In Destiny 2, your Guardian’s Power Level is the average level of all its equipable gear and dictates how much damage you can inflict on enemies and take before dying.
Needless to say, Power Leveling is an essential part of the Destiny 2 experience, allowing you to tackle endgame activities. Our Destiny 2 Beginner’s Guide covers all the other cornerstones, including XP farming, but Power Levels should remain a top priority.
Updated as of Episode 1: Echoes. See Updates.
Destiny 2 Power Caps
Power Level Caps remained unchanged for a few seasons, but that changed with the release of The Final Shaoe. As such, Light Level Caps as of Episode 1: Act 1 are the following: All Guardians start with 1900 Base Power Level, the Soft cap is 1940, the Powerful cap is 1990, and the Pinnacle cap is 2000.
| Level Cap | Power Level | Gear needed |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Level | 1900 | – |
| Soft Cap | 1950 | Any |
| Hard Cap | 2000 | Powerful |
| Pinnacle Cap | 2010 | Pinnacle |
Destiny 2 Pinnacle Gear
Unlike most MMOs, you can only increase your Power Level by finding higher-level gear. These are all the activities in the game that reward Pinnacle gear (needed to reach the Pinnacle cap):
| Source | Location | Rewards | Frequency | Need Fireteam? | Fireteam needed | Type | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salvation's Edge Encounters 4 Total Rewards | Legends | +2 x 4 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle |  The Final Shape |
| Warlord's Ruin Dungeon Encounters 3 Total Rewards | EDZ | +2 x 3 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle |  Lightfall Dungeon Key |
| Excision Mission Complete Quest | Pale Hearth | +2 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle | The Final Shape |
| Cooperative Focus Mission Complete Quest | Pale Hearth | +2 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle | The Final Shape |
| Ghost Bounties Complete Bounties & Open Chests | Pale Hearth | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle |  Free-to-Play |
| Rituals Pathfinder Complete Path + Resets | Playlists | +2 x 3 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | Free-to-Play |
| Seasonal: Arena Breach Executable 3 Completions | H.E.L.M | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle |  Episode 1: Echoes |
| Seasonal: Arena Breach Executable (Expert) 3 Completions | H.E.L.M | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | Episode 1: Echoes |
| Seasonal: Enigma Protocol Mission Open Chests | H.E.L.M | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | Episode 1: Echoes |
| Failsafe V1.0 Bounties Complete Bounties & Open Chests | H.E.L.M | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | Episode 1: Echoes |
| Nightfall: The Ordeal Score 200,000 Points | Playlist: Vanguard | +2 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle | Free-to-Play |
| Trials of Osiris Win 7 Matches | Playlist: Crucible | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | The Final Shape |
| Trials of Osiris Win 50 Rounds | Playlist: Crucible | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | The Final Shape |
| Trials of Osiris Win 7 Games with no Losses | Playlist: Crucible | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | The Final Shape |
| Competitive PvP Complete 7 Placement Matches | Playlist: Crucible | +2 | Season | No | No | Pinnacle | Free-to-Play |
| Weekly Raid Full completion | Various | +2 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle | |
| Weekly Dungeon (Full completion) | Various | +2 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Pinnacle | |
| Iron Banner Dailly Challenges (4 total rewards) | Playlist: Crucible | +2 x 4 | Monthly | No | No | Pinnacle | Free-to-Play |
| Hawthorne It's in the Cards Challenge Give 5 Commendations | Tower | +2 | Weekly | No | No | Pinnacle | Free-to-Play |
PS: This post only covers how to increase your Base Power Level. You can also gain extra Power Levels by earning XP. We cover that and how to unlock your Season Pass rewards in our XP farming guide.
