In time for Destiny 2's PC release, we give you tips on how to stay on top of the game's leveling system and lay out all of its essential details.
Want to know how to reach Power Levels 300 in Destiny 2? It is not a difficulty task, all you need to do is follow the tips and tricks and objectives provided below. There are lot of benefits that you will be able to enjoy after reaching Power Level 300 in Destiny 2. Let's get started without wasting any time. Power Levels is similar to Light Level in Destiny 2, the more you have the more powerful your gear offensive and defensive abilities will be. There is a Level cap that increases on the basis of activities in the game. The highest you can reach is Power Level 300 where you have max character strength in the game. The Power Level also determines the gear you can find in Destiny 2, and so that has a direct impact on the power of your character.
Power Level 300 - How To Reach
Reaching to max power level requires a lot of time and work in the game, there is a process that you can follow to reach that level, so here in this guide will give you the methods you can try out to reach the max power level in Destiny 2.
What is Power Level and how it works?
Power Level will be visible as you start playing the game. As your power level rise so your Experience Level. It is linked with all things you do in the game like playing the story, finishing the various mission, Patrol, Activities, Killing up monsters, etc. By doing these activities you will earn XP. So, in the beginning, you are going to stuck with Level 20. But there is a massive 300 max power level and it takes time. One quick way to increase Power Levels is to keep a close watch on each and every drop you find in the game. Some of the items in it are having a higher level than what you have in your inventory. By picking them you get a boost.
Increase in Power Level means more efficient your character is in the battle. Its attack and defensive abilities will keep on increasing with it. Another benefit of high power level is getting access to new activities in the game. You can notice that in the story mode to play a further level you have to reach certain power level or else you cannot play it. This is applicable to other activities as well once you are done with the story. There is much end-game content that you will miss due to low Power Level. So you might be wondering where to find activities then check the below list.
The Red Legion Story Mission:
- Nessus: 200
- TitanL 220
- IO: 240
- EDZ: 260
Other Activities:
- Nightfall Strike (Weekly Milestone): Requirement - 230 Power Level to participate.
- Vanguard Strike: Requirement - 140 Power Level to participate.
- Leviathan Raid: Requirement - 260 to 280 Power Level to participate.
- Prestige Nightfall: Requirement - 300 Power Level to participate.
How To Increase To Max Power Level:
Reaching Power Level 230 in Destiny 2:
Once you are done playing the Red War Campaign Story, your character will at least gain Power Level 200. And getting around 230 is not a big deal. So at all cost, you have to play the story. Once you are done with that you will find Public Events in EDZ. Try to search the Lost Sectors. There are maximum chances that you will find some high power level Gears in this section and EDZ Tokens. You have to take these Tokens to Devrim Kay who will be at the Church, and he will give you Legendary Engram in exchange of Tokens. In this way, you can simply reach 230, but there is no use of waiting after that. The drops you will find after reaching this level in this area will not further contribute in Power Level.
Reaching Power Level 240 in Destiny 2:
To boost your Power Level to 240 you have to now visit Nessus. You have to participate in the Public Events in this area, try to search in the Lost Sectors. Again you will earn some Nessus Tokens in this part by playing the events. Once you have the tokens go to AI Failsafe and you will get Engrams in return. This will help you gain a bit more in the Power Level.
Reaching Power Level 265 in Destiny 2:
After achieving 240, you can now take part in Strikes. This is the place where you will need a good team with coordination so that it won’t be hard for you to win. You will earn Vanguard Tactician Tokens. You can exchange them with Zavala for Engrams. The first three Strikes will be all you will need to get 265, after that the Tokens you will receive will keep on falling. You have to find the source that offers you Power Loot, which is one of the fastest ways to increase Level. Once you are able to participate in higher activities by meeting the minimum Power Level requirement, you can grab lower level lots. Like Blue and Purple Drops from Enemies, Faction Rewards, Decrypting Blue and Purple Engrams, Completing Activities for loot chest.
Reaching Max Power Level:
Once you hit 265, you are already on a high level, but you can still push it a more by using Weapons and Armors Mod. You have to start taking part in World Quests. There is also Exotic Quest in the game which you have to play so that you can have some Exotic items in your inventory. Once done you have to go back to Public Events, and use the Fireteam Medallions. This will amplify your chances of earning Exotic Engrams. But if this seems tough process then you can purchase them from Tess Everis by paying Bright Dust. This will help you to reach 270.
Next, you have to start infusing in order to increase your Level. Visit the faction vendor, and you can try buying weaker items from them, then use Legendary Mods with the items and equip and infuse it. This will help you to reach 280, after this you can start crafting Legendary Mods in the game. You can use three Identical Blue mods to create a Purple one.
