Destiny 2 A Familiar Voice walkthrough: All quest steps, explained

A new episode in Destiny 2, and a new familiar voice coming back. Here is how to complete the A Familiar Voice quest in Destiny 2. Note: you will need to own the Season Pass for The Final Shape to access the Echoes episode in its entirety.

Step 1: Decrypt an Echo Engram in Destiny 2

The very first thing you need to do to start up the A Familiar Voice quest for the Echoes episode is to travel to the H.E.L.M. and interact with the War Table to decrypt one of the Echo Engrams you have already collected during your progress in the Pale Heart campaign missions.

Note that the War Table will disappear and instead be replaced with Failsafe right after completing A Familiar Voice, so keep that in mind if you are wondering where the table went.

Step 2: Thwart the final shape in Destiny 2

This is a step that many of us thought was glitched, but it makes sense now that we have a clear understanding of how episodic content will unlock throughout this new era of Destiny 2. To thwart the final shape in Destiny 2, you will have to complete the main Destiny 2 campaign, with the official release of the Echoes episode finally triggering the completion of this step. Every Guardian that has previously completed the events of The Final Shape will be spawned straight into Nessus at Step 3.

Step 3: Complete Mission: Meteoric on Nessus in Destiny 2

Failsafe is back and the very first thing we need to do in Mission: Meteroic is to contact her at the ship’s wreckage in Nessus at the Exodus Black region. Speak with Failsafe and you will find out that she has been undergoing a quarantine thanks to the Vex. So, to break it, you will need to head back outside and disrupt three different Confluxes. Interacting with them will do the trick but any incoming damage will stop the progress, so clear the Vex presence in the area first.

After defeating a meager Vex counterattack, it is time to head to the strange and mysterious impact site that took place after The Witness’s defeat which has been tampering with the Vex behavior. Go inside the cave and through the portal to reach it.

Surveying the Impact Site

As you can see, it has that particular Prismatic aura that we have all gotten to know during The Final Shape. Try to reboot the Data Array and you will trigger some Vex defenses. Repel the Vex assault and they will eventually drop an Arc Cranium. Use it to disable the Vex Nodes that are blocking the access to the Data Array.

These are straightforward for the most part, but the trick will be using the reflective panels around them to deactivate multiple Nodes at the same time. Fortunately, the game instructs you on where to position yourself so that you can get the correct perspective and shoot the Arc Cranium correctly.

Continue and you will have to defend yourself against some more Vex assaults and solve some more Vex Node puzzles. Eventually, a boss will appear and attempt to stop you from bypassing the Vex defenses. Shoot it with your best weapons and it will disappear at 50% health. New Nodes will appear, so solve them again to bring the Vex boss back and give it the killing blow.

Failsafe will now analyze the impact site and then Saint-14 will give her the good news that she will now become the official vendor and collaborator in H.E.L.M. She activates her joy expression and the mission will be complete.

Step 4 & 5: Report to and Speak with Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. Destiny 2

Head to H.E.L.M. and you will find Saint-14, Osiris, and Failsafe waiting for you. Speak with them and you will hear quite the motivational speech by Saint-14 on how he is now able to dream again and wants to explore the universe with Osiris. Seems like a little tease on what is to come next for Destiny in 2025 – maybe we get to explore other systems!

Saint-14 and Osiris will leave and you will now speak with Failsafe who will ask you to collect some data from the unusual Vex by completing the Breach Executable activity in Nessus. You can access it directly from H.E.L.M. I suggest picking up some bounties from Failsafe before you start the activity since you will have the chance to complete them during your first run.

Step 6: Complete Breach Executable in Destiny 2

The Breach Executable activity is a three-man repeatable arena mission you will need to complete to progress through the quest. This activity is also where you will farm Echo weapons during Act 1 of the Echoes episode. It consists of three different rounds. They all have a unique mechanic in common: collect Extracted Data and interact with Data Arrays to gain boosts and gain round progress. Here are the round objectives that will be picked at random during the first two rounds:

• Redirect the Vex Signal: Similar to Mission: Meteoric, you will need to defeat Vex enemies so they can drop Arc Craniums. Use them to redirect the Vex Signal by shooting at the different nodes that will appear in the field after defeating Conflux Guards.
• Destroy Gestating Radiolaria Pods: Find Nursery Cyclops in the area, defeat them, and stand on top of their spot to enable you to shoot bullets that will deactivate the Gestating Radiolaria Pod shields above you.
• Install Analytic Sequencer: Control different areas to install Analytic Sequencers to track the Flow of Radiolaria. Defeat any of the guarding Vex when they appear and beware of the Geysers of Radiolaria – or Vex milk.
• Fallen Mercenaries: The simplest of them all, the Fallen Mercenaries will have you beat Fallen Mercenaries and bank Extracted Data.

The final round will have you face one of two possible bosses: Vire, Shard of Contempt – a tormentor – or the Choral Minds – a group of powerful hydras. Either way, beating either of the bosses will require you to defeat or shoot at specific targets – Vex cubes for the hydras, Sisters of the Eclipse for the tormentor – and then deal as much damage as you can.

Step 7: Speak with Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. in Destiny 2

Get back to H.E.L.M. and speak with Failsafe about everything you have discovered during your Breach Executable run in Nessus. She will continue studying the Vex data and instruct you to get back to gather more while she catches up with years of Vanguard updates.

This concludes the A Familiar Voice quest in Episode Echoes in Destiny 2! As you can see, it serves more like an introduction to everything you will experience during the episode, so be sure to check out everything else Nessus and Pale Heart have for you, like the Enigma Protocol or the Dual Destiny missions, respectively.