Destiny 2: How to unlock the Prismatic subclass plus aspects, fragments, and abilities

Destiny 2 Prismatic - Three guardians posing
(Image credit: Bungie)

One of the biggest new features in Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion is the Prismatic subclass. This new class allows you to blend the powers of the light and darkness to create insanely strong builds that outshine almost anything the other subclasses can currently do. 

On top of blending the abilities from a variety of other subclasses, the Prismatic subclass has its own unique ability: Transcendence. Filling up both the light and darkness bars underneath your super allows you to use Transcendence, unlocking a new grenade, plus increased damage and ability regen while it's active. 

However, to fully deck out your Prismatic class and make the most of it, you will need to unlock all of the grenades, melee attacks, and supers, as well as aspects and fragments. Here's how you can do that, with a deep dive into which missions and quests to complete to unlock everything. 

How to unlock the Prismatic subclass

(Image credit: Bungie)

You'll unlock the Prismatic Subclass during the first campaign mission of The Final Shape. When visiting the war table room in the old Tower in The Pale Heart, you can interact with the Prismatic Conflux to obtain the subclass.

This will unlock the subclass permanently, unlike in Lightfall where you were slowly drip-fed Strand over the course of the campaign. However, just because you have the subclass, doesn’t mean you have everything available. There is still a lot left for you to unlock.

How to unlock Prismatic supers

Opening the Prismatic rewards during the campaign will unlock most supers (Image credit: Bungie)

Your Prismatic subclass has access to five different supers from across the light and dark subclasses in the game, including a brand new one introduced in The Final Shape. Each class has access to:

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Prismatic supers
TitansTwlight Arsenal (Void), Thundercrash (Arc), Hammer of Sol (Solar), Glacial Quake (Stasis), and Bladefury (Strand).
HunterStorm’s Edge (Arc), Golden Gun: Marksman (Solar), Shadowshot: Dreadfall (Void), Silence and Squall (Stasis), and Silkstrike (Strand).
WarlocksSong of Flame (Solar), Nova Bomb: Cataclysm (Void), Stormtrance (Arc), Winter’s Wrath (Stasis), and Needlestorm (Strand).

To unlock all your these Prismatic subclass supers, you need to:

  • Open the Prismatic chests as rewards during the The Final Shape’s campaign missions.
  • Complete the quests ‘Lost in the Light’ and ‘Found in the Dark’ quests from your Ghost in The Pale Heart. Both are obtained during the exotic quest ‘Destined Heroes’ after finishing The Final Shape’s main campaign. 

Simply playing through the campaign will mean you pick up a few extra supers to swap to, including the brand new super, which you'll get around halfway through. Be sure to complete the Destined Heroes exotic quest as soon as you can to get the extra supers tied to the connected questlines. These five stage quests have you fighting alongside Mithrax and Caiatl and will let you unlock the Ergo Sum exotic sword also.

Stages 1, 3, and 5 of each quest will unlock one or two items for your Prismatic subclass when you open “Manifestations of the Light” Prismatic chests.

How to unlock all Prismatic grenades and melees

Completing Lost in the Light and Found in the Dark will earn you the remaining grenades and melees, plus get you the Ergo Sum exotic sword (Image credit: Bungie)

As with the supers, to unlock all of your Prismatic subclass grenades and melee attacks, you need to complete the main story missions in The Final Shape and finish both the ‘Lost in the Light’ and ‘Found in the Dark’ quests

It's worth noting that your Prismatic class grenade is different and only accessible when you enter that state. At all other times, you can choose from one of the following :

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Prismatic grenades
TitansGlacier Grenade (Stasis), Pulse Grenade (Arc), Thermite Grenade (Solar), Suppresor Grenade (Void), and Shackle Grenade (Strand).
HuntersGrapple (Strand), Magnetic Grenade (Void), Swarm Grenade (Solar), Arcbolt Grenade (Arc), and Duskfield Grenade (Stasis).
WarlocksVortex Grenade (Void), Healing Grenade (Solar), Storm Grenade (Arc), Coldsnap Grenade (Stasis), and Threadling Grenade (Strand).

