Welcome To Destiny 2 Guardian!
Destiny 2 is a premier shooter game that offers you the possibility of doing quite a lot of activities. The game is free-to-play and is available on steam but if you are to enjoy everything that the game has to offer then you need to spend some green.
Though the game is quite easy to play but when it comes to new player introduction it’s quite not up to the mark and also to the point that players give up quite easily. Though a new tutorial was added by Bungie to onboard new guardians to the game but that wasn’t enough.
But you don’t have to worry about that, as we will be providing you with a Guide that will help you in understanding the game and its mechanics with ease and also how you can get the best out of Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 Beginners Guide 2022
Most d2 beginners guides will try explaining to you the different classes and what they can do and what not. Here we won’t be doing any of that and go over the foundation of the game which will include your character, weapons, activities, and tools.
But here is a short description of the Classes and Sub-Classes.
There are three classes and four sub-classes. Titans who can punch and tank, Hunters who can go invisible, and Warlock who can heal and increase damage output. Sub-classes Include Solar, Arc, Void, and Stasis.
Stasis can only be obtained if you have bought the Beyond Light expansion.
You can choose whichever sub-class you can choose as it doesn’t matter which class you choose as all three are equally important. For knowing more about the absolute basics of Destiny 2 you can read the Destiny 2 New Player Guide provided by Bungie.
Basics: Destinations, Activities, And Weapons
When you first load into d2 you will be introduced to the New Light Quest and that will give you a little bit of an idea of what weapons and subclasses are in destiny 2. We will talk about the New Light Quest later in this post.
After that, you will come upon The Director. The Director will be filled with destinations/planets and game modes. Let’s start with the Destinations.
Destinations
The most important destination would be The Tower and The H.E.L.M. The Tower is the place where you can find most of the vendors and also where you will receive most of the quests. The H.E.L.M on the other hand is a place where you will find the seasonal contents quest and vendors such as Battlegrounds, etc.
After both of these, there are the explorable planets which are Cosmodrome, European Dead Zone, Moon, Dreaming City, Nessus, Europa, and The Throne World.
Moon, Europa and The Throne World can be explored without any DLC but to play any quests or events related to them, you need to have the Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and Witch Queen DLC respectively.
The planets contain quite a lot of content such as Strikes, Dungeons, Raids, etc. and we can go on and on about these. For now, let’s keep it till this.
Activities
There are three main activities in Destiny 2 and those are PvE, PvP, and Gamit when you open the director you will be able to Vanguard, Gambit, and The Crucible.
Vanguard Ops
Destiny 2 as a whole is PvE but when you open the director you will be able to Vanguard and this activity comprises 3-man activities. The idea of this activity is to destroy everything in your way and reach the end.
Gambit
This is a mixture of PvE and PvP activities. The main goal here is to defeat enemies and deposit enough motes to summon and boss and defeat it to win the round. While you deposit motes Guardians from the opponent team will try to kill you and stop your progress. This mode won’t be the right place for a beginner.
Crucible
This is the PvP activity in Destiny 2. This activity has several PvP modes such as Control, Survival, etc. Trails Of Osiris is the endgame PvP activity in the game.
Weapons
Destiny 2 has Four elements the game and those are Arc, Solar, Void, and Stasis.
Destiny 2 weapons have been divided into three types based on the ammo used by them; Primary, Special, and Heavy.
Primary Weapons
Primary weapons need primary ammo and they have infinite ammo. They deal less damage to targets in comparison to special and power weapons. The weapons that use Primary ammo are Hand Cannons, Scout Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Auto Rifles, Sub-Machine Guns, Sidearms, and Bows.
Special Weapons
Special weapons need special ammo and they are quite scarce. In fact, you can only carry a finite amount of ammo for these weapons. They deal more damage in comparison to primary ammo. The weapons that use this ammo type are Sniper Rifles, Fusion Rifles, Shotguns, Trace Rifles, and Breach Grenade Launchers.
Heavy Weapons
Power weapons also known as Heavy weapons use Power Ammo and these are very hard to find in comparison to special ammo and also deal more damage as well. Rocket Launchers, Swords, Grenade Launchers, Machine Guns, and Liner Fusion Rifles use these types of ammo.
So, these are the weapon types but the segregation of weapons doesn’t end there as they are further into three slots Kinetic, Energy, and Power.
