Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained

Leveling your cogwheel and expanding your Power level is an important portion of Destiny 2, and is 1 of nan astir confusing.

This page breaks down everything you should cognize astir expanding your Power level pursuing nan merchandise of Lightfall — an description that increases nan level headdress and nan requirements for various high-level activities, specified arsenic Nightfalls aliases raids.

How Power level and cogwheel drops work

Power level successful Destiny 2 is simply a numerical worth that determines really overmuch harm you return and woody to your foes — wherever nan higher nan level, nan much harm you woody and nan little you receive. Outside of harm dealing, cognize that activities successful nan crippled will person a group Power level and you’ll beryllium much effective erstwhile you’re adjacent to aliases exceeding that level.

Players and enemies each person a Power level and they get compared together. Your overall Power level comes from averaging nan Power level of your gear, plus immoderate further levels from your seasonal artifact.

When it comes to gear, Destiny 2 staggers your advancement pinch different Power level caps: nan soft cap, nan Powerful cap, and nan Pinnacle cap. Each of those caps represents a constituent astatine which definite types of drops will nary longer summation your Power level, and truthful you person to displacement your priorities each week successful bid to proceed expanding your level — thing this guideline tin thief you retired with.

Bungie via Polygon

Additionally, a seasonal artifact level is added to your gear's mean Power level. This is really you are capable to get to a higher level than nan Pinnacle aliases Max cap. You summation artifact level by playing passim a play and summation XP and it resets astatine nan extremity of season. If you’re looking to summation XP fast, it is champion to workplace bounties arsenic they supply immoderate of nan quickest and easiest XP successful nan game.

Max level caps successful Destiny 2

There are 3 level caps successful Destiny 2, nan soft cap, nan Powerful cap, and nan Pinnacle cap. For Lightfall, those caps are:

• Soft cap: 1750
• Powerful cap: 1800
• Pinnacle cap: 1810

We’ll break down each headdress below.

How to scope nan soft headdress successful Destiny 2

The soft headdress for Destiny 2 is 1750. What does “soft cap” mean? It intends that up until you scope 1750 Power level, beautiful overmuch thing and everything tin springiness you a Power level increase. This tin beryllium bluish drops from nan crushed aliases activity rewards; thing that drops for you will beryllium a fewer Power supra your existent Power level. Once you scope nan soft cap, you’ll nary longer get bluish drops.

The champion measurement to scope nan soft headdress is to simply play nan game, arsenic sloppy of activity, you’ll person cogwheel up to that Power level regularly.

Image: Bungie

If you want to get past nan soft headdress quickly, and you are conscionable starting Lightfall, past it’s worthy considering playing nan Legendary campaign, which will springiness you fixed cogwheel astatine 20 Power supra nan soft headdress upon completion (1770). This is simply a challenge, however, particularly for caller players — truthful see playing different activities alternatively while you familiarise yourself pinch nan game.

How to scope nan Powerful cogwheel headdress successful Destiny 2

The Powerful headdress for Destiny 2 is 1800, meaning that betwixt 1750 and 1800, nan only measurement to summation your Power level is to get a reward from activities which assistance Powerful aliases Pinnacle gear.

Activities and sources pinch Powerful cogwheel drops known truthful acold successful Lightfall include:

• Completing 8 vendor bounties: Gambit, Vanguard, Crucible, and Banshee (+1 Power)
• Weekly Nightfall situation (+1 Power)
• Gambit, Vanguard, Crucible, and Banshee rank rewards (+1 Power)
• Three Dares of Eternity runs (+2 Power)
• Prime and Exotic Engrams which driblet astatine random (Power worth TBC)

Image: Bungie via Polygon

If you are trying to beryllium arsenic optimal arsenic imaginable — perchance for a time 1 ambush — you’ll want to prevention each of your powerful rewards until aft you get to 1800. Powerful loot drops are constricted per week, truthful you don’t want to discarded Powerful, aliases Pinnacle drops erstwhile you tin still get levels from unrestricted rewards.

How to scope nan Pinnacle / Max Power headdress successful Destiny 2

The Pinnacle headdress for Destiny 2 is 1810, meaning that betwixt 1800 and 1810, the only measurement to summation your Power level is to get Pinnacle rewards. Similar to Powerful rewards, if you are trying to maximize nan effectiveness of nan Pinnacle rewards, you won’t want to cod them until aft you person reached Power 1800, arsenic these loot drops are constricted per week.

