Destiny 2 XP Farm guide in Lightfall [Bounty chart]

Every new Expansion comes with a new XP grind, be it to earn your Season Pass rewards or upgrade the seasonal Artifact. For the longest time, XP farming in Destiny 2 was too reliant on bounties. But finally, Bungie relented and replaced some of them with Seasonal challenges.

This guide covers how XP works, why it matters, and lists every XP source in the game, including bounties and challenges.

Updated as of Season of Defiance (S20). See Updates.

Best XP Farm in Destiny 2: Bounties & Challenges

If you’re looking to efficiently earn XP, you don’t really have a choice but to grab the best bounties, combine them with the new Seasonal Challenges and work on them simultaneously:

Source	Location	Frequency	Base XP	Cost (glimmer)	Requires	Requirements
War Table Repeatable	H.E.L.M	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Season 20	Season 20
War Table Daily (x4)	H.E.L.M	Daily	6,000	250	Season 20	Season 20
Vex Incursions Weekly	Neomuna	Weekly	12,000	1000	Lightfall	Lightfall
Nimbus Repeatable	Neomuna	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Lightfall	Lightfall
Nimbus Daily (x4)	Neomuna	Daily	6,000	250	Lightfall	Lightfall
Fynch Repeatable	Throne World	Repeatable	4,000	3000	The Witch Queen	The Witch Queen
Fynch Daily (x4)	Throne World	Daily	6,000	250	The Witch Queen	The Witch Queen
Xûr Repeatable	Eternity	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Xûr Daily (x4)	Eternity	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Starhorse Daily (x3)	Eternity	Daily	6,000	3 Strange Coins	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Starhorse Weekly (x3)	Europa	Weekly	12,000	14 Strange Coins	Beyond Light	Beyond Light
Varyks Repeatable	Europa	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Beyond Light	Beyond Light
Varyks Daily (x3)	Europa	Daily	6,000	250	Beyond Light	Beyond Light
Varyks Weekly	Europa	Weekly	12,000	1000	Beyond Light	Beyond Light
Shaw Han Repeatable	Cosmodrome	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Shaw Han Daily (x4)	Cosmodrome	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Shaw Han Weekly (x2)	Cosmodrome	Weekly	12,000	1000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Eris Morn Repeatable	Moon	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Shadowkeep	Shadowkeep
Eris Morn Daily (x4)	Moon	Daily	6,000	250	Shadowkeep	Shadowkeep
Gunsmith Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Gunsmith Daily (x4)	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Vanguard Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Vanguard Daily	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Crucible Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Crucible Daily	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Gambit Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Gambit Daily (x4)	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Trials Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Trials Daily (x4)	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Trials Weekly (x2)	Tower	Weekly	12,000	1000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Lectern of Enchantment	Moon	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Lectern of Enchantment Daily (x4)	Moon	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Lectern of Enchantment Weekly (x2)	Moon	Weekly	12,000	5 Fragments	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
EDZ and Nessus Daily (x3)	Destinations	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Petra Venj Ascendant Challenge	Dreaming City	Weekly	6,000	500	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Petra Venj Weekly	Dreaming City	Weekly	6,000	500	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Petra Venj Daily (x5)	Destinations	Daily	1,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Seasonal Event Repeatable	Tower	Repeatable	4,000	3000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Seasonal Event Daily (x4)	Tower	Daily	6,000	250	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Seasonal Event Weekly (x2)	Tower	Weekly	12,000	1000	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Gunsmith Weekly challenge Complete 8 Gunsmith bounties	Tower	Weekly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Vanguard Weekly challenge Complete 8 Gunsmith bounties	Tower	Weekly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Crucible Weekly challenge Complete 8 Gunsmith bounties	Tower	Weekly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Gambit Weekly challenge Complete 8 Gunsmith bounties	Tower	Weekly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Clan Weekly challenge Complete 8 Gunsmith bounties	Tower	Weekly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Iron Banner Challenges (x4)	Tower	Montly	12,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
Seasonal Challenges	Director	Seasonal	25,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
2X Seasonal Challenges (Grants x2 XP)	Director	Seasonal	50,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
4X Seasonal Challenges (Grants x4 XP)	Director	Seasonal	100,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play
8X Seasonal Challenges (Grants x8 XP)	Director	Seasonal	200,000	0	Free-to-Play	Free-to-Play

Notice you can filter this list by Destination, cost, Expansion requirements, and more.

