Xûr is a weird guy. We’ve known that since 2014. But when Bungie dropped the 30th Anniversary Pack, they turned his cosmic weirdness into a game show hosted by a celestial horse made of literal stars. It’s chaotic. It's loud. And honestly, the dares of eternity loot pool is one of the most confusing systems in Destiny 2 if you aren't staring at a spreadsheet while you play.
You’ve probably been there. You spend twenty minutes jumping through hoops, dodging giant rolling boulders, and nuking a Crota lookalike, only to get a piece of armor from three years ago that you already dismantled ten times. It feels random. It’s not. There is a very specific, albeit frustratingly bloated, math equation running behind the scenes.
The loot doesn't just drop in a big pile. It breathes. It rotates. If you're looking for a specific world-drop weapon from the past, you can't just farm on a Tuesday and expect it to be there on a Thursday.
The Weekly Rotation Headache
The biggest thing most players get wrong is assuming everything is available all the time. Nope. The dares of eternity loot pool functions on a strict three-week cycle. Bungie designed this to stop the loot pool from becoming an infinite sea of garbage, though many would argue it's still pretty cluttered.
Each week features a specific "set" of gear. This includes both weapons and armor sets that were previously tied to specific seasons—think Season of the Lost, Season of the Chosen, or Season of the Splicer. If you’re hunting for a specific roll on something like the Ignition Code grenade launcher, you have to wait for its specific week. If you miss that window, you're waiting another 14 days.
Week 1: The "Old School" Haul
This week usually focuses on the earlier seasonal content. You’ll see stuff like the Seventh Seraph gear or the Ikelos weapons (though those have moved around a bit in recent updates). The armor is often the Wild Hunt set. It’s fine. It’s not world-shaking, but for collectors, it's the only way to fill those transmog slots.
Week 2: The Splicer and Chosen Era
This is arguably the high point for many. This rotation often pulls from the seasons where the "meta" really started to solidify. We're talking about the Threaded Needle linear fusion rifle or the Extraordinary Rendition SMG. Even with the power creep we've seen in recent expansions, a well-rolled Extraordinary Rendition still shreds in low-to-mid-tier PvE.
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Week 3: The Lost and Beyond
The final week in the cycle generally leans into the Season of the Lost gear. Chrysura Melo, Vulpecula, and the Pathfinder armor sets live here. Honestly, Vulpecula with Headstone is still a vibe for Stasis builds, even if it’s been outclassed by newer craftable options.
Treasure Keys and the "Bungie Favorites"
Then there’s the stuff that doesn't rotate. These are the 30th Anniversary specials. These are the weapons you actually want to spend your Treasure Keys on at the chest next to Xûr in Eternity.
We’re talking about the Halo-inspired gear. The BxR-55 Battler. The Forerunner sidearm (via the quest). The Half-Truths and The Other Half swords. This pool is static. It stays the same regardless of what week it is.
The BxR-55 Battler is the standout here. It’s a pulse rifle that feels like a dream because of its unique frame. It’s got that legacy Halo Battle Rifle zoom and recoil pattern. Since it’s craftable, the "loot chase" here is really just a race to get five red borders. Once you have the pattern, the dares of eternity loot pool becomes a lot less stressful for this specific category.
The Other Half is the white whale. It’s a Void sword with a ridiculously low drop rate compared to its Arc cousin, Half-Truths. If you get one with Eager Edge, keep it. Don't even look at the other perks. Just lock it. Movement enthusiasts in Destiny 2 live and die by that perk for "sword skating," and Dares is the only place to get it on this specific archetype.
Why Is This So Grindy?
Let’s be real. Farming Dares is a slog. Legend Dares helps, but it requires a pre-made fireteam. The game doesn't tell you that the drop rates for specific seasonal gear in the rotating pool are actually quite thin. Because the pool for a single week might contain 15 weapons and 5 pieces of armor for each class, your odds of getting a "god roll" on a specific gun are statistically annoying.
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You’re fighting two layers of RNG:
- Getting the right item to drop at all.
- Getting the right perks on that item.
This is why Starhorse Bounties are vital. Don't ignore the horse. The bounties give you Strange Coins and sometimes Paraversal Hauls. Opening a Paraversal Haul is basically a loot lottery ticket. It can drop Treasure Keys, Strange Coins, or gear from the current rotation. It's an "extra" chance at the gear you're hunting without having to sit through another round of the obstacle course.
The Lightning Round Mythos
Everyone wants the Lightning Round. It’s the bonus phase that happens after the final boss. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, and it showers you with chests.
There is no "secret button" to trigger it, despite what some YouTubers claimed back in the day. It is a random proc. However, playing on Legend difficulty and finishing rounds quickly with a high score seems to increase the likelihood of it occurring. It’s a "luck of the draw" situation. If you get it, you're looking at three extra chests. In terms of efficiency for the dares of eternity loot pool, the Lightning Round is the only way to make the farm feel rewarding.
Nuance in the Meta: Is it still worth it?
Is the gear still good? Mostly.
The problem is crafting. Most players now prefer to farm newer seasonal content because they can eventually guarantee the exact roll they want. Dares gear (aside from the 30th Anniversary weapons) isn't craftable. You are at the mercy of the RNG gods.
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However, some of the armor sets in the rotation aren't available anywhere else in the game. If you missed out on the Season of the Splicer look—which is heavy on that "cyberpunk hacker" aesthetic—Dares is your only hope. For the "fashion-is-the-true-endgame" crowd, the dares of eternity loot pool is essentially a museum where you can occasionally take the exhibits home.
World Drops vs. Seasonal Gear
Sometimes, Bungie shuffles the deck. They’ve been known to move world-pool weapons into the Dares rotation when the general world pool gets too crowded. This means weapons like the Funnelweb or Cantata-57 have occasionally occupied slots in the Dares rewards. Always check the current season's patch notes to see if a shuffle happened, because Bungie is notorious for making these changes quietly.
Practical Steps for Efficient Farming
If you are going to dive into this, don't do it blindly. You'll burn out in three runs.
- Check the Calendar: Use a community resource like Blueberries.gg or the Destiny Massive Breakdowns spreadsheet to see which week it is. Don't farm for Splicer gear during a Lost week. You're wasting your life.
- Run Legend Mode: If you can find a group on the LFG (Looking For Group) app, do it. The rewards are better, the champions are predictable, and the high score is guaranteed, which helps with certain quest steps and potentially the Lightning Round.
- Stack Bounties: Always have a Starhorse bounty active. They are cheap, and the rewards stack up over a long session.
- The Strange Coin Economy: Use your coins to buy Paraversal Hauls from Starhorse if you already have the 30th Anniversary patterns. It’s the fastest way to "passively" farm the rotating pool while you’re doing other things.
The dares of eternity loot pool is a weird relic of Destiny 2’s history. It’s a catch-all bucket for everything that doesn't have a home anymore. It’s messy, it’s frustrating, and the horse is probably judging you. But if you want that BxR or that one specific pair of boots from 2021, it’s the only game in town.
Start by checking your current Strange Coin stack. If you're capped at 99, you're literally throwing loot away every time you finish a strike or a crucible match. Head to the Eternity social space, dump them into Paraversal Hauls, and see what the horse feels like giving you today. Just don't expect a 5/5 god roll on your first try. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.