Here are the different ways you can drop the Thunderlord catalyst and some tips for leveling up fast.
Guardians who purchased Season of Plunder will notice a treasure chest waiting for them in the HELM. This chest contains an exotic Thunderlord machine gun. Go ahead and pick it up if you don’t have it, but that’s only half the battle. To enjoy Thunderlord to its full potential, players will need to obtain the Exotic Catalyst and level it up.
Thunderlord Catalyst
For the catalyst to drop, you need to complete the activities in the playlist. Strikes, Gambit, and any Crucible playlist match could drop it as a reward.
The fastest methods I have found are Mayhem games (Season of Plunder Week 1) or Gambit games. If Mayhem is no longer active, buckle up and get ready to play for an indeterminate amount of time. If you’re leveling up a character’s power, the smart thing to do is play what you’d otherwise need to play for Pinnacles, and hope you get it from that. If you’re out of luck, pick your favorite playlist activity and get to work, Guardian. There are no shortcuts to getting this drop if Mayhem isn’t in the Crucible rotation this week.
Once you have the catalyst, you need to complete it. This is done by getting 500 Thunderlord kills with Catalyst in the slot (remember to check that your Catalysts apply to your Exotics). Hands down the quickest way to complete this is by visiting the Wall of Wishes in the Last Wish raid and wishing to get to the Shuro Chi checkpoint. Equip Thunderlord and some ammo mods, drop a Raid Banner for full ammo, then walk up to the door. You can get 81 kills per run in just about three minutes, so you’ll have this full catalyst in under seven runs and about 20 minutes.
There are mob farming alternatives to Shuro Chi such as Altars of Sorrow found on the Moon, a place called ‘Thrallway’ found in the Shattered Throne dungeon, which would take a while to get to but is effective to use. Some Guardians prefer the Grasp of Greed dungeon entrance, equipping machine gun ammo mods and waiting until they finish.
Due to the new season, I completed it by simply doing Ketchcrash to get my ranking up there and taking advantage of the regular Raid Banners. It’s a relaxing activity in terms of difficulty with a lot of additions, so it works perfectly with seasonal progress if you don’t want to use the other methods.
Once you have completed the Thunderlord catalyst and inserted it into the weapon, Causing a lightning strike with this weapon partially recharges the magazine from reserves. As Thunderlord users will know, kills and machine gun damage will cause lightning to strike your target. With the catalyst, this now means your weapon will continue to recharge. Fewer recharges means more bring the thunder.
Lord of Thunder and Arc 3.0
Season of Plunder has brought a boost to Arc with Arc 3.0, the recent machine gun balance, and the current round of seasonal artifact mods. Those of interest to us here include the following:
- Machine Gun Ammo Finder (Helmet)
- Machine Gun Reserves (chest)
- Machine Gun Scavenger (Legs)
- Overload machine guns (weapons)
- Machine gun holster (legs)
Note: Thunderlord does not require you to use the Overload Machine Guns mod as it will inherently stun Overload champions.
Another benefit of the Catalyst is that Thunderlord works with Elemental Well mods. The Explosive Wellmaker mod kicks in when you kill with lightning, so while you’re cutting down mobs, you’ll be making a lot of wells. Combine the mods listed above and you’ve got a truly game-changing machine gun that will produce wells, reload itself, and stun Overload champions, making it viable for end-game content.
As a bonus for King’s Fall raiders, Thunderlord isn’t bad when it comes to adding clear duty, so it’s worth considering his mod pairing and getting the catalyst to maximize his potential.
I highly recommend farming this all the way, as it’s a real game changer and an overall nice weapon to “bring the thunder” while enjoying Season of Plunder. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Destiny 2 strategy guide for all of our Destiny 2 tips and guide articles for the new season and beyond.
