This way, you can become more powerful and win the game against your enemies. The armor you receive will keep you safe throughout the game. It’s easy to upgrade your character level weekly by sharing different weapons between different characters.
- Destiny 2: How To Reach 1330 Power Level Quickly
- Quick Links
- How Does Power Level Work?
- 10 Best: Legendary Lost Sectors
- 9 Not Worth It: Astral Alignment
- Powerful gear sources in Destiny 2
- Why Power Level still matters (TBU)
- Power Level scaling
- Start Making Alternate Characters
- Complete Your Strikes
- Pay attention to details
- Do not tie yourself to the equipment
- Conclusion:
- How to get pinnacle gear & level up to 1330 power level
- General tips to reach max light level in Destiny 2
- Step two: The road to 1250
- Complete Strikes
- Enter the Crucible
- Step three: The Pinnacle cap
- Crash the Crucible
- Run the raid
- Mastering the Nightfall
Destiny 2: How To Reach 1330 Power Level Quickly
Season of the Lost has brought new ways to hit the 1330 power cap.
Quick Links
Each new season in Destiny 2 increases the Force level cap by a certain amount. Most seasons raise the Power cap by 10, but expansion seasons raise this cap by 50. Season of the Lost follows this trend, increasing Destiny 2’s max Power level by another 10.
In short, this rather low increase in maximum power allows you to concentrate less on grinding the peaks and more time playing the content you like. With that said, players who skipped a season or two will still have some catching up to do. We’ll look at how the power level works, the power boost you can expect from each activity, and some strategies you can use to quickly level up your main and alternate characters.
Updated December 31, 2021: To further illustrate how you can reach this illusory power cap in Destiny 2, we have included a video tutorial where you can find these tips.
How Does Power Level Work?
If you are an experienced Destiny 2 player, you can skip this section. |
The Power Level determines two key things in Destiny 2:
The higher your level is, the greater are both of these bonuses. If your power level is below the recommended activity level, you will take significantly more damage from enemies and deal less combatants.
To increase your Power Level, you’ll need to get new weapons and armor with a higher Power Level Rating. Any non-sunset loot you earn will increase your Power Level until you reach a Soft Trap. This hat changes every season. In Season of the Lost, the soft cap is 1,270.
Once you reach the soft limit, you will need to earn Powerful Gear rewards from weekly milestones and activities to get the equipment to the next level. Your director will replace any activity that provides powerful equipment. We’ll cover all of these steps later in this guide.
If you reach Power level 1320, you have reached the “hard limit” for your character level. As counterintuitive as this may sound, it is not a proper limit; You can increase your Power even more by acquiring Pinnacle Gear from Destiny 2’s most challenging content (raids, Trials of Osiris, and so on). This is called the “peak cap” and is currently at 1,330.
The only way to increase the Power level above 1330 is to raise the level of the seasonal artifact. Artifact Leveling is passive as you earn XP in Destiny 2.
With so many activities that require very low power levels, many rangers wonder if the power levels really matter. The truth is, most activities are not. But if you have a remote interest in seasonal or end-game content, the power level matters more than ever.
10 Best: Legendary Lost Sectors
Beyond Light introduced a difficult variant of Lost Sectors. Known by most as Legendary Lost Sectors, these Lost Sector variants have a high chance of dropping Exotic armor at a specific armor slot if you complete them solo. There are two Legendary Lost Sectors available each day, one Legend and one Master. Master Lost Sectors have a higher chance of dropping an Exotic armor piece, but are much more difficult.
Targeting Exotics has never been easier after Bungie added this activity. Rangers looking for the perfect throw for their favorite exotic helmet just have to wait for the difficult variant that the helmet offers to appear. The Exotic Year 4 armor pieces are also tied to these Legendary Lost Sectors, which greatly encourages players to give this playlist a chance. This is by far the best exotic armor farm for solo players in Destiny 2.
9 Not Worth It: Astral Alignment
Season of the Lost introduced an activity called Astral Alignment. A team of six Guardians must complete various objectives before defeating the final boss, providing two Loot Chests at the end of the mission. This sounds similar to the Menagerie and the Surface Sundial, but this activity doesn’t have the tempting rewards that will keep players coming back weekly.
This activity takes about ten minutes and provides either a weapon or armor, sometimes both. Armor drops below 60, and weapons are much easier to obtain with Umbra’s Focused Engrams. Unless you need a Powerful Gear or Age’s Scepter Catalyst, there’s virtually no reason to play Astral Alignment. If you want a good Vulpecul or Fractathist, go to the farm and focus on Umbra Engrams instead.
