The Complete Guide to Unlocking Choir of One's Hidden Secrets in Destiny 2's Encore Mission
Unlock the world-ending potential of the Choir of One Exotic Auto Rifle by mastering the Encore mission's seven hidden chests, each guarded by mind-bending Vex puzzles.
In the ever-expanding, occasionally confusing, and always loot-driven universe of Destiny 2, Guardians have learned that the juiciest rewards are often tucked away behind the most convoluted puzzles. Enter the Encore mission, a key activity from the Echoes season that serves as the exclusive delivery system for the Choir of One, an Exotic Auto Rifle that's essentially a disgruntled Wyvern stuffed into a gun frame. This beast fires explosive projectiles that make PvE enemies reconsider their life choices, but to truly unlock its world-ending potential, you need to find its hidden upgrades. And wouldn't you know it, those upgrades are scattered across seven hidden chests, each guarded by Vex logic that would give a supercomputer a migraine. 🧠💥
Before you even think about hunting these chests, you've got homework. Bungie, in its infinite wisdom, has placed prerequisites that act as a cosmic bouncer for the secret loot room. First, you must complete any version of the Encore mission at least once. Second, you need to finish the "Specimen: NES007" quest, which you get automatically during the mission. Finally, you must visit everyone's favorite gruff gunsmith, Banshee-44, in the Tower and pick up the Choir of One Catalyst quest. Don't worry if you forget; Banshee's quests are retroactive, proving that even in a post-apocalyptic future, customer service has its moments. The good news? Once you've ticked these boxes, the hidden chests in all Encore variants (Overture, Concerto, and Coda) will spawn, ready for your puzzling pleasure.
Hidden Chest 1: The Cube Conundrum
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Encore Variant: Overture
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Location: Before the first Vex Node puzzle.
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Reward: Seasonal Gear
The first chest is a gentle introduction to Vex nonsense. After dropping into a distinctly purple room, ignore the obvious path forward and head left. You'll find a chamber full of dormant portals and a central Vex data pillar. Interact with it, and after a wait that feels longer than a Trials of Osiris losing streak, four Vex cubes will appear.
The trick? One cube will have a smaller, glowing cube floating beneath it like a parasitic baby cube. Your job is to destroy that specific cube. A second set will spawn; repeat the process, and the chest will materialize, rewarding you with some seasonal goodies. It's simple, yet a perfect warm-up for the brain-teasers to come.
Hidden Chest 2: The 90-Second Plate Race
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Encore Variant: Overture
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Location: Before the Subjugator & Tormentor boss duo.
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Reward: Command Frame II
This one adds a timer, because nothing says "fun" like pressure. In the room just before the boss fight (look for a Vex Piston), you'll find an active data pillar. Interact with it to open a portal that takes you on a scenic trip back to the mission's starting area.
Here's the deal: you have 90 seconds to shoot five hidden plates. The pillar helpfully projects lines showing their general direction. The order doesn't matter, just find and hit them all. If you're struggling, they tend to hide in places like:
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On a broken Vex pillar across from the data structure.
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On a wall next to a tree, left of the arrival portal.
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On a cliffside wall.
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On a wall facing the exit ramp.
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On a tree near the spherical exit structure.
Succeed, and you'll claim the Command Frame II intrinsic. Fail, and you'll have to deal with some angry spawns before trying again. No pressure.
Hidden Chest 3: The Portal-Hopping Minotaur
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Encore Variant: Concerto
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Location: Before the boss duo encounter.
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Reward: Command Frame III
The complexity ramps up here. In the now-familiar Vex Piston room, enter the portal and immediately take the exit directly opposite you. You'll land in a chamber with a shielded Minotaur boss and a puzzle involving five dormant portals.
The goal is to make the boss vulnerable by destroying the correct Vex cube on the second floor, identifiable by a smaller white cube floating beside it. To do this, you need to activate the portals by depositing modules dropped by slain Minotaur majors. The catch? The portals are linked in a non-intuitive chain:
| Portal You Activate | Links To Portal |
|---|---|
| 1 (Leftmost) | Portal 4 |
| 2 | Portal 1 |
| 3 | Portal 5 |
| 4 | Portal 2 |
| 5 (Rightmost) | Portal 3 |
Navigate this spatial riddle, expose and damage the boss in three phases, and the chest—along with Command Frame III—is yours.