Activities pinch Pinnacle cogwheel drops known truthful acold successful Lightfall include:

• Hawthorne (clan vendor) rewards and bounties (+1 Power)
• Three Crucible matches (+1 Power)
• Three Gambit matches (+1 Power)
• Three Vanguard Strikes while matching nan play elemental singe (+1 Power)
• Latest raid, The Root of Nightmares (available starting 3/10/23 astatine reset) (+2 Power)
• Latest dungeon, Spire of nan Watcher (+2 Power)
• 100,000 Nightfall people (+2 Power)
• 250,000 people connected Dares of Eternity (+2 Power)
• Iron Banner Challenges (when nan arena is active) (+2 Power)
• Final brushwood successful ambush and dungeon highlighted successful play rotation (Power worth TBC)

Image: Bungie via Polygon

It’s worthy mentioning that there’s nary constituent successful redeeming Pinnacles if you’re not going to scope 1800 connected that characteristic by nan extremity of nan week. We urge conscionable doing each Powerful rewards connected a characteristic first and past tackling Pinnacle activities.

When is nan champion clip to unfastened Engrams successful Destiny 2?

Until you deed nan Powerful cap, you should move successful Prime Engrams instantly aft you prime them up. These are considered +1 Powerful rewards from erstwhile they drop, meaning their Power does not summation arsenic your Power level does. If you proceed to level up without turning nan Prime Engram in, you’ll fundamentally discarded it. If you’re struggling successful nan ambush and you get a Prime Engram, it’s ever worthy taking a Tower break to decrypt it.

Image: Bungie

Destiny 2 besides uses a slot leveling system, meaning that cogwheel drops per slot and is based connected your existent mean Power level. A sticking constituent of this strategy is that immoderate of your cogwheel slots whitethorn autumn behind. Your wide level could beryllium 1725 while your Hunter’s Cloak could beryllium stuck astatine 1720 and your helmet is successful nan stratosphere astatine 1728.

To make nan astir of your Powerful and Pinnacle drops, effort to support your items wrong a fewer Power levels of each other, which tin beryllium done by collecting items that driblet “at Power”. “At Power” intends nan cogwheel drops astatine your existent mean Power level, which tin thief bring up immoderate pieces that autumn down (bringing your Cloak up to 1725 and raising your wide mean without utilizing a play Powerful aliases Pinnacle reward drop). This tin summation your wide Power level and make those Powerful and Pinnacles much impactful.

If you don’t moreover retired your armor, a Pinnacle aliases Powerful mightiness driblet a +2 powerfulness helmet, which would beryllium a discarded since it’s already your champion slot. Many playlist activities — Strikes, Gambit, Crucible — will driblet items “at Power’, truthful support an oculus retired for immoderate cogwheel that’s lagging behind.

How to scope nan Pinnacle headdress quickly successful Destiny 2

If you are not looking to min-max your Power level, conscionable play done nan crippled and person fun. But for those looking to level arsenic accelerated arsenic imaginable — for nan ambush aliases different end-game activities — location are a fewer champion practices to consider.

If you are going for a day-one completion of nan caller ambush successful Lightfall, nan recommended Power level is estimated to beryllium 1780. To execute this, you tin conscionable tally nan Legendary campaign and climb up to those Power levels complete nan people of nan first fewer weeks. Compared to past raids, this should beryllium akin to The Witch Queen which had a comparatively easy Power level grind compared to nan others.

Image: Bungie

If you person 3 Destiny classes, you mightiness want to level 1 up faster than nan others. You tin really play successful a circumstantial bid to make this easier, arsenic nan past characteristic you play successful a week will almost ever extremity up nan highest of your 3 characters.

If you are aiming to play nan ambush connected time one, aliases conscionable trying to maximize your main character’s Power level, nan champion measurement to do this is to usage a snaking order. First, rank your characters successful an bid that you consciousness you want to attraction on, wherever your apical characteristic is your main, and nan past characteristic is your slightest played. For example, nan bid I want to play nan caller Lightfall raid for my characters is going Warlock, Titan, Hunter; successful week one, you’ll want to play your characters successful that classed order, getting nan characteristic complete 1750 (ideally by beating nan Legendary campaign) and past completing each Powerful and Pinnacle activity earlier moving connected to nan adjacent character.

So for me, I’d commencement connected my main (Warlock), move to my 2nd characteristic (Titan), and past yet my 3rd (Hunter). In week two, I’ll want to reverse that order, playing connected my 3rd characteristic (Hunter) astatine nan opening of nan week earlier ending pinch my main (Warlock). This should consequence successful my Warlock having nan highest powerfulness level retired of my 3 characters.