Destiny 2: Guardian Games Guide (2023)

Which class in Destiny 2 is the best?

This question has been highly debated since the launch of vanilla Destiny, and it may finally be answered with the upcoming Guardian Games. The 2023 edition of this event again pits Guardians against each other in the only format that can actually identify a clear winner — earning medals through magnificent feats of athleticism.

(Okay, it’s actually by completing quests.)

Will you side with the aggressive and tank-like Titans? Maybe join up with the elusive and assassin-like Hunters? Or look to find balance as a space wizard with last year’s winners, the Warlocks? As you mull over your decision, let’s take a look at what you can expect from the Guardian Games in 2023.

What Are the Guardian Games?

Guardian Games is a competitive, community-driven event that pits each class against one another. It requires you to pick a class to participate with as you earn Medallions and complete mini-quests to help your class reign supreme. It’s a free event for all Destiny 2 players that adds additional pursuits for PvP, PvE, high-tier activities like Raids, as well as limited-time Guardian Games playlists.

How to Access the Guardian Games

You won’t be able to immediately jump into the Guardian Games activities. Instead, you’ll need to complete the “Best in Class” quest from Eva Levante. This will give you the new class item for this year and walk you through the basics of participating in the event. Here’s how to complete it:

1. Speak to Eva Levante at the Tower

Head to the Tower and speak to Eva to kick off the quest and collect your class item. When you speak to her, she’ll give you the “Best in Class” introductory quest. You’ll have to complete this quest before jumping into the rest of Guardian Games, but luckily it’s really easy.

2. Complete the “Best in Class” Quest

There are two objectives to this quest. The first is to complete any Guardian Games activity with your new class item equipped. Pretty simple stuff. The second objective is to acquire a Guardian Games Medallion. These can be obtained in Guardian Games playlists, and you only need to earn one for this part of the quest. You can get both objectives done in one run without much difficulty.

Chat with Eva once again to receive the Medallion Case, which allows you to store Medallions earned in Guardian Games playlists. From here, Eva will ask you to speak to Zavala and Shaxx to get the next two quests you’ll need, “Shoot to Score” and “Vying for Supremacy” (more on these in a moment). To finish “Best in Class”, just collect those two quests and return to Eva for a reward. The reward is the new Strand Scout Rifle, Taraxippos. If you want more info on that weapon, just check a bit further down for a full breakdown!

3. “Shoot to Score” and “Vying for Supremacy” Quests

These two quests aren’t really quests at all. They’re more of a scorecard for Guardian Games. Each quest has 15 steps, broken down into three sections. There are three weeks total to Guardian Games, and each week we’ll be able to complete 5 steps of these quests. These steps are also very simple and shouldn’t take long to complete. All you have to do is reach certain score thresholds within Guardian Games activities (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum tiers). Once you get to platinum in an event, you’ll have to wait until the next week to progress the quest any further.

The “Shoot to Score” quest is tied to the Guardian Games: Competitive playlist. The other one, “Vying for Supremacy”, is associated with the Supremacy PVP mode (more on that just below as well).

4. Getting Ready for the Games

Once you have access to “Shoot to Score” and “Vying for Supremacy”, you’re ready to get started in the Guardian Games! Keep reading for info on the different playlists, currencies, rewards, and more that you can expect from this event.

How Do the Guardian Games Work?

Like most events in Destiny 2, the Guardian Games are surprisingly complicated. Let’s walk through how to get the most out of this event, how you’ll earn “points” for your Class, and how to tackle a few unique quests this time around.

Playlist Options

This year’s Guardian Games has more options than last year, so it’s even more complicated than before. When you look at the Tower, you’ll see three nodes for Guardian Games activities. These are Supremacy, Guardian Games: Recreational, and Guardian Games: Competitive. Let’s take a look at all three and their various options.

Supremacy

Supremacy is this year’s PVP game mode. In Supremacy, players drop a glowing item called a Crest. To score the point for defeating a Guardian, someone on your team has to pick up the defeated Guardian’s Crest. It doesn’t have to be the person who got the kill, but it’s nice to let that person get it if they can since picking them up grants super energy. However, in addition to picking up enemy Crests, you can also secure your teammates’ to deny the point for the enemy team. If you’re familiar with Kill Confirmed in Call of Duty, it’s very similar to that.

