How to Farm Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2: A Comprehensive Guide
Ascendant Shards are a crucial endgame resource in Destiny 2, essential for Masterworking armor, purchasing Exotics from the Monument to Lost Lights, and upgrading certain items. Acquiring them can be a time investment, but with the right strategies and activities, you can reliably build up your Ascendant Shard stash. This comprehensive guide details every method for obtaining Ascendant Shards, providing step-by-step instructions and helpful tips to maximize your gains.
## What are Ascendant Shards Used For?
Before diving into the farming methods, it’s important to understand the significance of Ascendant Shards. They primarily serve three critical purposes:
* **Masterworking Armor:** Masterworking your armor is a key part of endgame Destiny 2. It provides significant stat boosts, increasing your resilience, recovery, discipline, intellect, strength, and mobility. Fully Masterworking a piece of armor requires one Ascendant Shard.
* **Purchasing Exotics from the Monument to Lost Lights:** Located in the Tower, the Monument to Lost Lights allows players to purchase Exotics that were previously available through vaulted content or limited-time events. Many of these Exotics require one Ascendant Shard to acquire.
* **Upgrading Certain Items:** Some items, such as the Season Pass armor sets, may require Ascendant Shards for specific upgrades, often to unlock higher stat rolls or mod slots.
## Methods for Obtaining Ascendant Shards
Here are the primary methods for acquiring Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2:
### 1. Grandmaster Nightfalls
Grandmaster Nightfalls are the most rewarding, but also the most challenging, way to farm Ascendant Shards. Completing a Grandmaster Nightfall guarantees at least one Ascendant Shard, with a chance for two to drop. The difficulty and time commitment are significant, but the reward makes it worthwhile for experienced players.
**Prerequisites:**
* **High Power Level:** Grandmaster Nightfalls require a minimum Power Level well above the seasonal cap. Ensure you are at or above the recommended Power Level for the specific Nightfall.
* **Strong Build:** You’ll need a well-optimized build with effective weapon choices, armor mods, and subclass perks. Synergy between your gear and abilities is crucial.
* **Fireteam:** Grandmaster Nightfalls are designed for coordinated fireteams. Communicate effectively with your teammates to strategize and overcome challenges.
**Step-by-Step Instructions:**
1. **Select a Nightfall:** Not all Nightfalls are created equal. Some are significantly easier than others due to enemy types, modifiers, and encounter design. Research and choose a Nightfall that your fireteam is comfortable tackling.
2. **Form a Fireteam:** Assemble a team of skilled players with complementary builds and roles. A well-rounded team should include damage dealers, support players, and someone capable of crowd control.
3. **Optimize Your Builds:** Work with your teammates to optimize your builds for the specific Nightfall. Consider weapon choices, armor mods, and subclass perks that will be effective against the enemy types and modifiers you’ll encounter. Common strategies involve focusing on anti-champion mods (Barrier, Unstoppable, and Overload), survivability mods (Resilience, Recovery), and damage-boosting mods (Font of Might, High-Energy Fire).
4. **Plan Your Strategy:** Before starting the Nightfall, discuss a strategy for each encounter. Identify potential choke points, enemy spawn locations, and boss mechanics. Coordinate your abilities and weapon usage to maximize efficiency and minimize risk.
5. **Execute the Nightfall:** During the Nightfall, communicate effectively with your teammates, stick to your strategy, and adapt to unexpected situations. Prioritize eliminating champions and controlling enemy waves to avoid being overwhelmed. Make use of cover, utilize your abilities, and revive fallen teammates quickly.
6. **Complete the Nightfall:** Upon successfully completing the Nightfall, you will be guaranteed to receive at least one Ascendant Shard, with a chance for a second. The higher your score and the fewer deaths your team experiences, the better your chances of earning additional rewards.
**Tips for Success:**
* **Communication is Key:** Effective communication is essential for coordinating strategies, calling out enemy locations, and reviving fallen teammates.
* **Utilize Cover:** Grandmaster Nightfalls are unforgiving. Make use of cover to avoid taking unnecessary damage.
* **Prioritize Champions:** Champions pose a significant threat in Grandmaster Nightfalls. Focus on eliminating them quickly using appropriate anti-champion mods.
* **Manage Your Resources:** Conserve your ammo and abilities. Don’t waste resources on trivial enemies.
* **Learn the Nightfall:** Familiarize yourself with the layout, enemy spawns, and boss mechanics of the specific Nightfall. The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be.
