The first Destiny 2 DLC raises the Power Level cap to 335 from a maximum of 305 in the launch game. It’s possible to raise your Power Level by roughly 10 each week, and likely more if you are completing every activity with all available Guardians on your account.
There are tricks to achieve this, which involve carefully managing how you progress before each weekly reset. Let’s outline some of the most widely known and trouble-free methods.
Reaching Level 25
Before you can equip the kind of gear that takes you beyond 305, you’ll first need to hit the base level cap of 25, up from 20. It’s a minor inconvenience, which merely requires running through the new story missions, which are all quite brilliant. A Power Level 310 rifle cannot be deployed until base Level 21, for example, but as soon as you are able, the climb begins.
Milestones
Your first order of business should be the Milestones highlighted on the Destination map. These are reset each week, asking you to build Clan XP, complete Public Events on the designated Flash Point (planetary location with boosted rewards), complete Heroic Strikes, perform as best you can in the Crucible, and complete the Raid or newly launched Raid Lair.
Each milestone grants Powerful Gear from their respective vendors. However, do not collect this until you are done for the week because Powerful Gear scales in Power Level according to your Guardian’s current Power Level. If you have more business to attend to, we strongly suggest you go off and do this first. The Powerful Gear can wait, treat it as your final goal.
Forge weapons of the Lost Prophecies
Brother Vance has a series of 11 fetch quests to complete, each one rewarding a Legendary weapon that drops higher than your current Power Level. The quests, or Verses, require grinding events to obtain specific materials, leading to multiple Heroic Strikes, Trials of the Nine attempts, and general involvement with Public Events, all of which have the likelihood of dropping Legendary engrams to boost Power Level little by little. You are also in with a good chance of seeing Exotic engrams drop that will boost your Power Level significantly.
This is at least a full week’s worth of fun, before you even consider the Raid and Raid Lair. You’re likely to climb more than 10 Power Levels through the Lost Prophecies alone, boosting the potential of Powerful Gear to top it all off. This could be you done for the week. However...
Leviathan Raid and Eater of Worlds Raid Lair
Weapons and Armor from both Raid activities drop at the maximum Power Level, so if you’ve time and a good team at your disposal, make a date for at least one run through of each Raid activity every week. If you have more than one guardian on your account, take them through the Raids too. Admittedly, it’s a hardcore approach, but… you’re hardcore. Keep your fingers crossed for 330 Weapons because they can be used across all guardians.
Get the Blues (Rare Gear)
Each time you raise your base Power Level by even a single digit, the level cap for rare items increases too. So, you can more casually play events, including Public Events, for drops that even out your Power Level across Armor, Weapons and Class Item. This, in turn, boosts the Power Level potential of Legendary Engrams, with a small chance of this being an Exotic. If you’re grinding the Public Events, remember to do this on the weekly Flashpoint location.
Use Fireteam Medallions
These give a better chance of greater loot from Strikes, Public Events, and the Crucible for four hours. They are acquired from Tess Everis in The Tower for 50 Bright Dust, which is sometimes found in Bright Engrams. You are encouraged to spend real money on Silver to purchase Bright Dust, but in our experience the Bright Engrams drop enough of the stuff to keep you in Fireteam Medallions long enough. Also, nudge your teammates to use these.
Infusion
Glimmer and Legendary Shards permitting, you should be infusing every new higher-level item of gear into your weaker ones immediately without remorse. Infuse Exotic gear into Legendary, to keep all options open. Don’t sit there with an Exotic 321 helmet in reserve just because your Exotic 315 chest is lovely. You can always grab that chest from the Vault under Collections. Infuse one or the other to boost your Power Level wherever possible.
Vendor Tokens and Vendor Weapons
Pay regular visits to the location vendors such as Devrim Kay, Sloane and Asher Mir when you have enough tokens or local materials. Every little helps, and the gear you don’t need can be dismantled to increase reputation with Banshee-44 (Gunsmith) in The Tower.
Dismantle Legendary Mod Components
A common sticking point is the Weapon Mod for Kinetic Weapons, which very rarely drops from Banshee-44 as a package. By far the fastest way proven to obtain a Kinetic Weapon Mod is to roll for a Legendary Weapon Mod using Mod Components. Save it for use on a weapon that gets regular use, and that is likely to see more infusion, such as Nameless Midnight or Better Devils. As with Armor, try to keep a Legendary weapon in most slots.
Alts picking up the slack
Although the system has changed significantly from Destiny 1, which allowed armour and class items from any class to be infused, it is still very helpful to have your alts grinding for Rare, Legendary and Exotic weapons to boost Power Level across the board. Also, your time spent grinding Milestones leads to more Legendary Shards and Glimmer, plus the likelihood of Bright Dust through Bright Engrams upon each new XP increase. This goes toward more Fireteam Medallions, boosting EXP and loot drops… and so the Destiny 2 grind continues!
