How to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2: The Complete Guide

Ascendant Shards (or “golf balls,” as the community lovingly refer to them as) are often considered the endgame currency of Destiny 2. They’re required for most significant purchases, from masterworking armor to rounding out your Exotic collection.

Considering that, it’s clear why so many players value having some Ascendant Shards in storage at all times. But how do you get them? What’s the best way to farm them? And what exactly are they used for? We’ll cover all that and more right here. Read on.

What are Ascendant Shards?

Ascendant Shards are an endgame currency available from a wide variety of sources. Their primary purpose is masterworking armor, but you can also use them for other purchases. Ascendant Shards stack up to ten in your inventory, but storing up to 30 more in your characters’ postmasters is a common workaround for hoarding more.

How to get Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2

While they are no doubt rare, Ascendant Shards have countless obtainability methods. Here are a couple of the easiest and most common sources.

Season Pass

Each season pass offers Ascendant Shards from ranks 85, 90, and 94 on the premium track. While these are only redeemable once per account, they’re reliable for getting a few extras when needed.

How to get Ascendant Shards, Destiny 2

Vendor Reward Tracks

Many vendors in the game (including Zavala, Shaxx, the Drifter, and the Gunsmith) reward an Ascendant Shard for completing their reputation track. Similar to the season pass ones, these shards are limited: you can only receive one per vendor per season. However, you’ll probably reset your rank in the background, so watch these vendors!

Endgame Content

Many endgame activities, including high-level Nightfalls and Trials of Osiris, reward Ascendant Shards for successful completion.

These activities are significantly more demanding than simply getting the currency from a vendor, but they’re easily the most consistent source of Ascendant Shards. Endgame content is your best bet if you are looking to stockpile them but don’t want to spend other currencies.

Direct Purchase at Master Rahool

Of course, the easiest way to obtain more Ascendant Shards is just to purchase them. Master Rahool sells them for ten Enhancement Prisms and 50,000 Glimmer. If you lack prisms, Rahool also sells those (or you can run a variety of endgame activities to stock up).

How to farm Ascendant Shards

To farm Ascendant Shards, you’ll want to step into either Master or Grandmaster Nightfalls. Here, you can receive up to two shards per run, making it the most consistent way to get a stockpile going.

Of course, these activities are no easy feat—you’ll want a reliable fireteam and a solid build to ensure success. However, if these high-level activities prove too difficult, that’s okay! Saving up materials to directly purchase Ascendant Shards in the Tower is your next best bet for a consistent source.

Where to spend Ascendant Shards

Typically, Ascendant Shards are only required for endgame upgrades and purchases. So, if you’re a completely new player, you won’t have to worry about this currency for a while. That said, if you’re beginning to take Destiny 2 more seriously, you’ll want to know what this valuable currency is used for.

Masterworking Armor

Masterworking armor is the most common way players spend Ascendant Shards. You’ll need one shard to upgrade a Legendary armor piece to Tier 10. If it’s an Exotic, that price will jump to three.

Dismantling a fully masterworked Legendary armor piece won’t refund your Ascendant Shard. However, getting rid of an Exotic piece will refund one of the three you spent.

Monument to Lost Lights

Located in the Tower, the Monument to Lost Lights offers Exotic and ritual weapons from the past. Everything in the kiosk costs at least one Ascendant Shard, with raid Exotics being slightly more expensive and requiring Spoils of Conquest.

Luckily, all these weapons unlock in Collections after you obtain them. This means that everything in the kiosk is a one-time purchase, which should help you save on a couple of shards.

Exotic Armor Focusing

New with Season of the Deep, Master Rahool offers Exotic armor focusing. The system allows you to choose what armor you’d like from random Exotic drops, providing a new, easy-to-access deterministic pathway.

Exotic Armor focusing, Destiny 2

Advanced decryption, which focuses your chances down to a specific release, requires one Ascendant Shard. If you’re instead looking to decode a particular piece of armor through precision decryption, it’ll cost you three shards.

Before you go…

If you’re interested in Ascendant Shards, it means you’re probably looking into completing your collection of Exotics. If that’s the case, Solo Lost Sectors remains the best method to acquire Exotic armor. For Exotic weapons, this Exotics tier list tells you how to get every Exotic weapon in the game.