How to get the new Guardian Games exotic machine gun 'Heir Apparent' in Destiny 2

The Destiny 2 event known as Guardian Games has kicked off alongside the recent weekly reset and will pit the 3 classes of Hunter, Warlock and Titan against each other in a competition for who is most worthy of recognition.

On top of the other general rewards from the event such as Legendary Gear and Exotic Ghost Shells there is another very special weapon up for grabs, the ‘Heir Apparent’ Exotic Machine Gun.

The Heir Apparent is a Solar Machine Gun that has the following Exotic perks:

• Heavy Slug Thrower - Use [Primary Fire] to spin up. This weapon can only be fired when fully spun up.
• Armor of the Colossus - While at full health, spinning up this weapon protects you with an Arc shield.

As of the writing of this article, nobody has their hands on this weapon yet so it's impossible to truly gauge the power of this weapon but its stats do seem juicy. A fire rate of 900 rounds per minute means it fires as fast as some Submachine Guns and with a magazine size of 200 this weapon is really going to be a bullet hose. Heir Apparent also appears to have remarkable Range, Stability, and even Handling despite it appearing unwieldy.

Here’s is how you can go about earning this Exotic:

Note: Earning this exotic is somewhat time-gated as some of the Triumphs that must be earned require a large number of bounties to be completed and medals to be obtained. As there is a limited number of bounties and medals per day it will take a minimum of 2  daily resets after the start of Guardian Games to earn this Exotic if a player is using all 3 characters.

Intro Quest

To be given full access to everything Guardian Games has to offer the player must first complete a small intro quest that involves visiting several NPCs around the tower. 

1. Upon first reaching the Tower once Guardian Games has kicked off the player will have a new quest in their Milestones tab that will direct them to Lavante. After a quick chat Lavante will send you off to Zavala who will gift you with a Guardian Games Class Item. After equipping this Class Item, return to Lavante. 
2. Head on over to the Tower Annex to talk to the Drifter who will then gift you with a Guardian Games gold medal.
3. Return to the Tower Courtyard to deposit the medal into your class bank.
4. Finally, talk to Lavante one more time to truly begin Guardian Games 2020. Make sure to grab all the available medals and bounties, as you will need them for this next part.

Class Act

In Lavante’s inventory, you will see the Heir Apparent Exotic for sale but it is greyed out. Hovering over the Exotic will show a message to the player that completion of the event Triumph ‘Class Act’ is needed in order to obtain this Exotic.

The requirements for Class Act are fairly straightforward in and of itself as all it needs is the completion of 7 other Guardian Games 2020 Triumphs but it is these other Triumphs that are the time sink.

There are a total of 10 Triumphs that can give progress towards the Class Act Triumph so it is possible to pick and choose which ones you would like to do depending on what game types you enjoy. Here is the full list of Triumphs and ways to complete them:

Renowned - During the Guardian Games 2020, earn points by collecting laurels from super, grenade, and charged melee final blows. 

• Your own class = 3 points 
• Other classes = 1 point. 
• A total of 5,000 points are required.

This Triumph is one that can passively completed throughout the event while going after the other Triumphs. From quick testing, I completed a single Strike as a Warlock with another Warlock and a Titan. Without really focusing on ability kills I gained 150 laurel points.

If playing with other players of the same class and using builds that focus on ability kills this Triumph can be farmed out fairly quickly. Solo players can also use the Shuro Chi checkpoint in Last Wish to quickly farm ability kills by themselves. Make sure to bring Raid Banners.

Great Deeds - During the Guardian Games 2020, collect laurels in Gambit matches, strikes, forges, and on destinations.

• 400 Gambit Laurels
• 500 Strike Laurels
• 600 Forge Laurels
• 1000 Destination Laurels

This is another Triumph that will most likely be completed passively while earning Medals and Bounties. If you decide to farm these out make sure to grab as many bounties and medals as you can for the mode your playing as other Triumphs require the player to complete bounties and earn medals

During the Guardian Games 2020, redeem gold medals.

