How to get the High-Impact Reserves Catalyst for Barrow-Dyad in Destiny 2

Barrow-Dyad took Destiny 2 fans by surprise after surfacing as a secret, and you can get the High-Impact Reserves catalyst by completing another hidden quest.

The first catalyst available for Barrow-Dyad is tied to the Court of Blades seasonal activity in Heresy’s second act. Put it on the Exotic SMG to add High-Impact Reserves, a perk that bolsters damage when your magazine is running low—and works perfectly with Barrow-Dyad’s unique effects.

Here’s how you can unlock the High-Impact Reserves catalyst for the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG in Destiny 2, as outlined by content creator Rick Kackis.

How to get the High-Impact Reserves catalyst for Barrow-Dyad in Destiny 2

Grabbing Barrow-Dyad’s High-Impact Reserves catalyst requires three straightforward steps. Your first move is to complete an Expert version of Court of Blades. This may sound daunting, but it’s far more forgiving than it seems. Here’s what you need to do, in our experience.

Complete an Expert run of Court of Blades using Barrow-Dyad

Pick up your circular SMG and head inside the higher-difficulty version of the Court of Blades. You can still get the rewards without killing the maximum number of challengers, so don’t worry too much about your performance. In our experience, you can get away with at least a Silver score and still grab the Sharp Osseous Spine as long as you have Barrow-Dyad equipped. According to content creator 360GameTV, simply defeating the final boss is enough, so waiting out the clock is a valid strategy.

We stuck with Barrow-Dyad for our entire run, though Rick Kackis suggested putting it on at the last second might work. We didn’t test that idea, though (we learned from our clanmate who totally swore he’d swap subclasses for the raid triumph and forgot to).

Once you have the Sharp Osseous Spine, head to the Shaping Slab and pick up the A Needle’s Path quest. The first step here is to get your standing in the Path of Resolve to 12, which also unlocks the Moment of Clarity upgrade required for the Dyadic Ascension quest.

If you have any Metastasized Essentia, you can turn it in at the Taken Altar in Eris’ apartment for some quick reputation gains. Don’t forget to choose the correct path by interacting with the Taken orb in front of the Shaping Slab. Doing so unlocks the final step in this quest.

Complete an Expert run of Court of Blades using precision weapons

Much like the first time around, you must complete a run of Court of Blades on Expert to advance this step. There’s a catch, though: This time, you can only use precision weapons (scout rifles, sniper rifles, and linear fusion rifles) and/or Barrow-Dyad. While the wording on this objective may be confusing (including to Kackis), based on our testing, you don’t need Barrow-Dyad on you to unlock the High-Impact Reserves catalyst. Taking the SMG can still be a good idea, though, since scout rifles may not be the best tool for add clear.

After you’ve finished your run, you’ll unlock the High-Impact Reserves catalyst from the final chest and wrap up the A Needle’s Path quest. We suspect this might be the format for Barrow-Dyad catalyst quests in Heresy’s second act: An Expert run of Court of Blades with a different set of weapons (short-range, mid-range, and explosives come to mind).

Should you use the High-Impact Reserves catalyst in Barrow-Dyad?

The High-Impact Reserves catalyst can be a good addition to Barrow-Dyad, and it’s certainly better than not running any. This perk gives you a boost based on how low your magazine is, and Barrow-Dyad’s unique mechanic refills the magazine by spending the Blight gauge. You could reasonably manipulate the weapon to keep it firing as it’s almost empty, taking advantage of this perk.

Once you have access to the other catalysts, though, perks like Target Lock and One For All can better pair with Barrow-Dyad’s dual-use nature. One of its traits changes depending on your path with the Shaping Slab, with the Path of Resolve favoring One For All due to extra gauge generation after shooting three targets, and the Path of Ambition synergizing with Target Lock since shooting the same target creates more Blight.