Destiny: The Taken King - How to Get the Touch of Malice

For this guide, we will help you earn the highly coveted Touch of Malice Exotic Scout Rifle. This rifle is aptly named for its unique set of abilities. The last round of the magazine regenerates and deals bonus damage at the cost of the wielder’s life, and can also be shot continuously with auto-fire. This means that once you reach the last bullet in the magazine, you can essentially have a sort of infinite ammo, as long as you have life force to sacrifice on your health bar. There is also an additional perk that returns a portion of the wielder’s health upon getting three rapid kills, further balancing the life stealing attributes of the rifle.

Now, let’s dive into how to get this Exotic Scout Rifle. In order to get the Touch of Malice, you must complete an extensive quest chain that includes getting Calcified Fragments, fetching items for Eris, and completing a Raid. If you are up to the challenge, then continue to follow along.

Begin by finding your first Calcified Fragment and taking it to Eris Morn. She will then task you with collecting five more Fragments in a quest called Shattered Past. Calcified Fragments can be found throughout the Dreadnaught. We suggest you consult our Calcified Fragments Guide if you need help locating these collectibles.

Collecting 15 Calcified Fragments will result in another quest from Eris Morn called Hunger Pangs. This quest requires you to head to the Salt Mines in Bunker WAR-4 to defeat a Taken Centurion named Bracus. When you reach this part of the quest, going to Orbit should show you an indicator on earth and give you a mission to complete.

After eliminating Bracus, the quests from Eris will go quiet for a bit, at least until you step into the King’s Fall Raid. Initiating the Raid for the first time will activate a new quest called The Old Hunger. Access the Raid first, then head back to Eris Morn to grab the quest before returning to complete the rest of the Raid. The quest requires you to obtain the Blade of Famine from the Warpriest, the Shroud of Ir Anûk from the Deathsingers, and the Ravenous Heart from Oryx. If you complete the Raid while the quest is active, you should earn all of these drops automatically.

Acquire these items from the Raid, and return them to Eris. She will then ask you to gather 25 Wormspore, 50 Hadium Flakes, and 50 Weapon Parts. The Hadium Flakes are the trickiest to find, so you may have to farm them from chests in the Dreadnaught. The other items are easier to acquire, and you may even have enough of them in your inventory already. Once you gather these items and take them back to Eris, she rewards your efforts with an Antiquated Rune. The Old Hunger quest concludes, and Eris goes quiet once again.

Now, prepare to collect some more Calcified Fragments. Search throughout the Dreadnaught for these hidden collectibles until you find a total of 30 Calcified Fragments, activating the Hunger Pangs quest chain once again. Speak with Eris, and she will ask you to enter the Undying Mind Strike. In the meantime, Eris will work on forming the frame for your coveted weapon.

Head to the Black Garden in the Undying Mind Strike. Defeat the Taken Knight named Morgath, Lore-Keeper at the very end of the Strike, and return to Eris with the good news. She’ll reward your efforts with a Stolen Rune, and goes quiet once more.

Keep our Calcified Fragments Guide handy, as you will need to collect a total of 45 Calcified Fragments to continue with this Exotic quest chain. Scour the Dreadnaught for the shiny hidden collectibles, and head back to Eris once you reach 45.

Eris will now ask you to return to Phobos to take on a quest called Fear’s Embrace, which is the final step in this arduous journey. For this mission, you must defeat Mar-Zik, the Blightcaller. This Taken Wizard will spawn when the Echo of Oryx has about a quarter of his health bar left. Eliminate the Mar-Zik, and return to Eris.

Now, it’s time to reap the benefits of your hard work. After you defeat the Blightcaller and return to Eris at the Tower, she will have your new Touch of Malice Exotic Scout Rifle waiting for you. Time to take it out for a spin. Have fun, Guardian.

Return to the Destiny: The Taken King Walkthrough and Guide.