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How to farm Legendary Shards in Destiny 2

Learn how to farm Legendary Shards in Destiny 2, because you never know when Bungie is going to find a reason to make you spend them all.

Bill Lavoy

May 12, 2022 2:00 AM

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Legendary Shards are one of the primary currencies players rely on in Destiny 2. With so many mechanics in the game requiring shards (specifically infusing gear), it can be easy to start running low. For this reason, farming up a healthy supply of Legendary Shards is often a top priority for a lot of players. If you don’t have a lot of time to play and want to get as many shards as possible, consider using some of the following methods to farm Legendary Shards.

While you're out there farming Legendary Shards, you must also take the time to farm Enhancement Cores. These are vital, especially with the addition of weapon crafting.

Last updated on May 12, 2022 at 2:00 a.m. PDT.

Purge the Vault

The best place to start hunting for Legendary Shards is somewhere that you probably don’t pay a lot of attention to, which is your vault. If you’re like my fireteam, you keep loads of junk in there that you’ll not need again.

While players may have been reticent to “shard” items in the past out of fear of them potentially becoming must-use items, the sunsetting of some weapons from previous Seasons alleviates this stress. Weapons from a few Seasons ago have their max Power capped, meaning they are no longer viable in endgame content. Furthermore, armor you like the look of is now available for transmog.

All this is to say go ahead and delete anything in your Vault you no longer want. Be as ruthless as you can. It’s okay. You don't need Midnight Coup anymore. In the event you do accidentally delete something valuable, you can always get out there are farm another one. Check out our weapon god roll recommendations for some guidance.

Dismantle Shaders

This tip is going to be relevant for those players that still have a bunch of shaders sitting in their inventory. If you're joining the game later, this won't apply to you. However, if you do have a stack of 40 or 50 Legendary shaders, consider purging them as you no longer need to keep copies. To do this, head to Master Rahool in the Tower and dismantle shaders. Thirty shaders from a single unwanted stack will turn into 30 Legendary Shards. I made 185 Legendary Shards in two minutes using this method. Feel free to blow up anything you find ugly and wouldn't be caught dead in.

Planetary tokens

Once again, I like to save resources that I don’t need to spend now, so I found myself walking around with tokens for most of the NPC representatives on each planet. In some cases, I had more than 500 tokens. Turning in 500 tokens to Failsafe, for example, would result in 25 packages from her, which would result in a minimum of 75 Legendary Shards if you blew up everything she gave you, and that’s not including the shaders you’d also acquire. If you’re hoarding tokens but desperately need Legendary Shards, turn them in so you can blow up the gear. This is especially true for any planet that's being removed after Season of Arrivals.

At the launch of The Witch Queen, planetary tokens aren't really a thing, but planetary resources certain are. If you've got a stack of those and are desperate for Legendary Shards, give your favorite vendor the materials and get some rank-up packages. Any item you get from the package can be dismantled for shards.

Legendary Shard Dismantle Bonus

For those that pay for the season pass in Destiny 2, sometimes there is a boon available called Legendary Shard Dismantle Bonus. This means that if you are dismantling Legendary gear, you get four Legendary Shards instead of three. If you are dismantling Exotic gear, you get six Legendary Shards instead of five. I wouldn't buy the seaosn pass for this reason alone, obviously, but it's a cool perk if you're already planning to pick it up. It's also a benefit that will likely prevent you from running out of Legendary Shards in the future, since you'll gain hundreds more than you would have without this benefit.

Season Pass rewards

Speaking of the Season Pass, there will typically be stacks of Legendary Shards as rewards. There are some scattered on both the free and premium tracks, so all players should be able to earn dozens over the course of a season. Make sure you focus on hitting Rank 100, as there are hundreds of shards just sitting here waiting to be collected.

Transmat Effects

Tucked away in your Inventory under Modifications might be Legendary Shards you never knew existed. Any Legendary Transmat Effect will dismantle into Legendary Shards, which means you can just scrap any you don't like. Keep in mind you can reclaim them from Collections if you delete one you actually like.

Play Destiny 2

I really hate this one, but it’s true. You can’t possibly get thousands of Legendary Shards without playing the game for hundreds of hours and spending your resources wisely. There might be things you can do, but for those to be available (such as turning in 3,000 Gunsmith Materials), you must play the game and earn resources for trade. 

Now that you have a decent handle on how to farm Legendary Shards, visit the Destiny 2 strategy guide for more help with everything a Guardian could need.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.