History of Ruinous Effigy

Ruinous Effigy is an Exotic Trace Rifle that deals Void damage, tied to the Darkness and Savathun's Taken. Its flavor text begins "From the many wings of ruin...".

Overview

Getting kills creates Transmutation spheres. Picking up a sphere lets you use light, heavy and drain attacks with it, and you can detonate or consume them for extra effects. It is a Trace Rifle with a continuous beam.

Acquisition

• Purchase from the Exotic Archive (Monument to Lost Lights) in the Tower. A summary of a guide lists the cost as 1 Exotic Cipher, 125k Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards and 1 Ascendant Shard; prices change, so check the kiosk.
• Historically it came from a multi-step quest in the Whisper era (2020); older guides describe quest steps that are no longer how it is obtained.

Catalyst

The catalyst drops randomly when you defeat enemies with the weapon's Transmutation spheres. Complete it either by defeating 5,000 enemies with the rifle and its spheres (a popular farm was the dark area of the Whisper mission with respawning Taken Thralls) or by destroying the 50 Eyes of Savathun around the system (3% each). It grants the Deconstruction perk: increased damage to targets previously damaged by Transmutation spheres. Progress is under Triumphs > Account > Exotic Catalyst > Energy Weapons.