While The Final Shape may have had a rocky start with plenty of error codes such as Weasel, CAT, or Plum and server issues popping, as things have stabilized, players are now grinding their Power Level, with Bungie making several quality-of-life changes for this expansion.
Having a high PL won't matter initially, especially if you're a long-time returning or brand-new player just getting the hang of how things work, however, if you're a veteran that's looking to tackle endgame content, such as the Salvation's Edge raid, then boosting your Power Level fast is a must.
In this guide. we'll tell you everything you need to know about Power Level in Destiny 2, including the soft and hard cap as well as how to raise it effectively.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape Power Level caps
Destiny 2 features a Power Level cap system, which lets players tackle progressively harder activities. Naturally, the more difficult, the better the rewards. For The Final Shape and Act 1 of Episode Echoes, the PL caps are the following:
- Power Floor: 1900
- Soft Cap: 1940
- Powerful Cap: 1990
- Hard Cap/Pinnacle Cap: 2000
The floor is the base PL going into The Final Shape, with all weapons and armor pieces starting at 1900. Meanwhile, the hard or Pinnacle cap is the maximum amount of PL players can accrue without taking into consideration the boost given by the artifact, the Hunter's Journal.
Best way to raise Power Level in Destiny 2 The Final Shape
Raising PL can be a grind, however, Bungie has made it easier for players with multiple characters as drops for all characters will be relative to the character with the highest PL.
Furthermore, even if you did all the designated Powerful rewards each week, you'll still get access to better rewards with at least +1 PL until you reach the Powerful Cap.
Here are our recommendations for raising your Power Level fast in Destiny 2 The Final Shape:
Play the The Final Shape Legendary campaign
This might be a tough one if you're a complete newcomer as you may lack the expertise and gear to tackle it, but if you can do it, we suggest you try and do so.
The experience is a fun and challenging one, but more importantly, it will constantly give you drops significantly higher than the designated power floor, and upon completion, you'll get a full gear of 1960 armor, just 30 PL below the Powerful Cap.
Play Ritual Activities
Perhaps you don't want to indulge in a hard campaign experience or are trying Destiny 2 as a free-to-play Guardian, there's still plenty of ways to grind for PL, such as Ritual Activities.
While things such as Vanguard Ops require a specific PL (1945), you can still have a go at them and expect valuable rewards. However, activities such as Onslaught, the Crucible, and Gambit have PL disabled meaning the playing field is evened out.
On the Vanguard Ops topic, do remember that Bungie made it so players with low PL can still join these harder activities if they're playing alongside someone who has a high Power Level. Just be mindful that it might be a tad harder for the entire fireteam.
Complete Pathfinder tracks
Pathfinder is a new way of farming in Destiny 2, essentially grouping all vendor challenges into a single, easy-to-follow, reward track. You can find the Ritual Activities Pathfinder by selecting one from the main Destinations tab and tapping or clicking the button in the bottom left corner.
The challenges range from getting kills with a specific weapon, activity-exclusive bounties like killing Titans in the Crucible, earning multi-kills with Supers, and more.
Once you reach the end of your first track you'll get a Prime Engram, Bright Dust, an Enhancement Prism, and a ton of XP for your battle pass. You can reset your path and try again, with subsequent runs delivering fewer rewards.
Earning Pinnacle rewards
Pinnacle rewards are the most sought-after in Destiny 2's endgame as these are the only drops that can push you beyond the Powerful cap and into the Pinnacle one.
So far with The Final Shape, the activities that offer Pinnacle gear are raids, dungeons, and exotic missions. These are all on a rotator and the highlighted raid, dungeon, or mission that will drop Pinnacle gear will change weekly. Naturally, expect the new Salvation's Edge raid to drop Pinnacles each week.
What is the Salvation's Edge Power Level requirement?
If you're wondering about Power Levels in The Final Shape then you're definitely wondering what's the PL needed to play the raid. Well, Bungie confirmed that it will be set at 1965, 5 PL above the rewards you'll get for completing the Legendary TFS campaign.
So there you have it. For more content, check out all the new The Final Shape exotics and how to get them.