Destiny 2: How to Get Defiant Keys (2024)

With the release of Lightfall, Destiny 2 players have a significant amount of content ahead of them. In addition to the brand-new campaign, a new destination, and a new raid later this month, there is also a whole Season worth of new content for them to enjoy.

Season of Defiance takes place on Earth and has players work with Mara Sov to rescue civilians who have been captured by the Shadow Legion. With a new Season comes a new seasonal currency called Defiant Keys. Defiant Keys are different from currency in previous Seasons in Destiny 2. This guide will show players how to get Defiant Keys along with what they are used for.

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How to Get Defiant Keys

Defiant Keys can be obtained by Destiny 2 players in a variety of ways. Four of them can be obtained by leveling up the Season Pass. The ranks that Defiant Keys are obtained at are at Rank 2, Rank 12, Rank 52, and Rank 92 of the Season of Defiance Season Pass. Of course, players can get far more Defiant Keys than just from the Season Pass.

According to the text of the item in-game, Defiant Keys can be found by completing any activity in the game. To be more specific, Defiant Keys drop from activities like Vanguard Ops playlists, Crucible matches, Gambit matches, weekly Campaign missions, Terminal Overload, and raids.

Unlike previous Seasons, Defiant Keys are not required to advance the story. While in the past, players would need to spend extra time in game farming currency like Seraph Key Codes and Map Fragments, that is no longer the case. Of course, the trade-off for this change is that Defiant Keys are not a guaranteed drop. It is important for Destiny 2 players to know that the drop rate for Defiant Keys is fairly low. As such, it does take some effort to stock up on Defiant Keys.

How to Use Defiant Keys

Defiant Keys are used in the Defiant Battlegrounds playlist. At the end of this new seasonal activity, a chest will appear next to where the civilians were being held captive. Just like with any other chest that Destiny 2 players will encounter throughout the game, they will need to open the chest. Unlike Season of the Seraph, Defiant Keys do not open a separate chest. When players loot the chest at the end of the activity, the Defiant Key will automatically activate and will disappear from their inventory.

When used, the Defiant Key will improve the rewards that players receive significantly. So if Destiny 2 players want to get as many Season of Defiance rewards as possible from Defiant Battlegrounds, it is not a bad idea to get as many Defiant Keys as possible.

Destiny 2 is available now on Epic Games Store, PS4, PS5, Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.