Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (2024)

Leveling your gear and increasing your Power level is an important part of Destiny 2, but it’s also very confusing.

This page breaks down everything you should know about increasing your Power level, from how gear drops work, the various Soft, Powerful, and Pinnacle sources, and their respective max Power level caps.

How Power level and gear drops work in Destiny 2

Power level in Destiny 2 is a numerical value that determines how much damage you take and deal to your foes — the higher the level, the more damage you deal and the less you receive. Outside of dictating how much damage you deal, know that activities in the game will have a set Power level and you’ll be more effective when you’re close to or exceeding that level.

Players and enemies each have a Power level and they get compared together. Your overall Power level comes from averaging the Power level of your gear, plus any additional levels from your seasonal artifact.

When it comes to gear, Destiny 2 staggers your progress with different Power level caps: the soft cap, the Powerful cap, and the Pinnacle cap. Each of those caps represents a point at which certain types of drops will no longer increase your Power level, and so you have to shift your priorities each week in order to continue increasing your level.

Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (1) Image: Bungie via Polygon

Additionally, a seasonal artifact level is added on top of your gear's average Power level. This is how you are able to get to a higher level than the Pinnacle or Max cap. You gain artifact levels by playing throughout a season and gaining XP. However, unlike your gear level, your artifact level resets at the end of season. (If you’re looking to gain XP fast, it’s best to farm bounties or Seasonal Challenges, as they provide some of the quickest and easiest XP in the game.)

A change from The Final Shape onwards is the Adjusted Power feature when playing in a Fireteam. When in a party, players will automatically have their power increased to five Power below the player with the highest level — allowing them to join in on endgame activities (such as the raid) without grinding to the required activity level themselves. But even if your Power is adjusted under the Power Leader feature, you’ll still earn drops according to your normal Power level.

Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (2) Image: Bungie

Finally, for players with multiple characters, another change starting with The Final Shape is Power drop values are now account wide, meaning if you switch to a lower Power character, any new loot will match that of your most powerful character. As a result, Power Boosts (designed to help lower Power characters skip through the grind) are not longer available.

Max level caps in Destiny 2

There are three level caps in Destiny 2: the soft cap, the Powerful cap, and the Pinnacle cap. For The Final Shape, those caps are:

  • Starting power: 1900
  • Soft cap: 1940
  • Powerful cap: 1990
  • Pinnacle cap: 2000

We’ll break down each cap below.

How to reach the soft cap in Destiny 2

The soft cap for Destiny 2 is 1940. What does “soft cap” mean? It means that up until you reach 1940 Power level, pretty much anything and everything can give you a Power level increase. This can be blue drops from the ground or activity rewards; anything that drops for you will be a few Power above your current Power level. Once you reach the soft cap, you’ll no longer get blue drops.

The best way to reach the soft cap is to simply play the game, as regardless of activity, you’ll receive gear up to that Power level regularly.

Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (3) Image: Bungie

If you want to get past the soft cap quickly, and you are just starting The Final Shape, then it’s worth considering playing the Legendary campaign, which will give you fixed gear at 20 Power above the soft cap upon completion (1960). This is a challenge, however, especially for new players — so consider playing other activities instead while you familiarize yourself with the game.

How to reach the Powerful gear cap in Destiny 2

The Powerful cap for Destiny 2 is 1990, meaning that between 1940 and 1990, the only way to increase your Power level is to get a reward from activities that grant Powerful or Pinnacle gear.

Starting with The Final Shape, the range of Powerful gear sources has expanded to most activities in the game — with the aim to “help players gradually reach the Powerful Cap no matter what activities they choose to play”, even if they are not tied to the weekly reset, according to Bungie.

Examples of activities and sources with Powerful gear drops include:

  • Completing eight vendor bounties for Banshee-44
  • Weekly Nightfall challenge
  • Complete three Strikes
  • Three Crucible matches
  • Three Crucible Labs matches
  • Three Gambit matches
  • Gambit, Vanguard, Crucible, and Banshee rank rewards
  • Give out five Commendations
  • Three Dares of Eternity runs
  • Prime and Exotic Engrams, which drop at random

If you are trying to be as optimal as possible, you’ll want to save all of your powerful rewards until after you get to 1990. Though Powerful loot drops are no longer as limited per week as they once were, you don’t want to waste Powerful or Pinnacle drops when you can still get levels from unrestricted rewards.

