Patrols are the most basic thing you can do in Destiny 2’s open-world areas. They come in a variety of different flavors, but they all basically do the same thing: give you a short, easy-to-complete task while you’re walking around the surface Europa, Nessus, or wherever else you happen to find yourself.

You don’t usually get a lot for completing patrols, but they can sometimes be part of larger quests or bounties, and you can often combine patrols with other activities in order to maximize your farming.

This guide will cover everything about patrols in Destiny 2, from where to get ‘em to how to complete ‘em, and what activities are best paired with patrols in order to get the most glimmer for the least amount of effort.

How To Start A Patrol

Patrol

Patrols are found in Destiny 2’s open-world areas at various locations. There are a set number of locations where patrols can spawn in any particular destination, but not all patrols will be available all the time.

If you can’t find a patrol nearby, bring up your Ghost. This will cause any nearby patrols to display their icons on your hud. Each icon represents a different type of patrol, so this is the best way to determine which patrols are available and decide which one you’d like to complete.

All patrols will appear like small radios attached to sticks on the ground. Walk up to one and hold your “use” key to begin a patrol.

Types Of Patrol

There are five general types of patrol: Assassination, Collection, Combat, Scan, and Survey. Each requires you to complete a different objective, although there is often some overlap between each patrol type, and each has its own special symbol to let you know what kind of patrol you're getting into. There's no time limit on patrols, but most of them can be completed fairly quickly.

Assassination

Assassination
Assassination

This patrol involves going out and murdering someone. After accepting the patrol, you’ll be given the location of your target. Often, it’ll be a major-type enemy protected by a few minor red-bars. Kill it and your patrol is complete.

Combat

Combat
Combat

This patrol can be boiled down to “kill stuff.” Sometimes combat patrols can require you to kill a specific type of enemy (such as Fallen Dregs or Hive Acolytes) and sometimes they can require you to kill enemies in a certain way (such as with precision blows or using abilities), but they always boil down to killing things until the gauge reads 100%. Usually, that’s a body count between 10-25 enemies.

Combat missions are probably the easiest ones to combine with other activities, like Lost Sectors or Public Events, so keep an eye out for them.

Collection

Salvage
Salvage

This patrol is sort of like Combat, but with an extra step. You'll need to collect the pieces of salvage left behind when you kill a certain type of enemy. The only real difference between collection and combat patrols is that collection patrols often require a specific type of enemy to be killed to loot their stuff, which means they can take a bit longer to complete.

Scan

Scan
Scan

After accepting this patrol, you'll be asked to head to a different location to scan a particular object of interest. It'll usually be guarded by a few enemies, so clear them out before you start your scan otherwise they'll just keep interrupting you. Scan patrols are quick and easy, but because they require you to go to a specific place, they can be hard to combine with other activities for extra loot.

Survey

Survey
Survey

Instead of scanning a particular object, survey patrols ask you to scan a certain area of the map. Again, that area is often guarded by a few enemies that will need to be dispatched before you begin your scan, and like scan patrols, it can be hard to combine this type of patrol with other activities.

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What You Get For Completing Patrols

Glimmer and destination resources are the most common rewards for completing patrols, along with XP and Clan XP of course. Sometimes you’ll get an Engram (usually of the rare variety) and if there’s a certain event going on, sometimes you’ll get additional event-related items or resources. For example, completing a patrol will provide two Dawning Essence during The Dawning.

How To Combine Patrols And Maximize Farming

Destiny 2 Patrol
via Bungie
Destiny 2 Patrol

Ever since Beyond Light, patrols no longer prevent your character from completing other open-world activities. This means you can start a patrol and then go do a Lost Sector or Public Event if one is available.

Scan, survey, and assassination patrols have objectives that can’t be completed inside a Lost Sector or during a Public Event, but combat and collection patrols do. Perhaps the best thing to do is combine a combat patrol with a dive into a Lost Sector. Since Lost Sectors are full of enemies to kill, combat patrols can be easily completed while you make your way to the Lost Sector’s final chest. This will give you some extra rewards on top of what the Lost Sector already provides.

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