That's what I do too. Or at least I did, since now I don't even get Crucible points (been giving up on Crucible more and more lately..). And with Vanguard cap its like that. Say you hoard marks for 2 weeks and get those 200 (which is max abyway). You go in and spend it on 3 pieces, which you the dismantle and get 2-3 ascendant shards (I am not sure if it matters, but I usually have bounty waiting to be finished, so I can unlock and buy first upgrade on each item - that method always gives me 3 shards). Do you get same amount with 0 upgrades, can someone confirm? But you can see how much of a grind that it still. Purple need 6 per upgrade, so that is 9 shards every 2 weeks, comes up to 3 slots upgraded every month. As to public events, I have yet to see a shard. I was under impression all the give is ascendant energies, though it may be just my luck acting up again LOL