Destiny 2: Black Armory - Machine gun frame and Volundr Forge guide

There are quite a few challenging hoops you’ll need to jump through to access the Volundr Forge in Destiny 2: Black Armory.

The majority of the activities in Black Armory require a Power level of at least 595 - 600 to do any real damage, as the Power cap has been raised to 650 in Season of the Forge.

Whilst it is possible to do this solo, playing as part of a Fireteam seems the best way to Power through the various Milestones to reach the Forge. Volundr is guarded by enemies who are between 610 to 630 Power, so you might want to get back to the grind first to find some more gear.

You can check out our guide on how to boost your Power level to 650 here. As this is all endgame content, you have plenty of time to find and reignite the Forges in Black Armory, so don't worry about missing out.

Destiny 2: Black Armory Volundr Forge

The Forges were cut off from the Black Armory some time ago, and your Guardian is tasked with finding and restoring them. To begin Black Armory, you’ll need to visit your old pal Spider in The Tangled Shore. He’ll mention that some old friends need a hand and give you a Black Armory Badge to show to Ada-1 to gain some of her trust.

After speaking with Ada-1, she’ll give you a quest step called Basic Machine Gun Frame. You’ll have to find a Weapon Core from a Black Armory Crate and collect 25 Compound Ether.

You’ll need to head over to the EDZ for this step, and you can complete it by visiting either the Outskirts or The Gulch to find a particular enemy. You’re looking for a big guy called the Forge Saboteur who’ll be surrounded by small blue anomalies that provide a shield. You’ll need to be close to 600 Power to defeat him.

Defeat the enemy and search for a large black crate with a Black Armory insignia on it to find the Weapon Core.

Next, you’ll need to collect 25 Compound Ether by defeating Fallen enemies. You’ll see them added to your inventory every time you collect one and the Pursuit will update to show you’ve collected enough and can move to the next step.

Power Weapons are an essential part of this next step, so gear up and find as much ammo as you can before starting it.

You’ll need to get 15 multikills and 50 Hive kills using Power Weapons. Taking part in Escalation Protocol is the best way to get this done, due to the number of Hive enemies and Power Ammo available.

Weapons like Thunderlord pack a real punch here, so time your shots right to kill a bunch of adds at once.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve completed this next step, you’ll need to defeat 25 Powerful Enemies using a Power Weapon, then another 20 Powerful Enemies to farm some Radiant Seeds.

Powerful enemies have yellow health bars, are often high-value targets and you’ll need to land the killing shot for it to count. Head to the likes of the Blind Well, Escalation Protocol and Spider’s Lost Sector bounties to find as many of these enemies as possible.

Once you’ve collected enough seeds, head back to Ada-1 at the Tower to receive the final step and the Radiant Machine Gun Frame. You’re going to want at least one person in your Fireteam to be around 610 Power for this section, as enemies will be immune to your attacks if you’re way under the 600 mark.

It’s now time to find the Volundr Forge. Head over to the Sunken Isles in the EDZ and look for Smidur’s Cavern. Approach the floating furnace and interact with it to begin the final mission.

A timer will start and you’ll need to throw 20 Radiant Batteries at the furnace to light it.

You’ll need to defeat enemies that glow blue to obtain the batteries which you literally chuck at the Forge to charge it. Each time you charge the forge, you’ll get an extra 10 seconds added to the timer.

Yellow bar enemies will spawn and eventually a Boss with blue shield anomalies around him will appear. He’s roughly 630 Power, so get your Supers ready.

Defeat the Boss to reclaim the Forge. You’ll receive the Hammerhead Legendary Machine Gun as your reward. It’s a decent machine gun, however, its perks are randomly rolled so it’s a luck of the draw for how effective your weapon might be.

Now that the Garden of Salvation raid is complete, it's time to tackle the Eyes on the Moon quest and unlock the Vex Offensive. For more Shadowkeep guides, check out our pages on how to get the Deathbringer Exotic Rocket Launcher, how to complete the Nightmare Essence Cleansing and how to get Phantasmal Fragments, Cores, and access Nightmare Hunts.

You can also check out where to find the hidden Jade Rabbits and all the dead Ghosts and how to complete the Lunar Spelunker Bounty.

If you're new to Destiny 2, you can check out our Forsaken guide here as well as how to find Lost Sectors and cache codes.