* **Use a Loadout Optimizer:** Tools like Destiny Item Manager (DIM) or Light.gg can help you create optimal loadouts quickly by suggesting the best mods and weapons based on your inventory.
### 2. Master Nightfalls
Master Nightfalls offer a lower difficulty level than Grandmaster Nightfalls, but they still provide a reliable source of Ascendant Shards. While the drop rate isn’t guaranteed, it’s fairly high, making them a viable option for players who are not comfortable with Grandmaster difficulty.
**Prerequisites:**
* **Decent Power Level:** Master Nightfalls require a decent Power Level, though not as high as Grandmaster Nightfalls. Ensure you are at or above the recommended Power Level for the specific Nightfall.
* **Functional Build:** A functional build with effective weapon choices and armor mods is necessary, but the requirements are less stringent than for Grandmaster Nightfalls.
* **Fireteam (Recommended):** Master Nightfalls can be soloed, but it is much easier with a coordinated fireteam.
**Step-by-Step Instructions:**
1. **Select a Nightfall:** Choose a Nightfall that your fireteam is comfortable tackling. Some Nightfalls are significantly easier than others.
2. **Form a Fireteam (Optional):** Assemble a team of skilled players with complementary builds and roles.
3. **Optimize Your Builds:** Work with your teammates (or yourself, if soloing) to optimize your builds for the specific Nightfall. Consider weapon choices, armor mods, and subclass perks that will be effective against the enemy types and modifiers you’ll encounter. Anti-champion mods are still essential.
4. **Plan Your Strategy:** Before starting the Nightfall, discuss a strategy for each encounter. Identify potential choke points, enemy spawn locations, and boss mechanics. Coordinate your abilities and weapon usage to maximize efficiency and minimize risk.
5. **Execute the Nightfall:** During the Nightfall, communicate effectively with your teammates (if applicable), stick to your strategy, and adapt to unexpected situations. Prioritize eliminating champions and controlling enemy waves to avoid being overwhelmed. Make use of cover, utilize your abilities, and revive fallen teammates quickly.
6. **Complete the Nightfall:** Upon successfully completing the Nightfall, you have a high chance to receive an Ascendant Shard. The higher your score and the fewer deaths your team experiences, the better your chances of earning additional rewards, including enhancement prisms.
**Tips for Success:**
The tips for Master Nightfalls are similar to those for Grandmaster Nightfalls, but the margin for error is greater. Communication, utilizing cover, prioritizing champions, and managing resources are all still important.
### 3. Season Pass
The Season Pass offers a predictable and consistent source of Ascendant Shards. As you progress through the Season Pass ranks, you will unlock several Ascendant Shards as rewards. This method requires time investment but is relatively low-effort compared to Nightfalls.
**Prerequisites:**
* **Season Pass:** You need to own the current Season Pass to access the rewards.
* **Time Investment:** You need to play the game and earn XP to progress through the Season Pass ranks.
**Step-by-Step Instructions:**
1. **Purchase the Season Pass:** If you haven’t already, purchase the current Season Pass from the Eververse store.
2. **Earn XP:** Play Destiny 2 activities to earn XP. Complete bounties, participate in strikes, Crucible matches, Gambit matches, and seasonal events to maximize your XP gains.
3. **Claim Rewards:** As you level up the Season Pass, claim the rewards, including Ascendant Shards, from the Season Pass screen.
**Tips for Success:**
* **Complete Bounties:** Bounties are a great way to earn XP quickly. Pick up bounties from vendors in the Tower and complete them while playing other activities.
* **Participate in Seasonal Events:** Seasonal events often offer bonus XP and opportunities to complete event-specific challenges that reward XP.
* **Focus on Weekly Challenges:** Weekly challenges provide significant XP rewards and are a great way to progress through the Season Pass quickly.
* **Use XP Boosts:** Some items and consumables provide XP boosts. Use these items to accelerate your progress through the Season Pass.
### 4. Purchasing from Rahool
Rahool, the Cryptarch in the Tower, allows you to purchase Ascendant Shards in exchange for Enhancement Prisms, Glimmer, and Legendary Shards. This method is expensive but can be useful if you have an abundance of other resources and need Ascendant Shards quickly.
**Prerequisites:**
* **Enhancement Prisms:** You need a significant number of Enhancement Prisms to purchase Ascendant Shards from Rahool.
* **Glimmer:** You also need a substantial amount of Glimmer.
* **Legendary Shards:** And Legendary Shards. This makes it a costly process.