Collect powerful weapons and work on your skills. However, try to get to know the maps and get to know most of the areas. Don’t be upset with opponents who were better than you at the moment than trying to learn from failure. Take advantage of your loss against them by working on your weaknesses.
Powerful gear sources in Destiny 2
Here are all the activities that reward equipment on a powerful level (needed to hit a massive limit):
These two tables cover absolutely all of the Powerful and Pinnacle hardware sources in Destiny 2. Depending on where you are on your way to the maximum power level, you can filter the tables accordingly. For example, you can filter the sources to see only:
- Activities requiring a fireteam (no matchmaking)
- Activities Considered “Easy” (or Difficult)
For more information on these activities, which change weekly, check out our guide to Weekly Challenges, which we update every Tuesday after the reset!
Why Power Level still matters (TBU)
With so many activities that require very low power levels, many rangers wonder if the power levels really matter. The truth is, most activities are not. But if you have a remote interest in seasonal or end-game content, the power level matters more than ever.
These are activities where the power level is critical (either because there is a minimum requirement or because your opponents can use it in PVP modes):
Action | Minimal requirements | Power level turned on? |
Grand Master’s Nightfall | 1345 | – |
Crucible: Trials of Osiris | – | Yes |
Crucible: Iron Banner | – | Yes |
This table summarizes the Power Level Requirements for the main activities in Destiny 2:
Action | Recommended power |
All Crucible (except Iron Banner and Trials) | Power levels off |
Avant-garde: Impacts | 1100 |
The Raid: The Garden of Salvation | 1100 |
Raid: Last Wish | 1100 |
Dungeon: Pit of Heresy | 1100 |
Dungeon: The Shattered Throne | 1100 (to be confirmed) |
Seasonal: Battlefields | 1200 |
Raid: Deep Stone Crypt | 1220 |
Exotic Quest: Announcement | 1240 |
Nightfall: Trials (Adept to Master) | 1240 to 1340 |
Exotic quest: Harbinger | 1270 |
Seasonal (to be confirmed) | 1300 |
Seasonal (to be confirmed) | 1300 |
Raid: Glass Vault | 1300 |
The legend of lost sectors | 1310 |
Exotic Quest: The Announcement Master | 1320 |
Master of Lost Sectors | 1340 |
Raid: Glass Vault Master Mode | 1350 |
All in all, you can play a few activities with minimal power. But if you’re serious about progressing and ultimately solving endgame tasks in the endgame, you’ll need to grind your power levels.
Power Level scaling
Destiny 2 gives a lot of “recommendations” when it comes to power level requirements. Only Grandmaster Nightfall strikes have strict minimum requirements.
What happens if you don’t comply with the in-game power levels? Scaling damage.
Damage scaling is not easy to explain, but in short, the lower your power level compared to your opponent, the more damage you take and the less damage you take.
The only way to increase the Power level above 1330 is to raise the level of the seasonal artifact. Artifact Leveling is passive as you earn XP in Destiny 2.
Start Making Alternate Characters
You’ll get three options in Destiny 2, ie Hunter, Titan, and Warlock. You can use one or each character to get the ability to jump over your characters and share other equipment. Better to create alternate characters to help you raise your power level. If you have more characters, you will be able to use different resources from different characters.
This way, you can become more powerful and win the game against your enemies. The armor you receive will keep you safe throughout the game. It’s easy to upgrade your character level weekly by sharing different weapons between different characters.
Complete Your Strikes
If we talk about strikes, they are also called long missions. There is a different playlist for each mission. You will be given different tasks to complete each week. If you do this, your power will increase and help you advance.
After completing three strikes, you will receive a level 1 reward. You have to wait for the weekly playlists and see what tasks are assigned to you. Show your commitment to completing them to win prizes.
When you get to the soft hat, things slow down a lot. Once you reach Power Level 1200, you just won’t get better gear by playing this game. Instead, you will need powerful equipment to raise your level. Powerful gear will always be higher than your base power level, so as you complete the steps and acquire powerful gear, your power level will increase.
Pay attention to details
You won’t have to do anything special to reach this level. Gear drops will adapt to your level, meaning you won’t get a more powerful weapon if you’re below the cap. In the beginning, you have to complete all the campaign missions, but pay attention to the equipment. Please do not buy it if it is above your power level. Once done, there is a shortcut to leveling up. You will succeed by playing Crucible and completing Public Events.
