Complete Guide to Gambit Infamy Ranks

Gambit is one of the three activities that make up Destiny 2’s core gameplay. While Gambit itself may be polarizing, it is one of the most rewarding game modes. Guardians can chase after multiple titles, weapon skins, and a host of other rewards. But in order to get every Gambit reward, you’ll need to earn Infamy rep and you’ll have to reset your Infamy rank at least once if you’re chasing after the Dredgen title.

This guide will cover everything to do with Infamy including Infamy ranks, rewards for different tiers of Infamy points, as well as different strategies to help you earn Infamy fast!

Updated 9/28/21: Bungie has overhauled how the Infamy system works and how many points you need to reach max Infamy. This article has been updated with the latest information on how resetting your Infamy works as the new Gambit Activity Streak system and the latest batch of rewards that you can pick up from the Drifter.

Gambit Infamy Guide

• Destiny 2 Gambit Ranks
• Infamy Rewards
• How to Earn Infamy
• Fastest Ways to Get Infamy

Other Reputation Guides

• Crucible Valor Ranks
• Trials of Osiris Ranks (TBD)
• Vanguard Reptuation Guide (TBD)

Destiny 2 Gambit Ranks

If you’re planning on resetting your Infamy rank during a single season, you need to know what you’re getting into. Infamy isn’t like Valor in the Crucible or ranking up the Vanguard. It takes significantly more time and there’s much more to it than doing a few bounties here and there.

First and foremost, you should be familiar with the Infamy ranks so you know how far you have to go. There are 5 divisions to the ranking system (6 if you count the max rank) and you’ll need to earn 10,000 Infamy points to reach the pinnacle rather than the 15,000 points you needed to reset your Infamy before the latest changes. You can find Destiny 2’s Gambit ranks below.

• Guardian I: 0 – 50 (50 to rank up)
• Guardian II: 50 – 125 (75 to rank up)
• Guardian III: 125 – 250 (125 to rank up)
• Brave I: 250 – 500 (250 to rank up)
• Brave II: 500 – 950 (450 to rank up)
• Brave III: 950 – 1,550 (600 to rank up)
• Heroic I: 1,550 – 1,925 (375 to rank up)
• Heroic II: 1,925 – 2,525 (600 to rank up)
• Heroic III: 2,525 – 3,350 (825 to rank up)
• Fabled I: 3,350 – 3,875 (525 to rank up)
• Fabled II: 3,875 – 4,650 (775 to rank up)
• Fabled III: 4,650 – 5,700 (1,050 to rank up)
• Mythic I: 5,700 – 6,450 (750 to rank up)
• Mythic II: 6,450 – 7,525 (1,075 to rank up)
• Mythic III: 7,525 – 9,000 (1,475 to rank up)
• Legend: 9,000 – 10,000 (1,000 to rank up)
• Max Rank: 10,000

After hitting max reputation, you can visit the Drifter in the Tower to reset your Infamy rank. Be sure to check your seasonal challenges for each season since there’s usually a challenge that has to do with earning Infamy ranks.

A quick note about the ranks, Infamy is separated into both ranks and divisions. For example, Brave I, II, & III are all Ranks within the Brave Division. So when you go from Brave to Heroic or Mythic to Legend, not only are you ranking up, you’re changing divisions as well.

Infamy Rewards

To balance out how much time and effort players need to put into resetting their Infamy rank, Bungie made sure that Uncle Drifter has a treasure trove of rewards waiting for them.

Reputation Rewards

• Rank up: 1x Legendary Engram
• Rank 4 (Brave I): 3x upgrade modules
• Rank 7 (Heroic I): 3x enhancement cores
• Rank 10 (Fabled I): Seasonal Gambit shader -> 3x enhancement cores after Infamy reset
• Rank 13 (Mythic I): 2x enhancement cores
• Rank 16 (Legend: 1x Ascendant Shard -> 1x Exotic Engram after Infamy reset & Seasonal Gambit emblem -> 2x enhancement prisms after Infamy reset

Also, you’ll also receive 1x Prime Engram anytime you go from one Division to another, i.e. Brave -> Heroic, Heroic -> Fabled, etc.

Featured Armor Rewards

Players can purchase randomly rolled Gambit armor pieces after unlocking the Featured Armor section of Drifter’s inventory. To unlock the Featured Armor Rewards, you’ll need to do 8x bounties to complete the Weekly Gambit Challenge. These can be just the daily bounties, the repeatable bounties, or any combination thereof.

