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Destiny 2: The Edge of Fatemade some big changes to how the game’s difficulty is selected — whileLight level inDestiny 2is still the main determining factor on how hard things are, players now have a choice on how punishing they want everything to be. There’s a lot to unpack about how difficulty works after the expansion went live, and if you want to get the best loot in the game, you need to know how this new system works.
This guide covers howDestiny 2’sselective difficulty and World Tiers work, as well as the rewards you can expect from braving tougher challenges across the solar system.
Destiny 2: Light Level and Difficulty
If you’re a new player, it’s important to know that your Light level (also referred to as your Power level, as seen in the character screen)decides how strong you are relative to your enemies in a mission— this is calculated based on the average level of every piece of gear you have equipped.
The wider the gap between your and your enemies' Light level, the more damage you will take, and the less damage you will deal. Playingany activity in the gameshould reward you with higher-leveled gear, so make sure to either equip those better items or use them to upgrade your existing ones.
Destiny 2: All Difficulty Levels
There are five different difficulty options inDestiny 2:
Fireteam Ops missions also have a Training difficulty that’s meant for exploration and testing.
The higher the difficulty, the higher the Light level requirement, and themore difficulty modifiers become available. Things will generally hit harder, and special enemies like Champions and units with Banes become more common. Also,the max Light level of players decreases as the difficulty climbs.
Modifiers are the true source ofDestiny 2’sdifficulty. They make the game either easier or harder for you, depending on what they are. Some modifiers that increase difficulty include:
The caveat here is thatnot all game modes have these difficulty options available to them. The ones listed above are for Fireteam Ops/Strikes. Content like raids anddungeons inDestiny 2only have two difficulty options:Standard and Master.
Players can customize the modifiers available in Portal activities. Using more difficulty modifiers will increase the final rating you’re able to potentially get on your missions. The better your performance, the better the rewards you get.
World Tiers
Players can now adjust the World Tier of specific destinations (mainly Kepler), and doing so will increase the Light level of enemies there, making them harder to beat. If you attempt to fight enemies in a World Tier that’s far beyond your means, you will deal absolutely no damage to anything (enemies will be immune to your hits).
There are four World Tiers:
The harder the World Tier, the more rewards you get from completing activities.
Gear Tiers, Explained
Weapons and Armor fromThe Edge of Fatenow fall under a tiering system.High-difficulty activities will reward higher-tier gearthat have better base stats, enhanced perks, and access to enhanced mods. As of writing, only weapons and armor with the “New Gear” tag are affected by this tier system.
you’re able to increase the gear tier of Kepler weapons and armor byunlocking the Kepler Gear Tier Upgrades at the Altar of Relativity. To unlock them, you need to reach 350 Light for the first upgrade and 450 Light for the second one.