While in Prismatic state, your melee stays the same, though you do get increased melee regen. Here are the options you can unlock for each class:

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Prismatic melees
TitanShield Throw (Void), Shiver Strike (Stasis), Hammer Strike (Solar), Thunderclap (Arc), and Frenzied Blade (Strand).
HunterWithering Blade (Stasis), Snare Bomb (Void), Knife Trick (Solar), Combination Blow (Arc), and Threaded Spike (Strand).
WarlockArcane Needle (Strand), Pocket Singularity (Void), Incinerator Snap (Solar), Chain Lightning (Arc), and Penumbral Blast (Stasis).

How to unlock Prismatic fragments and aspects

Prismatic fragments come from opening special chests found in each area post-campaign (Image credit: Bungie)

All of the Prismatic aspects for your subclass can be unlocked from Prismatic chests during The Final Shape’s campaign or during the ‘Lost in the Light’ and ‘Found in the Dark’ quests.

However, fragments are where things get a bit more complicated. You can find Prismatic fragments throughout The Pale Heart in special Prismatic chests. Most of these require a key that you can usually earn in the immediate area by solving a puzzle or completing an encounter. Take the Prismatic chest in The Refraction area, for instance; you need to solve a symbol-based puzzle and then defeat waves of enemies to get the key to unlock it. 

Luckily, a fair few of these chests are on the beaten path so you should spot them while re-exploring each area post-campaign completion. If you want a step-by-step walkthrough of how to unlock every fragment, this video from Mactics is a really handy source of info.

The full list of Prismatic Fragments are as follows:

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Prismatic fragments
Facet of GraceDefeating targets with kinetic weapons grants you bonus Transcendence energy. Defeating targets with your super grants you and nearby allies bonus Transcendence energy (-10 resilience).
Facet of SacrificeWhile you have an arc, solar, or void buff, ability final blows grant bonus Darkness Transcendence energy (+10 discipline).
Facet of DevotionDefeating targets afflicted with stasis or strand debuffs grants bonus Light Transcendence energy (+10 strength).
Facet of GenerosityDefeating targets while transcendent creates orbs of power for your allies.
Facet of JusticeWhile transcendent, your ability final blows explode (+10 intellect).
Facet of HonorCollecting an elemental pickup or destroying a tangle grants Transcendence energy of the same type (+10 strength).
Facet of HopeWhile you have an elemental buff, your class ability regenerates more quickly.
Facet of CourageYour arc, solar, and void abilities deal increased damage to targets afflicted with darkness debuffs (+10 discipline).
Facet of BalanceRapidly defeating targets with light damage grants melee energy. Rapidly defeating targets with darkness damage grants grenade energy.
Facet of BraveryDefeating targets with grenade final blows grants Volatile Rounds to your void weapons. Defeating targets with powered melee final blows grants Unraveling Rounds to your strand weapons.
Facet of AwakeningRapidly defeating targets with light or darkness damage or super final blows generates an elemental pickup of the matching damage type (+10 resilience).
Facet of CommandFreezing or suppressing a target reloads your equipped weapons and increases weapon stability, aim assist, and airborne effectiveness.
Facet of DawnPowered melee hits against targets makes you radiant. Powered melee final blows make you and nearby allies radiant.
Facet of ProtectionWhile surrounded by combatants, you are more resistant to incoming damage. While transcendent, the effect is increased (+10 strength).
Facet of BlessingMelee final blows start health regeneration. While transcendent, melee final blows start health regeneration for you and nearby allies.
Facet of PurposePicking up an orb of power grants either amplified, restoration, frost armor, woven mail, or overshield based on the damage type of your equipped super (-10 recovery).
Facet of MendingGrenade final blows cure you. Transcendence grenade final blows increase the strength of the effect.
Facet of DefianceFinishers create a detonation that either jolts, scorches, slows, severs, or makes targets volatile based on the damage type of your equipped super (+10 recovery).
Facet of SolitudeLanding rapid precision hits emits a severing blast from the target. While transcendent, the severing blast is bigger.
Facet of RuinIncreases the size and damage of the burst when you shatter a stasis crystal or frozen target, and increases the area of effect of solar ignitions (+10 mobility).
Facet of DominanceYour void grenades weaken targets, and your arc grenades jolt targets (-10 discipline).

That covers everything you need to know about Prismatic, how to unlock the various parts of the subclass and what is on offer for Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks.

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