How To Get The Hierarchy Of Needs Catalyst in Destiny 2

Exotic weapons are some of Destiny 2‘s most notable and interesting pieces of loot. Even though they’re not always the best-in-slot choices for your endgame-tier Guardian builds, Exotics are visually interesting and often mechanically unique, which isn’t a given in every modern looter shooter, and the one we’ll discuss here fits this bill perfectly: the Hierarchy of Needs. This cool compound bow comes from the Spire of the Watcher dungeon, the cowboy-themed romp through an ancient Rasputin facility on Mars. The bow itself, however, is not cowboy-themed, opting instead for a classic Warmind aesthetic and feature combination.

The Hierarchy of Needs can be upgraded further than its basic form allows, if you’re fond of its looks and functionality. Of course, this is done by accessing and unlocking the Hierarchy of Needs Catalyst, in classic Bungie fashion. In equally classic Bungie fashion, getting this Catalyst is relatively straightforward, but you will need to roll up your sleeves and put in some elbow grease to pull it off. Further, there are some prerequisites, the most obvious of which is that you need to get the Hierarchy of Needs itself.

How to get the Hierarchy of Needs

In Destiny 2, Catalyst upgrades for Exotic weapons only ever drop if you have the given Exotic in the first place. This means that, before we get to explaining the Hierarchy of Needs’ Catalyst, we need to go over getting the Exotic itself. The good news, then, is that it’s all really simple: the Hierarchy of Needs is a possible reward for completing the Spire of the Watcher Dungeon.

You can increase your odds of getting the Hierarchy of Needs Exotic bow by completing specific Dungeon Triumphs, too. These are the following:

• Mind the Vexplosion: Complete every Spire of the Watcher encounter without dying.
• Untarnished Grit: Complete every Spire of the Watcher encounter without dying, alone.
• The Magnificent One: Complete every Spire of the Watcher encounter alone.
• Devil in the Details: Find and listen to each of the story recordings found in the Spire of the Watcher.
• Resident Vexpert: Complete the Spire of the Watcher dungeon on Master difficulty.

Note that we highly recommend targeting these Triumphs if you’re aiming for the Hierarchy of Needs. The drop rate for the Exotic bow appears to be rather low, so unless you really luck out, you’ll need a bit of help in getting it. Moreover, you do need to complete these Triumphs if you want to get the ‘WANTED’ title, which means you’d be hitting two birds with one stone.

How to get the Hierarchy of Needs Catalyst

Now, at last, we have all the bits and pieces in place to unlock the Catalyst for the Hierarchy of Needs. The really good news is that it’s not RNG-based at all: you won’t need to deal with yet another randomized drop rate scenario here. The bad news, though, is that you’ll need to successfully complete the Master version of the Spire of the Watcher.

And yes, this does mean that the particularly unlucky Guardians might end up completing the Resident Vexpert Triumph before the Hierarchy of Needs drops, only to have to do it once again to get the Catalyst. So… is this whole ordeal even worth it?

What does the Hierarchy of Needs Catalyst do?

Obviously, getting the Catalyst for the Hierarchy of Needs is going to be no mean feat for the majority of players. One might imagine, then, that the Catalyst is extremely capable in endgame-tier content. This is the case, yes, but not for pure boss DPS, as the Catalyst turns the bow into even more of an ad-clearing powerhouse.

“Deploying a Guidance Ring or striking a target with a seeking projectile improves draw time and reload speed for a moderate duration,” says the Catalyst’s description. What this means, in practical terms, is that you’re really going to want to lean into the Hierarchy of Needs’ slightly gimmicky functionality.

Specifically, killing enemies with this Exotic spawns special aiming portals, which you can then fire through to deal immense damage in a very short period of time. This is fine for boss damage, for the most part, but the Hierarchy of Needs with the Catalyst on truly shines in the endgame content, like Grand Master Nightfalls. Kudos to YouTuber Datto for his great visualization of how it all works!