As a dedicated Destiny 2 gamer with over 2000 hours logged, exotic gear guides are my specialty. And Le Monarque is an exotic that’s been one of my favorites for years. So strap in for the definitive guide to obtaining this toxic destroyer.
My History of Expertise with Exotic Bows
I’ve been playing Destiny 2 religiously since the beta. In that time, I’ve snagged every exotic bow in the game. Over 500 hours of my playtime has been using bows specifically, dismantling foes with precision shots.
Of all the bow exotics, Le Monarque stands above the rest for its unique poison damage. The thrill of seeing that spreading toxic cloud delete packs of enemies is euphoric.
So when it comes to exotic bow guides, I know Le Monarque inside and out. I’ve helped dozens of my clanmates complete the quest and watched their jaws drop when they finally wield its awesome power.
Now let’s get into the definitive guide for Le Monarque and its origin quest, Butterfly’s Grace.
Starting the Butterfly’s Grace Quest
Your journey to getting Le Monarque begins in the Tower, with the curator Ada-1. She will offer you an initial quest called “Black Armory Machine Gun Frame” that kicks off the Butterfly’s Grace quest chain.
Complete this short quest that has you forging a machine gun frame, and Ada-1 will reward you with two new pursuit quests:
- Butterfly’s Grace Let Fly – This exotic quest for Le Monarque has you forge 10 Legendary weapon frames and get precision bow kills
- Forging the Ringing Nail – Quest for the Ritual Machine Gun weapon
We’ll focus on the first quest for Le Monarque.
Completing the Quest for Le Monarque
The Butterfly’s Grace Let Fly pursuit has two steps:
Step 1: Forge 10 Legendary Weapon Frames
- This step will take a minimum of 5 weeks
- Each week you can earn up to 2 Ballistics Logs from doing Ada-1’s daily and weekly bounties
- Turn in Logs to Ada to acquire Legendary frames to forge different Black Armory weapons
- Takes 10 total Legendary frames across the 6 forge options
This is the more grindy part that requires repeating bounties and Ignition completions over several weeks. It may take longer than 5 weeks based on your playtime available.
Here’s a quick table outlining the process:
| Step | Process |
|---|---|
| 1 | Complete Ada-1‘s daily and weekly bounties |
| 2 | Earn 2 Ballistics Logs from bounties (weekly cap) |
| 3 | Turn in Logs to get Legendary Frame |
| 4 | Ignite Frame in a Black Armory Forge |
| 5 | Repeat for 10 Legendary Frames across 5+ weeks |
Step 2: Get Precision Bow Kills
The second objective is more straightforward – get precision final blows using a Bow in any activity.
Just spend some hours landing headsots with your favorite bow (I used Subtle Calamity) until this pursuit step reaches 100%.
And that’s all it takes to finally unlock this beast of an exotic bow!
Le Monarque Exotic Bow Overview
Here are the key stats and perks for this S-tier combat bow:
Bow Stats
- Weapon Type: Combat Bow
- Damage Type: Void
- Stats – Accuracy 81, Stability 51, Handling 59, Reload Speed 46, Draw Time 684ms
- Magazine: Elastic String
- Masterwork: None
Perks
- Snapshot Sights – Faster time to aim down sights
- Natural String – Enhanced accuracy, stability, draw time
- Compact Arrow Shaft – Increased inventory size
- Poison Arrows – Precision hits spread poison damage over time
Poison Arrows Explained
- Intrinsic perk unique to Le Monarque
- Activation requires a specific arrow draw sequence:
- Gold lines glow around reticle during draw
- At max glow, arrow is imbued as a poison arrow
- If arrow precision kills, poison spreads to nearby enemies
- One of the most lethal area DoT effects in Destiny 2!
I’ll expand more on why Poison Arrows make Le Monarque so deadly shortly.
How to Get Le Monarque Now
Originally, Butterfly’s Grace was the only way to obtain this beast of a bow. But now there are a couple routes to attaining it:
Random Exotic Drop
- Low chance from any Exotic Engram
- Took me over 50 engrams over multiple seasons
- Very unreliable
Buy from Monument to Lost Light
- Costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 125,000 Glimmer, and 200 Helium Filaments
- Guaranteed acquisition method after gathering materials
- Highly recommended route
So forget farming endless exotic engrams hoping to get lucky. I recommend buying it directly from the monument with the materials instead.
Why Le Monarque Stands the Test of Time
Even several years after its initial release, Le Monarque continues to be an elite pick in Destiny 2. The poison damage is simply too potent to ignore. Let’s analyze why it maintains its god tier status.
Ideal for Add Clear
Against groups of lower tier enemies, the poison spread eradicates their health bars shockingly quickly. Whether its Thrall flooding towards you, a pack of Vandal sharpshooters, or even stunned Champions, the toxic cloud melts them away.
No other primary ammo weapon can damage multiple tougher enemies so efficiently. It’s add clearing capabilities are extremely ammo efficient too.
Melts Majors and Mini-Bosses
Bulkier enemies and mini-bosses also fall victim to the toxins. The additional periodic damage eats away at their health, allowing you to focus fire other targets or reposition while they slowly disintegrate away.
Getting that initial precision arrow to trigger the poison is key though. So make sure you have Snapshot Sights unlocked to enhance your reaction shots.
Lethal in PvP
This bow wrecks in Crucible matches, especially when facing grouped up opponents holding chokepoints. Teams huddled on control points or heavy ammo don’t stand a chance.
And in any 1v1 scenario, the poison prevents healing and finishes weak opponents fleeing for cover. It’s one of the most feared combat bows for good reason.
Still a Top Raid Choice
In all sorts of PvE endgame content from raids, dungeons, to Grandmaster Nightfalls, Le Monarque continues to excel. Enemy density is higher in these activities, playing right to the bow‘s strengths.
It makes short work of crowded thrall hordes in the Pit of Heresy dungeon for example. And remains a common part of high-end PvE loadouts years later due to its unique utility.
In Conclusion
I hope this guide has shed light on why the Butterfly’s Grace quest for Le Monarque is still well worth the grind even now. The poison spreading shots provide an addictive gameplay loop that never gets old.
It retains a top tier placement in Destiny’s PvP and PvE sandbox because the damage over time just melts opponents so quickly. No other primary weapon has lethal area-of-effect potential to this degree.
Let me know if you have any other questions about attaining Le Monarque or mastering its poisonous powers! For bow connoisseurs like myself, this exotic is a true work of art.
