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Destiny 2's Guardian Games event is back in Season of Defiance, this time with some much-needed streamlining. Laurels are gone, medals are easier than ever to earn, and Contender Card challenges are all fairly easy this time around. If you're looking for a great time to farm Masterwork materials and new guns, Guardian Games is for you.
This event pits all three of Destiny's classes against one another, fighting to see which class is the best. Compete in friendly PvE playlists or competitive PvP Supremacy to earn new rewards and general bragging rights about which class reigns supreme. This guide will cover everything you need to know about Guardian Games this year, covering everything from earning Medallions to the best rolls on all Guardian Games weapons.
What Is The Guardian Games?
The Guardian Games is a yearly event that runs from May 2 to May 23. In this event, each Guardian class will work together to showcase their superiority across various curated activities, including unique Strike and PvP playlists. Completing these activities will grant Medallions that you can turn in for loot and to progress your class' rank during the event. The class that ranks first throughout most of the event will win the Guardian Games, changing a statue in the Tower to commemorate their achievement.
As for rewards, there are three reasons to participate this year:
- Guardian Games features two unique weapons: The Title and Taraxippos.
- This event is the only time you can earn Heir Apparent and its Catalyst.
- The Competitive Strike playlist is effectively Legend-tier Nightfalls with matchmaking, great for casually farming Exotic armor.
Best In Class Quest Walkthrough
When you log into Destiny 2 during the Guardian Games, you'll be prompted to speak with Eva Levante at the Tower. She serves as the main NPC for this event and will give you the Guardian Games starting quest 'Best in Class.' The quest itself is rather straightforward:
- Purchase a Contender Card.
- Earn a Medallion and complete a Guardian Games playlist.
- Deposit your Medallion at the Guardian Games podium.
- Claim an Event Challenge.
- Acquire the 'Shoot to Score' and 'Vying for Supremacy' quests.
Contender Cards
Contender Cards are effectively bounties tied to a specific playlist. You can purchase these cards from Eva Levante at the Tower. We'll cover specific cards and their rewards later in the guide. For now, purchase any Contender Card that interests you.
Earning Medallions
Medallions can be earned in the Guardian Games playlists, all of which can be found in the Tower Directory. There is a playlist for PvE Strikes and PvP's Supremacy game mode. Equip your Guardian Games class item before playing either playlist, as this allows you to earn Medallions. The better your team performs in either playlist, the better tier of Medallion you'll receive when the activity ends.
Depositing Medallions
Once you've acquired a Medallion, head back to the Tower and speak with Eva Levante. She'll ask you to deposit your medal into the Guardian Games podium that's directly behind her. Walk up to your class flag and deposit your Medallion. This is where you'll receive your Guardian Games loot throughout the event. The more medals you deposit, the more loot you'll receive.
Claiming Event Challenges
Similar to last year's Solstice and Dawning events, Guardian Games features a Seasonal Challenge system that's exclusive to this event. To check your event challenges, visit your quests tab and select the "Guardian Games' tab. This will showcase all challenges tied to this event, complete with their completion requirements and rewards. For now, claim the first challenge to finish this quest step.
Shoot To Score
Speaking to Commander Zavala will grant you the 'Shoot to Score' quest during the Guardian Games. This is a weekly quest that requires you to earn high scores in the Guardian Games: Competitive playlist. This playlist is unlocked after acquiring this quest and can be found in the Tower Directory, the same place as the other two Guardian Games playlists. Completing this quest will award weapons and other goods based on your high score placement that week—Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum.
Vying For Supremacy
Talking to Lord Shaxx will grant the 'Vying for Supremacy' quest during the Guardian Games. This is a weekly quest that requires you to perform well in the Guardian Games: Supremacy playlist. Supremacy is similar to Clash but with a twist: enemies drop crests on death that must be collected in order to score points. The first team to collect 150 enemy crests will win the match.
Your placement in these matches will determine how quickly you rise through the ranks. You can achieve the highest score (Platinum) without placing first in every game, but playing well will make this process much faster. If you aren't the best at PvP, we recommend focusing on collecting Crests to increase your score.