Destiny 2 Powerful Gear
These are all the activities that reward Powerful-level gear (needed to reach the Powerful Cap):
| Source | Location | Rewards | Frequency | Need Fireteam? | Fireteam needed | Type | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Hearth Pathfinder Complete Path | Pale Hearth | +5 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Ritual Activities Complete 3, 6, 9 Activities | Tower | +3 x 3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Gunsmith Spare Parts Challenge Complete 8 Bounties | Tower | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Onslaught: Playlist Complete 50 Waves | Playlist: Vanguard | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Onslaught Complete 30 Waves within a single activity | Playlist: Vanguard | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| The Final Shape Exotic Quests | Exotic Quests | +3 | Season | No | No | Powerful | The Final Shape |
| Legend & Master Lost Sectors Exotics | World drops | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Exotic Engrams | World drops | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Prime Engrams | World drops | +4 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Clan Engram Rewards 4 Total Rewards | Tower | +3 x 4 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Trials of Osiris 3 wins on the same card | Playlist: Crucible | +4 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Powerful | Lightfall |
| Trials of Osiris 5 wins on the same card | Playlist: Crucible | +4 | Weekly | Yes | Yes | Powerful | Lightfall |
| 3 Completions of Strikes, Crucible or Gambit matches 3 Total Rewards | Playlists | +3 x 3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Reputation Rewards Rank Up | Playlist: Crucible | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Reputation Rewards Rank Up | Playlist: Gambit | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Reputation Rewards Rank Up | Playlist: Vanguard | +3 | Weekly | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Major Infamy Rank Up | Playlist: Gambit | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Major Valor Rank Up | Playlist: Crucible | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Major Vanguard Rank Up | Playlist: Vanguard | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Major Master Rahool Rank Up | Tower | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Major Hawthorne Rank Up | Tower | +3 | Repeatable | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
| Obtain Pursuit weapon | Tower | +3 | Season | No | No | Powerful | Free-to-Play |
These two tables cover absolutely every Powerful and Pinnacle gear source in Destiny 2. Depending on where you are on your road to Max Power Level, you can filter the tables accordingly. For example, you can filter sources to only see:
- Activities requiring a Fireteam (without Matchmaking)
- Activities considered “easy” (or hard)
- Activities that are free-to-play
For more details about these activities that rotate weekly, you can check out our Weekly Challenges guide, which we update every Tuesday at reset!
How to reach Max Power Level in Destiny 2
You may be familiar with the struggle of chasing Pinnacle gear to eventually reach the Max Power level (and the frustration of getting everything but the one item you need for three weeks in a row).
But whether you’re a returning player or a brand-new player, this section covers how leveling works and how to level up as fast as possible this season.
Guiding Principles to Leveling in Destiny 2:
- Your Power Level is the average of the Power Level of all your gear
- That average takes into account equipped gear, gear in your inventory, and even gear in your vault.
- Never dismantle your highest Power Level item per slot (even if it’s a blue).
- Worst case, you can infuse that blue into a better item.
- Playing on 3 characters will help you level up faster
- The activities and strategies to level up will change depending on what cap you’re currently at.
As a reminder, this chart summarizes what type of gear you will need to increase your Power Level until you reach that elusive Max Power Level, currently set at 1810:
| Level Cap | Power Level | Gear needed |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Level | 1900 | – |
| Soft Cap | 1950 | Any |
| Hard Cap | 2000 | Powerful |
| Pinnacle Cap | 2010 | Pinnacle |
Destiny 2 Soft cap: 1940 Power Level
Drops from any source will help you increase your Power Level to reach the soft cap (1900).
This part is simple. Basically, everything in the game will drop gear that will help you increase your Power Level. This includes Legendary and Rare gear. In fact, Rare gear (blues) plays a vital role at this stage, and you should be actively seeking blue drops whenever possible!
✅ You should preferably never chase Powerful or Pinnacle rewards before hitting the soft cap first.
Tips to reach the soft cap as fast as possible:
- Play the Lightfall campaign in Legend Mode:
- Participate in Public Events when you see one (and turn them into Heroic Public events when possible)
- Actively search for chests (especially the golden chests in the Cosmodrome)
- Do every quest that rewards gear
Again, everything works at this stage. All you need to do is grind and play a lot.