There are two options for the Supremacy playlist. The default option, “Supremacy – Guardian Games” uses a form of matchmaking that ensures all players on a team are the same class. Obviously this is going to cause some issues, since the matchmaking in Destiny 2 is already pretty bad. But, it also provides an incredibly unique PVP experience. It might not be very balanced, but it is fun when you don’t get stomped into the ground. Unfortunately, though, that happens very often thanks to the matchmaking. If you get frustrated with it, just take a break and try one of the other game modes for a while, or use the LFG to find a good team.

The other option is simply “Normal”. What that means is it doesn’t use the class-based matchmaking that the Guardian Games version uses. This is just the classic version of Supremacy, which is nice if you prefer it. Just know that you will receive a bonus Bronze Medallion if you play the special Guardian Games option.

Guardian Games: Competitive and Recreational

These are the main two Guardian Games playlists for PVE content. The competitive version features a single Nightfall strike with modifiers and everything you would typically expect from a Nightfall. It also has strike scoring, which forces players to actually fight enemies instead of speed-running. To get the Platinum score threshold (175,000 points), you’ll have to clear all the adds, kill all the Champions, and do some emoting to get there. If you emote before finishing an enemy, you get the Insult to Injury medal. It gives a lot of points and it’s the easiest (and funniest) way to farm points.

The recreational playlist also grants Medallions, but doesn’t require you to complete a Nightfall-level strike. Instead, it features all the strikes currently available in the Vanguard Ops playlist. It’s easier, but gives less rewards. It’s more beneficial overall to run the Competitive playlist, but if you’d prefer easier clears, the recreational one is great for that.

Both of these playlists also have several options to choose from with only minor differences. Competitive has the standard competitive mode which forces each team to include one of each class, a normal version that has standard matchmaking, and a non-matchmade version for pre-made teams. The recreational playlist has the same options, except no non-matchmade option. For both playlists, you will receive one extra Bronze Medallion if you play the Guardian Games special matchmaking version (the one with class-based matchmaking).

Medallions

As mentioned before, Medallions are basically the points you earn to help your Class compete. You’ll also earn specific rewards whenever you deposit them, with the chance for legendary weapons.

Now, there are several types of Medallions that you can collect based on the activities you decide to play. The easier it is to earn, the less valuable it is. The order (from least to most valuable) is bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

To earn these Medallions, you’ll just have to continue playing Guardian Games activities. You can earn them from completing Eva’s bounties and contender cards, playing activities, completing event challenges, and more. Focus on the higher-tier Medallions when possible, but don’t forget to make frequent Tower trips to deposit the less valuable ones. Those Bronze Medallions stack up quick and you can only hold 5 at a time.

Contender/Platinum Cards

Completing Contender and Platinum cards is the best method to gain Medallions. You can acquire them from Eva Levante at the Tower, and there are several to choose from. The only differences between these cards is that Platinum Cards are generally harder and give Platinum Medallions, while Contender Cards are easier but give Gold Medallions. It’s also worth noting that these cards just appear as bounties in-game. Once you claim them, they go into the bounties section with all the others.

When you go to select a card from Eva, all you’ll know is what activity you will have to complete the card in. For Platinum Cards, the options are Trials, Nightfall strikes, raids, Neptune activities, seasonal activities, and lost sectors. For Contender Cards, you can choose from Vanguard, Crucible, Gambit, seasonal activities, or Neptune activities.

Be sure to stick with Contender Cards that you can complete quickly and hit areas of the game that you want to play. Other than that, just swing by often to pick up more Cards whenever you complete another one. This is easily the best way to collect Medallions.

Event Challenges

Event challenges are extra objectives to complete across all the activities in Destiny 2. They give various rewards, from currencies to Medallions. These challenges are also the same ones required for the “Champ” title, so you can get both done at once! Here’s a quick list of each event challenge for Guardian Games 2023.

