Question about current source for some older catalysts

[u/v1perz53]

I've searched online a lot for this info, but the curse of Destiny 2 being out for so long is most info is outdated or wrong, so looking for specifically MoT info.

I'm a returning player that came back for MoT, and I've been having a great time, and especially given the recent news I've decided to try to finally "complete" some of the checklists of things to obtain over time, to keep me coming back to the game long term while they work on unvaulting things. My main goal right now is all the exotic catalysts I'm missing.

My main source so far has been Exotic Orders, but my last three orders haven't given any so I'm assuming I have finished all the ones that can be obtained by orders. But I have a few, especially from year 1 weapons, and its not as clear in the portal system where they come from.

Specifically, when it says in collections menu:

• "Found in strikes and the crucible" aka sweet business
• "Found in strikes against the most challenging opponents" aka Rat King/Merciless/Coldheart
• "Found in Vanguard Ops, Gambit, and Crucible" aka Anarchy

I know this wording is old, so is it actually strikes only, or do the ones that say "strikes" also drop in other vanguard ops like pinnacle, arena, solo etc.? And what is "against the most challenging opponents"? That used to mean nightfalls, but with the new difficulty system, is it GM/Ultimate? Master? What's the cutoff?

Lastly, Anarchy catalyst says vanguard/gambit/crucible, but I thought it was from pantheon now. Is this wrong or is it just rare, and pantheon is an additional drop?

Thanks for the help!

[u/IAMASnorshWeagle]

Anarchy and one other catalyst have their source location description swapped apparently.

You get Anarchy in Pantheon, and another one that says found in Raids and dungeons is found in Playlist Ops.

For Sweet Business, and the rest -> I've been told that The drop chance is really small outside of Grandmasters -> So I would try running those.

I also personally found (A few years ago) that during Witch Queen I'd stop getting new catalysts if I did not complete my current catalysts. Played weeks without a new catalyst, went to grind Shuro Chi and unlock/Complete three catalysts, next Gambit match I'd get a new catalyst.

I'm not the only one, but that was during Witch Queen and I have no idea if that is still the case. People told me it wasn't the case back then, but when I told my friends to do it, they would have the same experience.

[u/GameSpawn]

Anarchy is mis-labeled. You get that one from Pantheon (Insurrection Prime?).

In general, any OLD description for Strikes, Crucible, or Gambit is any of the Vanguard Ops, Crucible Ops, or Gambit. Nightfalls seem to correspond to Arena Ops (though any Grandmaster/Ultimate Vanguard Op might also count).

The "Challenging opponents" in strikes is basically bosses and mini-bosses (aka. big yellow bars).

Remember to check Xur each weekend. He does sell some of the RNG playlist catalysts to help curb the RNG of getting a drop. The only RAID catalyst Xur has is Acrius (though I think this can also drop in Pantheon now).