Holding Barrow-Dyad feels like cradling a ravenous storm – this exotic SMG doesn't just fire bullets; it devours the very life force of my enemies, leaving behind Blight Charges that erupt like toxic geysers. I've chased exotic weapons across Neptune's neon sprawl and Luna's haunted catacombs, but Barrow-Dyad's blend of Quicksilver Storm's chaos and SMG agility hooked me like a gravitational anomaly. Its true potential, though, lies locked behind the One For All Catalyst – a 35% damage boost that transforms it from a predator into an apex hunter. Getting it meant embarking on the Hundredfold Path, a quest as enigmatic as a Vex prophecy scribbled in dark ether.

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Initiating the Hundredfold Path

To even glimpse this path, I had to revisit Heresy's third Act – specifically, the Sunless Cell strike. This wasn't just another run though; Barrow-Dyad had to be in my hands when we shattered that final boss. Completing it felt like delivering a sealed verdict in some cosmic court, rewarding me with a jagged, whispering fragment. Back at the Last City, Eris Morn's Shaping Slab in her dimly lit apartment pulsed with recognition when I presented it. The slab drank in the fragment, and the quest flared to life in my inventory – the true hunt was on.

The Wormspawn Grind: Needles in a Shifting Haystack

The quest's core demand was brutally simple: collect ten Tithing Wormspawn aboard the Dreadnaught. Simple in theory, maddening in practice. These weren't trophies lying in plain sight; they were hidden within the Path of Ambition variant of The Nether activity. Toggling it on at Eris' Slab required ensuring that eerie orb glowed bone-white – a small ritual before the real ordeal. Finding those worms was like chasing whispers in a sandstorm; the Hull Breach tile, where two lurked, felt particularly elusive. Its appearance relied entirely on RNG, only spawning in the second or third encounters of a run. I lost count of my Nether plunges, each time hoping the geometry would resolve into that familiar, ominous chamber.

Here's where persistence bled into obsession:

  • Worm #1 Location: From the entrance portal, spin around. Scale the debris pile hugging the portal's left flank. The worm clung there, a pale, wriggling scar against the war-torn wall.

  • Worm #2 Location: Dash across Hull Breach, past the looming Wizard boss. At the exit choked with Taken energy, scramble up the rubble framing it. The second worm lay coiled there, almost dismissive in its placement.

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Those were just two of ten. The others? Scattered across Acts 1 and 2 of the Dreadnaught's labyrinth, each requiring its own specific pilgrimage. It felt less like a scavenger hunt and more like piecing together a shattered mosaic blindfolded. Every successful retrieval was a small victory against the dreadnaught's indifferent architecture.

The Final Gauntlet: Sunless Cell Symphony

With all ten worms finally writhing in my inventory, the quest shifted back to familiar ground – the Sunless Cell. But with a twist. This time, my entire arsenal needed to sing the song of rapid-fire:

Weapon Type Examples Why It Matters
SMGs Barrow-Dyad (Mandatory!), Funnelweb Close-range torrent
Auto Rifles Chroma Rush, Ammit AR2 Sustained mid-range pressure
Machine Guns Commemoration, Fixed Odds Heavy suppression & ad-clear

Diving back into those oppressive, sulfur-stained corridors felt different. Barrow-Dyad, now fueled by anticipation, chattered in my grip. The restriction forced a rhythm: the staccato bark of the SMG, the deeper thrum of the auto rifle, the seismic roar of the machine gun laying down covering fire. Clearing waves felt like conducting an orchestra of destruction, each weapon a distinct instrument in a symphony composed of pure, kinetic fury. The strike's final boss fell faster than I remembered, overwhelmed by the relentless barrage.

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The reward wasn't just text on a screen; it was the One For All Catalyst itself. A quick trip to the Enclave on Mars, the resonance of the Relic shaping the Catalyst onto Barrow-Dyad, and the transformation was complete. Testing it felt revelatory – hitting three targets was trivial, and the ensuing damage surge made Blight Rounds detonate with the force of miniature singularities. It turned the weapon from a ravenous storm into a focused hurricane. Yet, standing there, watching the blighted essence dissipate from shattered foes, I couldn't help but wonder: is this power worth the toll of such obscure, grinding rituals? Does forging god-slaying tools from fragments and worms bind us closer to the Darkness we fight, or are we just weaving ourselves deeper into the Witness's tapestry, one exotic quest at a time? The path to power in this universe is rarely straight, often feeling less like a road and more like navigating the event horizon of a black hole – where effort and reward distort in ways we can't always predict.