In Destiny 2, since Season 9, you can level up Obelisks with Polarized Fractaline. We explain where you can obtain the resource and how you should ideally invest it.
These are Obelisks in Destiny: If you immediately think of the Egyptian-looking monuments when it comes to Obelisks, you are not entirely wrong. In Destiny 2, the constructs are just not made of stone, and they can do more than just look monumental.
The Obelisks are connected to the Sundial activity. In addition, they provide you with bounties, weapons, mods, and other amenities in the Season of Dawn. The higher you level one of the four Obelisks on the different planets, the more rewards await you.
However, the Obelisks do not level up with experience points like the Guardians do. Rather, you need to upgrade them using the resource “Polarized Fractaline”. By Rank 11, you will have unlocked all available perks and items for an Obelisk. After that, you can theoretically earn random rewards for every ascension, similar to the NPCs’ token system.
What lies behind Polarized Fractaline? Behind the highly scientific-sounding term Polarized Fractaline is simply the seasonal currency. The resource thus replaces the “Vex Components” from Season 8.
With Polarized Fractaline, you can shop at the Obelisks. For example, you obtain the bounties for time-lost weapon forms. This material is also used to level up the Obelisks. Each rank ascension costs the Obelisk 200 Polarized Fractaline.
This means you need 2200 units of the resource for the maximum level. In Destiny 2, there are four Obelisks that you can upgrade. So that’s 8800 if you want to bring all constructs to the highest level.
In plain language: You need a fair amount of Polarized Fractaline. We list the sources for the seasonal currency and then explain how you should proceed when leveling up the Obelisks.
Sources for Polarized Fractaline
General Play: You have a relatively low chance of receiving the new resource by completing a variety of activities. A Fractaline surprise can await you after a Crucible match or a round of Gambit.
The Sundial: In the seasonal PvE activity Sundial, you will definitely receive Polarized Fractaline. However, the amount is normally quite low. Per run, you get credited with 10 units of the required material.
Triumphs from Season 9: Check under the Triumphs tab to see what you can accomplish in the Season of Dawn. Some of the current Triumphs grant you the coveted resource upon completion. The amount to be obtained varies depending on the Triumph.
Reward from the Season Pass: If you take a look at the Seasons tab, you will also find Polarized Fractaline here. The material can be obtained from rank ascensions in the Season Pass. It is not too often present as a reward, but every little bit counts.
The weekly Obelisk bounties: At each of the four Obelisks, you can pick up and tackle weekly bounties. As a reward, you can expect a respectable 100 Fractaline each. There are two weekly bounties available for each Obelisk.
As objectives to complete, you will find general tasks like “Kill a certain number of enemies” or “Achieve X ability kills”. But gathering tasks and specific weapon requirements can also be part of it.
Saint-14 in the Tower: Since the legendary Titan has surprisingly landed in the Tower, you have another source for Polarized Fractaline. He offers you four fresh bounties each day. These reward you with a small supply of the resource.
The Tower Obelisk: The fifth Obelisk takes on a special role. Unlike the other monuments, you do not level this one up with Fractaline. Instead, it serves as a “Quality of Life” feature, making your daily life easier.
In addition to some unique weapons, like the shotgun Perfect Paradox, you can buy boosters here. This significantly increases your chances of randomly receiving Polarized Fractaline from completed activities. Per account, the booster can be purchased six times a week for 5000 Glimmer.
With the Tower Obelisk, you can continue to access the bounties of the other Obelisks. To do this, you connect each planetary Obelisk with the hub in the Tower by creating a time-lost weapon.
However, you still need to travel to the individual Obelisks on the original planets to level them up and buy mods.
Which Obelisk should I level up?
Since you do not have unlimited amounts of Polarized Fractaline, you should choose wisely where to invest it. Here are some tips from PvE expert Datto for you. He is one of the most well-known Destiny streamers and has made a name for himself in the community with his guides.
Theoretically, you could accept and tackle every weekly bounty at all four Obelisks. You can do this for the greatest possible gain with all three characters. This way, you’d earn 2400 Fractaline. That amount is more than enough to fully level up one Obelisk.
However, completing 24 weekly Obelisk bounties is extremely time-consuming, and even Datto says that should not be your focus. Rather, you should upgrade the Monolith that fits your playstyle.
We present the focus of the four Obelisks next. Afterwards, there’s the general recommendation from Datto.
This is what each Obelisk offers: Each of the Obelisks on the planets supports an activity in a special way:
- Mars Obelisk – If you like to play a lot of PvP, invest your resources in the Obelisk on the red planet. At max level, the Obelisk grants you more rewards for completing the Sundial. You can now select one more powerful weapon.
- Nessus Obelisk – If you want more Fractaline from the Sundial and the Menagerie, you should level this Obelisk. At Rank 11, you’ll receive a progress boost for time-lost bounties, completing them 25% faster.
- Gambit Obelisk – The focus is on the Gambit mode. If you reach Rank 11 here, you increase the number of connections from the Obelisk to the Sundial by 1. This means that after a successful Sundial run, you have loot pools not from one Obelisk but from two.
- EDZ Obelisk – The focus here is on Strikes. Early on, you will unlock the ability to gain more Fractaline from Vanguard activities. At the highest level, there is also a bonus for rewards from the Sundial. This Obelisk is currently bugged. Read here how to deal with the issues.
This is the strategy from the pro: If you don’t plan to play a specific mode extensively, the general tips from expert Datto could be interesting for you.
He analyzed that it is most efficient if you do the following:
- Play Strikes, so you should first invest some resources in the EDZ Obelisk.
- Additionally, take suitable weekly Obelisk bounties with you. You then complete these in the Strikes.
- Ideally, also include daily bounties from Saint-14. This way, you hit two birds with one stone.
Furthermore, it’s very useful to aim for a mixture of the Nessus Obelisk (Rank 9) and the Mars Obelisk. This way, you can specifically hunt for a God-Roll of the new weapons in the Sundial.
You combine this with a reward from the Season Pass. At level 92, you will gain the ability for weapons from the Sundial to have an additional perk selection. This increases your chances of gaining the creative new perks.
A small tip from the expert: After completing the upgrades and grinding for weapons that are important to you, save excess Fractaline. Because according to the roadmap, a new activity called Empyrean Foundation is coming in February.
Datto expects that you will need to “donate” a considerable amount of Polarized Fractaline here. This assumption is supported by the emblem “Restorative Light”. You can already check this out in your collections.
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