Is there a good, I dunno, written guide on how to get all the exotics? Kinda just wanna collect 'em since I don't feel motivation to do much else atm. Video guides fucking suck ass.
Googling around I keep finding incomplete shit and it's really annoying.
Or I'm bad at finding them. I'm probably bad.
Probably not. These gaming site guides often poorly convey information or care more about offloading the weapon stats instead of telling you how to obtain them (the method itself squirreled away on another page). I'll attempt to best summarise the ones available so far:
The GS/WT blueprint upgrade for an Exotic usually appears at vendors once that weapon is crafted, you obtain generic Exotic Components (required for upgrades) by deconstructing other Exotic weapons. Also, these methods can be repeated.
Sweet Dreams (shotgun) and Merciless (rifle): RNG drops from named Outcast and Hyena bosses respectively. Better doing story missions tied to those factions on the higher Hard or Challenging difficulties for a shot.
Lullaby (shotgun) and Ruthless (rifle): respective aesthetic blueprint conversions obtained from the pre-order/Ultimate Edition bonuses (also appearing as Lvl 1 weapons for new characters). These blueprints require a Sweet Dreams or Merciless of at least GS 250 and honestly seem to be a waste of time.
Chatterbox (SMG): multi-stage
Liberty (pistol): multi-stage, endgame.
Nemesis (marksman rifle): multi-stage, endgame.
Pestilence (LMG): RNG drop from named bosses in any of the three DZs.
Sweet Dreams (shotgun) and Merciless (rifle): RNG drops from named Outcast and Hyena bosses respectively. Better doing story missions tied to those factions on the higher Hard or Challenging difficulties for a shot.
Lullaby (shotgun) and Ruthless (rifle): respective aesthetic blueprint conversions obtained from the pre-order/Ultimate Edition bonuses (also appearing as Lvl 1 weapons for new characters). These blueprints require a Sweet Dreams or Merciless of at least GS 250 and honestly seem to be a waste of time.
Chatterbox (SMG): multi-stage
- Note: can't be done in a day due to the 24-hour reset timers for locked crates.
- Farm Hyena keys from either underground wall boxes or Hyena bounties.
- I recommend completing the following non-invaded Hyena missions for three Exotic SMG parts in these crates: Loaded Canister (Grand Washington - after the minigun lobby, up the stairs, in the small bathroom on the right), Creative Mag (Jefferson Trade Center - on the right side of loading dock at the end of the garage segment) and Modified Mods (District Union Arena Stronghold - inside the mall (with named boss Brooks), in the ground floor room opposite the escalators).
- With all three components in tow, play the Bank Headquarters mission on Challenging difficulty. In the CEO office (see here), open a side panel that drops an RIFD card that enables entry for the left-side vault room with a Hyena crate that drops the Chatterbox Blueprint.
- Craft it.
Liberty (pistol): multi-stage, endgame.
- Note: must have a high-end (gold) D50/Desert Eagle pistol, a superior purple one doesn't work.
- Killing Kendra Nelson at the Capitol Building Stronghold drops the Pistol: Trigger & Mechanism component is required to start this. By the endgame, all players should have it.
- On at least Hard difficulty, obtain the following components: Pistol: Receiver & Paint Job, from Captain Briggs at the end of the American History Museum, Pistol: Sight & Rail from Staff Sergeant Carl Wade at the end of Viewpoint Museum, and Pistol: Grip & Tags (with Kendra's Liberty Blueprint) from Master Sergeant Steve "Junior" Quiroz at the end of the Space Administration HQ mission .
- Get to crafting.
Nemesis (marksman rifle): multi-stage, endgame.
- Note: can't be done in a day, drops depend on invasion availability of the rotating weekly invasions.
- Play the Tidal Basin Stronghold at WT4 to enter WT5.
- Replay Tidal Basin. In the building where Manny tells you to patch ISAC into a laptop, there's a keycard upstairs on the bunk beds.
- At back of hovercraft bay, before heading out, unlock the left-side room with a weapon crate that drops a high marksman rifle: the Adrestia SR-1.
- Deconstruct it to obtain the first component: Marksman Rifle: Scope - The Tally. Its inscription gives a clue for the three drops acquired from Black Tusk named bosses.
- Obtain Marksman Rifle: Barrel - The Scourge from David "Prime" Maxwell of Invaded Capitol Building, Marksman Rifle: Bolt from Erin "Shorty" Linwood of Invaded Roosevelt Island, and Marksman Rifle: Stock - The Bridle from Aurora "Klutz" Kay of Invaded District Union Arena.
- Finally, the Nemesis Blueprint will drop from Phaedra "Puck" Lao at the lobby of Invaded Grand Washington.
- Craft this beast.
Pestilence (LMG): RNG drop from named bosses in any of the three DZs.