How to get started in Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost

Want to know more about Haunted Sectors in Destiny 2? The Festival of the Lost is here again at last, but this year, it's a little different. Sure there are still creepy masks, themed Sparrows and candy to collect, but did you know there will be dino armour this year? You voted for it, Guardians, and it'll be available to collect all through this year's event. The Festival of the Lost runs from October 12 until November 2, so let's take a look at how to get started.

What are Haunted Sectors in Destiny 2? 

As always, you'll have to have escaped the Cosmodrome to access the Tower and endgame activities. Once you've done that, visit the event NPC, Eva Levante, to get started. She'll explain how this year's activity works and will offer you bounties and rewards throughout the event. Once you've completed the initial quest, you'll be able to access new activities via the Tower destination map or the mission totem next to Eva.

Speaking of activities, instead of traipsing through the Haunted Forest, it's off to Haunted Sectors this year. These time-limited Lost Sectors feature strange new enemies like the Headless Ones, who have glowing pumpkins as heads. They'll explode with loot, so they're worth hunting. There's also a strange creature that's a creepy combo of Exo and Vex that you'll need to seek out, and find a Guardian who's being hunted for their Ghost on Nessus. All in all, these three new activities should keep you busy over the next few weeks. 

If you don't have a mask from previous festivals, you can buy them from Eva for 100 Glimmer each. My favourite is the Honk Moon Mask which is like a goose because geese are absolutely terrifying creatures. Did you know that they can sit in trees and honk at you?

Anyway, there's also a Taniks, a Darkness Pyramid and an Eramis mask to collect, though you could be old school like me and just run around looking like the Cryptarch for three weeks. Remember: you need to have a mask equipped in the Haunted Sectors to get the rewards.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Festival of the Lost rewards

Let's get down to business and talk rewards. There's the usual candy and mystery grab bags that come with an assortment of loot, and the Braytech Werewolf and Horror Story guns are returning. Alongside Dino Armour—remember, you asked for it—there's also the Jurassic Green Pulse rifle which comes with a unique quest. It's a dino-rific reprisal of the Lincoln Green kinetic pulse rifle so that's cool, albeit not very spooky. There's also the Headless Horsepower exotic Sparrow which is covered in cobwebs—yay!— and the Bump in the Night emblem to collect, too.

There's also the Book of the Forgotten Lore that will be available to collect throughout the Festival of the Lost. You'll gather Spectral Pages from Haunted Sectors, which you can turn into Manifested Pages by defeating Headless Ones. You can also get Manifested Pages from chests found at the end of the Haunted Sectors. You can then use these Manifested Pages to purchase lore from the Book of the Forgotten.