Destiny 2 Powerful cap: 1990Power
Only Powerful and Pinnacle sources will help you progress towards the Powerful cap. Both Powerful and Pinnacle sources are highlighted in the Directory and the table above.
Note you won’t be able to see Powerful and Pinnacle gear challenges in your directory until you hit the soft cap!
Tips to reach the hard cap as fast as possible:
- Only Powerful and Pinnacle gear will increase your average Power Level
- Always equalize your gear. More on that below.
- Bonus: You can work on your Crucible, Strikes, and Gambit Bounty Challenges to also earn Bright Dust to spend in the Eververse store.
Equalizing your gear: When leveling up, some of your gear will be below the average of the rest. When that happens, you should chase lesser rewards to bring that lagging gear up to the average!
How to equalize your gear
Seasoned players know this crucial method to efficiently increase your Light Level. In fact, true GAMERS used to keep track of their current Power Levels per slot in an Excel sheet. They would then identify the gear that was lagging behind and find ways to bring those slots to the average.
Luckily for you and me, the process is much easier now. All you need to do is launch DIM (shot for Destiny Item Manager, my absolute favorite D2 tool in the world) and click on your Power Level:
This will tell you exactly what slots are lagging behind your average. This means even a Blue piece of gear could help you increase your Power Level for that slot.
For example, you’re going for the Pinnacle cap and see one or more slots lagging behind your average. You basically just need to stop chasing Pinnacle gear and only run activities that reward Powerful gear until all your gear is at the same level as your average. Even better: You can actively chase rewards that will match the slot you’re looking to upgrade. Some examples:
- The Season Pass can be kept for when you’re working towards your Powerful or Pinnacle caps and need upgrades for specific slots!
- Seasonal Activities often let you choose specific weapons and armor. These are generally Powerful rewards and should be used to level up the slots that need it the most!
And by the way, this equalizing tip is also valid when going for the Powerful cap.
Destiny 2 Pinnacle cap: 2000 Power
This section is straightforward. When you reach the Powerful cap (1800), only Pinnacle sources will give you progress.
Tips to reach the Pinnacle cap as fast as possible:
- You can use Powerful gear to equalize your equipment closer to the average (as covered in the previous section)
- You can filter the table at the top of this post to only see Pinnacle rewards:
- Most of these activities are not matchmade, which means you’ll have to find a Fireteam beforehand.
- Pro tip: Discord is a great place to find groups, and our LFG guide covers all the best Destiny 2 Discord servers you should check out.
By the way, Bungie made the Pinnacle climb slightly easier in Season 10: Some Powerful gear sources were turned into Pinnacle sources providing +1 Power.
Why Power Levels still matter
With so many activities requiring extremely low Power Levels, many guardians wonder if Power Levels even matter anymore. Truth is, for most activities, they don’t. But if you’re remotely interested in Seasonal or Endgame content, Power Level matters more than ever.
These are the activities where Power Level is critical (either because there’s a minimum requirement or because your opponents can take advantage of it in PVP modes):
| Activity | Minimum requirement | Power Level Enabled? |
| Grandmaster Nightfalls | TBC | Yes |
| Nightfall: Master | TBC | Yes |
| Nightfall: Legend | TBC | Yes |
| Nightfall: Hero | TBC | Yes |
| Solo Lost Sectors: Master | TBC | Yes |
| Solo Lost Sectors: Legend | TBC | Yes |
| Crucible: Trials of Osiris | TBC | Yes |
In conclusion, you can play several activities with the minimum Power Level. But if you’re serious about progressing and eventually tackling endgame activities, you’ll have to grind Power Levels.
How Level-Up Faster in Destiny 2: Tips and Tricks
If you’ve read this far, you already know how to efficiently increase your Max Power Level in Destiny 2. Those are the basics, but if you’re struggling to level up or simply want to increase your Power Level even faster, the following tips will definitely help:
Prime Engrams
Prime Engrams are a technically unlimited source of Powerful gear (as long as you play the game a lot and RNG stays on your side). Just remember: The Power Level of the Engram will remain at the level it was when found, not when decrypted.
