Invitation of the Nine is the first real insight players will be given about the mysterious Nine in Destiny 2. This long-form quest spans nine weeks, with Xur offering a new step in the quest every weekend. For those that want to learn more about the Nine and their goals, completing the Invitation of the Nine and unlocking the associated Ecdysis Triumphs and lore will be a top priority.
Invitation of the Nine
The Invitation of the Nine is a series of quests available for purchase from Xur each weekend. This quest costs 9 Legendary shards and requires players complete a series of small tasks. The reward for completing each quest is a Triumph with an associated piece of Ecdysis lore – there may even be a cutscene for each entry. Because it’s a weekly quest, make sure you visit the tentacle-faced friend, Xur, wherever he might be hiding out.
The World, Invitation of the Nine
The first quest available for purchase from Xur is The World. This quest encapsulates Into the Unknown as well as Mystery and Potential. For the first part, visit Xur on Titan and purchase the quest. The steps for completing the quest are straightforward:
- Complete Lake of Shadows Strike
- Cabal samples collected
- Fallen samples collected
- Taken samples collected
Collecting the 9 samples from each of the three listed races is as simple as killing them. Unfortunately, the drops are entirely random, so you may need to kill quite a lot of enemies before all nine samples are collected.
A good place to collect Cabal samples is in the Leviathan raid, specifically the Castellum. This area offers infinitely spawning Cabal units, furthermore, there will be no random players stealing your kills. As for the Fallen samples, go to Trostland in the EDZ. Meanwhile, the Taken portion can be completed during the Lake of Shadows Strike.
With this first part of The World quest completed, Into the Unknown will begin. This step involves players selecting “Mystery and Potential” from the Gambit node in the Director. This will appear as a little icon beside The Reckoning icon. Launch the activity and pass through the large portal in the ship. Once inside, drop down the hole in the center of this stark-white area and speak with The Emissary to watch a vision of the Nine.
Justice, Invitation of the Nine
The second quest available for purchase from Xur is Justice. This quest uses the same setup as the previous weeks’, where it includes Into the Unknown and Mystery and Potential. To pick up the quest, speak with Xur wherever he appears (on the weekend of March 23, he’s on the Winding Cove).
- Complete Savathun’s Song
- Fallen samples collected
- Hive samples collected
You will need to collect 9 samples from each of the listed enemy factions. To quickly complete this step, play through the Savathun’s Song Strike. You should find that all the Hive samples are collected and most of the Fallen samples. Head to the EDZ or Titan Patrol zones to finish off any samples you might be missing.
Once the Justice quest is complete, launch the Mystery and Potential quest from the Gambit node in the Director. Go through the portal, run up to the well and jump in, and then approach the Emissary and listen to what she has to say.
The High Priestess, Invitation of the Nine
The third quest available from our tentacle-faced friend Xur is The High Priestess. This quest continues the previous weeks’ style of requirements. You must complete a Strike and collect samples from different enemy types. To begin the quest, visit Xur (on the weekend of March 30 he’s in the Tower Hangar) and purchase the quest using Legendary Shards. The steps for this quest are as follows:
- Complete The Inverted Spire Strike (Nessus)
- Cabal samples collected
- Fallen samples collected
- Vex samples collected
The High Priestess Invitation of the Nine quest requires 9 samples from each of these enemy factions. Thankfully, the Vex and Cabal portions can be acquired while playing The Inverted Spire. In the event not all of these finish during the Strike, you can head to Earth or Nessus to finish them off. You’ll find some Cabal, Fallen, and Vex around Nessus while the EDZ only offers Fallen and Cabal (and some Taken).
In similar fashion to last week (and the week before), once this step is completed, open the Director and select the Gambit node. From here, launch the Mystery and Potential mission and then head through the portal in the ship. A brief meeting between you and The Emissary will take place. With the vision complete, open the chest to claim your powerful gear!
The Magician, Invitation of the Nine
The fourth quest in the Invitation of the Nine questline is The Magician. This quest tasks players with completing The Pyramidion Strike on Io and collecting samples from three different enemy types. Visit Xur and purchase The Magician quest for the low cost of 9 Legendary Shards (and don’t forget to pick up the Fated Engram now that they can drop Forsaken Exotics).
- Complete The Pyramidion Strike
- Cabal samples collected
- Taken samples collected
- Vex samples collected
Depending on what version of The Pyramidion Strike you get will change how easy it is to collect all the samples in one go. If you find that you’re missing some, head to Nessus as it houses both Vex and Cabal. For the Taken portion, load up the Heroic version of the Whisper quest and fight through the mission until all the samples are collected. With this section of The Magician completed, boot up the Mystery and Potential mission through the Gambit node in the Director. Enjoy the little snippet of dialogue and then claim your powerful gear!
Strength, Invitation of the Nine
The fifth quest in the Invitation of the Nine questline is Strength, which requires the completion of The Garden World Strike on Mercury. Furthermore, thanks to a recent update, players must now collect the samples from the enemies on the specified planet. The planet for Strength (at least for the weekend of April 13th) is Mercury, one of the worst patrol zones in Destiny 2.
