Destiny 2 guide: Legendary Shards

Legendary Shards arrive in your Destiny 2 game once you start getting Legendary or Exotic gear. You need them to upgrade and modify your shiny new purple (Legendary) or yellow (Exotic) gear, but where you get them — or even what they are — is not exactly intuitive.

In this guide, we’ll break down what Legendary Shards are, how to obtain them and what you’ll use them for.

What are Legendary Shards?

Bungie/Activision

Legendary Shards are a consumable material (or arguably a currency) you’ll get when you dismantle a Legendary or Exotic item. They’re similar to the Gunsmith Materials you get from dismantling Rare or better gear. There’s no other way to get them, so they’re an item you won’t want to worry about until you’re getting a lot of Legendary (or better) drops.

What are Legendary Shards used for?

Bungie/Activision

Bungie/Activision

Legendary Shards are required to infuse (and therefore improve) your gear. You can feed Legendary Shards and similar gear to Legendary or better gear to upgrade it. This means you can continually improve your rarest gear and keep its attack or defense rating on par with your current (better) drops. Every item you feed to your gear will cost you Legendary Shards, which you get from dismantling gear, so it’s kind of a delicate balance. (But it’s a balance you don’t really have to worry about until you’re nearing the Level 20 cap.)

Legendary shards will also be used as a currency for Xur.