The new Bungie game has made relatively minor but important changes to the loot progression system that the developers have been honing over the past three years.
The most important thing for a newcomer to the series to know is that there are two progression metrics in Destiny 2: your level and Strength. Strength marks your overall progress and acts as the basis for calculating the damage dealt by your special abilities – be it melee, grenades, or Super.
Strength grows as you level up your equipment – it is the sum of the average attack damage of the equipped weapon and the average defense of the equipped armor. Strength has nothing to do with the level, especially since it is only pumped up to the 20th, as you kill and participate in activities. While some activities and gear are level-limited, what matters in Destiny 2 is not your level, but what you carry on your shoulders and in your arms.
Before dealing with the level and Strength, a few important notes:
- Do not collect Engrams to open later – their level and value are determined by the game at the moment you pick up the loot.
- Don’t fuse on loot until 260 Strength. Until then, you can always find something better. Save your favorite guns for the future.
- Don’t complete optional content before 260 Strength
Leveling Up to Level 20
Although the level does not matter much, all the best rewards and activities are blocked by the level requirement. Therefore, it is best to deal with pumping as quickly as possible and forget about the requirements. You won’t earn much experience just by shooting at enemies, the fastest way is to play story missions and complete adventures. The former not only bring a handful of XP, but also open merchants. Adventures are available from regional merchants and allow you to quickly level up between missions.
Farming Engram to Level 260
Now that you’ve reached the character’s max level, our boosting character guide could help with this, it’s time to get to 260 Strength, which is sort of in between before the maximum Strength mark.
Please note that the characteristics of the loot do not depend on your overall Strength level, but on the stat of a particular part. For example, if your chestplate has a Strength level of 220, and the total is already 260, then the new chestpiece will most likely have a level between 220 and 230.
How to level up:
- Visit regional merchants – you may be able to find something that will increase your Strength before heading out to mine Engrams
- Upgrade regional merchants – complete adventures and lost sectors, collect resources, open regional chests, destroy targets and complete events, exchange the obtained tokens with the merchant. After filling the scale you will receive the legendary Engram.
- Unlocked after level 20
- Open chests in sectors – loot is above average
- Complete Challenges – After completing missions on Io, Ikora will return to the farm and offer a set of tasks that can be completed every day
- Perform strikes – Zavala will reward you by performing a couple of strikes for him. Bosses also have better loot than usual
Check everything that drops – sometimes, even green and blue things can increase your overall Strength level. We have also prepared for you an article about power boosting in Destiny 2.
Endgame From 260 Strength and Above
When you get to an intermediate level of 260 Strength, this means that engame begins next. From now on, regular loot will no longer make you stronger. However, there are other options for getting level 260+ items. Here’s what you can do:
Stages
Having reached level 260, the stages begin to give out level 260+ loot. At the moment, there are three stages available per week, each of which is definitely worth completing:
- Flashpoint – given by Cayde-6, you just need to complete a few events at the destination
- A call to arms is a weekly PvP event with different objectives. Issued by Lord Shaxx.
- Nightfall – strike, only harder and with complex modifiers.