Ascendant Shards are golden golf ball Exotic resources in Destiny 2 that are required to upgrade your armor up to masterwork, or 10 energy, and decrypt Exotic engrams into specific things. Ascendant Shards are very useful for getting the best weapons and armor in the game, so let’s dive into it. Here are the best ways to farm Ascendant Shards fast in Destiny 2.
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Best Ascendant Shards Farm in Destiny 2, Explained
By far, the fastest way to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2 is to complete Grandmaster Nightfalls. Clearing other challenging endgame activities like master difficulty Raids, Dungeons, and Lost Sectors have rewards other than Ascendant Shards — Grandmaster Nightfalls are the only activity you can grind to get consistent Ascendant Shards.
If you defeat all the Champions and earn a high enough collective score, you are guaranteed to earn an Ascendant Shard through clearing Grandmaster Nightfalls, or GMs as they are called. GMs are arguably the hardest activities in Destiny 2, taking groups of Guardians around 15 to 20 minutes to clear. That said, you can earn around three to four Ascendant Shards every hour if you consistently clear Grandmaster Nightfalls.
While Grandmaster Nightfalls is the best way to farm Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2, it’s not the only way to earn Ascendant Shards. In fact, there are tons of ways to get Ascendant Shards during any given Season of Destiny 2.
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Every Way to Get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2, Explained
Despite them being such a valuable resource, there are multiple ways to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2. Every way takes a lot of work, but it’s possible to get Ascendant Shards doing the activities you like most.
Here is every way to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2:
- Grandmaster Nightfalls
- Season Pass
- Vendor Rank Reset
- Zavala: Stikes and Nightfalls
- Shaxx: Crucible
- Drifter: Gambit
- Banshee-44: Gunsmith
- Saint-14: Trials of Osiris
- Nimbus, Fynch, etc.: World Vendors
- H.E.L.M. Vendor: Seasonal Vendor
- Trials of Osiris
- Bought from Rahool in the Tower
Get to Rank 94 on the Season Pass
If you’ve purchased the Season Pass, which is currently the only way to enjoy all that a Season has to offer, then you can earn up to three Ascendant Shards once you reach rank 94 on the Season Pass. There aren’t Ascendant Shards after rank 94, but you might as well make it to rank 100.
With the paid Season Pass track, you get an Ascendant Shard at rank 85, 90, and 94. Unfortunately, there aren’t any Ascendant Shards on the free Season Pass tack, but are we surprised by that? Bungie has a habit of being greedy.
Earn Ascendant Shards Through Vendor Rank Resets
You can earn at least six Ascendant Shards through Vendor Rank Resets. Every Season, your individual rank with each Vendor is reset to zero. As you play a specific Vendor’s activity, for example, Crucible for Lord Shaxx, and complete their Bounties, you rank up.
Once reach Rank 16, then you can reset your rank, which is a lot like prestiging in other games, and earn one Ascendant Shard. You can even Rank Reset with the Seasonal Vendor which is easy if you’re following the Season’s campaign and you can Rank Reset with World Vendors like Nimbus on Neomuna or Fynch in the Throne World if you’re doing activities there.
It’s a lot of work to grind all the way to Rank 16 with each vendor just for one Ascendant Shard, but if you’re enjoying a specific Destiny 2 activity, you might as well make it a goal to try and reset your rank with that particular Vendor.
Go Flawless in Trials of Osiris
A PvP alternative to grinding Grandmaster Nightfalls is to go Flawless in Trials of Osiris. Trials of Osiris is an extreme PvP game mode where two teams of three Guardians go head to head in a game of last Guardian alive, wins. If you win seven consecutive Trials of Osiris matches, which is called going Flawless, then you’ll earn one Ascendant Shard.
While you can’t get more Ascendant Shards from going Flawless again during one run of Trials of Osiris (don’t worry, it comes and goes which offers more chances are Ascendant Shards), you can buy the Seven-win Passage from Saint-14 which grants you an Ascendant Shard after winning seven Trials matches. Also, I recommend buying the Passage of Mercy from Saint-14 for your Flawless attempt as it allows you to lose one game without ruining your Flawless attempt.
Buy Ascendant Shards From Rahool
You can buy an Ascendant Shard from Rahool who is located directly across from the Postmaster in the Tower. Though Rahool decrypts your engrams, he can also offer you Ascendant Shards for a steep price. The only time I recommend using Rhaool as a source of Ascendant Shards is when you have an abundance of resources and are desperate for one more Ascendant Shard.
To buy an Ascendant Shard from Rahool, you need to pay 10 Enhancement Prisms, 100 Planetary Materials, and 50,000 Glimmer. Purchasing Ascendant Shards isn’t the worst way to get the material, but it does take time to build up the other resources required to buy them.
And that is every way to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2, including the best way to farm them. No matter the activity, you’ll want to be equipped with the eight best Auto Rifles to help you farm Ascendant Shards quickly. Good luck, Guardians!
