How to get the Vexing Placoderm Exotic Fish in Destiny 2

Destiny 2‘s Season of the Deep introduced fishing to the game, and it can be far more relaxing than mowing down hordes of Dregs with your Huckleberry or Sweet Business. As the season went on, Bungie introduced special fishing quests, which increase the odds of getting Exotic fish in ponds all over Sol (well, in the three destinations that actually have them).

With the Fishing Rally quest reaching a new destination, players can now find another Exotic fish: the Vexing Placoderm. Stock up on Bait, get a good playlist or podcast going, and get ready for a relaxing session of virtual fishing. Here’s what you need to know about fishing it so it won’t vex you as well.

How to fish Vexing Placoderm in Destiny 2

Its name already gives you a hint: the Vexing Placoderm can be found in Nessus, a celestial body terraformed by the Vex. With the introduction of the second Fishing Rally quest in week six of Season of the Deep, players will have better odds of catching fish of higher qualities, including each area’s unique Exotic fish.

This fish in particular only spawns in the Nessus fishing ponds, which are located around the Cistern. Thankfully for players, the area is right by a landing zone, so there’s not much walking involved (much better than fishing around Savathûn’s Throne World, where you had to sparrow from Quagmire to the Miasma each time).

Make use of the Focused Fishing meter to improve your chances of catching higher-rarity fish. The Focused Fishing meter applies to all guardians in an area, and any player in a fishing spot can advance it by obtaining Legendary or Exotic varieties of fish. You don’t need to have the Focused Fishing meter at max (we caught our Vexing Placoderm halfway through the second bar), but it helps. Keep in mind any public events in the area can despawn the fishing pond and zero your Focused Fishing meter, though, so expect a few resets before you catch an Exotic fish of your own.

Try not to fish alone if you can help it. We recommend heading back to Orbit if you’re in a particularly dead fishing spot, since the new instance can potentially put you in an area with more active players. If you’re really struggling, you can try to use the official Fireteam Finder to link up with guardians who are also chasing the Vexing Placoderm. It may feel weird, but players have been doing it since Season of the Deep launched.

Keep in mind the “water” in Nessus is actually Vex Milk, which will sting and whittle your health down if you’re not careful. It takes quite a bit of time for it to kill you, but if you’re away or stuck in the fishing animation, you may fall victim to it. We only obtained our Vex Placoderm after we used a Well of Radiance in the middle of the Vex Milk—and we’re not saying it helped, but it sure was fun to stand there and watch confused guardians join us.

Regardless of how you fish, keep in mind the chances of getting the Vexing Placoderm Exotic fish are based on RNG, and though you can improve those chances through Focused Fishing, there’s no way to guarantee a drop other than pure persistence.

After you’ve obtained your Vexing Placoderm, placing it in the aquarium at the H.E.L.M. will grant you a random Exotic for your class and the Broken Blade of Ambition, which is seemingly a requirement for a secret side quest involving Deep Dive missions.