How to reach the Pinnacle / Max Power cap in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (4) Image: Bungie

The Pinnacle cap for Destiny 2 is 2000, meaning that between 1900 and 2000, the only way to increase your Power level is to get Pinnacle rewards. Similar to Powerful rewards, if you are trying to maximize the effectiveness of the Pinnacle rewards, you won’t want to collect them until after you have reached Power 1990, as these loot drops are limited per week.

Activities with Pinnacle gear drops include:

  • Complete eight bounties for activity vendors: Lord Shaxx, Commander Zavala, and Drifter
  • 200,000 Nightfall score across the week
  • Complete the Exotic rotator mission twice
  • Salvation’s Edge, the latest raid (from release on Friday, June 7)
  • Warlord’s Ruin, the latest dungeon
  • 250,000 score on Dares of Eternity
  • Iron Banner Challenges (when the event is active)
  • Final encounter of the raid and dungeon highlighted in the weekly rotation

It’s worth mentioning that there’s no point in saving Pinnacles if you’re not going to reach 1990 on that character by the end of the week. We recommend just doing all Powerful rewards on a character first, and then tackling Pinnacle activities.

When is the best time to open Engrams in Destiny 2?

Until you hit the Powerful cap, you should turn in Prime Engrams immediately after you pick them up. These are considered +1 Powerful rewards from when they drop, meaning their Power does not increase as your Power level does. If you continue to level up without turning the Prime Engram in, you’ll essentially waste it. If you’re struggling in the raid and you get a Prime Engram, it’s always worth taking a quick Tower break to decrypt it.

Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (5) Image: Bungie

Destiny 2 also uses a slot leveling system, meaning that gear drops per slot and is based on your current average Power level. A sticking point of this system is that some of your gear slots may fall behind. For example, your overall level could be 1725 while your Hunter’s Cloak could be stuck at 1720 and your helmet is at 1728.

To make the most of your Powerful and Pinnacle drops, try to keep your items within a few Power levels of each other, which can be done by collecting items that drop ‘at Power’. ‘At Power’ means the gear drops at your current average Power level, which can help bring up some pieces that fall behind (bringing your Cloak up to 1725 and raising your overall average without using a weekly Powerful or Pinnacle reward drop). This can increase your overall Power level and make those Powerful and Pinnacles more impactful.

If you don’t even out your armor, a Pinnacle or Powerful might drop a +2 power helmet, which would be a waste since it’s already your best slot. Many playlist activities — Strikes, Gambit, Crucible — will drop items “at Power,” so keep an eye out for any gear that’s lagging behind.

How to reach the Pinnacle cap quickly in Destiny 2

For those looking to level as fast as possible — for a raid or other end-game activities — the process is much simpler in The Final Shape.

First, run the Legendary campaign and complete any and all activities to hit 1960 as quickly as possible. Then, collect powerful rewards from activities of your choosing until you reach 1965. At that point, you’ll be at the maximum level for the Contest Mode of the Salvation’s Edge raid and your grind is finished.

  1. Polygon
  2. Destiny 2 guides
  3. The Final Shape Exotics
  4. Power level guide
  5. Charge Transcendence
  6. How to enhance weapons
Destiny 2 power level guide, all caps and Powerful and Pinnacle gear sources explained (2024)

FAQs

How do you level past the pinnacle cap in Destiny 2? ›

The Powerful cap for Destiny 2 is 1990, meaning that between 1940 and 1990, the only way to increase your Power level is to get a reward from activities that grant Powerful or Pinnacle gear.

What is the current powerful gear cap Destiny 2? ›

Destiny 2 The Final Shape Power Level caps

Power Floor: 1900. Soft Cap: 1940. Powerful Cap: 1990. Hard Cap/Pinnacle Cap: 2000.

How to get 1810 power Destiny 2? ›

So the best way to reach 1810 Power efficiently when at Powerful Cap is to focus on endgame activities like dungeons, raids, and Nightfalls as they all give two point upgrades.

