Engram

An engram is an encrypted state of matter considered to be an object's purest form.^[1] Engrams can be decrypted into a usable state by cryptarchs.^[2]

In gameplay, engrams can be dropped from defeated enemy species, obtained from completing various activities, and purchased from Cryptarchs.^[3]

Engrams in Destiny

Engrams come in five tiers of rarity:

Engram	Color	Possible rarities of contents
Encoded/Matter	White	Basic
Coded/Encrypted	Green	Uncommon or rare
Decoherent/Encrypted	Blue	Rare or legendary^[4]
Legendary	Purple	Legendary or exotic^[4]
Exotic	Yellow	Exotic

Each engram is of a particular weapon or armor type and stored in the Guardian's corresponding inventory slot until decoded. When decoded, engrams become a particular weapon or armor piece, scaling with the player's level and Light at the time it is decoded. Engrams can sometimes be decoded into a different type of item, such as a Strange Coin, Mote of Light, or artifact.

Encoded Engrams can be decoded immediately by players in the field.^[5] Coded Engrams must be decoded by a cryptarch until the Guardian reaches Cryptarch reputation 1 and level 15, at which point coded engrams will be decoded immediately in the field. Some encrypted and rarer engrams may require to be decoded by a cryptarch.

Any encrypted, legendary, or exotic engrams that a Guardian fails to pick up in the field will be sent to the Guardian's Postmaster.

This table lists all of the standard Destiny engram icons by type and rarity.

Types of Engrams
	Primary Weapon	Special Weapon	Heavy Weapon	Helmet	Gauntlets	Chest Armor	Leg Armor	Class Item
Basic
Uncommon
Rare
Legendary
Exotic

Other Engrams

Engram	Color	Cryptarch Rep
Deceptive	Green	+300^{[citation needed]}
Sublime	Purple	+150
Legacy	Gold	+300

Deceptive engrams decrypt into a random primary weapon of exotic rarity. One was given to all Year 1 Destiny players as part of the Veteran's Tour quest in Year 2.

Sublime engrams contain legendary PlayStation-exclusive items. They were previously available only on PlayStation platforms, but are now available to all other platforms.

Legacy engrams contain legacy (Year 1) exotic armor pieces or weapons. They can only be purchased from Xûr.

Iron engrams contain Year 1 Iron Banner Armor. They were sold by Lord Saladin during Iron Banner events in Rise of Iron, but can now be obtained from the Silver Dust Kiosk.

Engrams in Destiny 2

This section lacks information and needs to be expanded.

The following is a list of engrams that can be found in Destiny 2:

Engram Name	Rarity	Possible Content Rarities	How to Obtain
Encoded	Basic	Basic	Randomly drops until level 10.
Encrypted	Uncommon	Uncommon	Randomly drops after level 5 and continues to drop until level 15.
Decoherent	Rare	Rare	Randomly drops after reaching level 10. It can also be obtained from mission rewards (which requires decryption).
Legendary	Legendary	Legendary	Randomly drops after reaching level 20.
Exotic	Exotic	Exotic	Randomly drops after reaching level 20.
EDZ	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in EDZ Tokens, Dusklight Shards, and Dusklight Crystals to Devrim Kay.
Arcology	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in Arcology Tokens, Alkane Dust, and Alkane Spores to Sloane.
Nessus	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in Nessus Tokens, Microphasic Datalattices, and Quantized Datalattices to Failsafe.
Io	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in Io Tokens, Phaseglass Needles, and Phaseglass Spires to Asher Mir.
Lighthouse	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in Mercury Tokens, Simulation Seeds, and Simulation Buds to Brother Vance.
Crucible	Legendary	Legendary	Complete Crucible matches and challenges to earn Crucible Tokens for Lord Shaxx.
Gunsmith	Legendary	Legendary	Turn in Gunsmith Materials to Arcite 99-40 or Banshee-44.
Vanguard Research	Legendary	Legendary	Complete Meditations to earn Vanguard Research Tokens for Ikora Rey.
Vanguard Tactician	Legendary	Legendary	Complete Strikes and challenges to earn Vanguard Tactician Tokens for Commander Zavala.
Imperial	Legendary	Legendary	Complete the Leviathan raid and its challenges to earn Emperor Calus Tokens for Benedict 99-40.
Trials	Legendary	Legendary	Complete Trials of the Nine matches to earn Trials of the Nine Tokens for the Emissary of The Nine.
Iron	Legendary	Legendary	Complete Iron Banner matches to earn Iron Banner Tokens for Lord Saladin.
Dead Orbit	Legendary	Legendary	Align with Dead Orbit during a Faction Rally event to earn Dead Orbit Tokens for Arach Jalaal.
Future War Cult	Legendary	Legendary	Align with Future War Cult during a Faction Rally event to earn FWC Tokens for Lakshmi-2.
New Monarchy	Legendary	Legendary	Align with New Monarchy during a Faction Rally event to earn New Monarchy Tokens for Executor Hideo.
Luminous	Legendary	Legendary or Exotic	Complete the weekly milestones Flashpoint, Call to Arms, Nightfall, Prestige Nightfall, and Clan XP Contribution.
Bright	Legendary	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received upon a character reaching level 20 or purchased from Tess Everis. This engram was only available during Season 1.
Illuminated	Legendary	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received upon a character reaching level 20 or purchased from Tess Everis. This engram is only available during Season 2.
Fated	Exotic	Exotic	Purchased from Xûr for 97 Legendary Shards. (One engram per week.)
Dawning	Legendary	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	This engram was obtainable during the Dawning event.
Crimson	Legendary	Rare, Legendary, or Exotic	Received as a random completion reward during the Crimson Days event by playing in the Crimson Doubles Crucible playlist.