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 has six Ascendant Challenges that rotate every week. 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, 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 total—one for each Ascendant Challenge.
Ascendant Challenges yield one piece of gear each week, plus another from Petra’s bounties. Those objectives are character-based, meaning you can get six pieces of Dreaming City gear from Ascendant Challenges alone.
To find the entrance to the Ascendant Challenge, consume an item called Tincture of Queensfoil, available from Petra Venj or found in Dreaming City chests.
Each Ascendant Challenge has a special entrance, and though the challenge changes, its entrance remains in the same location whenever it pops up.
What is this week’s Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2? (Sept. 17 to 24)
- Challenge: Agonarch Abyss
- Entrance: Bay of Drowned Wishes (Divalian Mists Lost Sector)
How to find and complete the Agonarch Abyss Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2
The Agonarch Abyss Ascendant Challenge kicks off in the Bay of Drowned Wishes in the Divalian Mists, saving you a trip. Load into the zone and turn around to go inside the Lost Sector, then pop a Tincture of Queensfoil to find the portal past some Abominations and Screebs, on land.
Once inside, this Ascendant Challenge is essentially a long drop. You can use the floating platforms to slowly make your way to the bottom, but if you’ve got good aim, you can clear some time with a Titan or a Warlock easily. As usual, put on Lion Rampant, Catapult Lift, and a sword to fly almost indefinitely, or use one of Solar Warlocks’ multiple flight abilities to reach the other side. Heat Rises and an Eager Edge sword should be enough to get you there without much worry.
Once you’ve reached the bottom, kill the two Elites that spawn there to complete this Ascendant Challenge and finish a bounty from Petra Venj.
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 still performed decently, perks like Voltshot on Waking Vigil can give them even more of a fighting chance. Blind Well continues to be a good source of the new gear (though its new power delta makes it more of a slog than before).
Petra offers a weekly bounty for completing the Ascendant Challenge if you want to earn Dreaming City gear from exploration, awarding you an extra piece of gear for your trouble. Each week, she also offers a bounty that costs Dark Fragments and yields an Offering to the Oracle. Taking the reward to the Oracle in the Spine of Keres gives you an extra drop and, on weeks where the Curse is strongest, lets you visit Queen Mara Sov’s throne room. 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 as long as you’re not on the same Guardian.
