Engram

Example of an Engram. In this case, the golden color indicates it is Exotic.

"The unique datastatic structure of relic crystals inspired Doctor Willa Bray to develop the first engram matter-encryption techniques during the Golden Age."

— Ghost^[1]

Engrams are crystals^[2] that are encoded with the patterns of armor, weaponry and other items. There are five basic types of Engrams: Encoded, Encrypted, Decoherent, Legendary, and Exotic.^[3]

History

Engrams are a unique, "pure" state of matter,^[4] the form solid matter takes when physically encrypted. First successfully generated by Willa Bray, Clovis Bray proceeded to head the field of engram research and application.

Engrams were often used to store information, such as manuscripts or research. They were known to degrade over time. Engrams dating from the Golden Age were normally mostly illegible.^[5]^[6]

One of the most significant applications of engrams is for computing. By the end of the 21st century, computer engineers had reached the physical limits of transistor-based computing, unable to overcome quantum incoherence at the nanoscopic level. This halted research for some time. However, engram encryption allowed quantum incoherence to be bypassed: transistors encoded into engrams could store exponentially more information in a smaller space. The discovery of engrammic computation, one of Clovis Bray's last developments before the Collapse, led to a vast leap in human processing power.

Overview

Encoded Engrams are sold by the Cryptarch, and are coded with the patterns of known items, such as a particular section of armor or class of weaponry. Once purchased by the player, the engram is converted into a random example of that item by the Cryptarch.^[3] While decoding an engram will generate a random item, it's still possible to know the type of item that will be discovered. Each Engram will indicate whether the item is armor, a primary weapon, a special weapon, a heavy weapon, or an item shaped like the Engram. The quality of the item is also identified, as Engrams use the same color coding as weapons and armor: White for Basic, green for Uncommon, blue for Rare, purple for Legendary, gold for Exotic.^[7]

Encrypted engrams are defined in-game as having "unusual properties". These must also be taken to the Tower where the Cryptarch will convert them if (in certain cases) only after he has attained the necessary Rank. The Cryptarch is also known to have these rarer Engrams for sale from time to time, which are more common if his skill is higher.^[8]^[3]

Engrams are also found as loot, and appear as colored crystals on the ground (white for Encoded, green for Encrypted, blue for Decoherent, purple for Legendary, yellow for Exotic). Enemies may drop them randomly, or they may be picked up from boss encounters or inside chests. Any engrams that the player hasn't picked up may show up in the Postmaster's office.

Finally, there are also occasions where Guardians may encounter Engram-like objects; Araskes, the Trickster notably disguised explosives as Exotic Engrams, and the Grasp of Avarice is filled with both unstable Exotic Engrams and what appear to be "discharged" or "inert" crystals that resemble Engrams in shape but have a dull purple-ish coloration.

Decoding Engrams

Engrams have a chance of being decoded into an item that is higher or the same quality as the Engram itself. That item will almost always correspond to the type of Engram it comes from; the exception to this is that sometimes a Rare Engram will decode into a Mote of Light or Strange Coin instead. Also, certain items will never be decoded from an engram and can only be acquired a certain way; this applies to any item acquired through a Raid, Exotic Bounty, the Iron Banner, Trials of Osiris, or as a reward for a Story mission.

There are nine Weapon Engrams, seven Armor Engrams, and three Class Engrams. Each is marked with a weapon or armor piece symbol to indicate what type of gear it is (Shotgun, Auto rifle, Machine gun, etcetera).

Umbral Engrams

Introduced during Season of Arrivals and returning in Season of the Chosen and every subsequent season for Destiny 2, Umbral Engrams are a less common variant of Legendary Engram which can be "focused" into dropping more specific kinds of loot, such as one of two short range weapons, seasonal armor with a specific high stat, and so on; this typically requires additional investment of seasonal resources and/or appropriate Triumph unlocks, which can also grant additional benefits such as a chance for decrypted weapons to have an additional selectable perk in their third and/or fourth columns.

