Destiny players are putting in a huge number of hours chasing after legendary loot and building their various reputation levels, but the elusive purple items don't even represent the highest rarity tier in the game.
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That honor belongs to exotic gear--items represented by gold coloration that are very difficult to acquire. Only one vendor in the game sells exotic gear, and he's only present in the tower at certain times of the week. What will you need to get your hands on the gold items, and what do you need to know? The guide below should help get you on your way to building a powerful arsenal.
What Is Exotic Gear?
As stated, the gold items are the rarest in the game, and represent the best armor and weapons available. Exotic gear, such as the sniper rifle in the image above, is certainly worth chasing after for the extremely high attribute ratings and unique special effects.
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So powerful are these items that, unfortunately, you can only have one gold weapon and one gold armor piece equipped at once--no outfitting yourself with a full set of exotic armor. You can keep any number of exotic items in your inventory, but are limited to using just one of each at any given time. Exotic weapons and armor can be rewarded as random drops, but the probability is not one you should bank on--you'd be very lucky, but purchasing them for yourself is the only sure bet.
Where To Buy Exotic Gear
The only merchant who peddles gold items is Xûr, Agent of the Nine. The mysterious hooded figure only appears in the Tower from Fridays to Sundays, and is not always in the same location. Most recently, for example, he was buried away in the Hangar section of the Tower at the back of the basement bar. He sells a couple of weapons and armor pieces at once, along with some exotic engrams for gamblers, and his stock will change through his time in the Tower, so keep checking back. Look around for him on weekends in every corner of the Tower, but know that getting exotic gear won't be as simple as finding Xûr.
What You'll Need
Given the high quality and rarity of golds, affording even one item is no easy task. Rather than glimmer or more common materials, you'll need to have a stock of Strange Coins or Motes of Light when Xûr visits. These aren't handed out too frequently in Destiny, and you'll actually need quite a few (often as many as 23) to buy an item.
The best place to pick up Strange Coins is the weekly strike, which will award multiple at once upon completion. The higher the difficulty, the more you'll get in one attempt--play it on the hardest difficulty level you can, because you'll only be rewarded once for that week. Outside of that one event, Strange Coins are awarded randomly in several modes: there's a chance to get them from public events, Crucible matches, regular Strikes, and loot chests. More specifically, the Scourge of Winter mission can randomly award them, as can Decoherent Blue Engrams or better. Motes of Light (which can also be spent at The Speaker) unfortunately do not have a specific mission type that offers them as a reward, and you'll acquire them randomly through loot chests, Crucible matches, and decoding decoherent engrams.