Weapon Slots
Kinetic Weapons
Kinetic weapons can deal a substantial amount of damage to enemies that don’t have shields. Stasis-powered weapons also fall under this category.
Energy Weapons
Energy weapons deal elemental damage (Arc, Solar, and Void) to enemies and they also deal extra damage to enemies that come with shields of matching elements.
Power Weapons
They deal a huge amount of damage to all enemies and more damage to enemies that have matching elemental shields.
Always carry the combination of a special wepon and a primary weapon as special weapons can deal more damage ti enemies. When faced with enemies with elemental shields use your Energy/Heavyu weapon on them to deal extra damage.
First Quest: New Light
The new light quest was introduced in d2 along with Beyond Light expansion and the reason was that the new lights felt quite lost and overwhelmed and as a result, they quit the game. The quest slowly introduces a new light to the mechanics of the game and also gradually unlocks activities and destinations.
New guardians in destiny 2 are also know as New Lights.
This is the first quest that you will receive after you start playing Destiny 2. The quest is very easy to complete but for a new light it might be hard; you can complete it with a few tries. If you quit the new light activity by mistake then you can always launch it from The Cosmodrome destination in The Director.
If you discard the quest by mistake then you can grab it again from the Terminal (Quest Archive) in the tower near the Postmaster.
Gathering XP and Leveling Up In Destiny 2
Gathering XP In Destiny 2
XP is gathered for two basic purposes, the first one is to increase the rank of your season pass and the second one is to upgrade the season artifact and unlock seasonal mods and get bonus power levels.
The season pass in destiny 2 has two tracks, one is Free and the other is Paid. The free track comes with all the essential things but the paid track comes with a little bit more of the all the essential stuff and in d2 the more you have the better it is.
So how to farm XP in Destiny 2?
The most efficient way of earning XP in Destiny 2 is doing Bounties. Though there have been quite a lot of complaints regarding this fact but to no avail. So, if you want to earn XP do the Bounties but there are some efficient ways to do that and you can check that in our XP Farming guide.
Destiny 2 Power Level
In Destiny 2, the most important of your character is your power level and it actually decides what sort of activities you can do in the game. The base power level is the same for all characters and with this, you can clear almost all base-level activities in the game but as you keep playing the game, you move towards higher tier activities. To clear these activities without much difficulty you need a higher power level. But what is a power level?
Power level is what decides how much damage you can inflict upon and receive when facing an enemy. It is the average of all the power levels of your gear. All activities in Destiny 2 have a power level recommendation and the closer you are to that, the easier it becomes for you to clear that activity.
You can read and learn all about that in our Level Up Faster In Destiny 2 Guide.
Pro Tip: Don’t dismantle any gear without checking its power level, even if a blue gear.
Weapon Infusion In Destiny 2
So, how to infuse weapons in destiny, or what exactly is an infusion? Infusion is the process of increasing the power level of your preferred gear by destroying another gear of a higher power level. Infusion can be applied to both weapons and armors.
Don’t infuse weapons or amor too frequently while reaching the soft cap. We would suggest that you to equip weapons with higher power level and store your favourite weapons in the vault till the time you reach a high enough power level. This way you wont have to use too many resources.
The Loot In Destiny 2
And finally, we have the cream of Destiny 2, The Loot.
The loot means weapons and armor. Destiny 2 has a plethora of weapons and armors which are divided into Exotics and Legendary. The legendary weapons and armor are easily available but they come with variable perks and stats. The exotic weapons and armor are not that easy to acquire and only a handful of activities reward them.
All these seem to be pretty interesting but the sad part is that to get the best of weapons and armor you need to buy Destiny 2 expansions which would obviously cost you money. If you are in a new light, then we would suggest you explore the free-to-play content first and that would include the Vanguard Playlist, Gambit, Crucible Playlist, Iron Banner, Trials Of Osiris, Vault Of Glass Raid, and Prophecy Dungeon.
Try to clear these and then if you are interested enough in the game go for purchasing an expansion. If you are interested in purchasing an expansion, The Witch Queen expansion would be the right place to start and you can purchase the other expansions at a later date.
Now comes the part of getting the best weapons.
How To Get Weapons And Armor In Destiny 2?
A good weapon in destiny 2 means good base stats and good perks. Though the stats don’t matter much but the perks are a different story altogether.