Focusing occurs at the H.E.L.M., whilst unfocused Umbral Engrams can be decrypted as-is at Master Rahool in the Tower if no specific reward is desired.

Engram types

Destiny

Engram Type	Color	Item Quality	Cryptarch Rep	Availability
Encoded	White	Common	+5	Random drops until level 15, purchase from Cryptarch.
Encrypted	Green	Uncommon	+10	Random drops, purchase from Cryptarch; automatically decoded after level 15. As of the January 2017 update, Uncommon Engrams automatically decrypt into either Weapon Parts or Armor Materials if the player is above a level where they would otherwise be useful.
Decoherent	Blue	Rare	+75	Random drops after Level 15, Story mission rewards, faction rank-up rewards; use to drop Glass Shards.
Legendary	Purple	Legendary	+150	Random drops after Level 15, purchase from Cryptarch, faction rank-up rewards; can acquire Ascendant Energy or Ascendant Shards.
Sublime	Purple	Legendary	+150	Random drops on PlayStation only; contain PlayStation-exclusive Armor pieces.
Exotic	Yellow	Exotic	+300	Purchase from Xûr, Agent of the Nine for nineteen Strange Coins each to acquire Year 2 Exotic Armor.^[9]
Legacy	Yellow	Exotic	+300	Purchase from Xûr, Agent of the Nine for 31 Strange Coins each to acquire Year 1 Exotic Weapons.
Deceptive	Green	Exotic	+300	A green-painted Exotic Engram given as a gift by Master Rahool during the Veteran's Tour Quest for players who qualified for the Founder's Fortune Pack; contains a random Year 1 Exotic Weapon.
Iron	Purple	Legendary	N/A	Purchase from Lord Saladin to acquire Year One or Year Two Iron Banner Armor.
Dusty	Purple	Legendary	N/A	Purchase from Lord Saladin for five Silver Dust to acquire a Year Three Iron Banner Armor piece.

