Leveling up in 'Destiny 2' can be super confusing, so here's an explainer
Destiny 2 is out, and it's OK if you're confused.
The first game didn't explain itself very well, and -- for all of the many improvements evident in Bungie's sequel -- the second one doesn't do much better. It's simple enough to just muddle, shooting things and watching your numbers increase.
Still, wouldn't you like to know how the whole thing works?
I've clocked two full days' worth of playing time (meaning a full 48 hours) with Destiny 2 since it launched. In that time, I hit the level cap and got myself to the point where I'm able to tackle the new raid. I watched the weekly reset happen on Tuesday and took note of how those weekly shifts influence your leveling game.
Much like its predecessor, Destiny 2 is a living game. It's going to change. A whole lot. I'm just here to lay out the basics. Some activities and rules might change, but this will help you understand how character progression is designed to work in the game.
Levels 1-20
The first 20 levels in Destiny 2 work like they do in many other RPGs: Fighting enemies and completing activities earns you experience points (XP). Once you have enough XP to fill a little meter at the bottom of your screen, you gain a level.
Until you hit 20, each new level is merely a higher number. But you still earn XP after that's happened, and the little bar on your screen keeps filling. Every time you "level up" after 20, you're rewarded with a Bright Engram, the same items you can buy in-game with real money. Opening one of these up gets you an assortment of gear mods and cosmetic items.
This early part of the game -- probably your first 8-10 hours -- is the most straightforward part of Destiny 2. You play, you shoot, you win, you level up. Simple.
But there's still that other number on your screen....
Power Level
Longtime Destiny fans probably still refer to Destiny 2's "Power level" as "Light." Early on, the level numbers above largely keep you from getting to new planets before you're ready for them. Power, on the other hand, is a late-game measurement -- the number dictates which specific challenges (such as the Nightfall, the raid, or certain types of quests) you're ready to tackle.
How your Power level is determined can be a little tricky to explain, but it primarily comes down to your gear. Each weapon and each piece of armor you equip has a Power rating attached. In the simplest terms, the average of all those numbers together equate to your character's total Power.
It's not that simple, however. Different weight is applied to different types of gear -- for example, a Kinetic Weapon counts for more than a Class Item -- so it's not a straight average. But in a general sense: The higher the number, the better.
The initial climb
Now that you know the difference between experience level and Power, we can get into how you apply this knowledge.
During your climb to 20, just equip any piece of gear you get that's higher Power than whatever you currently have in that gear slot. More than any other moment in Destiny 2, this is a great time to just try everything while boosting your Power up in the process.
When you finish the story, which should happen at around experience level 18/19/20, you'll probably hover around a Power level of 200. That's Destiny 2's first real plateau, but for most it's just a brief stop.
Power 200-265
Once the story is finished, you've got to turn elsewhere for your precious loot. Destiny 2 provides.
Do Adventures (orange icons) and Quests (blue icons). Run Strikes. Complete Public Events and activity-specific Challenges. Gather planetary Tokens and turn them in. Test your PvP might in the Crucible's Quickplay or Competitive modes. These should be your go-tos.
You might see a lot of tips telling you to skip activities like the Nightfall and weekly Milestones challenges at this stage. That advice only matters if you want to maximize your progress and you think you'll be at Power 265 before the next weekly reset, which happens on Tuesdays.
The reason being: Nightfalls, raids, weekends-only Trials of the Nine PvP events, and weekly Milestones all have the ability to drop loot that's higher than Power 265. If you're rushing to get yourself up to 265 before a weekly reset and you think you can get there, it makes more sense to not even unlock those until you're at that level.
If, on the other hand, you're definitely not hitting 265 before the reset (or if you're a patient person and not trying to rush things)... go nuts. Get all the rewards you can. Nightfalls, Milestones, and all the rest will boost you more than the other activities, and those rewards reset every week.
Power 265 and above
It's not that Rare (blue) and Legendary (purple) gear can't progress beyond 265. But either type of gear obtained from the lower-level activities typically won't level you up. They tend to drop 7 Power levels below your current max, which is helpful for bringing up your treasured lowest-Power gear -- usually Exotics (gold) or prized Legendaries -- using the Infusion process.
There's a DestinyTheGame subreddit post here and a video here that both do a good job of explaining how Infusion works in Destiny 2.
It's very much an advanced feature and something you probably won't need to think much about until you've hit Power 265. All I'd say is this: If there's a piece of Legendary or Exotic gear that you've grown fond of but outleveled, don't dismantle it.
Dismantling is something you'll want to do with Legendaries/Exotics you're not interested in, since it provides Legendary Shards -- the currency for Infusion. But for stuff you like, stash it away in your vault until you're ready to tackle Infusion, since the process allows you make sure older, treasured pieces of gear remain relevant.
While Infusion is a powerful tool, your primary source of higher Power gear once you reach Power 265 will be the aforementioned high-level activities: Nightfalls, Raids, Trials of the Nine, and weekly Milestones. That's what you'll want to turn to from week to week as you continue to amass Power in Destiny 2.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
