Planning on going for Destiny’s Plat? Then you’d better be ready for the long haul as you’re looking at well over 100 hours to get the job done. Some lids will unlock naturally as you progress, but to get others you will have to adjust your usual playstyle. For example, you should rack up the first kill in a PvP match to unlock Ask Questions Later, which is best achieved by dashing straight towards the opposition as a round begins and landing a well-placed grenade as you’re about to clash.
For Valorous you have to earn the maximum score of 100 Vanguard Marks in a week. These are mainly rewarded for finishing Strikes, but as the highest level Nightfall Strike is the only one to give out double figure Vanguard Marks, you’ll need to fit quite a few into your diary. Likewise, chalking up the maximum score of 100 Crucible Marks in a week to become Notorious requires you to complete plenty of PvP matches, though you can speed up this process by selecting the shorter Rumble face-offs.
Teamwork is the key to Destiny’s tougher accolades, and you can warm yourself up for them by completing a Strike with a full fireteam of fellow clan members for Strength Of The Pack and putting in a Flawless Striker performance by finishing with nobody on your squad dying.
The real challenge comes with the Raids, which you can’t even attempt until you hit level 26, and as there’s currently no matchmaking option you’ll need to join forces with a group of upgraded friends before battling through the Vault Of Glass to prove yourself as a Raider. At some point you also have to complete it with a full Raiding Party of clan members, finish on hard difficulty for Epic Raider and keep your entire fireteam alive through the whole thing to get Flawless Raider. Go on, try to attempt all of these at the same time if you’re feeling crazy… sorry, brave enough.
Decrypting a high-end Engram or succeeding in a top level Raid or Strike is the most likely way of obtaining a piece of Exotic gear, which (as long as you aren’t unlucky enough to receive an item for a different class) you should equip for The Life Exotic. Keep an eye out for those Legendary and Exotic items, as you have to fill all eight of your weapon and armour slots with them to get yourself Suited For War.
All told, that’s a lot of work for your main character, but unfortunately you also need to go through a large proportion of that again twice more. Unlock the final upgrades for all three classes’ skill trees and their corresponding Mastery awards, and you may just be able to claim the much coveted title of Guardian Lord for your supreme efforts.
