With Destiny 2 out now, there are many battles and challenges that await Guardians in their fight with the Red Legion. Losing all your gear and reverting back to humble beginnings, you’ll have to rebuild yourself from scratch to stand up to what’s coming in Bungie’s next installment of the shared-world shooter.
Much like its predecessor, there’s more to character growth than simply reaching the max character level of 20. The new Power system–an evolution of the Light system from the previous game–represents the raw attack power and damage resistance of your character Power is determined by the gear you have equipped, and you’ll need the best to keep up with your friends as you tackle the many dangers in the galaxy. In this guide, we’ll highlight the best activities and quests to quickly level up your character, while also looking at how to score the best loot to stay ahead of the game.
For more about Destiny 2 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, read our in-depth feature containing Xur’s location, all our reviews and guides, plus all the PC details you need.
Follow The Trail
The fight with Dominus Ghaul and the Red Legion is one of Destiny 2’s biggest challenge, and while it’ll be tough with a weakened Guardian, the many missions during the Red War campaign will lead to valuable rewards. Simply tackling the many events and objectives during the main campaign will help you get over the rough and humble beginnings of the game–during which you’ll meet a cast of characters that will offer new missions and rewards for your character, which can be used on the tougher missions ahead.
Moreover, many of these allies will give you unique and powerful gear after finishing key story events. During the early missions on Saturn’s moon Titan, Commander Sloane–the New Pacific Arcology faction leader–will provide the first Exotic item of your choosing. Though the gear you’ll find later will overtake its power, you’d be smart to keep this Exotic stashed away, as it can be powered up with infusion–the process of sacrificing a stronger weapon to empower your preferred gear. The general pace of the main campaign is much smoother than its predecessor, which makes the early beginnings fairly brisk for newcomers and veterans alike.
Be Adventurous
When you’re not following the trail of the Red Legion, there are many side-missions and opportunities to dive into while exploring the four planets. While Patrols and Public Events are still present and accounted for–with new additions such as the heroic versions of Public Events–the new Adventure missions and Lost Sectors are an efficient means to gain new gear. Scattered around the map are key locations and sites for activities, which the game will mark and display timers for incoming Public Events–letting you know when the next big public event, and also displaying which areas you’ve already been to.
Scattered around each zone are various Lost Sectors locations, essentially Destiny 2’s take on dungeons. Each instance leads to tougher enemies and chests yielding valuable loot. Many of these dungeons can be tricky to find, but taking the time to track them down will be worth it. Along with the Lost Sectors are the new Adventure missions, which are smaller story missions focusing on the exploits of the various characters on the planet. They’ll take you across the planet, going into the more dangerous and thrilling areas, leading to more loot and opportunities to strengthen your character. After finishing all these Adventure missions, you can report back to the NPC characters in the area to repeat these missions again and collect rewards.
Support Your Local Factions
After meeting each planet’s central faction leader, you’ll unlock a series of missions and events associated with that location. While the various factions in Destiny 1 talked a big game about standing up for what’s right, their leaders stayed in the safety of the Tower, while sending you to do the hard work. In Destiny 2, each of the new factions offers unique rewards, weapons, and gear for sale, and the means to boost your character after completing objectives. While the factions in this game have dropped faction exclusive weapons and gear, such as the likes of Dead Orbit, New Monarch, and Future War Cult–the factions of Destiny 2 are more active with helping out the Guardians this time around.
In addition to doing their dirty work, you’ll eventually come across tokens scattered around the open areas. These are found in region chests, Lost Sectors, loot cases dropped from high-profile targets, and hidden loot caches, and they can be turned in to the faction leader to fill up their reputation meter. After maxing out a reputation meter, you’ll be rewarded with an Engram. Early on, you’d be better off saving these tokens until later levels. From there, the leaders will reward Guardians with Legendary Engrams, which will help boost up your Power level.
Track Your Milestones
Much like the last game, there’s a series of meta-challenges that task you with completing objectives focusing on key missions, multiplayer, and other areas of the game. These directed challenges have evolved into the new Milestone system, which feature more specific challenges like finishing a series of Crucible matches, Strikes, and finishing important story missions. After completing the Red War story campaign, you’ll find that completing these Milestones will be a much more of an important fixture of the late-game grind, resulting in rewards that couldn’t be found by completing the later parts of the campaign.
While starting out, the Milestones won’t be too vital for success, given the many story missions and Adventures you’ll take part in. With that said, there will come a time when doing Patrols and Public Events won’t be enough. Once you hit this Power level wall, which is around the 260 mark, the Milestones will include even more difficult challenges, such as Nightfalls and gaining Glory in Crucible matches. While Milestones can be challenging, the rewards are more than worth the difficulty. Clear through enough Milestones after the campaign and you’ll be ready for Nightfall Strikes and the upcoming Raid.
There’s more to come with Destiny 2 content on GameSpot, be sure to check out various other guides about all things happening in the new shared world shooter. With new secrets and discoveries being uncovered, there’s a lot to still show off in the new worlds you’ll explore in your pursuit for more power and better gear. Check back with us at GameSpot for more tips for returning players, guides to finding all the Lost Sectors, and tips on figuring out which class is right for you.
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