Enhancement Cores are an upgrade material in Destiny 2 that are required to Masterwork weapons, armor, and even Ghost Shells. Due to its necessity in making endgame builds, obtaining a large number of these is important if you plan on experimenting with Combat Style mods.
Related: Destiny 2: A Complete Guide To Armor 2.0
Fortunately, Enhancement Cores are much more plentiful in the Beyond Light expansion than ever before. Virtually every activity in the game provides Enhancement Cores if you use certain mods or buffs. From buying them outright to farming certain activities, here is a complete guide on how to obtain Enhancement Cores in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen.
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Updated April 1st, 2022, by Charles Burgar: Spider might have been removed from Destiny 2, but that doesn't mean that Enhancement Cores have become a rare resource. The Witch Queen expansion has added a few new ways of earning Enhancement Cores, which was needed considering just how many you'll need to use when crafting a new weapon. We've updated this guide with up-to-date Enhancement Core drop sources, and we've added a section discussing the best Enhancement Core farms for each type of Destiny player.
How To Obtain Enhancement Cores
Enhancement Core can be earned from a variety of methods in Destiny 2 that range from dismantling gear to playing certain activities. Here is every way you can earn Enhancement Cores as of the Beyond Light expansion:
Method | Type | Core Amount |
|---|---|---|
Banshee-44 Dailies | Bounty | 1 |
Legend/ Master Lost Sectors | Activity | 1 |
Lesser Core Harvest | Ghost Mod | 1 |
Empire Hunts | Activity | 1 |
Adept/ Hero Nightfalls | Activity | 1 |
Decrypting Engrams | Misc. | 1 |
Finest Matterweave | Consumable | 1 |
Trials of Osiris (Random Match Reward) | Activity | 1 |
*Vanguard Rank Reward | Vendor | 3-6 |
*Crucible Valor Reward | Vendor | 3-6 |
*Gambit Infamy Reward | Vendor | 3-6 |
*Strange Favor Reward | Vendor | 3-6 |
Season Pass | Season Pass | 5 (x7) |
Dismantling High-Tier Gear | Misc. | 1-7 |
Weekly Clan Challenge | Weekly | 7 |
*Amount tied to vendor's reputation reward track. Can be reset multiple times per season.
The Weekly Clan Challenge requires Clan Rank 4 before it grants Enhancement Cores. The reward is character-bound.
Dismantling Gear
Core Amount: 1-7 (based on gear level)
Any weapon that is at Tier four or above will provide an Enhancement Core when it is dismantled. Higher weapon Tiers will grant more Enhancement Cores upon being dismantled, capping out at seven Enhancement Cores for dismantling a Masterworked weapon.
Armor will return Enhancement Cores at later tiers, starting with one core at Tier seven and granting seven at Tier ten. Dismantled Ghost Shells will provide up to four Enhancement cores based on their Tier. If you have dozens of Enhancement Prisms but no Enhancement Cores, look for blue-quality armor. Increase its level to eight, then dismantle the armor piece to get six cores, effectively converting your Prisms into Cores.
Bounties
Core Amount: 1 each bounty
Various bounties in Destiny 2 grant Enhancement Cores if completed. Banshee-44's daily Gunsmith bounties provide Enhancement Cores upon completion. Both bounty types grant a single Enhancement Core upon completion. These bounties are quite easy to do, requiring you to land multiple kills with a certain weapon or damage type. If the name didn't give it away, these bounties reset each day and are per character.
Related: Destiny 2: How To Reach The Power Level Cap Quickly
Earning Cores From Reputation
Core Amount: 3 to 6 per rank reset
Year 4 of Destiny 2 has reworked the reward structure of all ritual activities—Vanguard Strikes, Crucible, and Gambit. The Dares of Eternity activity introduced in the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack also shares this progression system. Fynch—the planetary vendor for Savathun's Throne World—can also give Enhancement Cores when you reach certain ranks with them.
As you play certain activities, you'll earn reputation with that activity's respective vendor. Earn enough reputation to increase your rank with that activity, unlocking new rewards you can claim from the vendor. These materials range from cosmetics to Masterwork materials, one of them being Enhancement Cores.
The first time you rank up with a vendor for a given season, you'll be able to earn three Enhancement Cores. Once you earn all rewards from that vendor's reward track, you'll prestige, resetting your rank with the vendor and their rewards. Resetting your reputation will allow you to earn six Enhancement Cores per reset instead of three.