Another way to get more Power Level is by doing Milestones in the game. You can earn Powerful Gears through them. You can try playing up Flashpoints, Nightfalls, Crucible and Clan Task. These Milestones are usually head once in a week and so that is the only chance when you earn a reward. After finishing milestones you will earn Planetary Engrams that can help you to gain 10-15 Power Level.
You can also contribute to Clan XP, play weekly activities like Cayde’s Treasure Map, Arms Crucible, Exotic Quest like Mida Multi-Tool, Rat King and Sturm, etc.
Some useful Tips on Destiny 2 Power Level:
- Look for Public Events, you can earn 1 to 2 Blue pieces, or you can get a Legendary or Exotic also. You can also find Glimmer and Vendor Tokens. 20 Vendor Token is around 2 Legendary Pieces. This will be more possible, as you can play events quickly. Try to enter into Heroic version of these events to get more blue pieces.
- Look for Chests around, loot in lost sectors, and try to kill Elites. Elite’s enemies are the one with yellow bar on top of them.
- Find nearby Golden Chest for free Tokens.
- Faction Rewards are the another best way to boost Power Levels.
- Try saving your Weapon Mods, after you cross 265 then try using them. It is easier to gain a few at that point.
- Once you get a Engram decrypt it, so that you can gain max, if you keep them for later usage, there are chances the level would drop.
- Avoid infusing before you reach Power Level 265. Wait back or else you will lose the shards. This can be later used to buy items from Xur or even upgrading weapons.
- Whatever you have try to dismantle everything. By doing that you will get Legendary Shards in the game. You can use this currency to buy items from Xur and then infusing it. If you are dismantling a Legendary or Exotic item then you will earn these shards, and if you dismantle blue or green, you will get Gunsmith items. Take it to Banshee44 for Legendary Engrams.
Using A New Character To Boost Power Level Of Main:
There is a trick that can be used to boost Power Level of main character more by using the second one. It will consume time, but there are chances that you can achieve a double reward through weekly milestones. Follow the tips below.
- Create a New Character, this will be your second one. Ensure that it must be from the class of Main Character, otherwise sharing weapon and armor won’t work.
- Now with this new second character play the Campaign Story, in this way as the story send the second character will reach Level 20.
- Move your items from your Main Characters to the Second one. The second character will have the same power level as the first one.
- Play weekly milestones and earn your rewards with new gears. Transfer all the items and rewards to the Main character. Keep on doing this process once a week.
So these are the ways by which you can max out power levels in Destiny 2, do share your views on what method you prefer as the easiest. You can also read our Destiny 2 Wiki guide for full walkthrough and tips.
The arrival of Destiny 2's Season of Opulence brings a new Destiny 2 Power level cap to work towards - now set at 750 Power.
However, with the soft cap remaining at 500, getting to the max level cap works practically the same way as when Forsaken arrived.
But whether you've last been playing, getting closer to 750 will help you reach the game's richest end-game content, from the Nightfall to new Raids.
On this page:
How to get Destiny Power Level 690 easily
Let's start with the most interesting addition to Destiny 2 - power levelling. This started with the Season of the Drifter, and returns for June's Season of Opulence, helping people get as close to the 750 level cap for those who need the boost - provided you own the Forsaken expansion (you won't need to own the Annual Pass).
Want to get to Power Level 690 easily? You'll need to complete The Invitation quest, which you can begin by visiting Benedict 99-40 in the Tower.
It takes about an hour to complete - and means you can immediately access the new matchmade event Menagerie and the new Raid.
Destiny 2 Power level sources list to get to max level cap 750, including Powerful Gear sources
Learning which sources give what Power loot is key to faster and more effective levelling. The vast majority of activities will drop loot at a soft cap of 500, meaning it's easier to simply play the game how you want and gradually level up.
However from there, may activities - including Legendary Engrams and Vendor rewards - will cap the amount of gear you can get from them, forcing players to shift their focus elsewhere to keep going up.
Legendary Engrams and standard loot will stop at around 500, and so you must seek out 'Powerful Gear'. (Note that these 'regular' sources will technically scale with you, but at a pace of around 10 levels behind - so if you are 551-2, this loot will drop at 541-2.)
Activities that scale with you until the cap of 500:
- Blue and Purple drops from enemies
- Decrypting Blue and Purple Engrams
- Getting rewards from Tower vendors Zavala (Strikes), Shaxx (Crucible) and Gunsmith (Gunsmith materials).
- Completing activities (such as Public Events, Lost Sectors, Strikes, Crucible) and opening Loot Chests
Once you reach 500, then you have to switch and work on specific activities to increase your level, including the game's many 'Powerful Gear' sources.
To make things more complicated, many in the community have worked out not all Powerful Gear sources are equal. Though all Powerful Gear is useful, most will only increase an individual item's Power by just one after 650 (originally 600 at the launch of Black Armory) making it a very long levelling process.