You may be able to discover some sanding spots just like before. Back then, there were only a few that helped players achieve their goal in just an hour. However, Bungie has rebalanced all the areas where this can be done. If you find an area that is an exception, consider yourself lucky. For example, sectors like this would give you great opportunities. You can get one of them if you kill the boss there, because that way you will get great equipment in no time.
Do not tie yourself to the equipment
It’s important to accept this advice as you want to make progress, as your hardware determines the total power you have. As you enter the higher levels, you will constantly shift gears, but don’t use lower powered gear. As much as you might be tempted because you really like this equipment, you can lose everything in one moment.
Losing may not be fun, but it’s beneficial. True, we can learn a lot from him. This usually happens multiple times when you are in the beginning. Then you learn about new weapons and maps or you just hone a new skill. In such situations, you conduct research and experiments because you do not have enough experience and knowledge. So loss is a normal thing. Expect to lose every now and then, as you can’t concentrate your full attention on acquiring a new skill without distracting your attention from other things.
Instead of getting angry at this situation, try to analyze it to learn something new. For example, in this way you will understand where you often make mistakes and what you need to work on further. This way your mistakes won’t repeat themselves, but you will prevent them in the next match. Destiny two has a lot of maps, and until you learn something about them, you’ll often have unpleasant surprises. Try to get to know your strategic space so as not to be constantly caught.
Conclusion:
Collect powerful weapons and work on your skills. However, try to get to know the maps and get to know most of the areas. Don’t be upset with opponents who were better than you at the moment than trying to learn from failure. Take advantage of your loss against them by working on your weaknesses.
But whether you’re a returning player or a brand new player, this section covers how leveling up works and how to level up as quickly as possible in Season 15.
How to get pinnacle gear & level up to 1330 power level
You can reach max Power in Destiny 2 by acquiring Pinnacle gear.
To reach the last 10 levels in Destiny 2, you’ll need top-of-the-line gear. These steps are some of the hardest in Destiny 2, but the rewards are worth a damn.
You can get peak gear by following these steps:
- Reward for seasonal activities (Festival of the Lost, Solstice of Heroes)
- Trials of Osiris (seven victories, faultless card)
- Completing the Vault of Glass Raid
- Completing the dungeon of prophecy
- Announcement of the completion of the task
- Completion of the trailer mission
- Completing Nightfall: Trial
- Carrying out the bounties of the Iron Banner
Collecting peak gear is no easy feat, but by following as many of the activities listed above consistently, your power level is sure to increase.
Remember that seasonal artifacts also offer a level increase. Just raise the artifact’s level by gaining XP, which can be a surefire way to increase your Power level.
Both the Announcement and Trailer missions will disappear with the release of Witch Queen, so players who have not completed them will be best to focus on them first. However, if you miss it, the weapon will still be offered as part of Xur’s inventory.
General tips to reach max light level in Destiny 2
If you’re trying to reach the max power (light) level in Destiny 2 as quickly as possible, these tips should help speed up the process:
- First, level up your alternate accounts: focus on leveling up your third or least played character before transferring gear to the second character. Then complete their weekly summits and donate your main character’s gear. Finally, fill in all peak sources again.
- Complete the Vault of Glass raid: This iconic raid features over 5 skirmishes that will reward you with +2 peak gear each. If you’re trying to reach the max power level in Destiny, getting VoG up and running is a must.
- Complete Seasonal Challenges: With these Challenges, you can earn massive amounts of XP, which can then increase the Artifact’s Power level. This will allow you to reach a power level of 1330 without having to grind for a while.
So you’ve got it! Everything you need to know about hitting max Power in Destiny 2 and the various types of gear.
Be sure to check out more of our Destiny 2 guides to help you fight the dark:
All in all, you can play a few activities with minimal power. But if you’re serious about progressing and ultimately solving endgame tasks in the endgame, you’ll need to grind your power levels.
Step two: The road to 1250
When you get to the soft hat, things slow down a lot. Once you reach Power Level 1200, you just won’t get better gear by playing this game. Instead, you will need powerful equipment to raise your level. Powerful gear will always be higher than your base power level, so as you complete the steps and acquire powerful gear, your power level will increase.
Powerful gear is broken down into three tiers, noting how much higher your power level is than your current level:
- Level 1: +3 to the base power level
- Level 2: +4 or +5 to base power
- Level 3: +6 to the base power level
In addition to Powerful gear, Pinnacle gear is also available, which increases the base power level by six. Don’t worry about Pinnacle hardware for now, though. We’ll come to that in the next step.