Quest Rewards

The Drifter currently has 4 items (3x weapons & 1x Ghost shell) in his quest rewards section. Quest rewards is a bit misleading since you unlock these items based on your number of lifetime Infamy resets.

• 0x Infamy Reset: Bygones Pulse Rifle
• 0x Infamy Reset: Distant Relation Scout Rifle (Only available for players that don’t have it already)
• 1x Infamy Reset: Trust Hand Cannon
• 2x Infamy Reset: Bad Omens Rocket Launcher
• 3x Infamy Reset: Furtive Ghost Shell

One thing worth pointing out is that these weapons are part of the batch that was sunset before Beyond Light so they can’t be infused to max power. The semi-exception is Bad Omens since it has been re-issued, but the one in Drifter’s inventory is capped at 1100 light. So, you won’t be able to use it in endgame activities like the Raid, Iron Banner, or Trials, but it can still put in work in patrol zones, Strikes, and the Crucible.

That being said, Bygones is still one of the best feeling pulse rifles in the game and one of the few 390rpm kinetic pulse rifles in the game. I still use mine that I got during Season of the Drifter and enjoy the heck out of it.

Seasonal Rewards

Pinnacle and Pursuit weapons have been a major part of the seasonal gameplay model. With each new season, Bungie releases a new weapon or set of weapons, that Guardians can chase after by completing a long quest chain or fulfilling a set of requirements to complete a quest. This is how we got weapons like Exit Strategy, Mountaintop, the Recluse, Luna’s Howl, and many more.

Bungie has recently shifted from making multiple weapons each season to only making one, but with each faction having a different weapon skin that’s themed around said activity. Salvager’s Salvo and Primeval Patina are great examples of that.

This section of Papa Drifter’s inventory is where you can find quests like these to unlock the unique weapon skins for that particular season’s pursuit weapon. You can earn emblems like the one in the above image for completing seasonal quests as well.

How to Earn Infamy

The simplest way to earn Infamy is just to play Gambit. You’ll tally up Infamy rank points regardless of whether you win or lose and over a long enough timeline, you’ll max out your rank and be able to reset it. However, that will take forever. Following the methods below, you’ll rank up your Infamy much faster and possibly turn Gambit into a game mode you enjoy instead of one you have to play.

Complete Your Daily Bounties

Updated on 9/28/21: Daily bounties no longer give Guardians Infamy points as a reward for completing them. Even though this is no longer a relevant tactic to earn more Infamy, it IS worth mentioning since we’ve come across a good number of players that weren’t aware of the change.

Like you can see in the image above, the daily bounties only reward you with XP and the repeatable bounties give XP and Bright Dust. So if you’re expecting to rank up by chaining bounties like the good old days, you’re going to be in for a rough surprise.

Now, with that said, the bounties are still a great source of XP to help you level up your Artifact to unlock this season’s artifact mods, help boost your power bonus so you can get GM Nightfall / Master raid ready, and the repeatable bounties are a solid way to earn Bright Dust if you enjoy playing Gambit.

Go on Activity Streaks

Bungie has retooled the streak system for Gambit. Guardians no longer have to win matches to get a streak bonus now that Win Streaks have been transformed into Activity Streaks.

If you play multiple matches in a row, you’ll go on a streak and get bonus Infamy points on top of the regular win reward. The amount of bonus Infamy you receive depends on how many matches you’ve played in a row. The more consecutive matches you play, you larger that bonus will be.

Winning or losing the matches is completely irrelevant. You’ll continue to build your streak as long as you’re completing Gambit matches back to back to back. So if you’re wanting to farm a lot of Infamy, you need to set aside a chunk of time and just play Gambit.

Now, it’s important to remember that you’ll reset your streak to zero if you play any activity between matches that isn’t Gambit. This includes:

• Visiting patrol zone destinations
• Playing other playlist activities
• Leaving a match in progress

The only places you can go that won’t break your streak are The Tower, The H.E.L.M., and orbit. If you go anywhere else, even just for a minute to replenish your Glimmer at the Spider, your streak will be reset and you’ll have to start over from zero.

Play During Double/Triple Infamy Boosts

Periodically there will be weeks where Guardians can receive additional Infamy rank points. These weeks are the prime time to play Gambit and farm Infamy since you’ll receive double the Infamy points during the week and triple Infamy over the weekend. There’s no better time for you to grind Infamy rank.

