Destiny 2 Max Light Level: Power Leveling Guide

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 Season of the Wish (S23). See Updates.

Destiny 2 Power Caps

Since Season of Defiance (S20), Power Level Caps have remained unchanged. As such, Light Level Caps for Season of the Wish (Season 23) are the following: All Guardians start with 1600 Base Power Level, the Soft cap is 1750, the Powerful cap is 1800, and the Pinnacle cap is 1810.

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
Crota's End Raid Raid Encounters 4 Total Rewards	Legends	+2 x 4	Weekly	Yes	Yes	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
War Dungeon Encounters	H.E.L.M	+2	Weekly	Yes	Yes	Pinnacle	Deluxe Edition
Seasonal: Legend Savathûn's Spire 3 Completions	H.E.L.M	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Season 22
Seasonal: Savathûn's Spire Score 300,000 Points	H.E.L.M	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Season 22
Ritual Table Bounties Complete Bounties & Open Chests	H.E.L.M	+3	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Season 22
Seasonal: Altars of Summoning Open 3 Rewards Chests	H.E.L.M	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Season 22
Exotic Missions Rotator 2 Completions	Legends	+2 x 2	Weekly	Yes	Yes	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Partition: Hard Reset Quest Completion	Throne World	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Lightfall
Weekly Campaign Mission Score 100,000 Points	Throne World	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Lightfall
Nightfall: The Ordeal Score 200,000 Points	Playlist: Vanguard	+2	Weekly	Yes	Yes	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Legend Dares of Eternity Score 250,000 Points	Eternity	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Trials of Osiris Win 7 Matches	Playlist: Crucible	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Lightfall
Trials of Osiris Win 50 Rounds	Playlist: Crucible	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Lightfall
Trials of Osiris Win 7 Games with no Losses	Playlist: Crucible	+2	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Lightfall
Competitive PvP Complete 7 Placement Matches	Playlist: Crucible	+2	Season	No	No	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Crucible bounties Complete 8 Bounties	Tower	+1	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Gambit bounties Complete 8 Bounties	Tower	+1	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Vanguard bounties Complete 8 Bounties	Tower	+1	Weekly	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
Clan Weekly XP	Tower	+1	Weekly	No	No	Pinnacle	Free-to-Play
Iron Banner Dailly Challenges (4 total rewards)	Playlist: Crucible	+2 x 4	Monthly	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
Gunsmith bounties Complete 8 Bounties	Tower	+1	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Free-to-Play
Seasonal: Defiant Battlegrounds 3 Completions	H.E.L.M	+3 x 2	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Season 20
Deep Dives 3 Completions	H.E.L.M	+2	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Season 21
Nimbus's Challenge Gain Neomuna Reputation	Neptune	+4	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Lightfall
Metropolitan Defense Challenge Defeat Combatants in Terminal Overload	Neptune	+3	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Lightfall
Lightfall Exotic Quests	Exotic Quests	+3	Season	No	No	Powerful	Lightfall
Terminal Overload 3 Completions	Neptune	+3	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Lightfall
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
Commendations Given 5 Required	Tower	+3 x 4	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Free-to-Play
Dares of Eternity 3 Completions	Eternity	+3	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	Playlist activities	+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 Glory Rank Up	Playlist: Crucible	+3	Repeatable	No	No	Powerful	Free-to-Play
Major Valor Rank Up	Playlist: Crucible	+3	Repeatable	No	No	Powerful	Free-to-Play
Obtain Pursuit weapon	Tower	+3	Season	No	No	Powerful	Free-to-Play
Sonar Station Bounties Complete Bounties	H.E.L.M	+3	Weekly	No	No	Powerful	Season 21
Crucible Labs Playlist 3 Completions	Playlist: Crucible	+3 x 3	Weekly	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:

Destiny 2 Soft cap: 1750 Power Level

Drops from any source will help you increase your Power Level to reach the soft cap (1750). 

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: 1800Power

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 of your gear. When that happens, you should chase lesser rewards to bring that lagging gear up to the average!

How to equalize your gear

Seasoned players already know about 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: 1810 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):

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.

Power Level scaling

So, what happens when you do not follow the game’s recommended Power Levels? Damage scaling.

In a nutshell, the lower your Power level compared to your enemy’s, the more damage you take and the less damage you deal. On the other hand, the higher your Power level, the less damage you take and the more damage you deal. These fine folks created an impressive chart that shows you how damage scaling works:

If you’re struggling with a particular activity, increasing your Power Level will help. This includes Power levels earned through the seasonal artifact.

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 just 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 other ones.
• 100,000 in Nightfall: The Ordeal: Most people know how to run it. Finding a capable group in LFG is very 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.