You can earn powerful gear by completing specific weekly goals and milestones. If you look at your director you will find golden signs that indicate how you can get powerful equipment. Think of them as your weekly chores; log in every week and complete as many as possible to optimize your grind. As it stands, you can earn rewards for doing any activity, so let’s break down some of the things you can focus on.
Complete Strikes
Strikes is a collection of longer missions that have their own playlist on the director. Each week the playlist will have a different “burn” active, which means that the power of the element will be increased during hits. Every week you will receive a level 1 reward if you perform three strokes using a character subclass that matches this arson. For example, if Void Burn is active, you should make sure your Sorcerer subclass Void. Completing three strokes with a matched piece will earn you a reward.
While you’re here, don’t forget about Zavala’s Vanguard’s orders. His bounties are specific to PvE Actions and Strikes, so it’s a great way to complete them and earn the Weekly Vanguard Reward for completing eight Bounties.
Enter the Crucible
Each week, you can earn Tier 1 rewards by completing matches in the various Crucible playlists (in-game PvP). First, there are Basic Match playlists. These are basically the core game modes that are always available, such as Control. Compete in four matches between these playlists and you will be rewarded. You don’t even need to win to achieve this, so don’t worry about your skill level here.
There are also Rotator playlists, which are special PvP modes that change weekly. The rewards here work exactly the same as the base matches: compete in four matches between these playlists, and you’ll get a Tier 1 reward, win or lose.
Moreover, the Crucible features a ranking system that allows you to earn even more rewards. You’ll get experience for every match you complete, and winning streaks will increase your experience. Each time you level up, you will receive a Level 1 Drop Pack. This makes Crucible one of the most reliable leveling methods if you’re trying to grind. Between rank-up rewards, the weekly Shaxx Reward Engram, and the rewards for weekly playlist completion, you can earn loads of Crucible every week.
Step three: The Pinnacle cap
By the time you hit 1250 you’ve hit a hard point, meaning Powerful gear will no longer offer power levels above the base power level. Technically, however, you can increase the overall power level even more. This is done with Pinnacle hardware which is just powerful hardware which is, well, a bit more powerful.
No wonder the rate of leveling drops dramatically. In this last step, you will only gain 10 additional power levels, compared to 50 in step two and 150 in step one. This is because Pinnacle hardware falls out very rarely, takes a long time, and is very difficult.
For this reason, we recommend that you either get really good at Crucible or raid your team. This will make grinding the last few levels easier and hopefully a little more fun.
Crash the Crucible
We mentioned earlier that the Crucible is an incredibly lucrative way to get some powerful gains. But you can also get Pinnacle for mastering it. Each season you will receive a Pinnacle Award for reaching the rank of Legend Glory in Competitive Mode. This means earning thousands of points throughout the season in the toughest PvP playlist in the game. If you just don’t have the patience for raids or night strikes, it at least gives you something to work on, even if it’s just one drop.
You can also get the weekly Pinnacle drop by playing other modes. You will receive the Pinnacle Prize for five and seven victories in the Trials of Osiris, and one for completing four Crucible matches in a week.
Run the raid
If you hit 1250, then you’re ready for the greatest endgame content Destiny has to offer: raids. Raids are complex missions that require six Guardians to complete. Starting with Beyond Light, the Deep Stone Crypt raid will give you a Pinnacle drop every week, and if you are consistent you can hit 1260 in no time. This is assuming you can consistently bring a group of six people together.
Surrendering Raid Reputation Tokens will also give you great raid gear, but as with other Reputation Vendors, the gear will be below your level if you hit or exceed the soft limit. When performing a raid, there is a chance that crates will drop higher tier equipment. Carry out every raid after the weekly reset if you really care about leveling up.
Even outside of Pinnacle’s inventory, you will receive some incredibly powerful raid gear, so if you’re busy playing raids should be on your to-do list.
Mastering the Nightfall
Nightfall Strikes are beefed-up strikes that change the situation by adding random modifiers. Thanks to Shadowkeep, Nightfalls has received a significant makeover and now operates on the “Trial” system which offers different difficulty levels for increased rewards. Simply completing a few each week will get you tier 1 drop, but night strikes are also the source of Pinnacle rewards.
If you want to achieve this, you need to score at least 100,000 points when you complete the Nightfall. Unlike regular hits, Nightfalls give you points for various things like killing enemies. In order to score enough points you have to play on one of the highest difficulty levels which means you have to be close to 1250 to try this. To achieve this you need to act fast because the longer it takes the more points you will lose, so try to do it with your friends if you can to make sure you’re perfectly in sync.