When Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost rolled around in October 2022, the Tower turned into a pumpkin-scented carnival of chaos. Guardians dusted off their most questionable fashion sense, slapped on masks that made even Shaxx do a double take, and dove headfirst into Haunted Lost Sectors to blast Headless Ones into confetti. That year's event, tied to Season of the Plunder, kept the core Halloween loop fans knew and loved while adding a shiny new Sniper Rifle, refreshed weapons, and an Event Pass that tested everyone's wallet discipline. Here is a hilarious and slightly haunted look back at everything the event threw at players.

What Was Festival of the Lost?

Festival of the Lost was Destiny 2's annual Halloween bash, a limited-time event that ran from October 16 to November 2 in 2022. Players explored a dedicated playlist of Haunted Lost Sectors, spooky remixes of the game's planetary side dungeons, while collecting candy and other seasonal treats. Weekly bounties offered an extra source of Bright Dust, and a handful of event-specific weapons encouraged Guardians to grind like it was a second job. The 2022 edition introduced a brand-new Sniper Rifle called Mechabre, a 72 RPM Arc weapon with some genuinely cracked perk combinations. It also brought back fan favorites like the Jurassic Green Pulse Rifle and BrayTech Werewolf Auto Rifle for anyone who missed previous years.

The Quest: Gone But Not Forgotten

Every Guardian's favorite gun-running grandma, Eva Levante, made her annual return to the Tower, directly across from the spawn point. She greeted players with a festive mask and the "Gone But Not Forgotten" questline, which served as the event's tutorial and handed out a free Mechabre Sniper Rifle upon completion. The quest steps were practically identical to the previous year, but that did not make them less tedious. The checklist looked like this:

• Equip the Festival of the Lost mask Eva handed over.

• Complete a Haunted Lost Sector.

• Use Manifested Pages to unlock lore from the Book of the Forgotten.

• Claim an Event Challenge.

The Manifested Pages step tripped up more than a few Guardians. Those stuck had to visit the book sitting beside Eva in the Tower, where they could spend their Manifested Pages—converted from Spectral Pages earned by defeating Headless Ones—to unlock lore entries and complete challenges.

Haunted Lost Sectors: A Headless Nightmare

Haunted Lost Sectors formed the backbone of the event. This playlist tasked fireteams with finding ritual circles to summon Headless Ones, large Hive Knights with pumpkins for heads and an attitude problem. Killing as many as possible within four minutes maximized loot drops, but the real fun started when the boss appeared. Once the boss went invulnerable, players had to use nearby ritual circles to spawn a Headless One, slay it, grab the orbs from its corpse, and then hurl those orbs at the boss to strip its immunity shield. Rinse and repeat until the activity cleared. A chest at the end dropped Candy and event weapons, and the activity also served as the main source of Manifested Pages.

Currency Chaos: Candy, Spectral Pages, and Manifested Pages

Festival of the Lost ran on three currencies that turned every Guardian into a confused accountant. Candy dropped from enemies while wearing a Festival mask, with guaranteed drops inside Haunted Lost Sectors. Spectral Pages dropped from completing nearly any activity in the game. Those pages then had to be converted into Manifested Pages by running a Haunted Lost Sector and defeating Headless Ones. Only then could the pages be used in the Book of the Forgotten.

The fastest farming methods were a hot topic among players:

Book of the Forgotten and Event Challenges

Manifested Pages unlocked lore entries in the Book of the Forgotten, and completing the entire book required a grand total of 194 Manifested Pages. That number became a meme among completionists. Decrypting pages was key to finishing Event Challenges, which in turn awarded the Ghost Writer title and other event-themed loot. There were 17 Event Challenges in total, ranging from defeating 100 Headless Ones to earning 17,500 Candy to completing Crucible or Gambit matches while masked. A few highlights included:

• Cryptozoologist – Rewarded a Mechabre Sniper Rifle and Event Ticket.

• Bookworm III – Awarded the Coffin Nail Ship and an Enhancement Prism.

• Heads Will Roll – Defeat 100 Headless Ones for Spectral Pages and Legendary Shards.

• Happy Haunting Ground – Complete 35 Haunted Sectors for the Savathun Mask ornament.

The Star Weapon: Mechabre and Its Absurd God Roll

If there was one reason to lose sleep over this event, it was the Mechabre. This 72 RPM Arc Sniper Rifle sat comfortably between Occluded Finality and Frozen Orbit in feel, with 45 zoom and 41 aim assist. But its perk pool was the real headline. It was the only obtainable 72 RPM Sniper that could roll with Snapshot Sights and Opening Shot, an S-tier combination for Crucible mains. The origin trait Search Party granted faster ADS speed and ADS movement speed when no allies were nearby, making it feel extra snappy in 3v3 and Rumble playlists.

For PvE enjoyers, Mechabre could roll with Voltshot, arguably the best add-clearing perk in the game at that time, or Clown Cartridge and Vorpal Weapon for respectable boss DPS. The community quickly settled on two god roll archetypes:

• PvE: Appended Mag, Clown Cartridge, Vorpal Weapon, Reload Speed Masterwork

• PvP: Arrowhead Brake, Accurized Rounds, Snapshot Sights, Opening Shot, Handling Masterwork

Event Pass and Cosmetic Shenanigans

Bungie also introduced an Event Pass for Festival of the Lost in 2022, a bite-sized Battle Pass containing seven cosmetic rewards. Players could unlock them in any order by spending Event Tickets earned from challenges. The pass included a Bobbing For Apples emote, the Bold Chapalu Sparrow, a Caramel Apple Shell Ghost Shell, and other sugary nonsense. The key detail: the Event Pass had to be purchased separately from Season of the Plunder, which sparked the usual round of "but why" conversations in the Tower.

For many Guardians, the 2022 Festival of the Lost was a perfect mix of goofy masks, pumpkin-headed Hive, and loot that actually mattered. The Mechabre alone justified the grind, and the Event Challenges kept the completionists busy until November.