How to get past 1750 soft cap? ›

At 1750, you will need to gain Powerful gear from specific enemies and missions to get 1800. To reach the final 1810 Pinnacle cap, only Pinnacle gear rewards gained from special activities will grant you the final push to last Power cap.

What is the current max power level in Destiny 2? ›

Previously, Destiny 2 also raised the player level (a now defunct system). The last time “levels” were involved was the release of Destiny 2: Forsaken, which saw the level cap raised to 50. Now players only need to focus on Power. The new max Power is 1990 (2000 with Pinnacle gear) as of The Final Shape.

How do you get powerful and Pinnacle gear in Destiny 2? ›

How to get pinnacle gear & level up to 1810 power level
  1. Playlist activities completion (Strikes, Crucible, Gambit – completing three of each will award a piece of Powerful Gear)
  2. Trials of Osiris rewards.
  3. Raid completions.
  4. Dungeon completions.
  5. Completing Nightfall: The Ordeal with a score of over 100k.
Feb 28, 2023

Is there going to be a Destiny 3? ›

Destiny 2. Most likely everything that was going to be in D3 is going to be rolled into the future of D2. Bungie has recently stated that after the split, D3 is not in the plans, even in the future.

What is the highest power gear in Destiny 2? ›

Nope highest gear power cap is 1810. Everything else gained is from the artifact. Oh, okay. Just look for powerful rewards until you hit soft cap, 1750 I think, then powerful and pinnacle until you hit the hard cap at 1800 and then pinnacles only will increase after that to the pinnacle cap of 1810.

What does powerful gear mean in Destiny 2? ›

Powerful Gear is a unique reward type that grants items with a Power Level above the soft cap. These items drop anywhere from +3-5 Power Levels above your current maximum. Luckily, Destiny 2 is filled with dozens of Powerful Gear sources.

What is the fastest way to gain power in Destiny 2? ›

To increase your Power level, you must obtain new weapons and armor with a higher Power level rating. All non-sunset loot you obtain will increase your Power level until you reach the "soft cap." This cap changes each expansion.

How to rank up Shaxx? ›

Since Shaxx's reputation system uses a linear curve, your best bet for quickly ranking up is to complete every bounty currently available from Shaxx and Arcite 99-40. Excluding bounties, your only other source of Hype is to play Onslaught. Each wave you clear grants +5 Hype.

What light level is needed for grandmaster nightfall? ›

Grandmaster version of Nightfall is extremely hard, as it has 25+ light from yours, so you should have at least 2000 Light Level to be able to start this crazy challenge!

What is the highest light in Destiny 2? ›

How High Can Your Light Level Go in Destiny 2? The maximum light level a Guardian can attain in Destiny 2 is determined by the current season's cap. As of the Lightfall season, the peak light level is 1810.

What is a soft level cap? ›

Soft Caps are the points during the progression of a stat where the benefits and bonuses you gain from increasing that stat begin to lessen or taper off. This means that the benefit you gain from moving a stat from Level 11 to Level 12 will not be the same as moving a stat from Level 45 to 46.

How do you get past the hard cap in Destiny 2? ›

This is called the "pinnacle cap" and is currently set to 2,000. The only means of increasing your Power level past 2,000 is by leveling your Seasonal Artifact. Artifact leveling occurs passively as you earn XP in Destiny 2.

What is the pinnacle cap for season 23? ›

As such, Light Level Caps for Season of the Wish (Season 23) are the following: All Guardians start with 1600 Base Power Level, the Soft cap is 1750, the Powerful cap is 1800, and the Pinnacle cap is 1810.

How to increase masterwork level in Destiny 2? ›

Legendary weapons can be upgraded to Masterworks by:
  1. Inspect the Legendary Weapon.
  2. Hover over the Tier slot.
  3. Select the next upgrade Tier from the menu to increase the weapon's Tier by 1.
  4. Repeat until Tier 10 is reached to Masterwork the weapon.

What is the maximum light level in Destiny 2: Lightfall? ›

Destiny 2: Lightfall level caps

For Lightfall, Bungie has increased the level caps as follows: Soft level cap: 1750. Powerful level cap: 1800. Pinnacle level cap: 1810.

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