What are Commendations in Destiny 2 Lightfall - Commendation profile mockup.
Image via Bungie

What Are Commendations in Destiny 2 Lightfall Answered

Something new to strive for.

A lot of players are wondering what are Commendations in Destiny 2 Lightfall. They’re a new system in-game, going live alongside Bungie’s big Guardian Ranks system update. It’s one of many new features designed to overhaul the Destiny 2 social experience, and as with anything new – some people are confused.

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Not for long, though. I’m going to quickly run you through what Commendations are in Destiny 2. I’ll explain what they do, how to get them, and why you might want them in the first place.

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Destiny 2 Lightfall – What Are Commendations

What are Commendations in Destiny 2 Lightfall - Commendation reward screen mockup.
Image via Bungie

Commendations in Destiny 2 Lightfall are a new medal reward system coming to the game alongside Guardian Ranks. We’ve known that it’s been coming for a little while now, but Bungie’s recent ‘state of the game’ address gave us a little more information on exactly what we can expect.

From what we learned from the address, Commendations are meant to serve as “icebreakers”. The system will allow players to quickly identify what accomplishments a Guardian has under their belt, in a variety of categories.

Commendations themselves are medals. At the end of an activity, you will have the option to give these medals to your Fireteam. There are different medals for different strengths – for example, you can Commend somebody for being “knowledgeable” about a raid, or for being “perceptive” by quickly adapting to something happening mid-encounter.

We know that there will be different Commendations for different game modes, too. Trials of Osiris and dungeon/raid content will each have different options. So, we can assume that other activity types will be the same.

Your account will have a tracker for any Commendations you receive. We don’t know anything about in-game rewards for Commendations, but it’s likely there will be some incentive for cultivating them.

It seems like Bungie is going to connect the Commendations and Guardian Rank systems in some way, too. It’s possible that to increase your Guardian Rank past a certain point, you will need to have a certain number of Commendations. That’s speculation, but not out of the realm of possibility. Beyond that, we’ll have to wait until Lightfall.


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