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:
- Unlocking your Season Pass rewards
- 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.
| Season Pass level | XP Fireteam Boost |
| Level 5 | 2% |
| Level 26 | 2% |
| Level 56 | 2% |
| Level 86 | 2% |
| Total | 8% |
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:
- Go to Europa or the Cosmodrome and find an active Public event with other guardians
- Join a random guardian’s Fireteam (open your Director, head over to Roster and join someone with an open Fireteam)
- Tell them you’re there to help with the event
- Turn all your bounties
- Help with the event
- 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.
| Season Pass level | XP Boost |
| Level 1 | 20% |
| Level 7 | 2% |
| Level 16 | 2% |
| Level 36 | 2% |
| Level 46 | 2% |
| Level 66 | 2% |
| Level 76 | 2% |
| Total | 32% |
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!
See latest Updates
- Jan 12, 2023: General updates connected to Seasons 18 & 19.
- Jun 6, 2022: General updates connected to Season 17: Crown of Sorrow bounties added, War Table bounties removed.
Stay tuned, and don’t forget to bookmark this page for next season!
Great information! Do you also have a table of data for how much completing raw activities are worth? Lost sectors, strikes, raids, crucible games, etc…
Thanks! Always appreciate seeing someone is finding this stuff useful 🙂
I don’t have data for the activities themselves. I was actually preparing myself to tackle that but Beyond Light will potentially change everything A LOT in less than a month. So I think it’s better to get the data once Beyond Light is live.
Do vanguard strike fireteams count as well to boost xp gains when turning in bounties?
Every matchmade activity does not count. It has to be an activity with a fireteam you either created and had other people join you, or joined yourself.
This is brilliant info. I’m in that boat where I’m at 90 on the Seasonal Pass and need to finish the last 10. I grinded all of 80 to 89 especially via Moon and Io to make sure I get that XP, but I’ll try alot of what you suggested here to finish off the last 10.
Hey Rick, really enjoying your guides because they are made for the average player that only has time to grind one character. Just wanted to remind you the prismatic recaster is no longer available in Beyond Light. Another good tip that takes advantage of the new Ghost mods is to upgrade your ghost to atleast level 6 (I personally masterworked mine right away to take advantage of more than 1 good mod) and then get your blinding light mod that grants 12% xp bonus. This new feature can easily fly under the radar but can really be helpful when grinding XP.
Thanks for the great guide!
This is a really helpful guide!
I do want to point out though that the Moon bounties (Eris Morn and Lectern) aren’t Free-to-play, they require Shadowkeep.
Can we please update the chart to the current season?
Great guide! The bounty chart is super helpful for maximizing XP during Lightfall. Can’t wait to put these tips into practice and level up my Guardians faster! Thanks for the detailed breakdown!