With Destiny 2: Shadowkeep’s launch, Bungie has changed the way that players gain Power. Hitting the soft cap and powerful cap isn’t too difficult this time around. So how do you effectively level up?
Leveling Up Quickly
Everyone starts off at 750 Power and by playing through the game, Rare gear will drop that increases Power by several points. If Rare gear isn’t your thing, head over to any planetary vendor or the Vanguard and Crucible vendors and deposit the required materials, be it Dusklight Shards, Vanguard Tokens or Crucible Tokens to get Legendary gear and weapons.
One decent method, if you have an abundance of Legendary Shards, is to visit The Spider in the Tangled Shore. Purchase Dusklight Shards, one costing 5 Legendary Shards, and then turn them into Devrim Kay at the European Dead Zone. You can quickly get gear that hits the 900 Power cap easily without worrying about gathering additional materials.
Eventually, as you gather more and more gear, you’ll hit the 900 Power soft cap. That’s where daily challenges, weekly challenges, and Pinnacle Activities come in with rewards divided into Tiers.
Tier 1 drops come from Gunsmith Bounties (8x), Gambit/Gambit Prime Bounties (8x), Crucible Bounties (8x), Vanguard Bounties (8x), Vanguard Strikes (3x), Crucible Core Matches (4x) and Weekly Nightfalls (5x). Completing Flashpoints on a planet, Nightmare Hunts (x3) and a Memory Pursuit will also grant Tier 1 drops to get you to the 950 Power which is the powerful cap.
Tier 2 drops include Gambit Matches (3x), Gambit Prime Matches (3x) and Hawthorne’s Weekly Clan XP Bounties. Pinnacle Activities include achieving 100,000 Points in the Weekly Nightfall and rewards from the Garden of Salvation raid. Pinnacle rewards will get you to the hard cap which is 960 Power.
However, there are other ways around this. Leveling up your Seasonal Artifact will give you a Power bonus on top of your current level (along with unlocking new Seasonal mods that are necessary against certain kinds of enemies). Iron Banner, which goes live today, will offer gear and weapons at the 960 Power cap. Then there’s the Vex Offensive, which has a chance to drop items that are a few levels higher than your current Power. Nightfall: The Ordeal also has a chance to drop bonus Exotics that will match your character’s highest possible Power level along with rewarding Ascendant Shards for fully upgrading gear.
Prime Engrams will grant +3 Power consistently and have nine charges. You’ll need to complete the Prime Example quest first. After that, charges will start accumulating and Engrams dropping once you’ve reached 900 Power. Though they’re doled out more consistently than before, they’re not the most reliable source of Power increases since they drop randomly.
A special note on the Seasonal Ranks – after claiming your first box, which contains a set of Legendary Gear and Eriana’s Vow, don’t claim any more of these until you hit higher Power levels. The Legendary Gear, weapons and Exotics scale with your Power level as you advance through the game so use them later to get a quick boost. You can still claim the Eververse ornaments, Glimmer, materials, shaders, Bright Dust, emblems and other cosmetics without any issues though.
How to Get The Exotic Rocket Launcher Deathbringer
Deathbringer is one of the new Exotics available with Shadowkeep, firing a large Void projectile that can be detonated by releasing the trigger. This creates numerous Void seeker orbs that will seek out enemies. The weapon is obtained through a quest, but you’ll need to finish the campaign in Shadowkeep first.
Speak to Eris Morn and she’ll give you a quest called Memory of Sai Mota. Pick up the Lunar Spelunker bounty – you’re going to be visiting the Moon’s Lost Sectors. Three must be completed to receive the K1 Crew Quarters, K1 Logistics, and K1 Communion. After this, you’ll receive a Firewall Data Fragment from the bounty.
Head to the remaining Lost Sector – the one with Revenant Wizards and a Nightmare Ogre – and after clearing it out, look for a tunnel on the right side. You’ll find a door that can be opened with the Firewall Data Fragment. Once inside, there’s a console that needs Sai Mota’s Necklace.
The next step is to kill Nightmares. This can be done in the Nightmare Hunts or in Sorrow’s Harbor where Nightmares regularly spawn. Kill 10 Nigthmares with Arc abilities and collect 20 pieces of the necklace. Head back to Eris’s camp and step into the portal to find her. The Memory quest will be completed and you’ll then receive the Deathbringer quest.
Now it’s off to the Circle of Bones. Head to the Hive temple near the Hellmouth. Travel past the Gatehouse and you’ll eventually come to the Circle of Bones – you should find a flag here for a mission. It takes you to the Summoning Pits. Kill the boss and obtain the Silent Skull item.
Your next task is to gather bone fragments. The first can be found by completing a Public Event at the Hellmouth. The second is found in the K1 Revelation Lost Sector. The last is in the Anchor of Light – head there until an enemy called the Bone Collector shows up (it’s a yellow bar Acolyte). Kill him and collect the last fragment.
You now have to do the Scarlet Keep Strike and find the High Conductor, who is a Hive Wizard. It can be found in the elevator segment on the second floor. Kill it and return to orbit. It’s now time to kill a bunch of enemies.
You must kill 10 bosses, 50 Elite enemies and 200 Minor enemies. Head to Sorrow’s Harbor and hunt the Nightmare Ogres – they count as bosses and you’ll find plenty of regular Nightmares who count as Elites. To find a lot of Minor enemies, just re-run the Scarlet Keep Strike and kill random foes on the Moon (or simply revisit the K1 Revelation Lost Sector).
It’s now time to complete the Choir of the Damned mission. Head back to the Circle of Bones in the Hellmouth and locate the mission flag for the same. It takes you back into the Catacombs where you must kill the Deathsingers. The catch is that upon entering the area, a timer for the Deathsong will start – you must kill the Deathsingers in one minute or else you’re dead. Break the Deathsingers’ shields to halt the song and give yourself more time. Be careful of the multitudes of enemies around – focus on the Deathsingers and keep moving.
Killing three Deathsingers will eventually bring you to the boss, which is also a Deathsinger. Just make sure to damage it enough before it flies away and starts its own Deathsong. Kill it, return to Eris and you’ll be rewarded with the Deathbringer Rocket Launcher. Check out Datto’s video below for a nice step-by-step guide on each requirement.