Destiny 2: Ascendant Challenge Week 5 Guide (July 23-30)

We're quickly approaching the end of Destiny 2's second year of content. A new slate of Moments of Triumph are now available, as are new Exotics in Bad Juju and Lumina. There's also another week of Iron Banner competition to participate in ahead of August's Solstice of Heroes event. If you're looking for more ways to keep raising your Power level, there's always the Dreaming City's easy path to Powerful gear: the weekly Ascendant Challenge.

Like in past weeks, the Ascendant Challenge involves using a specific item (a Tincture of Queensfoil) to receive the Ascendance buff. This allows you to see a Taken portal that sends you to the Ascendant Plane to do a mission of sorts. But the portal's location and your objective has been different each week, and that's true for Week 5. Before starting, though, be sure to grab the corresponding bounty from Petra, as that's the key to earning a piece of Powerful gear.

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This week's portal is found inside a Lost Sector (Bay of Drowned Wishes) located right near Dreaming City's landing zone in Divalian Mists. You'll move to the midway point of the Lost Sector, killing things until a little before you reach a door that's locked. (You can skip the enemies, but killing them will likely be easier.) If you've used your Tincture of Queensfoil, you'll see the portal and can jump through to reach the Ascendant Plane location, Agonarch Abyss.

Unfortunately, there's a good deal of platforming involved here. You'll make your way down to a temple where a large tree is. Blight balls spawn in that slow your movement, and you'll have to deal with a pair of wizards who spawn in additional Thrall enemies. Take out the wizards and you're all done. You can see this all in our video guide.

The chest that you can then open is, as always, nothing special. But finishing the Ascendant Challenge completes the bounty from Petra, which nets you a piece of Powerful gear.

There's still some time before the end of Season 5, the Season of the Forge. The next big event in the game is Crimson Days, the Valentine's Day-themed celebration that runs from February 13-20. As usual, it'll offer unique cosmetic rewards, as well as some duos-themed events to celebrate friendship and love, and a unique bow you can earn for fighting in the Crucible.

Meanwhile, if you're still working on snagging Destiny 2's latest Exotic weapon, The Last Word, be sure to check out our guide to completing the steps fast. You might also want to get caught up on The Last Word's story, which continues into Season 6.