Destiny 2 can be an overwhelming experience for those who are either new or returning after a long hiatus. With so many updates, expansions, seasons, and items added in, one can easily find themselves lost in what they have to do. Perhaps one of the most confusing elements of Destiny 2 is its currency and crafting system. There are numerous materials you’ll need to collect to either Masterwork your gear or make it from scratch. The rarest upgrade material is Ascendant Shards, which are used to masterwork legendary and exotic armor pieces. They are critical to crafting solid endgame builds, so here’s every way you can get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2:
How to Get Ascendant Shards
- Purchased from Banshee-44 and Ada-1, or Master Rahool.
- Dismantle masterworked legendary or exotic armor.
- Complete Master or Grandmaster Nightfalls
- Complete Master raid encounters.
- Unlock them with Season Pass rewards.
- Seasonal vendor rank resets.
- First flawless of the week in Trials of Osiris.
- Occasional story quest reward.
When it comes to farming Ascendant Shards, completing Master and Grandmaster Nightfalls is widely considered the best way to earn some golf balls. This is because you are almost guaranteed an Ascendant Shard upon completing a Grandmaster Nightfall, which makes it the most consistent method for farming this material. The best Nightfall strikes to farm are The Arms Dealer, Fallen S.A.B.E.R., The Devil’s Lair, or Lake of Shadows. All of these are remarkably short, aren’t terribly difficult, and can be completed with a skilled team in under 15 minutes.
To earn even more Ascendant Shards, try farming Nightfalls during a Double Vanguard rewards week. You can earn two Ascendant Shards per run, which is terrific for those who are constantly masterworking a lot of armor. At the time of writing this, you can only have 10 Ascendant Shards stored in your inventory along with another 10 in your Post Master. Similar to other upgrade materials, you cannot store Ascendant Shards in your vault, so don’t expect to horde a ton.
If you are a solo player, your best method for getting Ascendant Shards is by resetting your vendor rank. Once you hit Rank 16 on any vendor you will earn an Ascendant Shard upon visiting that vendor. Now, this is a slower method, however, you can speed the process up by completing specific activities when that playlist has double XP for the week. This will ensure you can quickly ascend through that specific vendor level and hit Rank 16. Alternatively, you can buy Ascendant Shards from Rahool for 10 Enhancement Prisms, 50,000 Glimmer, and 200 planetary materials a piece.
Again, this isn’t an ideal method, but for solo players, it’s the only consistent method. That being said, I still strongly recommend you just LFG for a Grandmaster Nightfall group and grind that activity. It’s far and away the best way to earn Ascendant Shards so you can masterwork your armor and get those crucial stat boosts.
