Destiny 2‘s Ascendant Challenges are among several moving parts involving the Dreaming City’s intricate curse, which envelops the area in a three-week time loop.
The curse ranges from weak to strong to strongest, and each cycle brings a ton of treasure to hunt for—if you’re brave enough to dive into the Ascendant Plane in search of riches. Destiny 2 has six Ascendant Challenges that rotate every week. They’re a surefire source of Dreaming City gear, including reissued versions of Waking Vigil, Tigerspite, and Twilight Oath.
Finishing an Ascendant Challenge grants a piece of Legendary gear, but you can get your hands on an extra drop if you have Petra Venj’s weekly bounty. These weekly objectives are also a prime target for stacking bounties since you can have up to six weeklies in total—one for each Ascendant Challenge.
Ascendant Challenges yield one piece of gear each week, plus another from Petra’s bounties. Those objectives are character-based, meaning you can get six pieces of Dreaming City gear from Ascendant Challenges alone.
To find the entrance to the Ascendant Challenge, consume an item called Tincture of Queensfoil, available from Petra Venj or found in Dreaming City chests.
Each Ascendant Challenge has a special entrance, and though the challenge changes, its entrance remains the same location whenever it pops up.
What is this week’s Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2? (Dec. 3 to 10)
- Challenge: Shattered Ruins
- Entrance: Spine of Keres (Divalian Mists)
How to find and complete the Shattered Ruins Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2
Before starting the Shattered Ruins Ascendant Challenge, speak to Petra Venj (who is conveniently in front of the Divalian Mists landing zone) to grab the associated bounty and stock up on Tinctures of Queensfoil should you need them. Use one and head to the Spine of Keres, on the left side of the Divalian Mists and opposite the path to Rheasilvia.
If you have a skimmer like the Xûrfboard, use it to get inside the area and hover to the right side of the main walkway leading to the Oracle Engine. If you’re on foot, look for an invisible path to the right of the bridge and follow it to the far end of the zone. The portal to the Ascendant Challenge is almost by the shore.
Once you’re inside the Shattered Ruins, your goal is to reach the opening on the ceiling and take down a miniboss. The Ascendant Challenge is sort of a small obstacle course, however, and the Taken’s lack of sportsmanship means you’re up against snipers, boop portals, and even bombs. I usually make a spiral from the right side of the area until the top, looking for whatever foothold I can find. Eager Edge or Lightweight weapons usually help with mobility, and you can always use Strand Grapple to make your traversal easier.
The hole in the ceiling leads to a few annoying but harmless Shadow Thrall and the (also harmless) miniboss. Use your heavy, Super, or abilities to blast it from existence and collect your prize for finishing the Ascendant Challenge.
How to get Dreaming City gear in Destiny 2
Dreaming City gear got another revamp with Season of the Wish, making those weapons even more relevant. While they still performed decently, perks like Voltshot on Waking Vigil can give them even more of a fighting chance. Blind Well continues to be a good source of the new gear (though its new power delta makes it more of a slog than before).
Petra offers a weekly bounty for completing the Ascendant Challenge if you want to earn Dreaming City gear from exploration, awarding you an extra piece of gear for your trouble. Each week, she also offers a bounty that costs Dark Fragments and yields an Offering to the Oracle. Taking the reward to the Oracle in the Spine of Keres gives you an extra drop and, on weeks where the curse is strongest, lets you visit Queen Mara Sov’s throne room. You can also find an Ahamkara Bone there if you’re hunting for Cursebreaker.
In addition, check out Petra’s bounties every day for a daily objective that awards gear, as seen in its tooltip. Finishing eight daily bounties and doing Petra’s weekly quest will yield Dreaming City gear if you purchase the objectives. Like Ascendant Challenges, these are on a weekly lockout per character. You can accomplish them more than once a week if you’re not on the same Guardian.
Published: Dec 3, 2024 02:14 pm