Dead Man's Tale

Dead Man's Tale is a Kinetic Exotic Scout Rifle (120 RPM, 14-round magazine) earned from the Presage Exotic quest, introduced in Season 13 and revisited in Season 22.

Overview

• Archetype: Scout Rifle, 120 RPM.
• Intrinsic perk: "Cranial Spike". Chaining precision hits grants bonus damage and faster reload. Newer versions can drop with random rolls, and can be shaped via Deepsight Resonance (one extraction).

Acquisition

1. Find the Intercepted Distress Signal in The Arms Dealer strike by heading right after the first encounter.
2. Complete the quest "The Voice on the Other Side" with Commander Zavala in the Tower.
3. Complete the Presage mission on the Tangled Shore, then claim the rifle from Zavala. Repeat runs (Presage (Expert), Master) give more rolls.

The quest-step details come from a single walkthrough; later updates may have changed the start.

Catalyst

"Dark-Forged Trigger" removes hip-fire accuracy penalties and increases hip-fire rate of fire (boosted further by Cranial Spike stacks). One guide says it comes from the "At Your Fingertips" quest and 800 kills; others say it needs a Legend completion, so confirm in game.