• In It to Win It – Earn a Medallion from activity completions.
• Bronze – Bank Medallions at the podium at the Tower to gain progress.
• Silver – Bank Medallions at the podium at the Tower to gain progress.
• Gold – Bank Medallions at the podium at the Tower to gain progress.
• Platinum – Bank Medallions at the podium at the Tower to gain progress.
• In the Cards – Complete Contender/Platinum Cards.
• Talented Scout – Defeat targets with Scout Rifles.
• Pull Some Strings – Defeat targets and assist allies with Strand damage and abilities.
• Good Games – Defeat targets in any Guardian Games playlists.
• Class Pride – Complete Guardian Games activities with special class-based matchmaking.
• Friendly Rivalry – Complete Gambit, Crucible, or Supremacy matches.
• Up for the Challenge – Complete Nightfall strikes in the Guardian Games: Competitive playlist.
• Crest Collector – Collect Crests to score points in Supremacy.
• Classy Arsenal – Defeat targets with Guardian Games weapons.
• Cloudrunning – Complete activities on Neptune.
• Circuit Training – Complete runs of Dares of Eternity, Vanguard Ops playlist activities, or Defiant Battlegrounds.
• Champ – Complete all Guardian Games 2023 event challenges.

Guardian Games Weapons

Now, helping your Class achieve glory is all well and good, but let’s be honest—it’s really all about that sweet, sweet loot. For the 2023 Guardian Games, you have a couple of weapons to pursue. You can earn them in a variety of ways, including just completing the intro quest. However, the more Medals you turn in and the better you perform, the more likely it will be that you’ll earn a new, potentially better roll.

Taraxippos

Taraxippos is a new Scout Rifle that looks almost identical to Hung Jury, with a slightly different pattern. While it might not look that unique, though, it’s a welcome addition to the game. It’s the first Strand Scout Rifle we’ve gotten, so it’s definitely exciting. It has a nice mix of PVE and PVP perks, including some standouts like Keep Away, Hatchling, Explosive Payload, and others. Here’s both the PVE and PVP god roll for Taraxippos!

Taraxippos PVE God Roll

• Explosive Payload or Hatchling
• Outlaw or Fourth Time’s the Charm
• Tactical Mag, Appended Mag, or Flared Magwell
• Corkscrew Rifling, Arrowhead Brake, or Chambered Compensator.

Taraxippos PVP God Roll

• Keep Away or Kill Clip
• No Distractions or Moving Target
• Accurized Rounds or Appended Mag
• Corkscrew Rifling, Arrowhead Brake, or Hammer-Forged Rifling

The Title

Returning from last year’s Guardian Games, we have The Title. This Void weapon also has access to the unique perk known as Classy Contender, which grants Class energy from successful kills. Its perk pool is fairly balanced, with a mix of solid PVE and PVP options. It also has Repulsor Brace, which allows it to fit into some optimized Void builds.

The Title PVE God Roll

• Repulsor Brace, Swashbuckler, or Vorpal Weapon
• Envious Assassin
• Flared Magwell or Tactical Mag
• Chambered Compensator, Corkscrew Rifling, or Smallbore

The Title PVP God Roll

• Rangefinder
• Perpetual Motion
• Accurized Rounds
• Hammer-Forged Rifling or Smallbore

Heir Apparent 

The Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun and Catalyst make a return with this year’s games. Thankfully, there’s a specific quest you can take on to unlock the weapon. However, the Catalyst is unfortunately still a random drop granted from depositing Gold or Platinum medals. This Exotic is limited to this event, so be sure to do what you can to unlock it before they hit the vault again.

How Do the Guardian Games Tie Into Season of Defiance (S20)?

Guardian Games is hardly a lore-relevant event at this point, but that doesn’t mean it’s not at least loosely tied into the core story of the game. Guardians love to fight in the Crucible, so it makes sense that they would have an Olympics-style event. Would that event logically occur with everything going on right now in the story? Well, the real Olympics have ran through some pretty bad times in the world, so who’s to say?

This year’s Guardian Games are not tied into the seasonal storyline for S20, but since they come during a time when the story isn’t actively progressing anyway, it doesn’t matter too much.

Join the High Ground

The Guardian Games are one of the most complex events in Destiny 2. Thankfully, it’s also incredibly community-driven and supports one of the truest forms of competition between each Class. With a bit more to do and a restructured playlist system, it makes the 2023 games worth participating in if only to defend your Class choice.

Be sure to let your friends and Fireteam know what to expect from the 2023 Guardian Games by sharing this article on your favorite social channels—and sign up for our newsletter for the latest on Destiny 2.

Happy gaming!