Destiny 2 Exorcism mission bugged: What to do when Severing the Worm is not completing
Some things to know around the currently bugged season finale.
Destiny 2's Exorcism mission is the long awaited finale for Season of the Lost.
Debuting on the final weekly reset before Year 5 arrives, it concludes the story the season has been building towards - defending Mara Sov against Xivu Arath's forces as she extracts the Witch Queen's worm.
Update (February 18th, 6pm UK): Bungie has said it is automatically advancing players to the second step of Severing the Worm for those currently stuck on the first bugged quest step - meaning the main issue most players are encountering has been resolved. With that done, it's time to wait for the Witch Queen release to arrive...
On this page:
Where to find and start the Exorcism mission
To start the end of season Exorcism mission, visit the HELM and consult the Wayfinder's Compass. You'll then pick up a quest objective, Severing the Worm.
From here, visit the Dreaming City, and find the node on the right side. This will then matchmake you with other players to begin the Exorcism quest.
Destiny 2 Exorcism bugs explained
Unfortunately, Exorcism has multiple bugs which is preventing players completing the mission, seeing the final cutscene, and / or progressing the quest.
The primary issue is that players can skip the final cutscene. This will then skip it for all players, and put everyone back to the menu. This means players cannot see how the story resolves - which is arguably the whole point of playing the mission in the first place.
This is perhaps technically not a bug - just an oversight on Bungie's part - but to add to that, whether or not you skip the cutscene, in many cases the quest does not progress. Some players have said replaying the mission does progress the quest, while Nits_shnitz on reddit suggested deleting the quest, reclaiming from the Tower then re-running can work - but success is not guaranteed.
On top of this, another bug is that players can get stuck on the bridge during the 'Reach the Spire' step. Bungie has acknowledged this - alongside asking the community not to skip the cutscene, and disabling the ability to join a mission mid-session via matchmaking - by saying that players should progress across the bridge slowly, or "double back if blocked".
What can you do about the Destiny 2 Exorcism bugged mission?
Update (February 18th, 6pm UK): Bungie has said it is automatically advancing players to the second step of Severing the Worm for those currently stuck on the first bugged quest step:
Original article: There are two solutions which might help with the issues on the mission's debut:
- If you want to see the final cutscene in-game, play the Exorcism mission with a fireteam of six players. This saves you playing with a random player who might decide to skip the cutscene. Otherwise, you can simply watch it online - see the next section for a recommended video.
- Play the mission over until it works. Since it appears the quest might not progress whether you watch the cutscene or not, the only thing you can do is replay until it works. That's the official line from developer Bungie, saying "you may need to play it a few times for the quest to complete". That suggests a fix won't be in place before the Witch Queen next week - so it's a case of trying your luck until it works.
Our advice? The rewards - listed below - isn't worth it unless you are a completionist, so save yourself the hassle and watch the cutscene online - also below.
Destiny 2 Exorcism cutscene
For those who don't want to wait to see the cutscene themselves, then Esoterickk on YouTube has released footage of all the mission cutscenes, including the final skippable cutscene:
The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!
Destiny 2 Exorcism rewards
The rewards for completing the Exorcism mission and the Severing the Worm quest are primarily Triumphs. Once the mission ends, you (should, if not bugged) get some random loot drops, and a completed Triumph.
From there, you must visit Mara Sov in the Helm, then Saint-14, completing the questline and granting you a Triumph.
Once done, don't forget to visit the Helm for the final radio message at the console next to the Wayfinder's Compass, helping you complete the lore book and associated Triumph. According to BlowTongue on reddit, it can take a while to complete, so be sure to hang around after the message has ended.
Finally - if you were waiting for the Centrefire Exotic ship to be a reward for completing the mission and quest, that does not appear to be the case.
This means as of right now, there is still no way to obtain it - with Bungie looking for a way to grant it to players in the future.