Destiny changes considerably after completing the game's main story and reaching level 20. This page details exactly what those changes are, and how players can continue to level up their characters after hitting level 20.

A Guardian's Light



The role of experience changes after reaching level 20 and while XP continues to contribute to the development of abilities and the improvement of weapons, it no longer contributes to leveling.

Rather, leveling becomes tied to Light, an attribute associated with certain rare, legendary, or exotic weapons and armor. Light is a numeric value assigned to an individual item which may also be increased through developing that item's abilities through continued use.

Currently, in order to reach level 21, players must gain an additional 21 points of light via Rare, Legendary or Exotic armor. After reaching Lvl. 21, each subsequent level can be reached by obtaining an additional 11 points of Light. Once a player reaches Lvl 30, each subsequent level will require an additional 12 Light points.

Level

Light Required

Level Light Required 21 21 22 32 23

43

24 54 25 65 26 76 27 87

28 98 29 109 30 120 31 132

32

144

33 156 34 168

Upcoming Changes to Light Levelling

When The Taken King Expansion arrives, Destiny will no longer feature the light system. Guardians will instead progress from Level 1 to the new cap (Level 40) as they did moving through ranks 1-20 previously -- by completing missions, killing foes and completing bounties.

Upgrading Gear and Increasing Levels

The Rare / Legendary / Exotic Gear associated with Light can be obtained at and after Lvl. 20 in several ways.

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Purchasing Gear

The most obvious method of upgrading your Guardian's armor and Light rating is to purchase high-level gear from the various faction leaders, vanguards, merchants and quartermasters in The Tower. These cannot be purchased with Glimmer, but rather must be exchanged for Marks and Commendations that are obtained by completing certain actions for each seller.

Exotic gear / engrams can also be purchased from the merchant Xur, who only appears on weekends in a randomized location within The Tower.

Level 42 Legendary armor - which can be equipped with your level 42 Exotic armor - can be purchased from Variks in The Reef, once you've successfully completed the level 32 and Level 35 Prison of Elders arena battle, securing yourself an Armor Core.

Mission Rewards



You can also collect rare armor pieces from completing The Vault of Glass and Crota's End raids.

Each Raid has its own special gear reward, including one exclusive legendary weapon of each type and one set of armor that can be earned per difficulty. Once a Guardian receives loot for an encounter, that Guardian is locked out from receiving it again until the weekly reset each Tuesday.

To upgrade these items, you'll need a steady supply of Radiant Shards. Get into the habit of completing the raids each week to help keep you stocked up!

Randomized Engram Drops



Occasionally, decoherent Engrams will be dropped by enemies that can be returned to The Cryptarch to be decoded. More often than not, these will become items that are of no use to Guardians (especially those at higher levels, such as 27+) - though, on occasion, the engram may be a Legendary item of decent quality.

Marks and Commendations



The various NPCs with gear to sell each have their own requirements to meet before their armor becomes available. For example, in order to purchase a Legendary helmet from the Hunter / Titan / Warlock Vanguard, players will need both Vanguard Marks and Vanguard Commendations.

Vanguard Marks are a form of currency obtained by completing the Daily Heroic Story missions, Weekly Heroic Strike, Strike Playlists and Public Events.

Crucible Marks are earned by completing matches in the various game modes in The Crucible, the amount earned being determined by the player's victory or defeat.

Faction Reputation can be earned by completing faction bounties while wearing a Class Item purchased from a specific faction leader. It is worth noting, however, that by pledging allegiance to a specific faction your Crucible / Vanguard Reputation will be converted into Faction Reputation.

Commendations are items received at the Postmaster after increasing a Guardian's Vanguard / Crucible / Faction level. These will often be accompanied by a Legendary Engram, though Commendations are only earned after reaching Lvl. 3 for each group.

Upgrading Legendary Gear

While using Legendary gear, the experience gained from completing quests, killing enemies and turning in Bounties will improve the abilities of the equipped piece of armor.

NOTE: The same principal applies to Rare / Legendary / Exotic

The same principal applies to Rare / Legendary / Exotic Weapons , but these do not provide a Guardian with any additional Light.

Each piece of armor can be upgraded several times - some upgrades will unlock the armor's abilities / perks, while the Defense Upgrades will raise the item's defense rating and Light level. These upgrades will not only require a certain amount of Glimmer, but also crafting materials such as Spinmetal, Spirit Bloom or Rust Iron. Higher level upgrades (usually the last three for each item) will also require Ascendant Materials and, for Raid gear, Raidiant Materials.

Other Tips

Below are other various tips, tricks and strategies that will help players level up their Guardians after passing level 20 in Destiny.

Farming for items has become a popular sport in Destiny with all sorts of different methods and locations popping up as players discover them. Farming for different items typically involves finding a spawn site for enemies that will allow players to continuously defeat enemies as they spawn.

Earning Reputation

In addition to spending Marks, you'll also need to earn Reputation to gain access to the items high-level vendors sell. Reputation can be harvested through completing Bounties, Crucible events, Weekly Heroic Strikes, and events like Queen's Wrath. Reputation comes in several forms, including Vanguard, Crucible, and Queen's Favor. Earning enough reputation points increases your Reputation within a faction, unlocking products at high-level vendors.

Variks will award you greatly for completing the harder Prison of Elders arena battles. Spoils such as Etheric Light, Armor Cores and Weapon Cores will permit you to not only purchase light-rich armor from Variks, but also enable you to upgrade (and therefore retain) your favorite pieces, too.

Characters above Level 20 may begin to encounter Exotic Bounties, which are a vital component in obtaining ultra-rare ExoticExotic Gear. Exotic Bounties are special, high level Bounties. They reward the player with extremely powerful Exotic gear. Unlike most bounties, exotic bounties are multiple-stage, posing a series of increasingly-difficult challenges to the player before completion, and often involve both PvE and PvP combat.

Exotic bounties are occasionally revealed and made available to high-level players cashing in standard Bounties. Players are shown a preview of three gold-colored bounties and allowed to select one. Once one is chosen, the other exotic bounties disappear.