Since the Destiny April Update, ranking up with the vendors has become even more advantageous. Find out how to maximize your time to get Vanguard reputation as fast as possible.
Destiny's April Update gave fans a new focus on grinding out reputation with the Vanguard, Crucible, and Factions. Not only can gear drop up to 330 from these sources at each rank up package, there is also the chance that it could contain one of the refreshed Year One weapons.
Some of these weapons are highly valuable and sought after. The Vanguard in particular can grant the LDR-5001 sniper rifle, The Swarm heavy machine gun, and the Shadow Price auto rifle. These are all very good Legendary weapons. But while Destiny fans may know that they want these weapons, they may not know the fastest way to get them. Here's how.
YouTuber MesaSean examined the amount of reputation points players receive for a number of activities in this video. We break it down below.
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Reputation Boosts
First off, before starting any Vanguard reputation grinding, it's important to equip a class item that boosts all Vanguard reputation gains. These aren't hard to come by, and every player should have one by now. Second, most players probably also have a Vanguard Reputation Booster. These can earned from Sterling Treasure boxes or from ranking up with the Vanguard or Factions. Activate a Reputation Booster for a 2-hour increase to all reputation gains.
Strike Playlists
There are two playlists that give Vanguard reputation: Vanguard Heroic Strikes and Vanguard Strikes. Remember that the Vanguard Streak Bonus was added to Destiny in The Taken King, which Bungie says increases the drops and the reputation gains for players who stay in the playlist without returning to orbit. While the jury is still out on whether it actually gives better loot, it does in fact stack a rep boost up to three times.
Here's how much reputation you'll gain in the Vanguard Strikes Playlist (with a class item and Vanguard Reputation Boost active):
- First Strike: 99 Vanguard points and 45 Faction points
- Second Strike: 110 Vanguard points and 50 Faction points
- Third Strike: 121 Vanguard points and 55 Faction points
The bonus stops stacking after the third strike, but if you continue to stay in the playlist, every strike thereafter will continue to give 121/55 points.
MesaSean says the upside of playing the Vanguard Strikes playlist is the dropout rate of fireteam members was low in his experience and the strikes are easy to complete quickly. However, the downside was that he didn't see any of the new strikes in two hours of playtime. That could have been a bad draw of RNG, or it could be that some of the new strikes are not included in that particular playlist. Also, the rep gains are lower per strike than the Heroic Strike playlist.
The Heroic Strike playlist gives out even more reputation per completion, which also stack due to the streak bonus:
- First Strike: 264 Vanguard points and 120 Faction points
- Second Strike: 275 Vanguard points and 125 Faction points
- Third Strike: 285 Vanguard points and 130 Faction points
The best part about running in the Heroic Strike playlist is this increased reputation gains. However, as MesaSean points out, the downsides are that the strikes are harder and therefore tend to take longer. Another issue he noticed is that a lot of match-made players will leave, most likely because they are looking for a specific strike like the new Taken version of Winter's Run. Obviously, if players can run with a fireteam they know, this problem will be alleviated.
The Nightfall
MesaSean also recommends doing the Nightfall. Many players have stopped doing the Nightfall because of changes that came to the activity with The Taken King that resulted in loot drops that most players don't care for. However, it's still a great source for Vanguard reputation — with the boosts active, you'll earn 682 Vanguard points and 310 Faction points for completing it.
Bounties
One last tip: don't forget to pick up the Vanguard bounties before going into these playlists, as they will get completed as you play adding more reputation to the Vanguard.
Do you have any other tips for getting Vanguard reputation fast in Destiny? We would love to hear them! Let us know in the comments below.
Source: MesaSean