For more information on earning reputation and vendor reputation rewards, consult the guides below:
- How To Increase Your Vanguard Rank
- How To Increase Your Crucible Valor And Infamy Ranks
- How To Increase Your Gambit Infamy Rank
- How To Increase Your Strange Favor
Related: Destiny 2 The Witch Queen: A Complete Guide To Weapon Crafting
Earning Cores From Activities
Core Amount: 1-3 (activity completion or mod proc)
Arguably the easiest way of earning Enhancement Cores is to equip a Lesser Core Harvest mod on your Ghost Shell. Note that this mod can only be installed on Masterworked Ghosts. These mods will allow strikes, Nightfalls, Crucible, and Gambit matches to drop Enhancement Cores when you kill bosses or Guardians.
For a more direct method of farming Enhancement Cores, Guardians can choose between completing Adept or Hero-tier Nightfalls, elected difficulty Empire Hunts, Legend or Master-tier Lost Sectors, or by increasing their reputation with certain vendors (explained above).
Farming Hero Nightfalls is best if you're just hunting for cores. They have matchmaking, utilize minimal modifiers, and take little time to complete. Just be sure to kill as many Champions in the Nightfall as possible to maximize your rewards.
The Best Enhancement Core Farm
We have three recommendations for earning Enhancement Cores, each tuned for certain types of players:
- Casual farm (21 per week)
- Hardcore farm (12+ daily)
- Vault cleaning + Matterweave usage
Casual Farm
Core Amount: 21 per week
This farm is incredibly simple and only needs two things:
- A clan that's at rank four.
- Three characters.
Don't worry if your characters aren't leveled. All you're going to do is complete your clan weekly, then speak with Hawthorne. This will give you seven Enhancement Cores per character. Do this three times, and you'll have 21 Enhancement Cores you can consistently earn each week for virtually no effort.
Hawthorne's weekly is completed by earning Clan XP. Completing any activity on your Director (excluding open world content like Lost Sectors) will grant Clan XP. You need 5,000 XP for this challenge, which shouldn't take long if you're farming Vanguard Strikes or the Crucible.
Hardcore Farm
Core Amount: 12+ daily
If you need Enhancement Cores and don't mind a little grinding, here's what we recommend:
- Grab Banshee's four daily bounties.
- Head to the daily Legendary Lost Sector.
- Farm the Lost Sector with loadouts that match Banshee's bounty requirements.
- Once all bounties are finished, switch characters.
The bounties alone will grant four Enhancement Cores per character, meaning you'll have 12 Enhancement Cores if you do this on all three of your characters. You can do this each day. We recommend Legend Lost Sectors because they are short and have a high chance of dropping an Enhancement Core when cleared.
If you can get a fireteam together and are willing to tackle some challenging content, you can consider farming Legend or Master Nightfalls instead. Platinum clears can grant a few Enhancement Cores, although we find Legend Lost Sectors easier, faster, and they don't require a fireteam to run. Just know it's an alternative if you want to spice things up.
Vault Cleaning And Matterweave Usage
This isn't a real farm, but it's something every long-time Destiny 2 player can do if they're short on Enhancement Cores. Clean out your Vault, then pop any Finest Matterweaves you have in your inventory. Legendary and Exotic gear has a chance of dropping one Finest Matterweave when dismantled, a consumable that spawns an Enhancement Core when you kill a major or boss. Some Legendary gear with high Masterwork ranks can also drop Enhancement Cores when dismantled, which means cleaning out your Vault occasionally can be a good source of Cores.
To use a Finest Matterweave, you'll find them in the inventory tab of your account menu (where you see your Guardian, Triumphs, et cetera). Use a Matterweave, kill a boss, and repeat. You can only have one Matterweave active at a time, so burning through a stockpile of Matterweaves can take quite some time.
If you're someone who has dozens or hundreds of Finest Matterweaves and wants to rid of them quickly, here's what we recommend:
- Travel to the Moon. Head to any zone besides Sanctuary.
- Look for a Hive chest with runes engraved in the front.
- Nearby will be symbols you can shoot. Damage the incorrect symbol.
- A Hive Knight will spawn near you. Kill them to proc your Finest Matterweave, dropping an Enhancement Core on death.
- Repeat until you've used every Matterweave in your inventory.
It's a tedious process, but this is the best Enhancement Core farm in Destiny 2 if you're sitting on hundreds of Matterweave consumables.
Next: Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Complete Guide And Walkthrough