An Exotic’s Catalyst is unique to each individual gun, improving stats or adding a bonus perk along with the standard Super orb generation on multikills. Below is a list of Catalysts and where they have the potential to drop from, and how to activate the catalyst once you have obtained it. You also don’t need to have the actual Exotic equipped for its associated Catalyst to appear—simply having owned it once will do. Lastly, some Catalysts aren’t in the game yet, but their inclusion in the files means they will appear eventually, likely as part of a future patch. (Info below that is unknown will be updated when more details are released)
Catalyst: +20 reload speed
Where to get it: Any PvE kill
How to unlock: 150 void/solar/arc kills
Catalyst: +20 reload speed, +20 stability
Where to get it: Heroic Strike/Nightfall bosses
How to unlock: 300 kills
Catalyst: +1 magazine size, Deeper Pockets perk (increased total ammo)
Where to get it: Crucible victories
How to unlock: 500 kills
Catalyst: +20 range
Where to get it: any PvE kill
How to unlock: Unlock with 300 precision kills
Catalyst: +20 stability
Where to get it: any PvE kill
How to unlock: 300 precision kills
Fighting Lion – Grenade Launcher
Catalyst: +30 reload speed, Chimera perk (temporary increased handling and precision damage to equipped Kinetic and Energy weapons after firing)
Where to get it: Random Drop from The Pyramidion Nightfall Completions
How to unlock: 1000 kills
Catalyst: +20 range, Hidden Hand perk (+10 aim assist)
Where to get it: Pledge to Dead Orbit during Faction Rallies and achieve rank 50.
How to unlock: 500 kills and 1000 kills with Cosmology perk
Catalyst: +25 stability
Where to get it: Random Drop from Savathûn’s Song Nightfall Completions
How to unlock: 1000 kills
Catalyst: Ambitious Assassin perk (overflows magazine from multikills per reload)
Where to get it: Heroic Adventures
How to unlock: 500 kills
Catalyst: +30 stability
Where to get it: Crucible victories
How to unlock: 250 Crucible kills
Catalyst: +40 reload speed, +4 magazine size, Deeper Pockets perk (increased total ammo)
Where to get it: Random drop from Prestige Leviathan completions
How to unlock: 1000 Cabal kills
Catalyst: +40 range, +40 stability
Where to get it: Heroic Strike/Nightfall bosses
How to unlock: 500 kills
Catalyst: Outlaw perk (greatly reduced reload time on precision kills)
Where to get it: Competitive PvP Victories. Can include kills, not just wins.
How to unlock: 250 precision kills in Crucible
Catalyst: Dragonfly perk (precision kills create an elemental damage explosion)
Where to get it: Complete Nascent Dawn Quest 5/5
How to unlock: 500 kills and 50 kills with Perfect shot perk
Catalyst: +20 stability, +20 handling
Where to get it: Heroic Strike/Nightfall bosses
How to unlock: 300 kills
The Prospector – Grenade Launcher
Catalyst: +40 blast radius, Deeper Pockets perk (increased total ammo)
Where to get it: Random Drop from Arms Dealer Nightfall Completions
How to unlock: 500 kills
Catalyst: Infestation perk (+20 aim assist, +20 recoil direction, health refreshed on Vermin perk invisibility)
Where to get it: Unspecified Nightfall Completion
How to unlock: 1000 kills
Catalyst: +30 range
Where to get it: Heroic Strike/Nightfall bosses
How to unlock: 300 kills/300 chain lightning kills
Skyburner’s Oath – Scout Rifle
Catalyst: +30 range
Where to get it: Normal/Prestige Leviathan raid section completions
How to unlock: 1,000 Cabal kills
Sleeper Simulant – Linear Fusion Rifle
Catalyst: Accelerated Coils perk (greatly speeds up charging time)
Where to get it: Prestige Spire of Stars raid completions.
How to unlock: 4000 combined kills with Escalation Protocol weapons (1k with Sniper, 1k with Shotgun, and 2k with SMG)
Catalyst: +20 range, +40 handling
Where to get it: Defeat enemies on Nessus.
How to unlock: unknwon
Catalyst: +30 range, +20 stability
Where to get it: Pledge to Future War Cult during Faction Rallies and achieve rank 50.
How to unlock: 500 kills and 1000 kills with Sun Blast Perk
Catalyst: +50 recoil direction, SUROS Ascendance perk (increased chance for health on kill)
Where to get it: Random Drop from Strange Terrain Nightfall Completions
How to unlock: 300 Crucible Kills
Catalyst: Serious Business perk (greatly reduced view flinch when fully spun up)
Where to get it: Pledge to New Monarchy during Faction Rallies and achieve rank 50.
How to unlock: 250 multi-kills (4 kills in a row)
Catalyst: +6 magazine size, Deeper Pockets perk (increased total ammo)
Where to get it: Prestige Eater of Worlds raid completions.
How to unlock: Complete all Verses for Brother Vance.
Catalyst: +7 magazine size, Deeper Pockets perk (increased total ammo)
Where to get it: any PvE kill
How to unlock: Unlock with 300 kills
Catalyst: Full Auto Trigger System perk (hold down trigger for full auto)
Where to get it: Crucible victories
How to unlock: 250 Crucible kills and 5 avenge your teammate medals
Wardcliff Coil – Rocket Launcher
Catalyst: Pinpoint Guidance Module perk (improved homing projectiles)
Where to get it: Heroic Strike/Nightfall bosses
How to unlock: 500 kills
Catalyst: Another Dimension perk (shortened Tesseract activation)
Where to get it: any PvE kill
How to unlock: Hit each Level 7 EP boss (5 in total) with Worldline Zero (unshielded)
Source/Credit for info above: pcgamer.com, bungie.net database, and u/aussie_halo on Reddit.
MORE GUIDES
Destiny 2 guide: Exotic catalysts (update) by polygon.com
Every Exotic Catalyst | All Masterwork Perk & Stat Bonuses Explained
Destiny 2 News. NEW EXOTIC CATALYSTS FOUND! Arms Week Event, New Exotic Masterwork Perks & More!
Last update: 04/08/2019