That said, this slow progress might be a bug, according to Bungie:
We are investigating reports that players are receiving Powerful rewards at a lower power than expected. Please stay tuned for updates.
— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) March 6, 2019Either way, other activities will give you a much higher jump per loot drop - specifically Scourge of the Past - so you'll want to focus on those from 600 onwards. (Thanks to flikkeringlight on reddit for confirming this.)
(Remember, you can get to 690 very quickly and easily if you are an Annual Pass holder from the start of Season of the Opulence with the 'Imperial Summons' quest.)
'Powerful Gear' sources to get you to 750 slowly:
Note many of the below only appear when you are experience level 50, and have varying Weekly and Daily reset times where noted.
- Flashpoint (Weekly)
- Heroic Adventure in that week's Flashpoint (Daily)
- Daily Heroic Story Mission (Weekly)
- Crucible (Weekly and Daily)
- Gambit (Weekly and Daily)
- Strikes (Daily and Weekly)
- Complete 20 Challenges for Ikora (Weekly)
- Clan XP reward and Clan Crucible, Nightfall, Raid, Gambit completions (Weekly)
- Last Wish encounter wins and completion (Weekly)
- encounter wins and completion (Weekly)
- Nightfall completion (Weekly)
- Nightfall high score (Weekly)
- Iron Banner Bounties
- Final Wanted Bounty (Weekly)
- The Dreaming City activities, including Petra's Weekly Bounties for the Ascendant Challenge and weekly mission
- Black Armoury Forges
- Reckoning completion (Season of the Drifter activity)
'Powerful Gear' sources to get you from 600 to 750 quickly:
Note if you've yet to reach 600, the above will still increase your level, just very gradually - it's just these activities will give you the most beneficial boosts.
- Prime Engrams (essentially a permanent Three of Coins buff in-all-but-name)
- Exotic Engrams
- Year 2 Raid (Last Wish, Scourge of the Past, Crown of Sorrows) encounter wins and completions (Weekly)
- Menagerie completions (up to four per week, once per 'Power and Efficiency' Chalice upgrade)
As well as the above, there are a handful of 'one-time' sources of Powerful Gear, including the likes of:
- Zavala quest (Complete Strikes wearing set of Season 4 Vanguard armour)
- Shaxx quest (Win Crucible match wearing set of Season 4 Crucible armour)
- Drifter quest (Win a Gambit match wearing set of Season 4 Gambit armour)
- Ikora quest (Complete three daily or weekly challenges)
- Spider quest (Complete four Lost Sectors in Tangled Shore)
- Forsaken Exotic quest completions, such as Ace of Spades, Chaperone and Malfeasance
Destiny 2 activities by Power level restriction
As before, increasing your Power Level makes your attack and defensive abilities better, but it also opens the door to new activities.
Many end-game events have a recommended Power Level, and having the highest Power Level possible is advised for end-game content. Post-Warmind this difference between your own and an enemy's Power level has been made even greater, increasing in difficulty until it's 50 levels above.
From there, they will have an ?? icon in their name, and won't take damage from the player at all. Don't bite off more than you can chew! That said, with the arrival of Forsaken, completing activities while 'severely under-leveled' will offer larger Power upgrades, so there's a chance you can get something better if you're playing ahead of where you should.
Here's a list of the most prominent activities that require specific Power levels:
- Strikes - 300, 400 or 500 Power Level options
- Leviathan Raid / Raid Lair - 300 Power Level
- Daily Heroic Adventure - 320 Power Level
- Spire of Stars Raid Lair - 370 Power Level
- Spire of Stars Prestige Raid Lair - 380 Power Level
- Escalation Protocol - 380 Power Level
- Nightfall - 540 Power Level
- Final Wanted Bounty Adventure - 540 Power Level
- Last Wish Raid - 550 Power Level
- Black Armory Forges - 600+ Power Level
- Scourge of the Past raid - 640 Power Level
- Menagerie - 690 Power Level
- Crown of Sorrow Raid - 740 Power Level
New to Destiny 2? Power level and XP system explained
New to Destiny 2? For those coming from the original Destiny, your Power Level is essentially the new name for Light Level, though it is now a number that is visible and worth working on as soon as you start the game.
Whether you forgot the ins and outs of the system, or are completely new to Destiny in general, here's how it works.
XP levelling
There are two numbers associated with how powerful your Guardian is on the gear screen - Experience Level and Power Level. Everything you do in Destiny 2 - completing missions, Patrol activities, killing monsters - gives you XP, and at a certain point, you will hit the experience level cap of 20. (Or for those with Curse of Osiris - level 25, level 30 for Warmind, and level 50 for Forsaken).
