How to Get Vex Code Mutations in Destiny 2: Echoes

It wouldn’t be a new Destiny 2 season Episode Act if there weren’t at least a few quest-related currencies you need to do specific things to acquire. As part of Echoes Act 2, you need to collect seven Vex Code Mutations to progress the main story. Here’s how to get them.

How to Collect Vex Code Mutations in Destiny 2: Echoes Act 2

Thankfully, getting Vex Code Mutations is a simple process. They have a high, if not guaranteed, chance of dropping from Radiolite Incubators in Echoes activities: Breach Executable and any Echoes Battleground. The catch is, these incubators don’t show up on your HUD by default and tend to blend in with the surroundings on Nessus, meaning you need a way to reveal them.

To reveal Radiolite Incubators where you get Vex Code Mutations, you need to find a Planetary Piston. You’ll know these structures by their wheel-like base and the Vex Conflux spewing out of the top of the wheel.

When you encounter a Piston, you can interact with it to place all the Radiolite Incubators on your HUD, and you’ll be able to see them from a fair distance away. All that’s left at that point is to find seven of the things and collect the samples from them. Better yet, you don’t even need to be the one to collect the samples to spawn the Vex Code Mutations. So long as someone in your Echoes activity fireteam picks up a sample, you’ll get the Mutation. You need to use charges from your Planetary Piston Hammer, and you only get five of those at a time.

Planetary Piston Hammer charges refill as you complete Echoes activities throughout the system, provided you have at least one charge remaining. If you use them all up, you’ll need to wait until the next daily reset for another charge to be restored. I should note that simply completing a single Breach Executable or Echoes: Battleground does not necessarily restore a Piston Hammer charge, so you’ll nee to be a bit more persistent if you want more of them.

That said, I highly recommend using Planetary Piston Hammer charges as often as you can, as turning in 200 grams of Radiolite samples at the end of an Echoes playlist activity or the H.E.L.M. is massively rewarding. I’ve managed to nab two Exotics in four activities completed because I always had enough samples to turn in. It’s also a great source of Episode gear like the Aberrant Action rocket Sidearm, an amazing Solar weapon to add to your arsenal.

For more on Destiny 2: Echoes and the game in general, check out our guides hub.