Destiny 2 players are struggling with inflation even after a massive Legendary Shard dupe

Like many folks in the real world, some Destiny 2 players are struggling to keep up with inflation, specifically in the Legendary Shard market. 

This sentiment has been simmering in the Destiny community for several seasons, and a recent Reddit post from self-described "working class Guardian" Dinoben43 has become a sort of water cooler discussion for players to air their complaints. 

Dinoben's argument is simple: "The legendary shard inflation is out of control. The price to focus has consistently increased but the rate of acquisition has not kept up." Anecdotally, I've heard similar sentiments from multiple Destiny clanmates, especially this season, and it's clear from the replies to this Reddit post, as well as its popularity, that it's not an uncommon feeling. 

Legendary Shards have become increasingly essential to Destiny 2's loot system, with new traits, Origin perks, as well as craftable weapon patterns driving the desire to roll multiple versions of the latest guns. Focusing Legendary engrams has given players a path to more definitive drops, but it's also raised the price of each gun considerably in some cases.

For reference, you can focus this season's guns at the HELM for 50 shards a pop, which really isn't half bad, especially since the seasonal activity spits them out pretty regularly. Meanwhile, focusing a Trials of Osiris weapons will run you 100, and a single roll of the coveted Adept versions of Trials weapons will cost you an eye-watering 250 shards. With the seasonal boost unlocked, you get four Legendary Shards each time you dismantle a piece of gear, and that's still the primary way to get them, so you can see how quickly these expenses add up. 

If players are getting Legendary Shards any other way, it's usually through an exploit like the recently patched shard dupe which allowed some players to rack up tens or even hundreds of thousands of the things in just hours. Interestingly, the fallout from that dupe seems to have driven some of this inflation talk as players watch their once-towering shard reserves dwindle after just a weekend of focusing. Even with functionally infinite shards, they go by quick. 

There's no great way to specifically farm Legendary Shards; you just kind of earn them passively while playing the game. There's a logical argument to be made that unlocking guns faster should require playing the game more, but there's also no denying that the math behind dismantling gear and focusing an engram can be depressing. It's unclear if Bungie will ever "raise the minimum Legendary Shard wage," as Dinoben43 puts it, but it's safe to say other working class Guardians would appreciate it. 

We recently spoke to Bungie about the Season of the Haunted, and making Destiny 2 harder, scarier, and building more end-game.