There is a long-running theory that humans will go to great lengths to pet a cute animal, and I am living proof. In Destiny 2, the Good Boy Protocol is not just a silly secret; it is a social experiment designed to see how many chores a Guardian will do for one digital headpat. My answer? All of them. After dozens of drone hunts, one Clovis Bray-approved security clearance, and a parkour gauntlet that made me question my life choices, I finally pet the robo-dog. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it again? I already did, twice.
The Pre-Dog Checklist
If you think petting a dog should be free, Destiny 2 disagrees. Back in Season of the Seraph, Guardians had to complete an entire checklist before the Good Boy Protocol would even consider appearing. First, I cleared Operation: Seraph's Shield. Then I crafted Revision Zero, the shiny new Legendary Exotic Pulse Rifle. Because obviously the dog will only accept owners with good taste in weapons. Finally, I grabbed the Security Clearance Upgrade from Clovis Bray on the Exo Frame, which required progressing to Step 26 of the More Than A Weapon quest. Step 26. For a dog.
Why is Clovis Bray involved in pet permissions? I do not know. Maybe he wanted to make sure no one was petting his Exo prototypes without approval. Classic Clovis energy: even friendship requires paperwork.
Hunting 50 Drones: A Love Story
The real test was finding and destroying fifty Security Drones hidden throughout the Sol System. Fifty. Not five. Not fifteen. Fifty mechanical spies stood between me and a good boy. Here is the breakdown:
| Location | Number of Drones |
|---|---|
| Europa | 10 |
| Moon | 10 |
| Operation: Seraph's Shield | 12 |
| Heist Battlegrounds (Mars, Europa, Moon) | 18 total, 6 each |
Let me do the math: ten plus ten is twenty, plus twelve is thirty-two, plus eighteen is... fifty. Yes. I double-checked after I thought I missed one at least three times. The Heist Battlegrounds were especially sneaky because each of the three destinations had six drones tucked away. I developed a love-hate relationship with my ghost: love for navigation, hate for how often it said, “We're not done yet.”
After all fifty drones were destroyed, the mysterious door on the Orbital Station finally opened. Did I get a cutscene? A loot explosion? A heartfelt thank-you from Zavala? No. I got a parkour maze. But honestly, after fifty drones, I would have crawled through anything.
The Door, The Maze, and the Mechanical Good Boy
According to YouTuber Misleading, the door leads into a massive but linear parkour sequence that runs through an extensive corridor with multiple paths. Some paths contain traps. Some paths lead to dead ends. I found every dead end personally. The maze is not the hardest platforming in Destiny 2, but after the drone marathon, my brain was on autopilot and my jumps were questionable. Pro tip: if a path looks too clean, it is probably a trap. Or it is the right path. Destiny 2 does not care about your feelings.
At the end of the Security Drone-door maze, I found it: an adorable mechanical Exo dog. No boss. No time-gated puzzle. Just a very good metallic boy waiting for a pat. I walked up, pressed the interact button, and unlocked the Good Boy Protocol. That single pet also completed the Triumph “Guardian's Best Friend.” I have chased raid exotics that gave me less joy.
Then the story got even better. After being petted, the dog instantly disappeared from the area and relocated to the hub area of the H.E.L.M. So I fast-traveled and petted the precious mechanical animal for a second time. That cleared the Destiny 2 Triumph “Yes, You Can Pet The Dog.” Yes, the game literally has a triumph called “Yes, You Can Pet The Dog.” What a masterpiece.
Was It Worth 50 Drones? Yes.
Look, I have run Grandmaster Nightfalls with less enthusiasm. I have completed catalysts that felt more like chores than this drone hunt. But the Good Boy Protocol is different because the reward is pure, simple, and mechanical. Do I wish the parkour maze had fewer dead ends? Sure. Do I think Clovis Bray should get credit for this? Absolutely not. The dog deserves full credit.
Would I do it again for a third pet? My ghost says no, but my heart says yes. Even in 2026, I still tell every new light about the 50 drones and the mechanical dog. And the dog is in the H.E.L.M., so the real answer is always yes. 🐾