Destiny Updated Leveling Up Guide

Destiny Updated Leveling Up Guide by hazCode

I wrote something like this a while ago. The game has changed and so has my level of experience (Level 30 with many hard mode raid completions under my belt.) So anyway, here is my latest guide to leveling in destiny. Let me know if you have something to add. I always like learning new stuff.

Levels 1-20:

1.) Play the story, obviously.

2.) Once you get access to the bounties, do them all every day. If you cannot complete the bounty, google it; watch the video. Chances are, there is a trick.

Levels 20-26:

You need to buy legendary armor. You have two options here. The one you pick depends on how you answer the following:

Do you like to play strikes and missions or against real people in the crucible?

If you like strikes and missions, you need to level your Vanguard up to rank 2. This mean equipping one of the normal class items. You cannot, for example, like strikes and missions AND like dead orbit. Dead Orbit and the other factions require Crucible marks to purchase armor. If you are doing strikes and missions with a Dead Orbit class item on, chances are you have loads to Vanguard Marks and but your Vanguard rank is still 0 (bad combo that will get you stuck at level 24). Also, I don’t think many people know where exactly the “Vanguard” is. You rarely need to go down there. It’s the big war room with all the NPCs standing around a table down the stairs next to the bounties. In order to get your Vanguard to rank 2, you will need to continue to do the bounties every day. Once that is done for the day, you can grind through the patrol missions. This isn’t very fun. If you want more fun, you can do the strike playlist, but the rep per minute is not very high. You will need to do strikes anyway to get the Vanguard Marks required to purchase your armor. Once you are level 2 and you have the marks, buy a set of purple armor from the Vanguard.

If you like to play Crucible, just play it until your rank it high enough to buy armor. You can buy Crucible armor from a variety of sources. If you bought of one of the faction class items, purchase your armor from there.

Once you have your armor, continue to do those bounties to level up your gear. Also, if you are not already aware bounties have bonus XP associated with them. Every time, you turn in a bounty, the bonus XP is applied to the items you currently have equipped. This will level your new gear the fastest. If you run out of bounties, Tiger Strikes (or whatever you can handle) are very popular sources of more bonus XP.

Level 26:

By now you are probably hurting for shards. You can get two by doing the daily on level 28. You can get one from doing one public event. Notice, I said “can” because the likelihood of getting then is slim. You will likely get energy. The package from the postmaster for your first event of the day can be a number of different items.

So how to get shards? Well, this is where it gets tricky. You are going to need help. If you post a very honest message on /r/fireteamsor destinylfg.net, chances are people will help. For example:

“Level 26 trying to get ascendant shards. I need help getting into the VoG so I can get the first chest.”

I think people would help. (I know I would.)

The first chest is 2 shards (or it says so on the screen). I have looked in my inventory and seen 5 shards pop up (not two).

Level 26 – 28

You should be doing the raid every week at these levels. 26 is a little sketchy, but you may luck out and find people to help you. If you are on PS4, add hasCode. I raid nearly 20 times a week, helping strangers. Friend me and we will get you through.

In order to hit level 30, you will likely need an exotic helmet. I know that sounds very specific. Why not an exotic chest piece, for example? The raid helmet only drops on hardest boss fight in the game. By securing an exotic helmet, you can reach level 30 more easily without defeating Atheon on hard mode.

The best place to get an exotic helmet is Xur. You will need coins, though. The coins mainly come from the weekly strikes. Use destinylfg.net or /r/fireteams to complete the weekly strike on the highest difficulty you can manage. Also, it’s not a bad idea to level multiple characters and get loads of coins each week. (Coins can be transferred via the vault in the tower.)

At level 27, you can get into the hard mode raid. You won’t be worth a damn, you won’t kill anything and you will die instantly, BUT BUT BUT there are currently two really easy check points in the hard mode raid (the oracles and the Templar). Take advantage now before bungie patches them. If you have a high level friend that has the hard mode oracle checkpoint (add me, if you like), you can get some easy gear from hard mode (even as a level 27).

You can reach level 29 without ANY raid gear. You only need to max out your legendary armor and exoitc helmet.

Level 29

Ok, so this is probably the place where everyone is stuck.

First, if you “need the helmet” to get to level 30, just go buy an exotic helmet (for the reasons I stated before).

Next, raid your pants off. Raid gear drops on the oracle check point and the gatekeeper check point. (There are some exceptions to that, but that’s the main idea.)

Don’t be afraid of the hard mode raid. It’s not that hard. If you are level 29, it’s time to put on your your big boy pants, man up and find a hard mode group. Look for “fresh run” groups because they will be more willing to let a 29 in. (Also feel free to add me. I raid with 29’s all the time. We frequently do it with two 30’s.)

Now for the power tip. You probably have your three slots filled with one of each character type. You have one hunter, one titan and one warlock. If the RNG has been mean to you for months, then this is not the path to victory, guardian. Delete one of your characters and start a duplicate. Why? You can level the duplicate up to level 20 in a few days. Then, you can use the vault to instantly make that level 20 a level 29. Now you can hard-mode raid twice a week! If you really want to bend the RNG over and make it your bitch, level a 3rd duplicate character. YOU WILL GET YOUR RAID GEAR if you follow that method.

Finally, if you are level 29, relax about the hard mode atheon fight. Chance are you won’t be able to kill him every week. People are getting really picky about wanting level 30 players for this fight. Obviously, do it as much as you possibly can and get good at it, but if you can’t find a group, just relax and wait for next week to do the easier check points..