Destiny 2’s Ascendant Challenges are among several moving parts involving the Dreaming City’s intricate curse, which envelops the area in a three-week time loop.
The curse ranges from weak to strong to strongest, and each cycle brings a ton of treasure to hunt for—if you’re brave enough to dive into the Ascendant Plane in search of riches. Destiny 2 features six Ascendant Challenges that rotate weekly. They’re a surefire source of Dreaming City gear, including reissued versions of Waking Vigil, Tigerspite, and Twilight Oath.
Finishing an Ascendant Challenge grants a piece of Legendary gear per character, but you can get your hands on an extra drop if you have Petra Venj’s weekly bounty. These weekly objectives are also a prime target for stacking bounties since you can have up to six weeklies in total—one for each Ascendant Challenge.
Here’s this week’s Ascendant Challenge and how to complete it in Destiny 2.
Table of contents
What is this week’s Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2? (Jan. 20 to 27)
- Challenge: Forfeit Shrine
- Entrance: Gardens of Esila (area south of The Strand)
How to find and complete the Forfeit Shrine Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2
Each Ascendant Challenge has a special entrance that you can only see using the Tincture of Queensfoil, available from Petra Venj or found in Dreaming City chests. It grants a 30-minute buff that allows you to see the secrets of the Dreaming City.
The Forfeit Shrine Ascendant Challenge starts in the Gardens of Esila. From the landing zone, head to The Strand, and then head south while keeping to the right. On the south end, there’s a door on the right side you can go through to reach the Gardens.
The Taken portal is behind the cliff on the left side of the Gardens of Esila. Inside, there’s an arena where you must carry three Arc Charges to the middle. Grab the Arc Charge, go back to where you entered the challenge, and deposit them at the small pool in the very center of the platform.
While you’re carrying charges, be mindful of the Abyssal Champions. These are giant knights that have a lot of health and can knock you out fast if you’re not careful. If you go down inside the Ascendant Plane, you’ll have to restart the challenge.
After depositing all three charges, you’ll see a Light pool in the middle that grants Super energy. Use your Super or anything else to defeat three Abyssal Champions and complete the challenge.
How to get Dreaming City gear in Destiny 2
Dreaming City gear got another revamp with Season of the Wish, making those weapons even more relevant. While they’re not a part of the tier system introduced in The Edge of Fate, a gun like Waking Vigil with Voltshot can still perform well.
Blind Well continues to be a good source of reprised gear (though its new power delta makes it more of a slog than before). Petra offers weekly bounties for a piece of Legendary gear and an Offering to the Oracle that you can take to Mara Sov’s throne room on weeks when the curse is strongest. You can also find an Ahamkara Bone there if you’re hunting for Cursebreaker.
In addition, check out Petra’s bounties every day for a daily objective that awards gear, as seen in its tooltip. Finishing eight daily bounties and doing Petra’s weekly quest will yield Dreaming City gear if you purchase the objectives. Like Ascendant Challenges, these are on a weekly lockout per character. You can accomplish them more than once a week if you’re not on the same Guardian.
