Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2 this week (August 12-August 19)

Each week a new Ascendant Challenge is featured in Destiny 2, bringing a new challenge for you to overcome to claim the rewards on offer.

Ascendant Challenges are weekly activities that involve platforming and provide a range of rewards specific to The Dreaming City. Completing these is required to unlock the Cursebreaker title and to finish several triumphs, making them a must for newbies and veterans alike.

However, their locations aren’t well explained in-game, so here’s this week’s Ascendant Challenge, as well as the full rotation and available rewards for Episode Heresy.

What is the Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2 this week?

This week’s Ascendant Challenge is Shattered Ruins, which will remain featured until the next weekly reset on August 12, 2025.

It’s worth noting that as of The Edge of Fate’s release on July 15, 2025, Ascendant Challenges no longer reward pinnacle or powerful gear drops. You can, however, still obtain Dreaming City weapons from completing the activity.

Before starting an Ascendant Challenge, you’ll need to gain the Ascendance buff to reveal the entry portal. To do so, drink a Tincture of Queensfoil to reveal its whereabouts. Do note that some Ascendant Challenges require some light platforming to reach them, as is the case for the Forfeit Shrine.

Dexerto

Where is the Ascendant Challenge located?

The Shattered Ruins Ascendant Challenge can be found in the Spine of Keres, which you can find by following these steps:

• To reach this particular challenge, head to the Divalian Mists landing zone and take the zone’s Northernmost exit (if you end up in Rheasilvia, you’ve taken the wrong path)
• Follow the linear path until you reach a circular promenade with enemies. Continue through to a walkway and look right to see a series of rock formations sprouting from the mist.
• Follow these all the way to the end and look out over the edge. You should see the Ascendant Realm portal floating nearby.

Dexerto

How to complete Shattered Ruins

To complete the Shattered Ruins Ascendant Challenge, you’ll need to reach a tower hanging far overhead and defeat the enemies present there. This is easy to spot, as it’s surrounded by a ring of light.

Getting there, however, requires ascending a series of platforms and debris while avoiding enemies and environmental hazards able to knock you off or outright kill you.

Once you reach the central tower, defeat the Taken enemies to spawn a chest. Challenge complete!

Ascendant Challenge rotation in The Edge of Fate

Here is the full Ascendant Challenge rotation for July 2025, with the activity switching between the following featured challenges and locations each week:

Date	Ascendant Challenge	Location
July 1	Shattered Ruins	Spine of Keres
July 8	Keep of Honed Edges	Harbinger’s Seclude
July 15	Agonarch Abyss	Bay of Drowned Wishes
July 22	Cimmerian Garrison	Chamber of Starlight
July 29	Ouroborea	Aphelion’s Rest
August 5	Forfeit Shrine	Gardens of Esila
August 12	Shattered Ruins	Spine of Keres

All available rewards

Completing Ascendant Challenges rewards Powerful Weapons from The Dreaming City’s loot pool, which can be dismantled using Upgrade Modules to boost your power level.

To make the most of your time, be sure to grab Petra Venj’s weekly bounty before completing this week’s Ascendant Challenge, as this will reward you an additional drop from the loot pool.

Here are all of the weapons in the loot pool that you can earn by completing Ascendant Challenges:

WEAPON	ARCHETYPE	PERK 1	PERK 2
Abide the Return	Solar Sword	Duelist’s Trance Energy Transfer Relentless Strikes Thresh Tireless Blade Turnabout	Attrition Orbs En Garde Incandescent Permeability Valiant Charge Whirlwing Blade
Retold Tale	Void Shotgun	Lead From Gold Loose Change Quickdraw Repulsor Brace Slideshot Well-Rounded	Barrel Constrictor Deconstruct Destabilizing Rounds Killing Wind One-Two Punch Snapshot Sights
Sleepless	Arc Rocket Launcher	Auto-Loading Holster Ensemble Field Prep Slickdraw Tracking Module Wellspring	Attrition Orbs Bipod Chain Reaction Demolitionist High Ground Permeability
Tigerspite	Kinetic Auto Rifle	Fragile Focus Invisible Hand Moving Target Outlaw Overflow Subsistence	Attrition Orbs Demolitionist Eye of the Storm Frenzy Kill Clip Kinetic Tremors
Twilight Oath	Solar Sniper Rifle	Enlightened Action Envious Assassin Heal Clip Killing Wind Opening Shot Surplus	High Ground Incandescent Kill Clip Precision Instrument Snapshot Sights Vorpal Weapon
Vouchsafe	Void Scout Rifle	FTTC Moving Target Outlaw Rapid Hit Repulsor Brace Stats For All	Attrition Orbs Collective Action Destabilizing Rounds Dragonfly Explosive Payload Golden Tricorn
Waking Vigil	Arc Hand Cannon	Envious Assassin Outlaw Perpetual Motion Rangefinder Rapid Hit Shoot to Loot	Attrition Orbs Collective Action Dragonfly Kill Clip Opening Shot Voltshot

That’s everything you need to know about Ascendant Challenges in Destiny 2. To learn more about what activities are featured this week, check out the Dungeon and Raid rotation, as well as the Exotic Mission that you can farm right now and where you can find Xur.