But, the good news is Bungie plans to issue an update at the start of Destiny 2 Season 9 that will buff Xenophage’s PvE damage by 50%. Some think that this could finally allow the weapon to compete and would make the exotic worth the lengthy quest. Still, the quest can be difficult for some players, but there is a cheese to make it easier.

RELATED: How to Get the Xenophage Exotic

What makes the Xenophage exotic heavy machine gun difficult to acquire is the sections involving the Pit of Heresy dungeon. Players don’t need to complete the entire dungeon but they must get through the first section, part of the second, and then defeat a very challenging boss. For Destiny 2 players that don’t have a regular group of teammates, these last steps can be the biggest hurdle without cheesing it.

Thanks to the below video from CheeseForever, Destiny 2 players can see how to skip the first encounter in the Pit of Heresy Dungeon. Because players get past the first encounter without completing it, the game doesn’t transition the later portions into Darkness Zones. Players will be able to revive in 5 seconds and get back into the final fight quickly and not worry about a full wipe and starting over.

At Power Level 980, the Xenophage quest boss deals a lot of damage and the mechanics involved in the fight force players to be vulnerable. Like CheeseForever, we recommend taking weapons with different elements and then switching to the subclass for the third, missing element.

In our completion of the quest, we used Recluse (Void) in the energy weapon slot, 21% Delirium (Arc) in the power weapon slot, and Izanagi’s Burden for the kinetic. For our subclass, we chose the Sunbreaker Titan, although the Burning Maul super might be a better choice once Bungie’s solar subclass buffs are live.

It may take a little extra time depending on how many players are in the fireteam and how lucky they get with the buffs, but completing the Xenophage quest is much easier with the cheese. At some point, Bungie is likely to patch out the cheese, though, so it’s better to give it a try sooner rather than later. Then, wait and see whether the Xenophage buff is enough to make it a strong PvE damage weapon.

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

MORE: What We Want from Destiny 2’s Season of Dawn