Medallions And Scoring Explained
This year's Guardian Games has removed Laurels entirely in place of a much simpler scoring system. In essence, you'll only be earning medals this year to progress your class' rating. Strike scoring from last year's Guardian Games has returned, and the new PvP playlist also features a sort of scoring system based on match performance. Let's go over how to earn Medallions and how this year's scoring systems work.
Medallions And The Medallion Case
Medallions serve as your main reward currency during the Guardian Games. Completing Guardian Games activities and completing Contender Cards will award Medallions which can be deposited at the Tower for rewards. There are four types of medals:
- Bronze: Earned by completing Guardian Games activities with a low score.
- Silver: Earned by completing Guardian Games activities with a high score.
- Gold: Earned by completing Contender Cards of low difficulty.
- Platinum: Earned by completing Contender Cards of high difficulty.
In essence, this event encourages you to farm Contender Cards for high-tier medals and the event playlists for low-tier medals. You'll always want to be progressing a Contender Card whenever possible. We'll cover cards more in-depth in the next section.
Bear in mind that you may only a limited number of each Medallion type at any given moment. You may hold five Bronze, five Silver, three Gold, and three Platinum Medallions at once. You can check your Medallions by inspecting the Medallion Case item in your quests tab. It's stored in the same location as your quests. Once your Medallion Case gets full, deposit your medals at the Tower to empty your case and earn rewards.
Strike Scoring
Strike scoring returns from last year's event, this time with some new Strand-themed medals. Unlike your typical Strike and Nightfall scoring, Guardian Games scoring features medals you can earn from completing certain actions—landing multiple melee final blows, using Strand to defeat many targets, et cetera. These medals grant bonus score which can be used to earn higher-tier Medallions for the event.
All of these bonus medals can be viewed in the Collections tab of your inventory, found under 'Medals.' You'll generally want to earn as many of these medals as possible to maximize your score, both in the Recreational and Competitive playlists.
Supremacy Scoring
The Supremacy PvP playlist also seems to have a scoring mechanic for the purposes of quest progress. Generally, you gain score from defeating enemies and collecting crests. The better you perform each match, the more progress you'll make toward the higher ranks. We recommend that you focus on collecting crests above all else. Crests will help your end-of-match placement and greatly improve your Super energy gains, allowing you to use your Super two or three times per match.
Contender Cards Explained
Players can speak with Eva Levante at the Tower to purchase Contender Cards, unique bounties that offer Gold and Platinum Medallions on completion. Purchasing a Contender Card only requires a small sum of Glimmer, but you may only hold one Contender Card at a time. There are two tiers of Contender Card: Gold and Platinum. The type of Contender Card will determine the medal you receive upon completion.
Contender Cards are also tied to a specific activity type, allowing you to earn Medallions by completing activities you enjoy. You can find all Contender Card types below:
Overall, we recommend farming Neomuna cards. You can farm the first checkpoint in the "Breakpoint" Legendary campaign mission for easy objective completions. If you don't own Lightfall, try the Vanguard and Nightfall Contender Cards.
Guardian Games Playlists
This year's Guardian Games event features three playlists, one of which is unlocked upon completing the 'Best in Class' quest.
- Guardian Games: Recreational - Strikes set to 1,600 Power. With a Guardian Games class item equipped, gain Medallions at the end of each match. The higher your score, the rarer the medal.
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Guardian Games: Competitive - Legend-tier Nightfalls set to 1,770 Power. Overcharge weapons are enabled, and Champions are present. Gain medallions on completion if you're using a Guardian Games class item.
- Unlike Nightfalls, this playlist has matchmaking enabled.
- Rewards are the same as Legend-tier Nightfalls.
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Guardian Games: Supremacy - Supremacy PvP game mode with Power disabled. With a Guardian Games class item equipped, gain Medallions at the end of each match. The better you perform, the rarer the medal.
- Teams are organized by class. Ex: all Hunters vs all Warlocks.
The activities themselves are the same as your typical Vanguard Op or Supremacy game. PvE playlists feature unique strike scoring, and Supremacy features class-specific teams. Beyond that, the playlists are virtually identical to their default counterparts.