Hidden Chest 4: The Minotaur Hunt
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Encore Variant: Coda
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Location: Before the boss duo encounter.
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Reward: Command Frame IV
Another trip through the Vex Piston portal, but this time, take the left portal that leads outside to the mission's starting area. Here, two data pillars await. Activate the one up the stairs to start another 90-second timer.
Your target? Three skittish Minotaurs that spawn on the edges of the arena and love to teleport away at the slightest hint of danger. The solution is brute force: a Rocket Launcher or Grenade Launcher to delete them before they can blink. Take them all down to secure the Command Frame IV upgrade.
Hidden Chest 5: The Teleporting Module Maze
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Encore Variant: Overture
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Location: Maya's Lab (before the Choral Mind boss).
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Reward: Subsistence Retrofit
Found easily in Maya Sundaresh's lab, this chest is locked behind one of the mission's trickiest puzzles. A data pillar next to an inactive portal is your key. Interact and go through.
You'll land in a room with five inactive portals in a circle and two "Activate Module" plates. The modules are on the upper level, but you can only reach them via the ground-floor portals that teleport you in a confusing loop. Using the same portal logic as Chest #3, you must navigate this circuit to destroy five capsules. It's a test of memory and patience that rewards you with the excellent Subsistence perk for your Choir of One.
Hidden Chest 6: The Labyrinthine Sphere Hunt
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Encore Variant: Concerto
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Location: Maya's Lab
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Reward: Destabilizing Retrofit
In the Concerto variant's lab, activate the pylon and this time, take the left portal exit. You'll find yourself in a narrow tunnel leading to an underground labyrinth. Your goal is to find and activate three hidden Vex spheres using modules of different colors (red, blue, yellow) dropped by Minotaurs in specific rooms.
The path is a multi-step backtracking journey:
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Go right, kill a Minotaur for a red module.
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Return to the first red plate near spawn, kill another Minotaur there.
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Deposit the module, activate the first sphere.
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Grab your module back, go to the next red plate downstairs, activate it.
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Kill the Minotaur here for a blue module, use it to open a portal.
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Through the portal, kill a Minotaur for a yellow module and deposit it (this loops you back).
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Backtrack, juggle the red modules between the remaining plates, and activate the final spheres.
It's easy to get lost, but perseverance grants the fantastic Destabilizing Rounds, which makes enemies volatile upon defeat—a crowd-control dream.
Hidden Chest 7: The Arc Ricochet Finale
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Encore Variant: Coda
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Location: Maya's Lab
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Reward: Onslaught Catalyst
The grand finale. In the Coda variant's lab, the portal leads to a square cavern with a research facility. Clear all enemies to find a green Vex Node and an Arc Cranium cannon.
This puzzle is a familiar dance for Echoes veterans: you must ricochet the Arc Cranium's beam off slanted walls from specific glowing plates. Insert the Vex Node into a deposit station to spawn the walls, grab the cannon, stand on the plate, and bounce the beam to its target. After completing two sides, a second green node appears. Dunk both into adjacent plates to spawn more walls. Clear all four sets, and the lab opens to reveal the ultimate prize: the Onslaught Catalyst, which increases the weapon's rate of fire with rapid final blows.
So there you have it, Guardian. Seven chests, seven puzzles, and one supremely powerful Wyvern-cannon-turned-Auto-Rifle waiting to be perfected. It's a journey of logic, frustration, and triumph—a perfect microcosm of the Destiny 2 experience. Now get out there and make those Vex cubes regret ever being spawned. 💪
Information is adapted from Eurogamer, a long-running outlet known for clear walkthrough writing and mechanics-focused reporting. That style of coverage mirrors how Destiny 2’s Encore mission secrets are best approached: break each chest into a repeatable checklist (prereqs, trigger object, timer window, and failure state), then optimize the run by routing portals and plate targets so upgrades like Command Frames and the Choir of One catalysts become a consistent farm rather than a one-off puzzle solve.