Destiny 2 The Colony: Tracking Grenade Launcher

The Colony is an exotic grenade launcher that fires tracking grenades. Each grenade crawls along surfaces and seeks out enemies on its own, so you do not need a direct hit. Multiple grenades can converge on the same target, and the explosions chain.

How to get The Colony

The Colony sits in Xur’s weekly exotic pool in the power slot. He sells it on his weekend visit for Glimmer, Legendary Shards, and an Exotic Cipher. Exotic Engrams can also drop it.

How to play The Colony

Fire at walls and floors near the enemy instead of at the enemy. The grenades do the tracking for you, so indirect shots are the point. In PvE, one well-placed grenade can clear a room. In PvP, fire at the feet of a camper and let the grenade finish the job. Pre-fire doorways before your team pushes so the grenades clear the entrance. The crawl speed is slow, so lead moving targets by a step.

The Colony catalyst

The Colony catalyst comes from winning Crucible matches. It increases ammo reserves, which lets you keep pressure on for longer. The win requirement makes it a PvP grind rather than a completion farm.

The Colony mistakes that waste the tracking

• Firing directly at enemies and wasting the tracking.
• Using it against fast-moving aerial targets.
• Forgetting the heavy ammo cost.

FAQ

Is The Colony good in PvP? Yes, for area denial and finishing campers.

Does it work against bosses? It does modest damage, so other heavies are better.

Is it worth the materials? If you enjoy indirect play, yes.

The Colony checklist, Xur to tracking kills

• Check Xur’s power slot on the weekend.
• Fire at surfaces near enemies.
• Let the grenades track.
• Farm the catalyst through Crucible wins.

The Colony against direct-hit launchers

The tracking is a trade, not an upgrade. A direct-hit launcher rewards a good read on where the enemy will be and punishes a bad one immediately; The Colony forgives the read and then spends the time back on crawl speed. Against a stationary target behind cover the seeking grenade is close to free damage. Against a target that keeps moving, the crawl is the whole fight and a direct-hit weapon wins. That makes The Colony a counter to camping and a poor answer to aggression, which is the opposite of how most power-slot weapons behave. Compare it with a pool-based launcher in the Witherhoard guide — the two solve area denial in completely different ways — and check the boss DPS meta before you bring either into a damage phase.

Related guides

• Xur and exotic ciphers
• Exotic catalysts
• Crucible basics