How to Get Malfeasance: Darkness in the Light, Step by Step

Malfeasance is an Exotic Kinetic hand cannon. It comes from Darkness in the Light, an Exotic quest from the Drifter in the Tower. Start at the top row and work down to step 7.

Step	Quest log goal	Where
Start	Primeval defeated: 1	Gambit
1	The Seething Heart: speak to the Drifter	The Tower
2	City of Secrets: 25 Taken bosses or minibosses defeated	Dreaming City
3	The Corrupted: complete the mission variant of the strike	Dreaming City
4	Depleted Weapon Core: speak to the Drifter	The Tower
5	Business as Usual: 400 Motes of Dark, 10 Gambit wins	Gambit
6	Lights Out: 25 opposing Guardians defeated, 3 kills as invader	Gambit
7	Dark Weapon Core: speak to the Drifter	The Tower

The quest is mostly Gambit. Steps 2 and 3 are the only part played outside it.

A Pro can take your account through every step, from the 1st Primeval to the last talk with the Drifter.

Gambit sits in its own Gambit Ops category at the bottom of the Director. It got that home in Monument of Triumph, the update of 9 June 2026.

1. Get the quest at the archive. Open the Exotic tab of the Quest Archive in the Tower and pick up the Malfeasance quest.
2. Win a Gambit round. The quest log asks for 1 Primeval defeated. Your team wins the round when it kills its Primeval.
3. Take the heart to the Drifter. The Primeval kill gives The Seething Heart. Carry it to the Drifter in the Tower and he opens the quest.
4. Read the new step. City of Secrets sends you to the Dreaming City to search for the thief who stole from the Drifter.

The Seething Heart used to need a rare Ascendant Primeval. That boss spawned at random, so the quest could take many matches. Now the 1st Primeval kill is enough.

Step 2: City of Secrets

Defeat 25 Taken bosses or minibosses in the Dreaming City. They are the Taken with yellow health bars.

The Blind Well is a good place for it. Its last waves spawn several Taken bosses.

Step 3: The Corrupted

Launch the mission variant of The Corrupted strike from the Dreaming City. Follow the markers to Callum's grave at the end.

The grave holds a depleted weapon core. That is the part the thief stole from the Drifter.

Step 4: Depleted Weapon Core

Bring the core back to the Drifter in the Tower. He sends you back to Gambit for the last 2 steps.

Step 5: Business as Usual

The step has 2 bars: 400 Motes of Dark and 10 Gambit wins. Both bars have to reach 100%.

The quest log warns: "Dropped Motes subtract x2 score." A death with 15 Motes in hand costs 30 points of progress.

Bank Motes in small stacks. Every banked Mote counts, so short trips to the bank keep the bar moving.

Step 6: Lights Out

The last Gambit step has 2 counters. Both are about invasions.

• 25 opposing Guardians defeated. The quest log asks for these kills while you invade.
• 3 kills as invader. Defeat all 4 opposing Guardians in 1 invasion and this counter fills. When a teammate invades and defeats all 4, the counter gains 1. 3 such invasions also fill it.

Bring a heavy weapon that kills fast at range. Every invasion is a short window to land the kills.

Step 7: Dark Weapon Core

Speak to the Drifter in the Tower for the last time. He hands over Malfeasance.

The Malfeasance catalyst is a random drop. It can fall from any playlist activity: strikes, Crucible and Gambit.

Once it drops, the catalyst needs 700 kills with Malfeasance to unlock. Then it upgrades the gun to a Masterwork.

Dense add rooms fill the tracker fastest. Your Malfeasance order can include the catalyst too.

The Destiny 2 exotic catalysts guide covers the rest of the catalysts.

Perk	What it does
Explosive Shadow	Tainted slugs burrow into a target. Enough slugs make them all explode and stun the target. It works against Unstoppable Champions.
Taken Predator	Bonus damage against Taken enemies and Gambit invaders.

Malfeasance is a Primary hand cannon in the Kinetic slot. The Taken bonus makes it strong in the Dreaming City and in Gambit itself.

Hunters pair it with Lucky Pants, an Exotic leg armor. Each hit with a hand cannon raises its damage for a short time after you draw it.

LFCarry plays the whole of Darkness in the Light on your account. The Pro starts with the Primeval kill and ends with the Drifter handing you Malfeasance.

Already partway through? The order page sells single steps: the Taken bosses, The Corrupted, the Motes and wins, or the invasion kills.

The catalyst and Lucky Pants are add-ons on the same page. Your private chat with the Pro shows each step as it clears.