With the Forsaken expansion, the max level of your character in Destiny 2 has been raised. The path to the maximum power level has also changed significantly. We show you how to quickly and efficiently reach the maximum level of 600.
UPDATE: With Season 5, the power level cap in Destiny 2 has risen again. An updated level guide for the new max power level of 650 can be found here: Get to Power Level 650 Quickly – Here’s How to Level Up Correctly
Forsaken brings a lot of new features: With the release of the Forsaken expansion, new level caps have been introduced. The maximum character level has been raised from 30 to 50. The new power level cap is now 600.
The new soft cap: The journey to the maximum level has also seen some changes. The new soft cap is now at power level 500. This is a sort of limit. Players level up relatively quickly up to this point. Loot up to power level 500 can be found almost everywhere.
After that, progress becomes slower when simply playing through the game. You can only advance in power level through specific activities and rewards.
We show you what the fastest way to level up looks like and what you need to pay attention to in order to use your resources as efficiently as possible.
Why is the power level important? The power level not only increases your offensive and defensive capabilities – as your level rises, you can participate in more challenging endgame activities, such as the Nightfall strike or the new Forsaken raid “Last Wish”, earning yourself more attractive and valuable loot.
How to Reach Character Level 50
The path to the new maximum level is divided into two parts:
- First, you need to raise your character to level 50 and increase your power level to 500.
- Once you reach the soft cap, the way upward is clear. Then you chase the 600.
How to Increase Your Character Level: The character level increases “along the way.” You need to collect experience points, which can be gained from various sources. Defeat enemies, complete activities, and play in Destiny 2 what you enjoy the most. While you follow the steps to reach power level 500, you also get closer to character level 50.
Character Boost for New Players: If you are completely new to Forsaken, you can use the character boost. This allows you to raise a new (or existing) character to a power level of 320. This way, you can start playing Forsaken right away.
You can find the option in the character selection menu next to each character slot.
How to Reach Power Level 500 in Destiny 2
Generally, just play the game:
- It’s best to start with the Forsaken story. The missions will reward you with plenty of loot during your first steps and provide a steady level progression. And procrastination is not advisable. You won’t receive items over power level 500 from the story.
- If you play in a group, use fireteam medallions whenever possible.
- If you have a story mission that should be too hard for you, switch to other activities.
Participate in Public Events: Public events are still one of the best ways to obtain loot and XP. However, note that the experience gain from public events has been reduced, while it has been increased in strikes and Nightfall. Strikes now provide more for leveling up than before with Forsaken and should also be considered.
Don’t worry about infusing: Don’t stress about infusing until you reach the soft cap of 500. Infusing has become noticeably more expensive. It’s not worth starting early. You’re still receiving enough loot regularly that will help you progress anyway.
Use your tokens: Don’t redeem your Vanguard and Crucible tokens too early and not all at once. Wait until you reach character level 50, if possible. But don’t wait too long, as relevant rewards won’t exceed power level 500.
Not at 500 yet? If by the end of the story you are not yet at character level 50 and power level 500, complete all available bounties from Spider. These will generously reward experience points upon completion. Additionally, there is often legendary loot available up to 500. Public events and strikes can also help on the final stretch.
Wait to earn powerful gear: The challenges will provide you with legendary loot up to character level 50. After that, they will be replaced with activities that can offer powerful gear as rewards. So if you can already acquire powerful gear but are not yet at power level 500 – wait. After reaching the soft cap, there are limited sources for loot that will continue to advance you towards 600.
These loot sources scale with you up to power level 500:
- Blue and purple drops from enemies
- Decrypting legendary engrams
- Rewards from vendors such as Zavala, Shaxx, or the gunsmith
- Completing activities like public events, lost sectors, strikes, or crucible matches
- Opening loot chests
How to Reach Max Power Level 600 in Destiny 2
Once you reach power level 500, the sources of loot that will advance you in power level will reduce. From now on, you will need to focus on powerful gear. This will help you progress further in varying strengths.
Legendary engrams and standard loot are capped at power level 500 and will scale down to 10 to 20 levels below your current level depending on the source.
Sources of Powerful Gear that Scale to 600
The most relevant challenges will be indicated by glowing yellow star symbols in the planetary overview when available. Choosing a marker will show a tooltip with the respective weekly and daily challenges.
When specific challenges reset and how long they are available can be found here: Destiny 2 has Crazy Reset Times in Forsaken – We Explain Them to You
These confirmed ways to obtain powerful gear include:
Weekly:
- Spider’s big weekly wanted bounty
- Raid
- Weekly crucible challenge
- Weekly gambit challenge
- Nightfall
- Nightfall with over 100,000 points
- Clan XP challenge
- Weekly bounties from Petra Venj
- Flashpoint challenge
- Weekly story challenge
- Weekly strike challenge
Daily:
- Strikes
- Gambit
- Crucible
- Heroic adventures
One-Time:
- Exotic quests
- “Dreaming City” questline
- Spider quest “4 lost sectors”
- Zavala quest “1 strike with a complete armor set”
- Shaxx quest “1 PvP match with a complete armor set”
- Gambit quest “1 gambit match with a complete armor set”
Other Sources:
- Primus engrams. Initially, it was believed that these engrams drop daily. But it seems they are obtained randomly.
- Rank-ups in the crucible
- Rank-ups in gambit
- Exotic engrams
Important: If you master activities that are well above your power level and reward powerful gear, you will be rewarded according to the items’ high power levels.
Note: According to initial user reports, there seems to be another soft cap at power level 520. Powerful rewards from some activities (daily and weekly, except for Nightfalls and the Dreaming City) that previously offered +5 power levels will only provide +1 power levels from 520 onwards. Whether there are further soft caps and how raid loot behaves beyond that remains to be seen.
How do I get to 600 now? Your primary goal now is to complete the relevant challenges within the constraints of the weekly and daily limits. This way, you can gradually work towards the new power level cap of 600 day by day and week by week.
Do you have any other valuable tips for making your way to power level 600? Let us know in the comments section.
