Treasure Beacon and Cryptic Quatrains pirate riddle guide for Destiny 2: Season of Plunder

Destiny 2: Season of Plunder is all about pirates, and what’s more pirate-like than finding a riddle hidden in a bottle? Well that’s the gist behind Season of Plunder’s new Treasure Beacon quests, which will take you on a riddle-filled adventure around the Sol system.

In this Destiny 2 guide, we’ll teach you how to get the Treasure Beacons and how to solve each of the game’s three riddle quests, starting with Cryptic Quatrains 1.

How to unlock Treasure Beacons

All three Treasure Beacons come from the Rank Rewards menu in the Star Chart at the HELM. You’ll need to level your Savvy — the seasonal reputation — all the way up to level 16 to unlock all three beacons.

Here are the Savvy levels you’ll need for each Beacon:

• Small Treasure Beacon – Rank 7
• Medium Treasure Beacon – Rank 10
• Large Treasure Beacon – Rank 16

To increase your Savvy, play the new Ketchcrash and Expedition activities.

Small Treasure Beacon – Cryptic Quatrains 1

Image: Bungie via Polygon

At Savvy Rank 7, you’ll be able to pick up the Small Treasure Beacon from the Star Chart, which will give you the Cryptic Quatrains 1 quest. You’ll need to solve four different “riddles” to find the buried treasure, which is the first half of a new Treasure Map for your Captain’s Atlas.

Step 1

The first Cryptic Quatrains 1 riddle reads thus:

“My story begins as I hide from the crews / They search and will find me unless I hide soon / I’ll wait on the nightfall, the cleverest ruse / And force them to hunt by the light of the moon.”

The actual riddle here is fun, but not particularly helpful. Focus instead on the orange letters in the quest text (which we’ve bolded above), which will give you the real message:

“Begin search on Moon”

All you need to do for this riddle is to land on the Moon. Go to your director and land by Eris.

Step 2

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The second Cryptic Quatrains 1 riddle reads thus:

“Behind in the harbor, their sorrow was real / They lost what I’d taken, me heart filled with fear / From cruel revelation the dawn would reveal: / A chest, broke and barren, and me nowhere near”

Following just the orange text, the message reads:

“Harbor Sorrow lost revelation chest”

The answer to this riddle is inside the K1 Revelation Lost Sector in Sorrow’s Harbor on the Moon. Teleport over there and run through the Lost Sector. When you open the chest, the final piece of the puzzle, you’ll solve the riddle.

Step 3

The third Cryptic Quatrains 1 riddle reads thus:

“My eyes toward the cosmos, I let out a sob / I begged to the gods and the fallen alike / By bullet or saber, I’d fall to the mob / But please, let me deal them a palpable strike”

Following just the orange text, the message reads:

“Cosmo Fallen Saber Strike”

Go to the Cosmodrome and select the Fallen S.A.B.E.R. Strike node on the far right side of the map. Complete the Strike to answer the riddle and get the final step.

Step 4

Image: Bungie via Polygon

The fourth Cryptic Quatrains 1 riddle reads thus:

“The winds of Europa were frozen and white / And even the tides had been stopped by the cold / The hook would swing empty, I’d not die tonight / By cranes they’d be searchin’, but I’d keep me gold”

Following just the orange text, the message reads:

“Europa Eventide hook cranes search”

Image: Bungie via Polygon

Go to Eventide Ruins on Europa. When you land, walk forward to the open area where several cranes sit above a patch of snow — this is the arena where the Servitor public event occasionally spawns.

On the ground, in the snow, you’ll see a green X next to some rocks. Dig up the treasure and you’ll earn some loot, a few map fragments, and the Crude Cipher Fragment.

We’re still working on unlocking the Medium Treasure Beacon and the Large Treasure Beacon, as well as the riddles hidden within them. We’ll update this guide once we’ve uncovered the hidden pirate treasure ourselves.