Why XP is important in Destiny 2

In Destiny 2, XP is needed for only two things:

1. Unlocking your Season Pass rewards
2. Upgrading your Seasonal Artifact to unlock Mods and bonus Power Levels

This part is simple. Getting the XP is another story, though.

Season Pass Rewards

Destiny 2’s Season Pass works in the same way as in any other online shooter. The pass has 2 different tracks, a free track and a track reserved for Season Pass owners only, and each track has 100 levels to unlock.

Destiny 2 XP, Season Pass

The premium track obviously offers more rewards, but it’s important to know this: the best rewards are part of the Free track. This includes the new Exotic weapon, Legendary weapons, Exotic cipher, and more.

Even if you don’t purchase the Season Pass, you still want to grind XP and get all the rewards the Free track has to offer. They are well worth it.

Seasonal Artifact and Mods

The seasonal Artifact plays an important role in Destiny 2. Not only does it grant extra Power Levels, but it also includes several Seasonal Mods.

The extra Power Levels are useful for high-end content and will help you along with your Max Power Level grind. The Seasonal Mods, on the other hand, are mandatory. These include the Anti-barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable mods needed to deal with Champions, on top of extremely powerful mods.

Destiny 2 XP, Seasonal Artifact

Needless to say, XP plays an essential part in preparing you for the most difficult end-game content in the game, including solo Master Lost Sectors. Plus, the exotics and legendary weapons are always good to have.

How to farm XP in Destiny 2

Farming XP as fast as possible used to require grinding XP on all three characters! This is still somewhat true, but with the introduction of Seasonal Challenges, players with only one character can earn XP much faster than before.

Now that we have a good understanding of what bounties give the most XP, it’s time to combine them with the Seasonal Challenges and get them done as quickly as possible.

First, a disclaimer: This guide will focus on how to maximize XP farming without having to mindlessly run Lost Sectors but also earn Powerful/Pinnacle gear and Bright Dust in the process!

Best Practices

These are the best practices and principles you should always follow to maximize XP:

Always have a Ghost with a Blinding Light Mod

With the new Ghost 2.0 system in Beyond Light, you can now choose your own mods and prioritize your Ghost’s bonuses based on your activities. Without going too much into the details, all you need to know is that you want the biggest Blinding Light Mod possible. With the Blinding Light mod that costs 6 Energy, you can get a +12% bonus XP!

Trust me, that bonus will count in the long run…

Turn in your bounties only when in a Fireteam

The Season Pass grants bonus XP called Shared Wisdom when you’re part of a Fireteam. Therefore, you ideally want to always be in a Fireteam when turning in bounties.

These bonuses are part of the Premium track of the Season Pass.

If you’re a solo player, you can do what I often do:

1. Go to Europa or the Cosmodrome and find an active Public event with other guardians
2. Join a random guardian’s Fireteam (open your Director, head over to Roster and join someone with an open Fireteam)
3. Tell them you’re there to help with the event
4. Turn all your bounties
5. Help with the event
6. Leave the Fireteam

This is somewhat tedious, so I only do it at the end of a very long session when my inventory is full of completed bounties to turn it.

Use the official Destiny 2 Companion app

The Destiny 2 companion app on iOS and Android has always been good. It features an Inventory manager, group finder, and more. But it recently received a huge quality of live improvement: the ability to pick up bounties from the app instead of having to visit every vendor in the game one by one!

If you’re serious about grinding bounties, this app is a must-have.

Purchase the Season Pass

The Season Pass grants a +20% XP bonus at Rank 1 (i.e., immediately at the start of the Season). This percentage steadily increases as you earn more Seasonal Ranks, making it a huge XP bonus.

These bonuses are part of the Premium track of the Season Pass.

Stay away from repeatable bounties

Repeatable bounties can help speed the process, but they are very expensive and sometimes longer to complete than the average daily bounty. But I prefer to switch activities once all the dailies are done.

For example, after completing all of Europa’s bounties, I head over to the Cosmodrome, then the Moon, then focus on Crucible bounties, etc.

Before you go…

Keep in mind that earning XP is only part of the equation in Destiny 2. You’ll also want to chase in parallel Pinnacle rewards to eventually reach the max Power level.

Now you know everything there is to know about maximizing your XP farming in Destiny 2. Did I miss any other important tips? Come over to our Discord server and let me know!