How to Decrypt Engrams in Destiny 2

Players of Destiny 2 will encounter Engrams throughout the game which hold different kinds of loot such as armor, weapons, and cosmetic items. They can be dropped by slain enemies, obtained upon completion of various in-game activities, or awarded with certain Season Pass levels. Engrams come in many different forms, which are signified by their colors and affect the type of loot contained within. While most Engrams will be decrypted upon pickup, some will have to be decrypted manually at one of three locations.

This article serves as a time-accurate Engram decryption guide as Destiny 2 enters Season 10, the Season of the Worthy.

Update: Season of Arrivals

Umbral Engrams – These new types of engrams require that you complete the Face of Darkness quest line.  Once you do, you will speak with the Drifter who will give you the Seed of Silver Wings which must be used in the Contact Public Event on IO.  Completing the event will award you with an Umbral Engram.

Next to Drifter is a machine that allows you to decode the Umbral Engrams.  Simply walk up to the machine and interact with it to decode the Umbral Engrams.

Types of Engrams that Require Manual Decryption

• Encrypted Engrams: These blue Engrams will decode into Rare weapons or armor. While most are automatically decrypted upon pickup, some will need to be taken to a cryptarch.
  • Encrypted (or Rare) Engrams will decrypt with base attack and defense levels that are 5-7 points lower than a player’s base Power level.
• Prime Engrams: These Engrams are purple with a golden core and will decrypt into Powerful weapons or armor. To decode a Prime Engram, a cryptarch will be required.
  • Because Prime Engrams contain high powered gear, they are not commonly found at random. Instead, they are usually granted at the end of challenging activities.
• Bright Engrams: The appearance and name of these Engrams will vary from season to season (such as Nostalgic Engrams and Fond Memories Engrams, to name a couple). Bright Engrams contain cosmetic Eververse loot items such as shaders, ships, Sparrows, ornaments, and emotes.
  • Bright Engrams may also contain Bright Dust, which can be used to purchase cosmetic items in the Eververse store.

How to Decrypt Engrams

• Prime Engrams and Encrypted Engrams that do not decrypt upon pickup, players will need to visit either of two cryptarchs.
  • Master Rahool is the cryptarch located in the Tower.
  • Tyra Karn is the cryptarch who can be found on the Farm in the European Dead Zone (EDZ).
• Bright Engrams must be decoded not by a cryptarch, but by Tess Everis, the vendor at the Eververse store in the Tower.
  • Any piece of armor contained in a Bright Engram will have a defense value of 10.
  • With the Season of the Worthy update, Destiny 2 publisher, Bungie, has announced that players can no longer purchase Bright Engrams at the Eververse store with Silver. However, Bright Engrams will still be available in Season 10 to all players who level up the free track of the Season Pass.
• Umbral Engrams must be decoded by using the Umbral Decoder in the Tower near The Drifter.  You must complete Face of Darkness and Public Event “Contact” on IO.