• 30 Gold Medals

This is a time-gated Triumph as only 3 Gold Medals can be earned per day per character for 9 per day in total. Three days of earning the full 9 per day will give a total of 27 Gold Medals but each character is gifted with a Gold Medal by the Drifter during the Guardian Games intro quest to bring us to a total of 30 Gold medals.

Medalist - During the Guardian Games 2020, redeem any medals.

• 75 Medals

Like the Gold Medals above, only 3 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze medals can be earned per character per day. This gives us a total of 27 medals in total per day. Like the previous Triumph, this one will take a minimum of 2 daily resets after Guardian Games starts in order to complete.

Show Your Colors - During the Guardian Games 2020, earn points by completing Guardian Games bounties.

• Weekly = 4 points 
• Daily = 2 points 
• Repeatable = 1 point
• 125 points are required.

This Triumph can be completed in tandem with both the earning of medals and the earning of medals. Simply grab as many bounties as you can from Lavante before beginning any activity to ensure efficiency. For your own sanity, it's best to aim for this one over a few days as grinding the repeatable bounties, while possible, will certainly be a headache. A lot of these bounties are fairly quick and simple too with objectives such as defeating a small number of enemies with certain abilities, or within a certain activity.

Represent - During the Guardian Games 2020, defeat combatants with abilities in Vanguard strikes and Nightfalls.

• 400 Combatants

Many of you will notice that this Triumph has been auto-completed. It appears that some of the Guardian Games Triumphs that don't require earning Medals, collecting Laurels or completing Bounties are bugged and will count from activities completed earlier in the Season before the event started. This is an easy 1 of the 7 Triumphs to count towards the Class Act Triumph.

Quintuple Threat - During the Guardian Games 2020, redeem a gold medal for Crucible, Gambit, strikes, destinations, and forges

• 1 Crucible Gold Medal
• 1 Gambit Gold Medal
• 1 Strike Gold Medal
• 1 Destination Gold Medal
• 1 Forge Gold Medal

The medals that can be obtained from Lavante rotate each day and are themed around one or two activities. The opening day of Guardian Games had medals that revolved around both Crucible and Strikes. So if you missed these then you might need to wait a day or two for these medals to come back around the rotation again.

The Gold Medals themselves are simple enough although might take an hour or so for each one. As an example the Crucible Gold Medal requires 50 Defeats in any Crucible mode while the Strike Gold Medal requires 250 combatant kills and 4 Strike completions.

World Class - During the Guardian Games 2020, redeem forge or destination medals

• 20 Forge or Destination Medals

Like the previous Triumph, you will possibly need to wait until these medals come around for the day and then complete as many of them as you can on all 3 characters if you have them.

One of the Gold Medals is tied to Bounties and not a single activity so that can give a total 24 Forge or Destination Medals on the days they are available if all 3 characters are used.

Guardian Gamble - During the Guardian Games 2020, redeem Gambit medals.

• 10 Gambit Medals

Use the same method as the previous Triumph except for on the days that the Gambit Medals are available.

Embrace the Light - During the Guardian Games 2020, defeat Guardians with Supers in the Rumble playlist.

• 25 Super Kills

This is another Triumph that may have been auto-completed depending on how much Rumble you have played throughout the Season. If it hasn't auto-completed then this is a fairly simple and easy Triumph. Jump into Rumble with a roaming Super like Fist of Havoc, Dawnblade, or Arc Staff to give you the best chance at the most Super kills.

So there is the full list of all the Triumphs that can go towards the Class Act Triumph for Heir Apparent but which ones are the easiest? Here is a handy list of the 7 Triumphs that you should aim for due to them either being auto-completed, can be completed in a single day with grinding, or only require a couple of days of waiting:

1. Represent
2. Embrace the Light
3. Renowned
4. Great Deeds
5. Show Your Colors
6. Gold Medalist
7. Medalist

After these easier Triumphs are completed you will then be able to return to Lavante to obtain your Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun.