Lightfall introduces a number of changes to the worlds of Destiny 2, but the expansion also levels the playing field across the board with a power level reset for all players. Whether you’re a new Guardian or a seasoned veteran, everyone begins Lightfall at the new power level of 1,600, and as you progress through the game you’ll steadily increase those numbers.
Now is the time for veteran players to race to a high level of achievement ahead of the launch of the Root of Nightmares raid on March 10th. This grind to power up will go through three phases as there are soft, power and pinnacle caps to hit along the way, which we’ll detail below.
What is Destiny 2 power level?
This number on your Guardian screen is essentially the total of your Power gained from your equipped weapons, armor, and seasonal artifacts. This determines how much damage you can dish out and receive, with other factors like armor mods and subclass loadouts also affecting your survivability.
How to quickly increase your power level in Destiny 2
The shortest way to quickly max out your power is also the most difficult in Lightfall. Completing the new campaign on Legend difficulty will grant you bigger and more powerful rewards, and if you can complete it, you’ll receive a power level 1770 item for each of your weapon and armor slots. In addition, you will also be rewarded with unique exotics for your subclass. Options include the Swarmer leg armor for Warlocks, the Cyrtarachne’s Facade helm for Hunters, and the Abeyant Leap leg armor for Titans.
There are plenty of other options as well, as virtually every Destiny 2 activity has a reward that will help you power up. All you have to do to gain a quick numerical advantage is simply outfit your Guardian with better numbered armor and weapons. That’s the basic way to increase performance, although you still want to invest in your gear by upgrading it. The more energy your gear has, the more opportunities you have to slot in armor mods while gaining useful benefits, but luckily you can upgrade your existing armor with better parts.
At the same time, you should invest in your seasonal artifact, the Ascendant Scepter. In addition to being a source of powerful perks and armor mods, the Ascendant Scepter also contributes to your overall performance, although you must do one much of bounties and missions to earn the experience points needed to level up. Being on a Fireteam also helps earn XP as you get a boost from all sources when you team up. If possible, wait until you’re in a fireteam to redeem your completed bounties and seasonal challenges for bonus XP
Once you reach Power Level 1770, the best way forward is to focus on earning Powerful and Pinnacle Engrams. You should focus on getting powerful engrams first and leave the pinnacle engram challenges for last. It is more efficient to first cap with powerful gear engrams and then use Pinnacle engrams to break that cap. Save them until the end of the week so you can drain each point of energy before the weekly reset begins Tuesday at 9am PT / 12pm ET.
If you receive a powerful engram while on patrol, you should have that decoded as soon as possible. These higher tier drops are fixed at a fixed level, so it’s worth paying a visit to Master Rahool in the Tower to convert them into gear that can boost your power level.
Once you’ve leveled up a Guardian enough for the week, you can shorten the turn-on process by transferring your high-level weapons to one of your other characters. While each Guardian class has unique armor, weapons can be used universally among them, allowing them to progress very quickly towards the soft cap. Go through the same process with your second Warden to earn new gear and weapons as they hit Power and Pinnacle caps, then repeat this process again with your third subclass for quick wins.
You can also upgrade your favorite gear with Upgrade Modules, which can be purchased from a variety of sources. Banshee-44 sells them in the Tower, they can be earned by leveling up in your Battle Pass, they drop from World Chests in the Lightfall Campaign, and you can buy Concentrated Mattergems in the Eververse Store, which allows an Upgrade Module to drop from a boss level enemy.
Whether it’s putting on new gear or upgrading your existing pieces, you’ll want to make sure you’re always pushing your power level up, because the higher your number, the better your overall stats in Destiny 2.
What is the Lightfall soft cap?
For Lightfall, hunt a power level of 1,750. Starting at 1,600, you’ll quickly earn engrams and gear from defeated enemies as the campaign progresses. Other gear sources include the Defiant Battlegrounds playlist, Strikes, PvP, Gambit, and other world activities. Any armor and weapons that drop from these activities will be higher than your starting point of 1600, and you can keep these items in your character inventory to ensure you get higher level drops as you gradually level up.
What is the Lightfall Power cap?
Once you hit 1750 on your Guardian, you’ll notice a slower grind up to 1800. From this point on, you’ll be on the hunt for Powerful and Pinnacle Engrams from a variety of sources in order to cap your Guardian. A number of Destiny 2 world activities provide the coveted powerful engrams for completing weekly challenges, which typically involve playing through them a set number of times. You should focus on these specific activities to reach the power cap:
- dares of eternity
- Complete eight Vanguard Dealer Rewards per week
- Completing eight Gunsmith Merchant Bounties per week
- Complete eight Crucible Vendor Bounties per week
- Complete Nimbus Reputation challenges
- Random Prime Engram Drops
What is the Lightfall Pinnacle Cap?
At the very top of the power level mountain is the 1810 pinnacle cap. This is the slowest part of the power level grind, and only pinnacle rewards will increase your power level above 1800. The weekly partition mission also drops powerful gear. which is unlocked as you explore more of Lightfall.
There are only a limited number of these rewards that can be collected each week, so make sure you chase them when you reach the power cap, and you should participate in these activities to earn them:
- Complete three Gambit matches
- Complete three Crucible matches
- Complete three Defiant Battlegrounds Playlist matches
- Complete the last playlist dungeon or raid
- Complete Vanguard playlist strikes with a matching elemental boost
- Complete the weekly campaign mission
- Earn 200,000 points or more on a Nightfall Strike
- Earn 250,000 points or more in Dares of Eternity
- Complete the Tower of the Guardian Dungeon
More Lightfall guides
- Neomuna regional chest locations
- How to deal with tormentors
- Defiant Battlegrounds Guide
- Defiant Battlegrounds – Awoken Favors Guide
- How to get Defiant keys to open Defiant chests
- Seasonal Challenges Guide
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