Here are the best ways to get the shards you need to rank (how I ranked gear to 30 and have 49 shards left over) 1. Unless you are saving for a weapon, crucible and vanguard marks are worthless once your armory is complete. Buy armor from them whenever you get the chance, then just break it down for shards. 2. Kind of obvious, but play the raid and nightfall each week. 3. Make sure to find at least on public event each day you are on. If you don't find shards from that event, the package at the postmaster usually contains a shard or two. 4. If worse comes to worst, make a new character of the same class, so that way, as soon as you reach level 20, switch the armor over from your other character and the new one is instantly the same level. This gives you twice the chance to earn shards with the above ways, and better yet, twice the chance at raid gear. ~Hope this helps you get to that higher rank your looking for.