Destiny: Rise of Iron pushes the Light Level cap all the way up to 400 once the “Wrath of Machine” raid lands on Sept. 23rd. To get into that raid, you’ll need at least a Light Level of 360, so it’s time to start gearing up, Guardian. Whether you’re a returning player or a veteran of Year 2, we’ll provide a few handy tips to keep in mind while grinding for the latest, greatest gear.
Light Level was a controversial system when it was first introduced, but players
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Light Level – Tips & Tricks to Increase Quick
Light is a special stat that increases weapon / ability damage and decreases damage taken by a Guardian — it’s your post-game level once you’ve hit the cap, and will change depending on the light level of your equipped weapons or gear. Your accumulated light level is calculated from all your gear’s light level combined into a single stat.
Light Level was first introduced with the Taken King, but has since been overhauled to be slightly less random. Basically, you’ll almost always find gear with a light level slightly higher than your base amount. In theory, that means you’ll (almost) always be making gains as long as you’re getting those dropped blues. That’s (basically) how Light Level works.
Keep all this in mind, and keep scrolling to find all the tips worth sharing when building up your light.
- Tip #1: Always Be Gaining
This sounds obvious in theory, but in practice it isn’t so simple. Basically, if you know how light works in Destiny Year 3, you’ll understand that increasing your overall light level is more important than getting great gear. Why is that?
As explained above, gear will always drop between 1-5 light level higher than your current total light level. That means, if you’re light level is 320, you will always find that gear drops at light level 321-325.
- This way, you can always make incremental progress, and your potential light level gear drops will increase even if you can manage to raise your total by 1 point. At light level 351, you can potentially gain light level 352-356 — at light level 352, you can potentially gain light level 353-357, etc.
By always increasing your light level, even by a tiny amount, you are improving your chances of getting even better gear with higher and higher light levels.
- Tip #2: For Fast Light, Play SIVA Crisis (Or Any Strike Playlist)
The new SIVA Crisis playlist in Rise of Iron is a good place to farm for higher and higher light levels. There are two Light requirements available:
- SIVA Crisis [320 Light]
- SIVA Crsis Heroic [350 Light]
Shoot for the Heroic Strike, but even the Normal version is a good way to grind. Any and all Strike Playlists are the best place to level up light, and they’re not too tough to get into. You don’t even need friends, matchmaking has got you covered.
The Crucible is a good place to grind for gear, but Strike Playlists guarantee two blue drops on each playthrough. That takes some of the randomness out of the process. There are plenty of other side-benefits to Strikes, as well.
- Leveling Up Vanguard — You’ll get quality gear drops as you rank up.
- Leveling Up Your Faction — Whichever faction you’ve aligned with, you’ll also rank up there and unlock packages of gear with higher chances of improving your overall light level.
- Skeleton Key Boxes — If you’re lucky enough to find a Skeleton Key, you can use it to open Strike-exclusive boxes at the end of any given strike, and these special chests always reward gear with an improved-chance for higher light levels.
Want to make life easier? Use those Three Of Coins consumables to increase your chances of getting Exotic engrams. Exotics are going to make your light grinding lifestyle so much easier.
- Tip #3: Replace, Don’t Infuse
Keeping your old gear might seem like a better option, but the new light system favors replacement. Don’t bother infusing old gear to increase light until after you find blue items have stopped spawning.
Every increase is going to make a difference. Even if it’s a 250 light piece going to a 251 light piece, you’ll be one step closer to unlocking higher potential light level gear drops, as described in the tip above.
- Need help infusing? Check out this helpful infusion calculator if you’re ready to start infusing instead of replacing.
Infusing is also a waste of resources after you’ve just reached a new light level. Save those resources for later — especially if you’re not getting engrams.
- Tip #4: Decrypt Engrams Carefully
Don’t just decrypt all your engrams in one batch — always check and see what you’ve got! Why? Because you can get even better engram drops with a higher light level.
- We’re beating a dead horse here, but increasing your light level is paramount, and you can do that with a stack of Encrypted Engrams. While at the Cryptarch, decrypt each engram one-at-a-time. That way you can check your Engram, check the light level, and equip anything that might increase your total light.
Why do that? Because all the future engrams will now randomly-roll higher light level gear. If you increase your light level from 221 to 222 while decrypting, you’ll instantly improve your chances of gaining gear at light level 223-227. Remember, all gear will always drop 1-5 light ahead of your current total light level.
