Ever since one was first sighted hovering behind the Exo Stranger in Beyond Light, Destiny 2’s most mysterious creatures, the Pouka, has eluded any further appearances in the past few years. That is changing with the release of the Lightfall expansion. As seen in many of the pre-release trailers and lore materials, Poukas play a pivotal role in Neptune’s ecosystem and players are about to see them a lot more.
Despite that, information on them remains hard to come by. It wasn’t until the Fortnite crossover cosmetics that the Pouka name was even revealed to most players via a Back Bling for the Exo Stranger skin. Fortunately, there are a few snippets of lore and some scenes from the trailers that can tell us a little bit about what to expect from our new mechanical fish friends when we land on Neomuna on Feb. 28.
What are Poukas in Destiny 2?
The Poukas appear to share a deep connection with the people and technology of Neomuna. Trailer footage of the Cloudstriders show Poukas hovering beside them in a manner similar to the Ghosts that Guardians have. Whether they share a similar purpose to the Ghosts or offer some other benefit with their proximity to Neomuna’s protectors remains to be seen. The lore of Quicksilver Storm implies Poukas can access Neomuna’s advanced technology where it is inaccessible to others as well.
When looking to the lore, there are two texts available to look through which include mention of Poukas. The Speed Metal Ghost Shell and Quicksilver Storm Exotic auto rifle—two rewards for pre-ordering Lightfall—featured snippets of an origin story describing how the Exo Stranger Elsie Bray found her Pouka friend.
Related: Destiny 2 Lightfall pre-order guide: Quicksilver Storm, perks, editions, and more
Elsie finds a lone Ghost out on a space station on the way to Pluto, Tokki, who explains that the only reason she is out this far was after hearing a “call.” The Ghost is covered in an almost liquid silver material, a gift from a friend that turns out to be a lone juvenile Pouka that is also on the station with them. Elsie quickly uncovers that the mysterious material is a form of weaponized nanomachines and that it originally was part of a weapon.
She replicates the housing and frame of the weapon, forging the Quicksilver Storm, but the nanomachines appear to only operate based on the presence of accepted biometric data which prevents Elsie from using the weapon. The Pouka appears to be able to bypass this biometric lock with a “contact” and “unison” call, registering Elsie as the weapon’s new user so she can utilize the nanomachines and fire it.
With the Cloudstriders shown to use similar technology to Quicksilver Storm, as well as a form of hoverboard to get around Neomuna, it’s highly likely that the Poukas act as an access key which prevents anyone else from making use of their arsenal.
