What to do with the Destiny 2 Strange Signal and how to complete the Distortions quest

Destiny 2 player collecting Strange Signal item and getting new Distortions quest step — (Image credit: Bungie)

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Quest walkthrough

The Destiny 2 Strange Signal part of the Distortions quest can reward you with some decent loot, but it can be a slightly confusing step. It's all part of the new activity system added with the Monument of Triumph update where destinations can be affected by distortions for a limited time, letting you loot Strange Matter which can transform into a Strange Signal that can lead to an obscure location on your map. To help you complete the Distortions quest, I've explained every quest step below and how Strange Signals work in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2 Distortions quest walkthrough

Destiny 2 Director menu showing Cosmodrome as the current Distortions destination — (Image credit: Bungie)

Once you've grabbed the Destiny 2 Distortions quest from Ikora in the Tower, here's what you need to do to get and use the Strange Signal and complete the mission:

Speak to Lodi at the far end of the Tower Bazaar. If you're wondering where Archie is in Destiny 2, he's right next to Lodi!
Head to the destination that is currently affected by distortions. Look for the red icon on the Destinations menu and hove your cursor over the destination to see how much longer the distortions will last on that location as you may need to move mid-quest.
Complete a Destiny 2 Public Event on the distortions-affected destination. This will then activate a Distortion Breach event.
Complete the Distortion Breach by destroying the red Distorted Corruption growths then defeating waves of distorted enemies before time runs out. Loot the chest at the end to move onto the next quest step.
Collect 50 Strange Matter. This red crystalline resource can drop when defeating distortion-corrupted enemies, harvesting destination materials, and opening destination chests. Once you've got 50, they will combine into a Strange Signal.
Check the map of the Distorted Destination for a circular search area icon called 'Strange Signal' and head over there. Make sure you check the entire map as this area may not be visible at first. For example, my Strange Signal led to The Breach area in the very south of the Cosmodrome.

Destiny 2 Strange Signal area for the Distortions quest leading to The Breach in the Cosmodrome — (Image credit: Bungie)

Defeat the Shield of the Distorted boss at the Strange Signal location, then loot the nearby chest. I got an Ascendant Alloy and a Tier-5 Legendary weapon from it, so hopefully you get something equally good too.

Destiny 2 Distortions quest completed after using Strange Signal to open loot chest in The Breach in the Cosmodrome — (Image credit: Bungie)

And that's the end of the Distortions quest in Destiny 2, so now you know how distortions work and what you can do with Strange Matter and the Strange Signals they form into to get good loot! There are plenty of other challenges to complete in the Monument of Triumph update too, including the Destiny 2 For The Bird Triumph, which requires you to complete a Raid-related quest from Hawthorne.

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Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.