Destiny 2 Guide: How To Quickly Farm Materials in Forsaken

Destiny 2 Forsaken is out this week and already Guardians are racing towards that 600 level cap. Of course, not until next week's release of the raid can anyone earn the gear necessary to reach 600, but until then, Guardians continue to grind so they'll be raid-ready - which in Forsaken, means farming more materials than ever before.

Forsaken brought a lot of changes to Destiny 2 and one of the biggest is how infusion works. Previously, players could infuse or "feed" a higher level item to a lower level item to raise its level. This allowed Guardians to hang on to their favorite weapons and armor, upgrading them with the higher level but less desirable gear that dropped as rewards. It used to only cost some Glimmer and a few Legendary Shards, but in Forsaken, the cost of infusing an item is much steeper and it requires most materials as payment.

In Forsaken, infusion will still cost Glimmer and Legendary Shards, but it now requires more of each. Additionally, infusion will also require planetary materials - so either Alkane Dust or Simulation Seeds - as well as Masterwork Cores. This all adds up to more time players must spend grinding for these materials, and for that, we've got some tips.

How To Farm Planetary Materials

In Forsaken, planetary materials are required for infusing either your weapons or armor with a corresponding item (meaning it resides in the same slot) of a higher level. Each weapon or piece of armor is different, requiring different planetary materials, but the process remains the same - if you want to infuse and upgrade your gear, you'll need anywhere from 10 to 25 planetary materials per item. And at first, that may seem like a lot, but Forsaken has also upped the number of planetary materials that can be earned from planet-based events, like patrols or public events. With this in mind, it's easy to make a plan of action that can net a Guardian a good amount of planetary materials in a short amount of time.

Thankfully, where planetary materials can be found hasn't changed: EDZ - Dusklight Shards; Titan - Alkane Dust; Nessus - Microphasic Datalattice; Io - Phaseglass Needles; Mercury - Simulation Seeds; Mars - Seraphite. The first tip is to equip a Ghost with a planet-specific detector perk, either for materials or chests, but a combo detector would best as it'll track both. This saves time while out scouting, enabling your Guardian's Ghost to highlight the location of a materials node or chest within a 30-meter range. Normal chests will net you 4 materials, while golden Region Chests will give you 12.

Next, while scouting for materials and chests, pick up patrols. Each completed patrol rewards another 4 materials. Take part in a public event for 4 materials and turn it into a Heroic Public Event in order to kill the named, yellow-bar boss at the end for 16 materials. In between events, hunt down the yellow-bar, mini-bosses that spawn in planet locations (the ones who drop chests when defeated) and you'll earn 4 more materials. Do all of this and your Guardian will have a nice stockpile of whatever planetary materials in no time. And if you don't feel like farming, the Spider in the Tangled Shore will be only too happy to sell you the necessary materials - but they won't come cheap!

How to Get Legendary Shards & Masterwork Cores

Along with planetary materials, infusion also requires Legendary Shards and Masterwork Cores. These are little trickier to farm because they aren't simply scattered around a location, but the more activities completed, the more gear earned that can be dismantled for both shards and cores. For the most part, dismantling works just as it did before Forsaken - dismantle a Legendary (purple) or Exotic (yellow) item and receive 3 Legendary Shards. You can also dismantle your old Three of Coins and you'll be compensated in Legendary Shards.

To attain Masterwork Cores you'll also need to dismantle Legendary or Exotic gear, but only gear with a Masterwork Mod or new gear earned in Forsaken will dismantle into Masterwork Cores. Though again, similar to the planetary materials, the Spider will also be selling Legendary Shards and Masterwork Cores - but with each purchase, the price increases, so only buy when it's absolutely necessary.

Plus, you may wish to hang on to your new gear until you've had the chance to try it out. Weapons and armor earned in Forsaken come with random perks, which means you might actually earn a new gun with better perks than what your Guardians has now. At the very least, don't immediately begin dismantling new gear for Masterwork Cores until you've had the chance to scope out the perks.

When to Infuse?

Infusion is one of the biggest changes Forsaken brings to Destiny 2, and while it can now be quite costly, the reasoning for it is this: Bungie wants players to try out the new gear. When players start up Forsaken, gear with randomly rolled perks and higher power levels begin dropping almost immediately. Take advantage of that higher power level as you start out in Forsaken, and don't immediately dismantle that new gear until you've had the chance to scope out the perks. Eventually, your Guardian will begin earning even Rare (blue) gear of a much higher level than your previous Exotics, so don't rush to infuse the first 400+ piece of gear your find. Plus, if you infuse a low level item with an identical e but higher level item, the infusion only costs Glimmer! So wait and see what drops, you may be able to save those precious planetary materials.

Waiting to infuse your favorite weapons and gear will allow you to not only try out the new stuff, but it will give you better odds of earning even better, more powerful gear to infuse. Of course, if you just love your MIDA Multi-Tool or Actium War Rig and can't imagine playing without them, head over to your collection and buy the item with Legendary Shards. It will now come at the same power level as the items that drop as rewards. However, this apparently only works if your Guardian has already reached the soft cap of a 500 power level.