Rule 1
Conquest ≠ OpsDifferent menus, different rules
01 - Why It Is Not Counting
Stop. Confirm the objective before the next clear
Guardian Rank progression is a vocabulary trap. The in-game steps reuse similar words for systems that do not behave the same way. Walk this checklist before anyone launches again - most "it did not count" reports are one of these five, not a bug.
Match the words, launch the right menu, stop wasting clears.
Conquests are specific, preconfigured challenge activities in the Seasonal Hub - you do not customize their modifiers. Modifier objectives (a boon, a threat, a player stake) are completed in a normal customizable Portal/Ops activity with that one modifier switched on.
If the rank step says Conquest, going to a random Solo Ops or Fireteam Ops playlist will not count, no matter how hard the run was. If it names a modifier, grinding Conquests will not count it either.
Do not waste another clear until
- Each player has read or screenshotted the exact Guardian Rank objective text - word for word.
- The fireteam agrees on the activity name and difficulty tier the words point to.
- Someone has written down who already has credit for which unique Conquest.
Three minutes of reading saves a 20-minute clear that was never going to count. The friend-group tracker below is built for exactly this.
01
Does the objective say "Conquest"? Seasonal Hub
Go to the Seasonal Hub and use the Conquests / Play Now entry, not a normal Solo Ops, Fireteam Ops, or Arena Ops launch. Conquests are set up by Bungie; you clear the listed one, you do not tune it.
02
Does it say "all Master / Grandmaster / Ultimate Conquests"? Unique clears
Track unique Conquest names. Re-running the same Conquest you already cleared is not reliable progress for an "all" step - the step wants every distinct Conquest at that tier, each once.
03
Does it name a modifier category? Custom Ops
Boon, Surge, a Threat, a Negative Challenge, a Player Stake - these are customizable Portal/Ops objectives. Launch a normal Ops activity, switch on the named modifier at the required difficulty, and clear it. Leave Conquests alone for these.
04
Does the visible Conquest list not match the objective count? Timegate?
If the step asks for more Conquests than are currently visible, treat it as an availability / timegate or bug candidate - not a build problem. Check current Bungie Help Known Issues and the live Seasonal Hub before blaming yourselves or burning a serious run.
05
One friend got credit and another did not? Compare
Line up four things: the exact objective wording each player sees, who launched the activity, the difficulty, and which Conquest each person had already completed. The mismatch is almost always one of those four.
03 - Objective Ladder
The rank steps, grouped by task family
A grouped guide to the objective families returning players hit around the mid-to-high ranks. The menu distinction is stable, and Advanced Guardian Ranks include seasonal objectives that rotate. Open a tier to see where each one is done and the mistake that eats clears.
Onboarding modifier chores
| Objective | Where / category | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Boon | Custom Ops → Boon & Event modifier | Looking for it in Conquests. Boons are a customizable layer on a normal activity. |
| Minor Negative | Custom Ops → Challenge modifier | Stacking several negatives. You only need the one named category active. |
| Faction Drop | Custom Ops → Challenge modifier | Confusing it with the Expert-tier Faction Unit step - different requirement. |
| Threat | Custom Ops → Challenge modifier | Picking the lowest score instead of the lowest difficulty that still has the Threat slot. |
Expert-and-up modifiers
| Objective | Where / category | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Faction Unit | Custom Ops → Challenge, Expert+ | Running below Expert. The category may not be offered under the required tier. |
| Difficult Threat | Custom Ops → Challenge, Expert+ | Treating it as the same as the onboarding Threat step. |
| Surge | Custom Ops → Boon / Event, Expert+ | Assuming any surge counts when the step names a specific one. |
| Major Negative | Custom Ops → Challenge, Expert+ | Adding it on a difficulty too low to expose the major-tier modifier. |
| Trade-Off | Custom Ops → Challenge | Thinking the Expert Conquest step and the Trade-Off step are one task. They are separate. |
Master tier
| Objective | Where / category | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| All Master Conquests | Seasonal Hub → Conquests, Master | Re-clearing one Master Conquest instead of each unique one. If one is already done and you cannot relaunch it, have a friend who has not cleared it launch. |
| Match Game | Custom Ops → Challenge, Master | Covering shields at the cost of champion stuns and wiping before the clear lands. |
| No Starting Ammo | Custom Ops → Player Stake, Master | Picking an activity with no safe primary-clear stretch to rebuild ammo. |
Grandmaster tier
| Objective | Where / category | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Grandmaster activities | Custom Ops / GM Alert, Grandmaster | Forgetting GM difficulties need Power 300 and matchmaking runs Expert to Grandmaster. |
| All Grandmaster Conquests | Seasonal Hub → Conquests, GM | Panicking when the step asks for more than are currently visible - that is a timegate / availability candidate, not a build problem. |
| Famine / Hunger | Custom Ops → Challenge, GM | Stacking ammo pressure on a boss room that needs sustained add control. |
| No HUD / Brawn | Custom Ops → Player Stake, GM | Adding them on a route you do not know by heart. |
Ultimate tier
| Objective | Where / category | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate activity | Custom Ops, Ultimate | Expecting matchmaking - Ultimate is not matchmade, so pre-form the fireteam. |
| All Ultimate Conquests | Seasonal Hub → Conquests, Ultimate | Same unique-clear and availability traps as the Master / GM "all" steps, at the hardest tier. |
| Extinction / Pressure Cooked | Custom Ops → Player Stake, Ultimate | Treating a high-risk stake as just more score instead of a changed failure mode. |
| Anti-Surge / Deadly Threat | Custom Ops → Challenge, Ultimate | Bringing a loadout that fights the anti-surge instead of around it. |
Difficulty ladder. Difficulties run Normal, Advanced, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, Ultimate (Pinnacle Ops lists Advanced to Ultimate). Difficulty sets the reward tier: Normal 1, Advanced 2, Expert 3, Master 4, Grandmaster and Ultimate 5. Matchmaking runs Expert to Grandmaster and needs Power 300; Ultimate is not matchmade. Grandmaster starts with seven revive tokens, Ultimate five, Arena Ops none. The Director shows the time limit and reward forecast for your setup. Advanced Guardian Ranks include seasonal objectives that must be renewed, so the exact steps rotate.