You’ll know when these weeks are right around the corner since they’re featured in the “Next Week in Destiny” screen that pops up when you log into the game. You can also keep an eye out for the TWAB over at Bungie.net. The CMs make it a point to call out upcoming events which makes it the closest thing we have to an Infamy boost schedule.

Fastest Ways to Get Infamy

The methods above will help you get Infamy, but there are ways to get more Infamy and fast-track your road to the max rank. Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re playing Gambit to make earning Infamy a little easier.

Team up

As frustrating as fireteams are to go against in Gambit, there’s genuinely no better way to earn a large amount of Infamy quickly. Having a coordinated team that knows what their responsibilities are and where to go gives you an enormous edge over the competition. Just having your team on voice chat is a staggering advantage over a lobby of solo players.

You have to fight fire with fire if you want to reset your Infamy rank quickly. If you aren’t in a clan or none of your friends play Destiny 2, you can find a fireteam over at DestinyLFG, the100.io, or r/fireteams. You can also send friend requests to players you meet in public lobbies and start your own group!

It’s a bit of a hassle, but you’re far more likely to win and go on win streaks if you’re in a fireteam. Take the time to do it so you can start raking in the Infamy.

Play to Your Strengths

Not everyone needs to be a Guardian Slayer that invades every time. There are plenty of roles within the ecosystem where every Guardian can find a place where they can excel. And the best thing you can do for your team is to do what you do best.

If you’re an add clearing monster, blaze the trail for your team so they can pick up motes in the wake of your destruction. If you’re great at countering invaders, set up shop overlooking their spawn points and get them before they get you.

Gambit is a team-based activity and for your team to win, you need to play like one. The four of you need to be pulling in the same direction so y’all can secure the bag. Fighting over motes, kills, invades, or stepping on each other’s toes just gums up the works.

Stay Alive

Quite literally the most important thing you can do for your team is to stay alive. This is sound advice for every activity in the game, but it’s especially true in Gambit where you can die and lose up to 15 motes. With how fast Gambit moves these days, that big of a loss can quite literally cost your team the game.

The enemies in Gambit can be deceptively tough as the game goes on and can absolutely shred you if you overextend by yourself. Stick with your team, fight from cover, prioritize difficult targets first, and stay alive so you can bank your motes. There’s no shame in retreating so you can survive.

It’s also better to bank 14 motes than to die with 15.

Use an Add Clearing Build

Gambit is all about speed. The faster you defeat enemies, the faster you can pick up and deposit motes, and the faster you can invade and, ultimately, summon your primeval.

• PvE Exotic Weapons:
  • Ager’s Scepter
  • Riskrunner
  • Trinity Ghoul
  • Le Monarque
  • Deathbringer
  • Huckleberry
  • Graviton Lance
  • Sunshot
• Legendary Weapon Perks:
  • Chain Reaction
  • Subsistence
  • Rampage
  • Auto-loading Holster
  • Feeding Frenzy
  • Swashbuckler
• PvE Subclass/Spec:
  • Warmind Cells build, Blast Radius + Argent Ordinance Charged With Light build
  • Way of the Outlaw Gunslinger (Top Tree)
  • Attunement of Conduction (Top Tree) + Crown of Tempests
  • Code of the Juggernaut (Bottom Tree) + Synthoceps + One Two Punch shotgun.

Invade

Right now, invasions determine the outcome of Gambit matches. A good invader can completely wipe the other team and erase all the progress they’ve made with the game mode’s current mechanics. This can bury the other team in a hole so deep that there’s absolutely no chance of winning.

Even if you don’t have a lot of experience with invading, you can still make a difference as the invader. The opposing team will hear that an invader is on the field and they’ll take cover and hide rather than risk dying and losing their motes. This completely stalls their momentum and puts their progress on hold while your team keeps pressing the advantage.

And if you can get a kill or two before the time runs out, that’s an added bonus! Your mere presence is enough, but if you’re looking to set the other team back a few motes, you can use some of the things below to get an edge.

• PvP Exotic Weapons: Truth, Eyes of Tomorrow, Xenophage, Izanagi’s Burden, Leviathan’s Breath.
• PvP Super: Golden Gun, Chaos Reach, Thundercrash.
• Important Armor Mods: Scavenger and Ammo finder mods for your heavy weapon of choice.