**Step-by-Step Instructions:**
1. **Visit Rahool:** Go to the Tower and speak to Rahool, the Cryptarch.
2. **Select the Purchase Option:** Interact with Rahool and select the option to purchase items.
3. **Purchase Ascendant Shards:** Navigate to the Ascendant Shard purchase option and exchange Enhancement Prisms, Glimmer, and Legendary Shards for Ascendant Shards.
**Tips for Success:**
* **Convert Enhancement Cores to Prisms:** If you have an excess of Enhancement Cores, you can convert them into Enhancement Prisms at the Gunsmith (Banshee-44) in the Tower.
* **Farm Enhancement Prisms:** Enhancement Prisms can be farmed from various activities, including Nightfalls (especially higher difficulties), Master Lost Sectors, and Iron Banner. Consider focusing on these activities to build up your Prism supply.
* **Manage Your Resources Wisely:** Purchasing Ascendant Shards from Rahool is expensive. Make sure you have enough resources before making a purchase.
### 5. Trials of Osiris (Endgame Track)
While not a direct drop, the Trials of Osiris offers Ascendant Shards via its engram focusing. By resetting your Trials rank you can focus engrams for specific items, including one Ascendant Shard. It is a relatively expensive focus, but if you are actively participating in Trials of Osiris anyway, it can be a worthwhile consideration.
**Prerequisites:**
* **Trials of Osiris Access:** Requires ownership of the necessary DLC.
* **Trials Engrams:** Earned by participating in the Trials of Osiris.
* **Trials Rank:** Increases by winning matches in the Trials of Osiris.
* **Legendary Shards and Glimmer:** Needed to focus Trials Engrams.
**Step-by-Step Instructions:**
1. **Participate in Trials of Osiris:** Play Trials of Osiris matches to earn Trials Engrams and increase your Trials Rank.
2. **Reset Trials Rank:** Once you reach a high enough rank, reset your Trials Rank at Saint-14 in the Tower. This provides additional Trials Engrams and allows you to focus them.
3. **Focus Trials Engrams:** Speak to Saint-14 and choose the focusing option. Look for the specific focus that offers one Ascendant Shard (it rotates periodically, so check the available focuses).
4. **Pay the Cost:** The focus will require a certain number of Trials Engrams, Legendary Shards, and Glimmer. Pay the cost to acquire the Ascendant Shard.
**Tips for Success:**
* **Play with a Skilled Team:** Trials of Osiris is a highly competitive activity. Playing with a skilled team will increase your chances of winning matches and earning Engrams.
* **Complete Trials Bounties:** Trials Bounties offer additional rewards, including Trials Engrams and XP.
* **Focus Engrams Strategically:** Consider focusing other valuable Trials rewards, such as adept weapons, before focusing on Ascendant Shards.
* **Utilize Trials Passages:** Trials Passages can provide advantages, such as forgiving losses or providing bonus rewards.
## Optimizing Your Ascendant Shard Farming
To maximize your Ascendant Shard gains, consider these strategies:
* **Prioritize Grandmaster Nightfalls:** If you are capable of completing Grandmaster Nightfalls, they are the most efficient way to farm Ascendant Shards. Focus your efforts on mastering these activities.
* **Supplement with Master Nightfalls:** If Grandmaster Nightfalls are too challenging, supplement your farming with Master Nightfalls. They offer a high chance of dropping Ascendant Shards and are less demanding.
* **Claim Season Pass Rewards:** Don’t forget to claim the Ascendant Shards from the Season Pass as you progress through the ranks.
* **Manage Resources Carefully:** Be mindful of your Enhancement Prism, Glimmer, and Legendary Shard supply. Avoid unnecessary purchases and focus on activities that reward these resources.
* **Play Regularly:** Consistent play is key to earning Ascendant Shards. The more you play, the more opportunities you’ll have to acquire them.
* **Stay Updated:** Destiny 2 is constantly evolving. Keep up with the latest updates, patches, and seasonal events to take advantage of any new methods for obtaining Ascendant Shards.
## Conclusion
Ascendant Shards are essential for endgame progression in Destiny 2. By utilizing a combination of Grandmaster Nightfalls, Master Nightfalls, Season Pass rewards, and strategic resource management, you can effectively farm Ascendant Shards and enhance your Guardian’s power. Remember to prioritize Grandmaster Nightfalls if possible, supplement with Master Nightfalls, and claim Season Pass rewards. With dedication and the right strategies, you’ll be well on your way to mastering your gear and conquering the most challenging content Destiny 2 has to offer.