Destiny 2 is absolutely brimming with resources, both common and rare, but the definitive pinnacle of the game’s hefty economy is the so-called Ascendant Shards. These rare items fuel many of the game’s highest-end features, upgrades, and activities, and they’re likely to be remarkably difficult to get for younger players and those who don’t often engage with Destiny 2‘s endgame content.
There are, however, ways for you to target-farm Ascendant Shards. They’re often complicated, tedious, and/or downright annoying, yes, but it’s all worth it for players looking to well and truly optimize their Guardian builds.
What are Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2?
Destiny 2‘s Ascendant Shards are, essentially, a top-tier resource used to complete the following tasks:
- Exotic gear focusing via Rahool at the Tower
- Exotic weapon purchasing via the Exotic weapon kiosk at the Tower
- Armor masterworking
For those who are at least somewhat new to the game, Ascendant Shards will be a key way to stock up on older Exotic gear, then. Those who’ve already moved past that point with full Collections, however, are going to need heaps of Ascendant Shards to masterwork new armor for gear optimization. It’s worth remembering here that it takes just one Ascendant Shards to fully masterwork a Legendary (purple) armor piece, but a whopping three of them to do the same for an Exotic (golden) armor piece. As we said – you’ll need lots.
Something worth pointing out here is that while the game limited Guardians to holding a maximum of 10 Ascendant Shards at a time up until relatively recently, Destiny 2 Season 22 upped the number to a grand total of 30 Ascendant Shards. At the same time, the game’s Postmaster can no longer hold Ascendant Shards at all, so it is a bit of a give-and-take on that front.
How to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2?
For those who only really need a few Ascendant Shards per season to get by, the good news is that it’s not all that hard to get a few of them. The bad news, however, is that actually farming Ascendant Shards gets either remarkably difficult or incredibly tedious rather quickly, depending on just how many of them one might need.
Here are some foolproof, albeit somewhat limited, ways of getting Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2 to begin with:
- Completing the Season Pass (1 Shard for free-to-play players, 3 Shards for Season Pass owners)
- Fully rank up Zavala, Shaxx, Saint-14, and the Drifter’s activity progression systems
- Purchasing Shards from Rahool, Ada-1, and Banshee-44
- Turning in Exotic Fish
As should be apparent from just glancing at these activities, they’re either fairly costly or remarkably grindy and time-intensive, and it’s going to depend on the player themselves how they choose to pursue their Ascendant Shard farm over the course of a season. Simply by engaging with the game’s activities, however, it’s not too difficult to fully rank up each of the aforementioned vendors, and doing so will guarantee some number of Shards every new Season. For the more hardcore Destiny 2 player, however, there are ways to subsidize their masterworking habits further still!
How to reliably farm Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2?
The single most straightforward way of reliably farming Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2 is to play and complete Grandmaster-level Nightfalls. Doing so guarantees one Ascendant Shard, with a slight chance to drop a second Ascendant Shard as well. This is particularly effective when there’s a double loot event, though these aren’t on a regular schedule at this time.
An easier, though more time-consuming alternative consists of playing Legend Lost Sector missions, which are on a daily rotation across all of the game’s patrol zones. Specifically, Legend Lost Sectors commonly drop Enhancement Prisms, and Rahool can convert 10 Prisms into one Ascendant Shard. Getting efficient at doing this isn’t overly difficult, and it’s got a significant payout.
Finally, particularly proficient PvP players can continue playing the Trials of Osiris on weekends after completing a full 7-win card, as further wins also have a chance to drop a full Ascendant Shard every so often. Good luck!