Therefore, decrypt your engrams as soon as possible!
In any case, challenging activities (such as the Raid or Dungeons) will reward you with more Prime Engrams, which can either help you reach the Powerful cap faster or help you equalize gear if you’re already chasing the Pinnacle cap.
Grinding 2 or 3 characters?
If you’re prepared to level up your 3 characters (or 2), you can follow the same steps described above. You need to start with your least important character and finish with your most important character.
As soon as you’re done with the first character, transfer its highest Power Level weapons to the next character. Rinse and repeat.
Easy Pinnacle Sources in Destiny 2
Powerful sources are fairly common and not particularly challenging. Pinnacle sources are a different story. They are difficult because they are connected to activities, but mostly because they often require you to find your own Fireteam.
These are, in my opinion, the easiest Pinnacle sources in the game (trust me, I’ve done them weekly just by using LFG tools):
- Playlist Pinnacles: These only grant +1 Power Level, but they are extremely easy compared to the others.
- Nightfall: The Ordeal: Most people know how to run it, so finding a capable group in LFG is easy.
And these are, in a nutshell, easier ways to slowly reach the max Light Level cap in Destiny 2.
Before you go…
The entire purpose of leveling up as fast as possible is to have access to the most challenging and rewarding activities in Destiny 2. If you’re on your way to the Pinnacle cap but feel ready to tackle more difficult content, we suggest:
- Legend Lost Sectors: Challenging activities that can be tackled solo for a chance to earn Exotic armor
- Nightfall weapon this week: With different difficulty settings and matchmaking options, these are perfect for easing your way into challenging content.
See latest Updates
- June 26, 2024: Major updates following the release of The Final Shape DLC.
- February 29, 2024: General updates, including activities released during Season of the Wish (S23).
- September 18, 2023: General updates, including activities released during Season of the Witch.
- May 24, 2024: General updates to reflect the introduction of Season of the Deep.
- Jan 12, 2023: General updates connected to Seasons 19 gear sources.
- Jun 6, 2022: General updates connected to Season 17: Crown of Sorrow gear sources added, War Table sources removed.
Stay tuned, and don’t forget to bookmark this page for next season!
Hi,
I red a ton of topics regarding my questions and still not sure what is the right answer. I am currently power level 1,013 (1,006 gear + 7 artifact). First, do I have to wear my highest weapons and armors in order to drop better gear? If not, should I kept them with me or having them in my vault is okay to get better gear?
Second, what’s the range of the level of the droped gear compared to your power level? For instance, in my case, if I drop an item/endgram, would it be around -3/+3 or -3/0?
thank you in advance!
You can have them in your inventory or vault and still get better gear, dont worry.
Is Luna’s Calling still a thing? I don’t see it
Nope.. Didn’t n not working for me at all wasted 10 pinnacles in two weeks, they even drop 1 level lower than my equipped one. U hv to be equipped with highest numbers to get +1 or +2 pinnacle. I don’t know is it just happening with me constantly or in general tht no one seems to talk abt it yet.😢
All of the moon activities that have a gold icon on the map representing that they drop powerful gear have only dropped sunset 1060 gear for me. Lunas calling, memory of vel tarlowe, etc. are a waste of time if you’re trying to get powerful gear over 1060.
I don’t really know what the issue is for you, but pinnacles will drop +1 or +2 no matter if you have the gear equipped or not. Could you be a bit more specific?
ive came across this issue as well, ive had a full weeks worth of pincils drop -1 light then what my charator was,
Which 4 of the 5 encounters in Kings fall drop +2 pinnacles?
Hey, love the page and the help it provides. Just wanted to say that I did the Pinnacle Exo Challenge at PL 1257 and my drop was 1259. It may only be a +2 drop or may have a range. Thanks,
Same. Nothing has dropped at +3 for me yet.
