After more than a month of waiting, PC players are finally getting their hands on Destiny 2. But before getting started, there are a few things worth knowing.

11 1. Story Recap

While Destiny 2 is meant to welcome in new players, it might be worth getting up to speed on the story thus far. One of the Destiny community’s best loremasters is My Name is Byf, and he has put together a great video that recaps the story in Destiny 1 and its expansions.

10 2. Supers

The Super ability may seem like the type of thing to hold onto for a key moment, but Destiny 2 encourages players to use their Supers early and often by throwing large waves at them. In Destiny 1, Supers were typically used as a failsafe (Sunsinger) or for DPS (Nightstalker, Defender), but new subclasses like the Dawnblade and Sentinel are focused on clearing out enemies and looking cool in the process. So don’t be afraid to trigger the Super when it activates.

9 3. Element Matching

Shielded enemies in Destiny 2 are some of the toughest because of how resilient they are. But using an energy weapon or a power weapon on the enemy will help burn that arc/solar/void shield faster than normal. However, if you want a little extra flair, use an energy or power weapon with the same color element to destroy the shield in seconds and trigger an area of effect blast around the enemy.

8 Must Have Weapons

destiny 2 nameless midnight

While most Destiny 2 players would argue that the game took a step back as far as loot, there are still plenty of guns worth chasing. For us, the ones to look out for are the Nameless Midnight scout rifle and the Better Devils hand cannon. These are favorites among the PvE community because they carry explosive rounds, which pack a major punch in Destiny 2.

PvP fans will want to keep an eye out for the Last Hope side arm, the Uriel’s Gift auto rifle, and the Antiope-D submachine gun. All three guns are towards the top of the food chain when it comes to Crucible.

7 The Best Way to Grind

Whether you want to level up or collect gear, there is no better way to grind in Destiny 2 than to complete Public Events. These are quick and easy to complete, and it’s easy to follow up one with another simply by fast traveling to a new patrol area. We recommend going to Titan for runs because the Public Events are easy to complete, they trigger one after another, and they are right next to fast travel points.

6 Heroic Public Events

Destiny 2 Public Event map bug

Speaking of Public Events, it is essential that players start triggering Heroic Public Events as soon as possible. It isn’t always a good idea to do so if it’s just you playing solo, but if there are other players around then triggering Heroic Public Events is a must. It may not seem like much, but a Heroic Public Event gives out more XP and the completion chest has higher odds of rewarding Legendary or Exotic Engrams. Use a Fireteam Medallion and those odds are even higher.

5 Planet Vendors

For power levels 0-265, players are going to be collecting a lot of rare (blue) gear. There will be some Legendary items above 200 or so, but for the most part Blues are going to be the best way to increase in Power Level. However, Tokens for each destination and activity will give players a guaranteed set of Legendary items, which are usually a Power Level upgrade. What we recommend doing is saving those Destination Tokens until the Rare items start to drop at a similar power level, then turn in enough Tokens to rank up and hopefully the Legendaries will help you push past a stopping point.

4 World Quests

destiny 2 sturm stats

The World Quests (the blue crown banner on each destination) in Destiny 2 are the keys to guaranteed exotics and unique weapon combinations like the MIDA Mini and Multi-Tool or the Sturm and Drang. However, these weapons are also great sources for increasing one’s power level, and they scale above 265, which is the soft cap for Legendary and Rare gear. Because of this we recommend not completing the World Quests until you hit that 265 power level wall.

3 Two of the Same Class

In Destiny 1, creating two characters of the same class was a great way to level fast because every new drop was theoretically an improvement in Light Level. For Destiny 2, Powerful Rewards are locked in such a way that they only increase in power level for one class. So collecting the Flashpoint Engram on Titan 1 will deliver increased Power Level rewards, but for Titan 2 those rewards will be lower. Nightfall rewards, Trials of the Nine rewards, and Raid rewards are independent of this and will still increase in Power on each character, but the rest of the drops won’t. It’s something to be mindful of when trying to level quickly for the Leviathan Raid.

2 Mods

Mods are going to be confusing early on but there are a few important things to know:

  • Legendary Mods add 5 Power Level to armor and weapons, but the loot system looks at base Power Level.
  • Always infuse higher level gear into an item with a mod. Infusing a modded item into a non-modded item destroys the mod and removes 5 power level. So, a 280 item infused into a 265 (with mod) becomes 285, whereas a 280 (with mod) infused into a 265 (with no mod) becomes a 275.
  • At Power Level 280 you can turn 3 of the same type of Rare mod into a Legendary mod at the Gunsmith.
  • If you are looking for a Kinetic Mod you need to buy a random weapon mod from the Gunsmith, which requires mod components. Dismantle unwanted Legendary mods to get mod components.

1 Chest Lockout

destiny 2 gold destination chests

For some reason Bungie designed the destination chests with a timer to prevent farming. That means if you open too many chests too fast, they won’t contain any items. This lockout doesn’t affect Public Event reward chests but it does affect the Cayde Stashes. So make sure you wait to open Cayde Stashes one at a time, and avoid collecting any other chests along the way.

Bungie loves to give an air of mystery to its games, and Destiny 2 is no different. But luckily, PC players have console players to thank for their roles as guinea pigs. Now, PC players can head into the sequel knowing how specific items work and they can avoid making the mistakes players made on PS4 or Xbox One.

Destiny 2 is available now for PS4 and Xbox One, and releases later today for PC.