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Destiny 2 Guardian Games guide: How to participate and earn Heir Apparent

Destiny 2’s Season of the Worthy has been all about competition so far, thanks to the return of Trials of Osiris. Bungie is taking that idea one step further with its latest update, the Guardian Games. The three-week event pits the game’s three classes against one another. Players can win the ultimate bragging rights by competing and even earn some new loot along the way, including a new exotic weapon. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to jump in and represent your class.

Getting started

To start the event, you’ll need to complete a quick quest on the Tower. When you load in, you’ll see a massive podium as you spawn in. Ava Levante, who returns from the Festival of the Lost event, will be standing next to it. Talk to her, and she’ll give you the quest.

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Next, you’ll need to speak with Zavala. He’ll give you a Guardian Games class item. You’ll need to wear this at all times to participate in the event, so equip it right away. Go back to Eva Levante, and she’ll direct you to the Drifter. He’ll validate your entry into the event and give you a medal.

Finally, head back to the podium and insert your medal into it to finish the introductory quest. From here on out, you can participate in the event.

How does it work?

The Guardian Games are simple but introduce a few new mechanics that you’ll need to learn about. The basic idea is that you’ll gain points for your team by earning medals, which you can pick up from Eva Levante. These appear as quest items and have different requirements, like defeating 50 guardians in the crucible or killing enemies in strikes.

When you complete a medal’s requirement, you can turn it in at the podium in the Tower. Doing so will give you a reward box as well as class progress. The basic idea is that you’ll load up on medals every week, complete them, and turn them in to gain points for your class and gear.

On top of that, you’ll obtain laurels throughout the event. These are earned by killing enemies with your class abilities while wearing your Guardian Games gear. You’ll receive a quest from Eva Levante that asks you to collect a certain amount of these in a week, which will reward you an exotic ghost.

Finally, Eva has a new set of bounties that earn you XP and Bright Dust. There are medals that revolve around completing a certain number of bounties, so make sure to pick as many up as you can. You’ll essentially want to grind bounties, laurels, and medals at the same time during the event.

Heir Apparent Destiny 2
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What are the rewards?

The biggest reason to participate is to obtain Heir Apparent, a new exotic machine gun. To get this, you’ll need to complete the Class Act triumph, which is earned by finishing seven Guardian Games triumphs. Open up your triumph book and flip to the Seasonal tab to see what you’ll need to complete.

Otherwise, you’ll mainly gain exotic ghost shells through this. Each week, Eva will offer a different ghost for completing the On the Laurels quest. Each class will get three ghosts each so that you can obtain nine in total between your characters.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Destiny event without new Eververse loot. You can spend real money to buy a host of cosmetic items, from a torchlight emote to a Guardian Games ship.

There hasn’t been a lot to do in Season of the Worthy outside of bunkers, so the Guardian Games are a great excuse to jump back in and work toward some new rewards.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
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