Destiny 2 Tips, Tricks, and Things to Know: Become the Ultimate Guardian at Destiny 2

With Destiny 2, Bungie hit the reset button on their astronomically popular space opera-cum-online shooter. The Tower and the Last City have fallen; the Traveller has been shackled; and, if you played the first game, all your guns, gear, and accomplishments have gone.

While this may sound disastrous, it means it’s a great time for newcomers to jump in. Veterans may now be able to enjoy Curse of Osiris, jetting off to Mercury and the Infinite Forest, but you newcomers still need to know where to start Destiny 2 properly.

If you’re wondering about the best way to do that, we’ve got some excellent hints, tips, and a basic explanation of what on Earth is going on in the biggest sequel of the year.

1. Don’t Go It Alone—Form a Fireteam and Join a Clan

The best way to play Destiny 2 is with friends, and the vast majority of it can be played as a group of three. Having buddies to chat with or have your back in a fight is always more fun than going it alone.

If you’re more for competition than co-operation, the Crucible is the place for competitive multiplayer with teams of four players. Those wanting a co-operative challenge can opt for a raid, which sees six players face some of the toughest challenges the game has to offer.

Joining or creating a Clan is also a great way to get ahead more quickly. Being in a Clan earns you extra XP when playing with clanmates. It also improves rewards and gives your entire clan Legendary loot for completing certain events each week.

2. Understand How to Level Up

Destiny 2 currently has various leveling systems, and each pertains to a unique version of gameplay. Your player level offers little in the way of boosting defense and damage – it’s your power level that does the heavy lifting.

Your power level goes up to 305 – or 355 with Curse of Osiris – and is determined by the average level of all your guns and armor. If you want to increase your Power Level more easily, you need to invest time in Destiny 2’s activities, delving into Public Events, Strikes, and Crucible matches. You’ll earn loot from participating, and Weekly Milestones offer opportunities for powerful rewards that are guaranteed to be a higher power level than your current gear.

Worried that your favorite gun is stuck at a lower power level than another? Don’t: you can infuse it with more powerful gear to boost it. This essentially takes the power of one item and puts it into another.

3. Mod Your Gear

Once you hit power level 280, you gain the ability to craft Legendary Mods at the Gunsmith in Destiny 2’s social spaces. Mods add a particular perk to your gear, and crafting combines three of a specific type into a more powerful version – adding an extra five points of power in the process.

4. Learn What The Engram Colors Mean

Are you wondering what those colorful dodecahedrons are that pop out of enemies and treasure chests? They’re Engrams or loot by another name, and they come in color-coded rarities.

Knowing what these mean from a glance is a great way to prioritize your attention. White Engrams are Common, green ones are not, blue is Rare, and purple is Legendary. You can also find yellow “Exotic” Engrams that offer several unique perks over any other Engram drop. The general rule of thumb is that the rarer the Engram, the more powerful bonuses a gun or armor will have.

Bright Engrams are awarded for either earning enough experience points or bought via Destiny 2’s microtransactions. These Engrams are full of cosmetic items such as armor shaders and spaceships to unique armor pieces and fancy emotes.

5. Become Best Buddies with Xur

Xur (or Ol’ Tentacle Face, as some people call him) is a seller who appears every Friday somewhere within Destiny 2’s Patrol regions. Sometimes Xur is up a tree; other times, he’s in a cave, but you now have a marker on the map so you can find him.

Are you wondering why Xur is so special? Well, each week, he comes with four Exotic items for sale: one gun and an armor piece each for Warlock, Hunter, and Titan. He also sells Three of Coins, which boosts the likelihood of earning Exotics for four hours.

6. Take on the Raid (and the Raid Lair)

Raids have always been Destiny at its best. It’s the place where you can wade in with a fireteam of six, going up against devious puzzles and bosses to earn some of Destiny’s best rewards. In Destiny 2, the raid takes you to The Leviathan, a vast and opulent spaceship that has appeared to challenge the Guardians that defeated Ghaul.

Curse of Osiris adds a smaller “Raid Lair.” The Eater of Worlds raid takes you back to The Leviathan, but this time down into a different part of the ship. It’s not as long a full raid, but it’s an entirely new and delightful challenge to take on.

7. Always Go on Patrol

Destiny 2 is packed with plenty of things to do away from the main campaign missions. You can find most of these activities within Patrol areas, and Bungie has put these exploration zones into Earth’s European Dead Zone, as well as on Titan, Nessus, and Io. Each place is packed with things to do, including Lost Sectors to find, Adventure side missions to undertake, Public Events to participate in, and Quests for Exotic weaponry.

Because you can fast-travel to their locations while on Patrol, Public Events are one of the best ways to earn loot quickly. There are also have other Guardians to fight alongside in these open areas, meaning you can team up and take down foes even if you haven’t brought your fireteam.

8. Pick Your Class Carefully

If you’ve played Destiny, you probably already have a favorite class and character ready to import into Destiny 2. You can choose to either be a Warlock, Hunter, or Titan class for those starting afresh.

Think powerful wizards, stealthy scouts, and tough-as-nails warriors – but in space.

Suppose you’re wondering which class is best for newcomers, don’t. Each class has a similar learning curve and abilities because each class has the same three elemental subclasses: Void, Arc, and Solar. You unlock the classes (and their individual abilities) as you level up. Still, all you really need to know is that they offer up different grenades, class abilities, and super attacks.

For example, the Titan’s Striker subclass uses Arc energy to smash the ground with an area-of-effect blast. Sunbreaker uses Solar energy to form a throwable flaming hammer. Sentinel utilizes Void energy to create either a Captain America-like shield or a protective bubble for you and your allies.

9. Play through the Campaign first

One of the best things about Destiny 2 is how cinematic its storytelling is compared to the original game. Its tale of humankind’s survival after the fall of the Last City to the Cabal Empire’s self-proclaimed leader, Dominus Ghaul, is certainly entertaining. Still, it also serves as an excellent introduction to how to play Destiny 2.

Not only does it take you on a tour of the solar system, doing battle with the Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Taken, it gives you the skills to work in Fireteams and understand the best way to take down certain groups of foes. So, instead of wading into multiplayer madness or exploring planets via Patrols, put your head down and get through the campaign first.