Ability Empowerment
In the Recreational and Competitive playlists, you will occasionally receive an "Ability Empowerment" buff. This is based on your team's current score within the Strike. While active, you will receive shorter ability cooldowns from weapon kills and bonus weapon damage from ability kills, stacking up to five times. The higher your score, the stronger the buffs will be. Buffs persist until the end of the activity.
Guardian Games Event Challenges
You do not need to own the Guardian Games Event Pass or any Destiny 2 DLCs to complete these challenges.
Similar to last year's Dawning and Solstice events, Guardian Games features 17 unique event challenges to complete. Event challenges grant currencies, Medallions, and weapons when completed. All 17 must be completed to earn this event's Champ title as well. Each challenge can be found below.
Guardian Games Rewards
This year's Guardian Games event features two Legendary weapons to chase, the Heir Apparent Exotic alongside its Catalyst, and various cosmetic goods. You'll earn event-exclusive weapons by depositing Medallions and claiming weekly rewards at the Tower's podium. Depositing Medallions also has a small chance of granting the Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun. If you already own it, you'll receive its Exotic Catalyst instead.
Weekly packages can be claimed on the weekend by completing the 'Shoot to Score' and 'Vying for Supremacy' quests offered by Zavala and Shaxx, respectively. The highest tier of Medallion you deposited will determine the contents of these reward packages, Platinum giving the best rewards. Similar rewards may also be claimed at Scoring Torches floating behind the Tower podium. Completing both quests and achieving a Platinum rank in the Competitive playlist will unlock all six Scoring Torch rewards, resetting each week. In essence, earn and deposit Platinum medals each week to maximize your rewards.
Taraxippos God Roll
Taraxippos is a 200 RPM Scout Rifle that deals Strand damage, the first of its kind. It has high base stability for its archetype at 42, 69 handling, and a high aim assist stat of 75. It also features the excellent Omolon Fluid Dynamics origin trait, making this a solid dueling weapon for the Crucible. This is further enhanced by its perk pool.
PvE players might enjoy Outlaw paired with Hatchling, allowing you to generate Threadlings off precision kills. Since this is a Scout Rifle, landing headshots should be fairly easy. If you love Scout Rifles in PvP, give Zen Moment and Kill Clip a try. Zen Moment will ramp up as Omolon Fluid Dynamics decays, giving you major resistance to flinch in most duels. Landing that kill will then trigger Kill Clip, allowing this gun to three-tap for the next five seconds. You could use Explosive Payload over Kill Clip for general consistency, but the added lethality of Kill Clip is much stronger for 6v6 playlists.
- PvE God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Accurized Rounds, Outlaw, Hatchling or Kill Clip
- PvP God Roll: Arrowhead Brake, Steady Rounds or Accurized Rounds, Zen Moment, Kill Clip
The Title God Roll
The Title returns from last year, complete with its mediocre base stats. Its base stability of 20 is tough to work with, and its mediocre range stat of 40 makes it subpar when facing The Immortal, Tarrabah, or similar SMGs. The main reason to use this over other SMGs is for its origin trait, Classy Contender, paired with Repulsor Brace to create a solid Void build with good class ability uptime. PvP players might also get some use out of a classic Perpetual Motion and Rangefinder roll, giving a solid 23 meters with a god roll. That's solid if you're a new or returning player, but it won't dethrone Immortal or Tarrabah anytime soon.
For PvE, The Title's perk refresh was arguably a nerf. You can no longer obtain Stats for All or One for All, arguably the best perk combination from last year. It can get Threat Detector and Repulsor Brace for a Void-themed build, but that's about it. Surrounded is also an option if you don't mind the perk's proc condition. The Title is a decent SMG for newcomers or players without any DLC ownership, but anyone that owns Witch Queen's dungeon pass should farm the Duality dungeon for the Unforgiven SMG instead. It's part of the same archetype but features far better perk options.
- PvE God Roll: Smallbore, Ricochet Rounds, Threat Detector or Perpetual Motion, Repulsor Brace
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PvP God Roll: Smallbore, Ricochet Rounds, Perpetual Motion, Repulsor Brace
- New Player Alternative: Smallbore, Ricochet Rounds, Perpetual Motion, Rangefinder