Parasite is an Exotic Grenade Launcher that fires Hive worms which explode on impact, dealing massive area damage to enemies caught within the blast radius.
This weapon is unique due to its self-damage mechanic, where detonating the worm empowers your weapons for a short period after the explosion.
Because of this design, Parasite rewards aggressive timing and burst setups rather than sustained fire, making it a situational but extremely powerful Exotic.
How To Get Parasite?
Parasite is obtained by completing the Parasite Exotic questline, which becomes available after finishing the Witch Queen campaign and unlocking the post-campaign activities tied to the Throne World.
The quest is started from Mara Sov in the Throne World, who sends Guardians on a multi-step chain of Hive-related objectives involving investigation and containment of Savathûn’s Worm.
Once the full questline is completed, Parasite is awarded directly as a guaranteed Exotic Grenade Launcher.
Weapon Perks
Volatile Launch (Launcher Barrel)
Parasite is optimized for an especially explosive payload.
- Greatly increased blast radius
- Slightly decreases handling speed
- Slightly decreases projectile speed
High-Explosive Ordnance (Magazine)
Parasite’s projectiles are larger and travel faster.
- Increases blast radius
- Slightly increases projectile speed
- Decreases magazine size
Worm Byproduct (Trait)
Taking damage from your worm projectile detonation empowers your weapons for a short time.
Composite Stock (Stock)
Parasite has a versatile dual-purpose stock.
- Slightly increases stability
- Slightly increases handling speed
Intrinsic Traits
Worm’s Hunger
Parasite fires a live Hive worm that detonates on impact, with explosion damage scaling based on the number of enemies defeated immediately before firing the weapon.
This scaling mechanic rewards proper setup, allowing players to drastically increase the weapon’s explosive output after building up multi-kills in advance.
When combined with its empowerment effect, Parasite becomes a burst-focused Exotic that can delete grouped enemies when used in properly timed rotations.
Catalyst
Envious Arsenal
Dealing damage with both other weapons before readying Parasite refills it from reserves, ensuring the weapon is fully reloaded when swapped to for damage phases and combat rotations.
This improves weapon uptime by removing downtime between swaps and allowing consistent burst setup, making Parasite easier to integrate into damage-focused loadouts.
How To Get Parasite Catalyst?
Play Vanguard Ops, Crucible, or Gambit, or complete Exotic Order payouts in the Seasonal Hub, with progress earned through repeated completion of Ritual activities.
Verdict
Parasite is at its best when you treat it like a timed burst tool instead of a traditional grenade launcher, because its real power comes from setup rather than constant firing.
If you can reliably build multi-kills before each shot, the explosion damage becomes strong enough to wipe grouped enemies and heavily punish dense encounters.
The self-damage drawback is manageable in most builds, and when paired with healing or sustain tools, Parasite turns into a high-risk, high-reward Exotic that excels in controlled damage phases.
