refreshed with every precision hit after the third, this leads to a lot of damage from a distance.
Is Cloudstrike Worth It?
Cloudstrike is an Exotic Arc Sniper Rifle that has been one of the best Sniper Rifles in PvP since its release.
The Mortal Polarity Intrinsic Perk creates a lighting bolt on precision final blows that deal a massive amount of damage. In PvP, this lighting bolt will one-shot any Guardian near it, making this Sniper Rifle a constant threat that will keep enemies from grouping too close, or else they risk getting teamwiped by a single Sniper shot.
In PvE, this weapon has recently become a very good DPS tool with the damage buffs to Sniper Rifles.
The Stormbringer Perk creates a lighting cloud after landing multiple precision hits, adding to your overall DPS. The Catalyst will take this weapon one step further, granting it the Triple Tap Perk.
This, combined with the lightning clouds, makes this one of the highest DPS Special weapons in the game.
As Cloudstrike is a 140 RPM Sniper Rifle, you will have an easy time dumping your entire magazine into any Boss, giving you more time to use your Power weapons as well.
It is also a great weapon for clearing large groups of enemies, as it will only take a single precision kill to wipe them all out.
It is safe to say that this Exotic Sniper Rifle is well worth the grind to get it. It is a monster in PvP and a great DPS choice in PvE.
Now you know how to unlock the Cloudstrike Exotic Sniper Rifle!
Are you looking forward to trying this weapon? Will you be using it in PvE or PvP? Let me know in the comments!
