Destiny – How to Farm for Exotic Shards

Destiny has a lot of different materials and components that players need to worry about if they want to upgrade their weapons and armor. One of these materials, an Exotic Shard, is going to be needed for every single upgrade on your Exotic Weapons and Exotic Armor pieces. We’ve put together a guide to one of the best ways to farm for Exotic Shards in Destiny. The only thing, though, is it is going to require a few things to get started.

Preparation

The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure you have plenty of Glimmer. You’ll need 2500 Glimmer for each “cycle” of this farming method, so we’d suggest stocking up on 15 to 20 thousand Glimmer to make sure you’re well prepared for a few cycles. You’ll also want to make sure you have at least 6 Motes of Light, you’ll need 6 for each “cycle” of the farming method, and 1 Exotic Shard. Just to make sure you’ve got all that, we’ve thrown a list of all the items into an easy to follow checklist below.

• 2500 Glimmer
• 6 Motes of Light
• 1 Exotic Shard
• Heavy Weapon Telemetry (optional)

With all your pieces in place, it’s time to start the process and begin generating some Exotic Shards.

The Method

This farming method requires you to purchase and level up an Exotic Heavy Weapon. This can be accomplished by heading to the Exotic Weapon Kiosk in The Tower, this kiosk is in the same room as the Vanguard leaders. Once there, access and purchase one Exotic Machine Gun or Rocket Launcher heavy weapon. Now equip it, and equip any Heavy Weapon Telemetries you might have (this will level the item up faster). With the item equipped, open up your inventory and use six Motes of Light. This will level the Heavy Weapon up. Navigate to the Inventory screen, and check the Exotic Heavy Weapon to make sure it is fully leveled. Don’t upgrade it, though! That would just be a waste of materials. If you haven’t fully leveled it (which is possible), simply use another Mote of Light and check it again until it is fully leveled up.

Once the item is fully leveled up, go ahead and dismantle it. This will reward you with 2 Exotic Shards, which is one more than you have when you started this process. This is a really easy way to farm Exotic Shards, as it only requires at least one Exotic Shard, 6 Motes of Light, and 2500 Glimmer. All these pieces should be easy for you to get, especially if you have any Year 1 Exotic Weapons or Exotic Armor laying around. We’ll be covering Destiny extensively in the weeks to come, so be sure to keep a close eye on Primagames for new tricks, guides, walkthroughs, and tips as we prepare for Destiny’s newest expansion, Rise of Iron.