Players jumping into Destiny 2: Shadowkeep will likely want to know how to level up fast in order to get ready for the Garden of Salvation raid that launches on Saturday, October 5th. The grind for Power level will start at 750 Power because every player and their gear will be instantly leveled to 750 as a base starting point. From there, players can follow a pretty predictable path to getting raid-ready quickly.
The ultimate goal that players should aim for is reaching 920, if possible, before the raid. The minimum Power level for going into the raid should be 890. That’s because like the Crown of Sorrows raid in the current Season of Opulence, Destiny 2 will activate the Contest modifier for the first 24 hours that the raid is active. The purpose of Contest is so that players can’t over-level the raid for the World First race. The benefit of that is that players now have a defined level goal because going over a certain level will not help them for the raid.
Here’s how players should approach Shadowkeep when it launches to level up fast:
1. Play through Shadowkeep’s content
First off, players need to get through the story missions and natural content path that Shadowkeep will present to players. Doing so is going to result in players getting a lot of blue Rare gear, which will continue to drop at the same level or only 3 levels below where players’ max Power level is. Players may also naturally find Legendary gear, which will drop within the same level range.
2. Get to 900 Power
If players get through the main Shadowkeep content and they are still below level 900, they should continue to play activities in the game. However, they should not play any activities that give out powerful rewards. Those rewards are going to be pivotal in the next stage of the Power climb and if players earn them prior to hitting the 900 Power soft cap, they will have squandered their weekly rewards that can get them over 900 Power.
As mentioned above, all non-powerful rewards now drop just within 0-3 levels below players’ current level so any gear, including Rare and Legendary gear will help contribute to players getting to the 900 checkpoint.
3. Focus on Powerful Rewards
The last part of the level grind will be getting as close to 920 as possible, considering that will be the capped Power level for the last encounter of the raid. Powerful rewards will be able to ultimately get players up to 950 Power, but players don’t need to worry about going that high yet because of the Contest modifier.
Identify any activities on the Director that give powerful rewards, such as the Nightfall, weekly challenges, and weekly bounties. Focus on those until they have been exhausted.
In addition, over 900 is when Prime Engrams will start to drop. They will drop more frequently as compared to Year 2 but will not give as high of a boost per drop as before. Previously, Prime Engrams would drop gear 4-7 levels above a players current highest level, but in Year 3, they will drop 3 above.
4. Start on Alt Characters
Once players have their first player through all the content and have earned all their powerful rewards for the week, it’s time to transfer all their weapons over to their alt character to give them a boost, and then start the progression all over again from getting through the content, getting to 900, and then focusing on powerful rewards sources.
The goal is to get that alt character to get some weapon drops that are above the highest level of the first character, so that players can transfer (or infuse) those weapons back over to players’ main character for the raid.
5. Use The Menagerie to Fill in the Gaps
While it’s unknown yet if the Menagerie activity will give powerful rewards or not, players should keep the activity in mind for one reason in particular. Because of the Chalice system, which allows players to determine exactly what piece of armor or weapon they earn when they complete a run of the Menagerie, players will be able to use this to their advantage to fill in the gear they are missing.
For example, if players have not been able to get a good helmet, for instance, to naturally drop elsewhere and the level of their helmet is holding them back from progressing, they can predetermine that they will get a helmet from the Menagerie by slotting in the correct runes. While it won’t be a huge leap forward in Power, it will help bring it closer in line with the rest of the gear needed.
6. Grind XP for the Seasonal Artifact's Power Bonus
While players are doing all of the above, they will be gaining XP, which in turn will be leveling their seasonal artifact known as The Gate Lord's Eye. The artifact will grant a power bonus for leveling it, which is added on top of whatever level a player's gear gets them to. One thing to note is that the power bonus does not influence the level of gear drops, which is still based on the Power level from a player's highest weapons and armor.
As players turn in bounties and play the game, the artifact will be gaining XP, but this is now the time to turn attention to XP grinding. Do every bounty available and play activities that give higher XP rewards in order to continue to boost the power bonus from the seasonal artifact to be fully ready for the Garden of Salvation raid.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.