There are no +3 drops. That +3 is a powerful before you upgrade it to a pinnacle. All pinnacles are either +1 or +2
My curious thought is why isn’t Strike Playlists Pinnacle +1 and Gambit Pinnacle +1 on there? I set it on Pinnacle to see which missions only give them and Strike Playlist and Gambit don’t pop up on that list which I found odd because I swear they give a Pinnacle +1 after 3 games just like Crucible.
The table is missing a weekly powerful +3 engram when completing 8 bounties from the War Table.
This guide is very well done and makes things easy to understand, keep up the great work!!
Thank you so much for this fantastic resource. Keep up the good work!
Maybe a bit pedantic, but I’d like to point out that the Trials powerfuls and pinnacles are no longer F2P. Accessing Trials requires the most recently released expansion as of the start of Season of the Lost.
Not at all. I was meaning to update that but couldn’t get around to it. Now everything should be up to date. Thanks for the heads up!
Chattered realm? Small mistake
Can’t believe I missed that one. Now corrected. Thanks!
Can anyone get the list filter to work? It seems to be broken on my side on Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
Yep, messed up some code yesterday! Everything is resolved now, thanks for the heads up 😉
“….the lower your Power level compared to your enemy, the more damage you take and the less damage you receive.”
Unless I’m not understanding this correctly, but do you mean “less damage you do”?
That is correct. That was a typo on my end, thank you for the heads up! It is now corrected!
The “pinnacle table” currently shows the weekly “Exotic Quests: Vox Obscura” item is available to all Witch Queen players. However, the exotic quest for Vox Obscura (i.e. “Kill the Messenger”) requires the Season Pass for Season of the Risen.
I would definitely recommend this guide to anyone looking to get the most out of Destiny 2
Great guide. Could you update the power level tables in the Why Power Levels still matter section though?
Weekly Preservation Campaign +2 Pinnacle power increase? Great info!
Are you going to update your chart “Pinnacle gear sources in Season of the Haunted”?
I updated it a few weeks ago, but if you’re asking I guess I missed something! Did you notice an error or something outdated?
Thanks for the heads up by the way 🙂
Yo just FYI the tables are broken for some reason, seems someone messed up the code for them.
I am not sure about +1 vs +2, but Duality gives a pinnacle at each encounter, so that is 3 pinnacle drops (just confirmed today).
helped me a lot
you said this is updated for season 20 but you guys need to double check a lot of this information:
master wellspring and legend dares are marked as no fireteam needed even though dungeons are marked as fireteam needed
vox obscura no longer exists
glory ranks no longer exist
partition and the weekly mission are not on throne worldw
100,000 in nightfall is still listed as an “easy pinnacle source” at the bottom of the page
It seems that War Table Bounties are also Powerful, not Pinnacle.
Pinnacle and powerful sources need to be updated for Season of the Deep (Season 21). Many pinnacle sources were reduced to powerful including Crucible, Gambit, and Strikes and the Season 20 dungeon and seasonal activities are no longer upgrade sources. The locations of some activities are also incorrect, like Spire of the Watcher is launched from the Throne World, not the HELM.
Thanks for a great guide for someone new to D2. I played 8h or so years ago, was overwhelmed (just as you explained) and quit. I fired it up again two days ago and loved it. Just a few comments for someone who effectively started from the beginning.
Leveling several characters: it seems the level is shared between all characters (should mayby be mentioned).
Pinnacle gear. There is a chest now with 1810 gear you pick up at Hall of champions making the grind minimal. I’m bouncing between if should or shouldn’t picked it up for my experience of the game and play through. The content feels very playable even though I’m at 1810 after 15min but I guess I’m more collecting 1810 gear than grinding higher levels. but mayby you can comment on that.
Ghost and FailSafe Bounty objectives are not pinnacles. They are Powerfuls and listed as such on the map.
Great guide! I really appreciate the detailed tips on power leveling. The section on seasonal activities was especially helpful. Can’t wait to try out the recommended strategies to boost my light level!