Destiny 2 Guardian Games: How to get Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun & Catalyst

Complete guide to obtaining Heir Apparent and its catalyst during Destiny 2’s Guardian Games event

Heir Apparent Overview and Event Timeline

Bungie’s powerful Heir Apparent machine gun makes its anticipated return during the 2021 Guardian Games seasonal event. Originally introduced in the previous year’s competition, this exotic heavy weapon offers exceptional defensive capabilities with its unique shield mechanic when fully spun up. The 2021 event window spans from April 20 through May 10, giving players approximately three weeks to participate. Importantly, the associated questline remains available until May 11, providing a final day buffer for completionists.

The weapon’s distinctive arc-based firing mechanism and protective shield make it particularly valuable in both PvE and certain PvP scenarios where sustained firepower provides tactical advantages. Understanding the event timeframe is crucial since missing the May 11 deadline means waiting potentially until next year’s Guardian Games for another acquisition opportunity.

Step-by-Step Weapon Acquisition Process

Begin your Heir Apparent journey by visiting Zavala in the Tower to collect your class-specific event item. This essential gear piece must be equipped continuously throughout the event to generate and collect Laurels – the special currency required for all Guardian Games progression. These floral tokens drop from defeated combatants when using your class abilities and supers, making ability-spam builds particularly effective for farming.

• Visit Eva Levante to acquire the introductory quest “The Games Begin” which requires accumulating 100 Laurels across Strikes, Crucible, or Gambit activities. Efficient players should focus on Strikes with high enemy density like The Disgraced or The Devil’s Lair for optimal Laurel generation rates.
• After gathering the initial Laurels, exchange them with Eva for a Contender Card, which unlocks the “Wreathed In Laurels” exotic quest. This reduces the Laurel requirement to 50 for the first step, easily completed through the dedicated Guardian Games strike playlist accessible from the Tower map.
• The final weapon step demands defeating 100 enemies using any machine gun within the Daily Focus playlist. Since heavy ammunition scarcity makes Crucible challenging for this objective, prioritize Strike or Gambit days when enemy density ensures consistent heavy ammo availability. Equipping ammo finder and scavenger mods significantly accelerates this process.

Successfully completing these objectives rewards Heir Apparent directly to your inventory, ready for immediate use across all Destiny 2 content.

Catalyst Acquisition Strategy

Obtaining the Legion’s Bulwark catalyst involves more complex RNG mechanics than the base weapon. The Competitive Catalyst quest drops randomly when depositing medals at the Tower podium, with drop rates seemingly influenced by medal quality and deposit frequency. Unlike the deterministic weapon quest, this requires persistent medal farming until the quest item appears in your inventory.

Once you secure the Competitive Catalyst quest, you’ll navigate three distinct stages to unlock the catalyst’s full potential.

• Stage One: Accumulate 50 medal points through strategic medal collection. Understanding the point values is essential: Bronze medals contribute 1 point, Silver provides 2 points, Gold offers 5 points, and Platinum delivers 15 points. The most efficient method involves repeatedly completing Platinum Contender Cards in Nightfall strikes, which reward both Silver and Platinum medals simultaneously for 17 total points per completion.
• Stage Two: Successfully finish three additional Contender Cards purchased from Eva Levante. Strike-focused cards consistently prove most time-efficient due to predictable enemy spawns and manageable objectives compared to PvP variants.
• Stage Three: Gather 90 Competitive Spirit by utilizing machine guns within the Daily Focus playlist activities. This progresses faster during Strike and Gambit days when machine gun usage aligns naturally with gameplay objectives and ammo availability.

After obtaining the catalyst, you must defeat 700 combatants to fully unlock its benefits, which dramatically enhances the weapon’s defensive capabilities and synergies.

Advanced Tips and Common Mistakes

Seasoned Guardians can optimize their Heir Apparent acquisition through several advanced strategies. For Laurel farming, create builds emphasizing ability regeneration – high discipline for grenades, strength for melee, and intellect for supers. Exotics like Heart of Inmost Light (Titan), Orpheus Rigs (Hunter), or Nezarec’s Sin (Warlock) dramatically increase Laurel production rates.

Avoid the common mistake of neglecting your class item – without it equipped, you’ll generate zero Laurels regardless of activity completion. Another frequent error involves attempting machine gun kills in Crucible without proper ammo economy preparation. Equipping double machine gun ammo finders and a scavenger mod ensures consistent heavy ammo during Strike and Gambit activities.

For catalyst pursuit, focus on higher-difficulty Nightfalls when possible, as they sometimes provide additional medal rewards. Coordinate with fireteam members using machine guns during Daily Focus activities to complete Competitive Spirit requirements more efficiently. Remember that the catalyst quest can drop from any medal deposit, so consistently turning in medals throughout the event increases your chances substantially.

Recommended | Microsoft reduces its Windows Store revenue cut to 12 percent

No reproduction without permission：GameCDjnh » Destiny 2 Guardian Games: How to get Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun & Catalyst Complete guide to obtaining Heir Apparent and its catalyst during Destiny 2's Guardian Games event