Way back in the day, Xur, the Exotics vendor who only shows up in Destiny 2 on the weekends, required you to pay for his spiffy wares in a currency called Strange Coins. In Destiny 2, Strange Coins went away, only popping up later as part of the Dares of Eternity activity. With the currency changes that came with The Final Shape, you’ll start finding Strange Coins in your pocket again, and you’ll need them to buy stuff from Xur again.
The thing is, it’s not immediately clear where you can get Strange Coins from in the game. You’ll need a lot of them to buy stuff from Xur, as everything he sells, from Exotic weapons and armor to Legendary gear, requires Strange Coins. Here’s what we know about Strange Coins and how to earn them. You might also want to check out our guide to where Xur is and what he’s selling, as well.
The main process for earning Strange Coins is taking part in Ritual activities. Those are the main Destiny 2 activities, like Strikes, Crucible matches, and Gambit matches. Notably, you don’t need to mess with the new Pathfinder system to earn Strange Coins–they just drop when you complete activities.
You’ll always get Strange Coins from completing Ritual activities, but the number you earn is random. The minimum is two Strange Coins per activity, and the max is four. For context, much of what Xur sells is at least going to run you a handful of Strange Coins. Legendary armor and weapons come in at 17 Strange Coins, Exotics are 23, and Exotic Catalysts are 74. That probably means you want to regularly knock down Ritual activities to keep the flow of Strange Coins coming.
Ritual activities appear to be the most reliable source of Strange Coins, but they’re not the only source. We’ve also seen them pop up among rewards from activities such as campaign missions in The Final Shape and Overthrow in the Pale Heart, but those aren’t reliable sources–they seem to pop up randomly as you’re doing activities in the world.
There is one counterintuitive way to get more Strange Coins, though: Spend them. When you spend 47 Strange Coins with Xur, you’re rewarded for your brand loyalty with a timed buff called Favor of the Nine, which gives you a chance to get an additional Strange Coin for every Strange Coin you earn. What’s more, the buff can stack, so you can burn several of them at once to increase your chances and maximize your Ritual activity earnings.