There is also a large number on the right, which is your Power level. This second rank takes into account the average 'Power level' of all your currently equipped weapons and armour.
Essentially, every piece of gear that drops could be higher than what you have, so you want to keep an eye on your inventory, look at any flashing boxes in armour or weapon slots, and compare the two. Swap it around, and the average should increase a few points.
This is the system that essentially dictates how powerful you are the entire game. However, experience level is important to begin with because that restricts not only early story mission access, but what Power you can reach.
So if your experience level is too low to progress or equip something, get XP. This is thankfully really simple - just play the game. Killing enemies and completing story missions is the easiest way to do this, and if you're stuck, complete the game's many planetary activities (such as Lost Sectors, Public Events) until it goes up.
Either way, you should hit experience level 20 by the time you complete the game's core set of story missions, and 30 by the time you're done with Warmind, and 40 once you're done with Forsaken's story. Once you hit the cap you can still earn XP, with each 'level up' giving you a Bright Engram. But you should worry less about XP in general - as this is when your Power level really matters.
Essentially, you need to get increasingly high numbers of Power on your weapons and armour to bring up your average. That is essentially the end game, finding ways to increase your Power level from as many ways as possible.
The way loot drops work in Destiny is that while it can drop at a lower or the same Power level that you are on now, it will generally scale with you to give you increases a few levels above - so the more you play, the more chances of you gaining better loot will be.
Though in our experience Faction rewards can also drop up to 10 levels above your current gear level be aware these regular drops and Engrams only work until a point - as once you hit the 'soft cap' of 500, you need to look elsewhere for the best possible gear to take you forward - such as from Exotics and Powerful Gear sources.
It's also important to stress most loot will scale with you, even if you get drops from a much more difficult activity. Don't expect to get 370 drops if you are just hitting 300, for example!
What's changed in Destiny 2's Power Level system and how to get to Power level 500
If you're jumping into Destiny 2's second year with Forsaken, levelling mostly works the same as before, but with the following changes:
- The XP cap has increased from 30 to 50, and while the Power Level 'soft cap' is 500, it's said to be tied to your XP cap progress - so once you reach XP level 50, you can reach the soft cap of 500.
- The usual rule of Power level increasing slightly with new loot has changed a little. Completing activities while 'severely under-leveled' will offer larger Power upgrades, and vice versa, so don't be surprised by a drop much higher than you are from time-to-time. For example, we got 500+ drops from Crucible matches despite being around the 400 mark! However, by and large, expect loot to scale just above your current Power level as before.
- Milestones are now 'Challenges' that appear in the Director. Up to XP level 50, these drop Legendary loot. After 50, these are replaced by Powerful Gear activities to help you get past the soft cap of 500, and have different Weekly and Daily resets.
- Planetary Tokens and their respective Vendor Engrams no longer really exist, so instead the three vendors you'll use to get Legendary Engrams from are Zavala (Strikes), Shaxx (Crucible) and Gunsmith (Gunsmith materials).
- Mods no longer grant +5 Power level, so any existing weapons or armour with that mod has disappeared. On the bright side, you no longer have to worry about Infusing with this in mind.
- Infusion now works based on the slot it's in (Primary needs a Primary weapon) and not the weapon type (so you can no longer Infuse an Energy Pulse Rifle into a Kinect Pulse Rifle).
Though it's generally the same system as previously - you will gradually get better loot from all drops until level 50 and Power level 500 - you might see a much higher level item drop appear from time-to-time. The biggest take away, ultimately, is if you're not at level 50, the Power level 'soft cap' won't be at 500, so get there as soon as you can.
Want to get to Power Level 500 as soon as possible? We recommend:
- Getting to XP level 50. Starting with Forsaken story missions until you hit a wall is probably the best way to get started, as it will naturally give you loot as you go.
- Crucible matches and Public Events are still the best way of getting loot and XP quickly, even if the XP gains from Public Events have been reduced in favour of an increase from Strikes and the Nightfall.
- Once you meet Tangled Shore vendor Spider, his array of Wanted Bounties are a good source of easy-to-find Legendary Gear.
- Don't worry about Infusing until you hit the soft cap. Not only is it easier to just get loot drops - since Infusion now costs Planetary materials - but most of them will be rare (blue), which can't be Infused anyway.
- Don't cash in all your Vanguard, Crucible and Gunsmith tokens all at once. If you can, wait until you are experience level 50, when the soft cap is at its highest point, but don't wait too much longer - they are only good until level 500.
- If you have Powerful Gear waiting but you haven't hit 500 yet, wait until you have before collecting it, as they are one of the few sources of loot in the game that will get you from 500 to 750.
If you aren't focused on getting to Power Level 500 as fast as possible, then just enjoy the game at your own pace. Then from after that, the Powerful Gear grind begins.