How to Farm Ascendant Shards: Fastest Methods in Destiny 2

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An efficient guide to finding Ascendant Shards as soon as possible

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: May 15, 2024 Fact Checked

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Farming Ascendant Shards

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What are ascendant shards?

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Why are ascendant shards useful?

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Do you want to masterwork a few pieces of gear in Destiny 2 but need rare (and valuable) Ascendant Shards to do so? In this article, we’ll help you find them. Ascendant Shards are a crafting material used to upgrade gear. Although they’re rare, you can stockpile them by completing high-level Nightfall strikes, dismantling masterwork exotic gear, or simply buying them from vendors. Read on for a complete tutorial on finding and farming Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2!

Collecting Ascendant Shards: Overview

Farm Ascendant Shards by completing Master and Grandmaster-level Nightfall strikes or dismantling masterwork exotic armor (which nets at least 1 shard per piece of gear). If all else fails, you can buy shards from vendors at the Tower, including Banshee-44, Ada-1, and Rahool.

Section 1 of 3:

Farming Ascendant Shards

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1
Complete Master and Grandmaster-level Nightfall strikes. This is one of the most effective ways to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2. Simply play through Nightfall strikes (specifically Master or Grandmaster strikes) over and over until you get the desired amount of shards. To get Platinum-tier rewards, ensure all champions are dead by the end of each challenge.^{[1]
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- You’ll get twice as many shards if you do this on a week when Nightfall rewards are doubled.
- If you wait until you can get double Nightfall rewards, you’ll get multiple Ascendant Shards after a single Grandmaster Nightfall strike.
2
Dismantle masterworked exotic armor. If you’re hanging onto any exotic masterwork gear that you don’t plan on using, consider dismantling it instead; you can get at least 1 shard per piece of gear that you dismantle. Since it usually takes 3 shards to create masterwork exotic gear, you won’t get every shard you originally spent back—but you can still get at least some of them.^{[2]
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- If you’re in a tight spot and want to store extra Ascendant Shards quickly, you can masterwork some armor (and dismantle it later if you need shards again).
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3
Buy them from vendors at the Tower. Banshee-44 (the gunsmith), Ada-1 (the armor specialist), and Rahool (the cryptarch) all sell Ascendant Shards—although they can be pretty expensive. Still, if you need a reliable way to get Ascendant Shards regularly, you can buy them from any of the above vendors for the price of 50,000 Glimmer and 10 Enhancement Prisms.^{[3]
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- You can also purchase other valuable items like upgrade modules from Tower vendors.
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Reset your rank with certain vendors. The first time you reset your rank with Lord Shaxx (Crucible), Commander Zavala (Vanguard), Banshee-44 (Gunsmith), and the Drifter (Gambit), each will reward you with 1 Ascendant Shard. This also works with Saint-14 (Trials of Osiris vendor). Reach the first level with Tower vendors every season so you can reset and reap the rewards!^{[4]
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- However, remember that this only works once per vendor; resetting again after that will get you an Exotic engram, not an Ascendant Shard.
If you want (and can afford) the paid version of the Season Pass, you’ll be able to unlock 3 Ascendant Shards from it. Even if you’re using the free Season Pass, you’ll still be able to unlock 1 Ascendant Shard—so, regardless, Destiny 2’s Season Pass can net you a small amount of shards.^{[5]
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Win the Trials of Osiris games. The Trials of Osiris is a higher-stakes variant of Crucible, with PvP (player-versus-player) matches that yield some of the game’s best weapons and armor. If you win 7 matches in a row (with no losses whatsoever), you’ll get an Ascendant Shard from the Lighthouse Chest.^{[6]
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- None of the recommended steps in this guide will net a ton of shards right away—but by continually doing these things over time, you’ll gain all the shards you need!

Section 2 of 3:

What are ascendant shards?

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Ascendant shards are a type of material in Destiny 2. In the first Destiny game, Ascendant Shards were used during Year 1 but eventually phased out. In Destiny 2, they returned as an exotic material typically used in high-quality crafting. Since season 22, players can have no more than 30 Ascendant Shards on their accounts—and can’t have any on their Postmaster.^{[7]
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- That means players can’t stockpile as many Ascendant Shards as they could in earlier seasons of the game.

Section 3 of 3:

Why are ascendant shards useful?

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Ascendant shards are used to masterwork Legendary and Exotic armor. Exotic armor pieces require 3 shards to successfully masterwork, while legendary armor pieces only need 1. Since Ascendant Shards are rare, it’s a good idea to think carefully about the best ways to spend them—and use them sparingly! You can also use them to:^{[8]
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- Purchase exotic weapons from the Tower’s Lost Lights kiosk.
- Focus exotic gear with Rahool (in the Tower).