- Complete The Garden World Strike
- Cabal samples collected
- Hive samples collected
- Vex samples collected
As mentioned above, the samples must be collected from the listed planet. In the event you don’t collect all the samples during the Strike, you will need to either roam around the patrol zone, fight through the only Lost Sector in the region, run another Strike, or better yet, complete an adventure offered by Brother Vance. After completing the Strike and collecting the samples, you will be able to load up the Mystery and Potential mission through the Gambit node in the Director.
The most difficult one of these to collect will be the Hive samples. There are seemingly no Hive to be found anywhere on Mercury except in one adventure: Bug in the System. Go to Brother Vance and select the normal version of the Bug in the System to find enough Hive to kill to complete the samples.
Be sure to listen to the dialogue to learn more about the intricacies of the relationship between Drifter, the Nine, and the Emissary. Collect your powerful gear and prepare to do it all again next weekend!
The Twins, Invitation of the Nine
The latest quest in the Invitation of the Nine questline is The Twins. This quest requires players complete the Strange Terrain Strike on Mars, as well as collect a few samples from the Cabal and Hive. Remember, thanks to a recent update, you must collect the samples from the planet that is listed in the quest. Completing this quest will reward another piece of lore for you to read!
- Complete Strange Terrain Strike
- Cabal samples collected
- Hive samples collected
Completing the Strange Terrain Strike should complete at least the Hive portion of the sample collection. In the event you’re still missing some samples, load into the Drift and use the Escalation Protocol or the nearby Lost Sector to get the remainder. With all the steps completed, you can load up the Mystery and Potential mission found in the Gambit node in the Director. Listen to the dialogue and grab your powerful gear from the chest!
The Tower, Invitation of the Nine
The seventh quest in the Invitation of the Nine is The Tower. When this section was first released, it was bugged and would not allow players to complete it. However, a recent fix has ensured that the Vex portion of the sample collection can be accomplished. Keep in mind, the samples can only be collected on the planet listed, so don’t go trying to collect samples from another location.
- Complete The Hollowed Lair Strike
- Hive samples collected
- Scorn samples collected
- Vex samples collected
The Hollowed Lair Strike does not include any Vex in it, but there are plenty of Scorn and a few Hive to kill. For the Vex portion, you will need to load up the Warden of Nothing Strike. This is the only area in the entire Tangled Shore that has Vex units to kill. The majority of this Strike is Vex, but if you fail to collect all the samples, you will need to run at least a portion of the Strike again. Once all the samples are collected, you will receive Into the Unknown, at which point you can load up the Mystery and Potential mission via the Gambit node.
Pass through the ship and into the hole in the center of the map. Listen to the dialogue between the Drifter and Orin and then collect your powerful gear.
The Hanged Man, Invitation of the Nine
The penultimate quest in the Invitation of the Nine is The Hanged Man. This quest can be purchased from Xur for 9 Legendary Shards. For this quest, players will be tasked with going to the Dreaming City and collecting samples from enemies. Because this takes place on the Dreaming City, you will obviously need to have completed the Forsaken campaign.
For The Hanged Man quest, you will need to finish The Corrupted Strike, and collect samples from the main enemies found in the Dreaming City:
- Complete The Corrupted Strike
- Hive samples collected
- Scorn samples collected
- Taken samples collected
Completing The Corrupted Strike should result in all of the Taken and Hive samples being collected. In the event you don’t have the required amount of Hive samples, simply roam around the Divalian Mists or go into the Blind Well. As for the Scorn, the easiest place to farm the samples is in the Bay of Drowned Wishes. This is the only location in the Dreaming City where Scorn spawn in large numbers.
Once all the steps are complete, the Invitation of the Nine will transform into the Into the Unknown mission item. At this point, you can launch Mystery and Potential from the Gambit node. Pass through the portal and into the other realm, and then through the well in the ground. Listen to the exchange between the Drifter and the Emissary. Once the dialogue is finished, you can collect your powerful gear from the chest.
Death, Invitation of the Nine
The last step in the Invitation of the Nine quest line is Death. Unlike the other quests, this one does not involved any Strikes or collecting of samples. Instead, after buying the Invitation of the Nine from Xur for 9 Legendary Shards, players must complete several matches of Crucible. To make matters worse for players hoping they would be able to avoid PVP, some of these matches will also be played in competitive.
To complete the Death quest, you must do the follow:
- Quickplay matches completed – 3
- Competitive matches completed – 3
- Rumble matches completed – 3
Thankfully, you must only complete these matches, not win them. This means you could very well go in, run around, and just wait until the match ends. To sweeten the deal further, you only need to do three matches of each, and Rumble matches currently count as Quickplay. So really, you only need to finish 6 matches of Crucible. Go in and try to have some fun, because there’s no avoiding this step if you want to complete this now 10-week long quest line.
After all those Crucible matches are finished, the Death Invitation of the Nine will complete and you can load up Mystery and Potential one last time. Go through the Haul and speak with the Emissary of the Nine to see the final vision. Finally, collect your powerful loot and call it a day.
The Invitation of the Nine is likely going to be one of the most profound pieces of lore players will receive in Destiny’s history. This series of quests and missions will give players unprecedented insight into Xur, the mysterious actions of the Nine, and their relationship with Drifter. Be sure to check back with us here at Guide Stash as we continue to update this guide!