Destiny 2's The Witch Queen is a huge expansion that brings a lot of changes to the game's existing systems, while also implementing new ones, such as weapon crafting or the Void 3.0 update. As customary with yearly releases, The Witch Queen also comes with plenty of new Power Level caps, and it makes it so every player starts at the same base Power Level in order to even out the playing field. Because there are a few different caps, Destiny 2 players can use this quick guide for reference to better navigate The Witch Queen expansion and Season of the Risen.
The Witch Queen Power Level Caps
For starters, all players begin their journey at a Power Level of 1350 in The Witch Queen regardless of their Power Level in Season of the Lost, and their existing gear prior to logging into the game is automatically brought up to 1350. This is what Bungie calls Power Level floor, and it is the minimum Power Level one can have in The Witch Queen with regular gear.
The first Power Level cap players will encounter is at 1500, which is when Rare Engrams - as in, blue items - will stop dropping and will no longer have increments to a player's Power Level. Blue items have often been an issue in Destiny 2, and The Witch Queen makes it so they will no longer be obtained by players who reach the soft cap of 1500 Power Level.
The second Power Level cap is at 1550 Light, which is called Powerful Cap, and players can only get up to 1550 through Powerful Engrams, Powerful Gear in general, and Pinnacle Gear. This is where the grind becomes harder because many items won't be increasing players' Power Level in any way, or at least not in a meaningful way, thus leveling up fast in Destiny 2 becomes more crucial.
Lastly, the third Power Level cap is at 1560 Light, and it is a seasonal hard cap beyond which players can no longer go even with Pinnacle Gear - which is what they need to make the jump from 1550 to 1560. Pinnacle Gear is only obtained through specific weekly activities, such as the Vanguard Operations playlist, Gambit, the Crucible, and more. Because Pinnacle Gear is limited, reaching the hard cap is going to take a while, even though players can get a big jump thanks to The Witch Queen's set of 1520 Power Level gear upon completion of the Legendary campaign.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.