04 - Modifier Glossary
The four modifier drawers
Every modifier word on a rank objective lives in one of four drawers. Three of them you open and customize on a normal Ops activity. The fourth - the Conquest's own fixed setup - you do not touch. Knowing which drawer a word lives in is most of the battle.
Drawer 1 - positive layer
Boon & Event modifiers
The positive or event/reward layer you add to an activity. This is also where a Surge objective is handled when a rank step asks for one.
e.g. Boon · Surge · event buffs
Drawer 2 - negative pressure
Challenge modifiers
Negative pressure and enemy-behavior modifiers. Most "make it harder" rank words live here, across difficulty tiers.
e.g. Threat · Difficult Threat · Faction Unit · Faction Drop · Major Negative · Match Game · Famine · Hunger · Anti-Surge · Deadly Threat
Drawer 3 - high-risk rules
Player Stakes
Optional high-risk restrictions or rules. They are worth score but they change the failure mode of the run, so add them deliberately, not by reflex.
e.g. No Starting Ammo · No HUD · Brawn · Extinction · Pressure Cooked
Drawer 4 - locked
Conquest fixed setup
A Conquest's modifiers are preconfigured for that activity. Do not treat them as a customizable checklist - you cannot adjust them or matchmake into them the way you would a normal Ops activity.
e.g. each named Seasonal Hub Conquest
Going deeper on modifiers? Use the Nightfall Modifier Setup guide for which modifiers to actually choose on the launch screen, and the Nightfall Field Guide for the reward ladder and GM Alert language that overlaps with these objectives.
05 - Fast Recipes
Low-drama ways to clear a step
Principles, not exploits. The fastest checklist clear is usually the calmest one - lowest eligible difficulty, only the named modifier, an activity everyone already knows.
For any modifier chore
Safest modifier clear
- Pick the lowest difficulty that still offers the named modifier and meets the step's tier.
- Add only the one named modifier or stake - nothing extra.
- Use a short, familiar Ops activity you can clear half-asleep.
- Do not chase reward grade during a checklist clear. The tick is the prize.
For fireteams
The three-reader method
- One person reads the objective text aloud, word for word.
- One person reads the launch screen - difficulty, modifier, activity name.
- One person confirms the post-clear rank tick before the team queues the next run.
When a Conquest blocks you
Unblock a Conquest step
- Confirm which unique Conquests you still need - not which you have re-run.
- Try a launcher who has not completed the one you are stuck on.
- Check whether a required Conquest simply is not visible right now.
- Screenshot the objective and the hub if you plan to report it to Bungie Help.
06 - Friend-Group Tracker
Track who needs what, mid-session
A scratchpad for the fireteam - nothing is saved or sent anywhere; it resets when you reload. Jot each player's current objective, the difficulty and activity it needs, and tick credit once the rank actually moves. Print it or fill it by hand if you would rather.
| Player | Objective | Difficulty | Activity / modifier | Credit | Remove row |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
07 - Known Issues & Timegates
When it really might not be you
Sometimes the step asks for more than the game is showing. That is worth flagging - carefully. A timegate or a genuine bug is real, but calling something "confirmed bugged" when it is not just sends fireteams chasing the wrong fix.
Say Frame it like this
- If the objective asks for more Conquests than are currently visible, treat it as an availability / timegate or bug candidate, not a build problem.
- Check Bungie Help Known Issues, the live in-game Seasonal Hub, and Bungie Help forum reports before burning another serious run.
- A genuine bug is possible - older patches fixed Conquest display and Fireteam Ops rank-progress issues, which is why stale answers online still conflict.
Avoid Do not say
- "This is definitely bugged" - not unless Bungie lists it in current Known Issues or the live game plainly exposes the mismatch.
- "Just run any Expert activity" - if the step says Conquest, a random Ops clear will not count.
- "Turn on random modifiers until it works" - that wastes clears and teaches the wrong mental model.
The honest default: assume vocabulary or difficulty mismatch first, timegate second, and a confirmed bug only when Bungie or the live game proves it. That order is right far more often than "the game is broken."