Destiny 2

Engram Type	Color	Item Quality	Availability
Encoded	White	Common	Randomly dropped until about level 10, automatically decrypted. No longer available.
Encrypted	Green	Uncommon	Randomly dropped after level 5 until about level 15, automatically decrypted. No longer available.
Decoherent	Blue	Rare	Random drops after level 10 (automatically decrypted) and mission rewards (requires decryption). Always automatically decrypted as of Shadowkeep.
Legendary	Purple	Legendary	Random drops (Rare) after level 20. Automatically decrypted upon collection, but encrypted at postmaster. Always automatically decrypted as of Shadowkeep.
Exotic	Yellow	Exotic	Random drops (Very Rare) after level 20. Always automatically decrypted as of Shadowkeep.
EDZ	Purple	Legendary	Turn in EDZ Tokens, Dusklight Shards, and Dusklight Crystals to Devrim Kay.
Arcology	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Arcology Tokens, Alkane Dust, and Alkane Spores to Sloane. No longer available following Beyond Light.
Nessus	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Nessus Tokens, Microphasic Datalattices, and Quantized Datalattices to Failsafe.
Io	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Io Tokens, Phaseglass Needles, and Phaseglass Spires to Asher Mir. No longer available following Beyond Light.
Lighthouse	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Mercury Tokens, Simulation Seeds, and Simulation Buds to Brother Vance. No longer available following Beyond Light.
Cradle	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Mars Tokens, Seraphite, and Harmonic Seraphite to Ana Bray. No longer available Beyond Light.
Crucible	Purple	Legendary	Complete Crucible matches and challenges to earn Crucible Tokens for Lord Shaxx.
Gunsmith	Purple	Legendary	Turn in Gunsmith Materials and Weapon Telemetry to Arcite 99-40 or Banshee-44.
Vanguard Research	Purple	Legendary	Complete Meditations (Story mission replays) to earn Vanguard Research Tokens for Ikora Rey. No longer available.
Vanguard Tactician	Purple	Legendary	Complete Strikes and challenges to earn Vanguard Tactician Tokens for Commander Zavala.
Imperial	Purple	Legendary	Complete the Leviathan Raid and its challenges to earn Emperor Calus Tokens for Benedict 99-40. No longer available following Beyond Light.
Trials	Purple	Legendary	Complete Trials of the Nine matches to earn Trials of the Nine Tokens for The Emissary. Retired with Trials of the Nine.
Iron	Purple	Legendary	Complete Iron Banner matches to earn Iron Banner Tokens for Lord Saladin.
Dead Orbit	Purple	Legendary	Align with Dead Orbit during Faction Rallies to earn Dead Orbit Tokens for Arach Jalaal. Retired with Faction Rallies.
FWC	Purple	Legendary	Align with Future War Cult during Faction Rallies to earn FWC Tokens for Lakshmi-2. Retired with Faction Rallies.
New Monarchy	Purple	Legendary	Align with New Monarchy during Faction Rallies to earn New Monarchy Tokens for Executor Hideo. Retired with Faction Rallies.
Luminous	Purple	Legendary or Exotic	Complete weekly milestones: Flashpoint, Call to Arms, Nightfall, Prestige Nightfall, and Clan XP Contribution. Only be available during Curse of Osiris, now retired.
Bright	White	Rare, Legendary or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 20 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 1 only.
Illuminated	White	Rare, Legendary or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 25 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 2 only.
Prototype	White	Rare, Legendary or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 30 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 3 only.
Steadfast	White	Rare, Legendary or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 50 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 4 only.
Etched	Black	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 50 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 5 only.
Notorious	Green	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 50 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 6 only.
Best of Year One	Rainbow	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received upon leveling up after reaching the level 50 cap, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 7 only.
Nostalgic	Blue, Pink, and Cyan	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received for free upon logging in for the first time during the season, from the seasonal rewards track, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 8 only.
Fond Memories	Magenta, Red, and Yellow	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received for free upon logging in for the first time during the season, from the seasonal rewards track, or purchased from Tess Everis. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 9 only.
Luminous	Orange, Blue, and Purple	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received for free upon logging in for the first time during the season or from the seasonal rewards track. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 10 only.
Mnemonic	Pink and White	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received for free upon logging in for the first time during the season or from the seasonal rewards track. Requires decryption at Eververse. Season 11 only.
Eververse	White	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received from the seasonal rewards track. Requires decryption at Eververse.
Ephemeral	Purple	Rare, Legendary or Exotic	Can be purchased from Eververse or obtained upon leveling up past the level cap during the 2018 Festival of the Lost. Requires decryption at Eververse.
Fated (Isochronal)	Yellow	Exotic	Guarantees one pre-Forsaken Exotic item that has not been previously obtained. Account-based purchase once per week from Xûr, Agent of the Nine for 97 Legendary Shards. If all pre-Forsaken Exotics have been claimed, gives one random pre-Forsaken Exotic instead.
Golden Age	Yellow	Exotic	Gives the Sturm Hand Cannon, and must be brought to Tyra Karn at The Farm for decryption.
Rasputin's Gift	Black	Legendary	Gives the IKELOS HC v1.0.1. Can only be obtained once through the Mars world quest after completing the Warmind Campaign, and must be brought into Rasputin's chamber for decryption.
Prime Engram	Purple-Yellow	Legendary	Drops randomly from Elite, Major, and Ultra enemies, or Crucible matches. Always drops gear higher than your current power level. Looks like a standard Legendary Engram, but with added glow & particle effects.
Black Armory Engram	Dark Purple	Legendary	Dropped from a completed Black Armory Forge Ignition. Somewhat elongated and modified compared to regular Engrams. Distinctive blue-white hex-spiral effects.
Umbral Engram	Black and Purple	Legendary	Dropped from enemies and activities during Season of Arrivals and reintroduced in Season of the Chosen. Requires decryption at the Umbral Decoder. Shows streams of Darkness upon dropping.