Perks are randomly assigned to weapons (except exotics) and it can take a while to find a weapon with the right perk combinations. A weapon that doesn’t have the right perk combination needs to be dismantled but pay attention to the power level before doing so.
When it comes to armors, you need to check the stats and distribution before dismantling them. You can read all about armor in our High Stats Armor guide.
Now, PvP and PvE weapons should not have the same perks. Though there might be some exceptions but the weapon perk that excel in PvP wouldn’t excel in PvE. So before you chase a weapon just remember for which activity you are farming this weapon.
Seasonal Weapons
There are weapons in Destiny 2 that are easily accessible but quite good as well and those are seasonal weapons. Each season brings a new weapon that can be obtained by doing season activities in the game. They can be focused farmed but for that, you need Umbral Engrams that can be obtained by doing random activities.
If you want to check certain weapons perks, Light.gg would be a great place to check.
Exotics
That was all about legendary weapons and armor. Exotic weapons and armor on the other hand are very powerful and you should try to get all of them as soon as possible. Exotic weapons and armors will have a yellow background on their weapon icon and they come with special perks which legendary weapons don’t have. They help you in completing activities in the game fairly easily as they deal more damage to targets.
Endgame Activities
Endgame activities are the most challenging activities in Destiny 2 and to take part in them you need to have higher power levels. The higher power level is decided by the pinnacle cap of that season. Here are some of the endgame activities in both PvE and PvP.
PvE Endgame Activities
Grandmaster Nightfall
Grandmaster Nightfall is also known as GM Nightfall and is also the hardest PvE activity in the game. This mode provides you with quite a lot of rewards such as Exotics, Ascendant Shards, etc., and also Adept Weapons.
Adept weapons are legendary weapons with better stats and can only be obtained from GM Nightfalls, Master Raids, or by going Flawless in Trials Of Osiris.
Dungeons
It’s a three-man activity that can also be called a mini-raid. This one provides good loot and can be soloed also but you need to be at the top of your game. You can check our Grasp Of Avarice guide.
Raid
A six-man activity and is also said to be the best PvE activity in destiny 2. Raids are quite fun and challenging and they take time to complete. You need to coordinate with your team properly or else you would end up failing the challenges in the raid. To know more about raids you can check our how to Raid in Destiny guide.
Lost Sectors (Master)
Legend lost sectors are quite easy and we think it won’t be fitting to call it an endgame activity. Master Lost sectors on the other hand are a different story and are quite challenging if you do it solo. You also get Exotic armor pieces if you solo them.
PvP Endgame Activities
Trials Of Osiris
Trials Of Osiris is the most challenging activity PvP activity in Destiny 2 and it can be said to be the equivalent of Grandmaster Nightfalls and Raids. This is a three-man activity and you need to be in the top 10% of best PvP players if you want to excel here. If you can go flawless then you can get Adept weapons.
Tips For New Lights
After you start playing Destiny 2, there are a few things that you need to get yourself familiar with and those are
- Every Tuesday there is a weekly reset. So, if you are riding for the pinnacle cap make sure to get all your pinnacles done before that.
- Try playing on character first and when you are familiar with the mechanics of the game, you can switch to playing on all three.
- Xur comes to the world of Destiny 2 every Friday and stays there till the weekly reset. Make sure to visit him every week as he brings with him weapons and armor both exotic and legendary. You can find his location here in how to find Xur.
- While attacking targets always aim for precision damage. Precision damage is hitting the critical spot of a target.
When you deal precison damage, the numbers that can be seen on the target are yellow in color.
- Every season the power caps changes, so get used to that also.
- Try doing activities as a fireteam because soloing will be time-consuming.
- Don’t ignore bounties as they provide you with XP.
If you don’t have a fireteam then you can try using the Bungie LFG to find one. You can also download the Destiny 2 Companion App for iOS and Android on your phone and try finding a fireteam through that. Another useful tool is the Destiny Item Manager, this will help you in checking your inventory and moving your items in and out with ease.
You will also need to have discord as it is widely used to communicate with your fireteam. Get discord and join the Destiny 2 LFG Server and you will be able to find a fireteam there as well.
Final Word
The Destiny 2 World is quite vast for a new light. So, don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of content there is, and take your time to slowly and steadily learn the mechanics of the game. If you are stuck at an encounter or an activity, ask for help in the discord server and someone will help you out for sure, the Destiny 2 community is very helpful. We hope this has been of help to you.
Happy Hunting Guardian!