I have no idea what you're talking about. Grinding strikes may be one of the faster ways to level up, but you can level up by literally doing anything. For crying out loud you could even level up by doing patrol missions; collecting legendary and exotic engrams, and earning vanguard packages. Besides, it used to be that the only way to level up was to grind the raid every week and pray to the Destiny gods that you got the piece you needed. Things are so much more user-friendly now.

Iron Banner is a much better option right now. You get drops pretty frequently which include a primary, secondary, ghost, gauntlets, class item and artifact. The bounties are fairly easy to complete as well which guarantee two weapon drops and 2 armor drops. I'm by no means a skilled PvP player and had fun running with one of friends and was able to go from 366 to 379 without much effort.

Here is what I did to get to 381 without the raid- but with a little of trials for the scrub I am. Also- without constant annoying repetition- it's grinding different parts of the game to not be burnt out. 1) Do patrols on different planets and explore how big each location is- find dead ghosts, read the lore. If you have a creative mind, patrols and exploration go a long way with the grimoire in mind. 2) Do quests given to you by NPCs. Look for quest that grant vanguard reputation. 3) Do Challenge of the Elders or Prison of Elders to stock up on strange coins and motes of light. These will help you when Xur comes. Xur sells heavy ammo synths for 1 strange coin. I usually stock up on 300 coins and buy the (3 pack) of heavy ammo synths. (You can level your faction 2-3 times like that) -Thus- gaining higher level gear. Sadly you will have to inch up every time, but when you hit your goal it's much more gratifying. *Side note- Blue engrams can also provide motes of light and strange coins. Crucible matches also provide them as well as strikes. 4) Read the Grimoire you unlock or look it up, and go do the daily heroic story. Gain legendary marks that way. It's pretty fun collecting faction gear with the marks. Having "Sets of armor" and all. Note, that the weekly playlist is important. 5) Run strikes daily with a rep booster and farm 3oC. You MUST charge your 3oC for about 10 mins minimum for it to have a higher chance of a drop. I don't recommend popping them every strike as that will only spam it in a bad way. Pop it every other strike- 80% of the grind group who does this method gets 3/8 Exotic drops. (Exotics always decrypt above your light level) 6) Run crucible solo if you must to rank up your crucible rep. If you see you're bedding a Fireteam of six, please back out to avoid crucible rage -Or- if you're like me, test your skills and learn from them. Message them GG and move on. Now you know what to work on. Make sure to always have a rep booster. Also- same method for 3oC farming. EVERY OTHER GAME POP EM- my RNG for this though is significantly lower- thus moving me more towards PvE rather than PvP. It could be the same across the board, but who knows. Side note- in private matches- explore the maps and get the dead ghosts- read the lore- you'll appreciate the maps more and the stories behind it. My favourite ATM is Last Exit and the story behind it. Every time I play there now, I always think of the dark force that overtook the land and I feel even more chivalrous being a warrior there. 7) Make all 3 classes if you haven't done so already. I find this is the most important step. You unlock more lore, you learn each CLASSES strengths and weaknesses, and you'll appreciate the game way more. Run the story, there's a lot in it- stop skipping cut scenes. Light level isn't a race. Also,, you have the potential to get better gear on one class vs the other and can switch stuff around to boost light levels. 8) Honestly, get a damn mic, learn to say Hi- and go to LFG and go filter it to "Newbies welcome" I myself hate LFG without that filter even though I'm not a noob. I was literally kicked from 10 groups a day ago for "Not doing the raid, and not having Outbreak Prime," I found a ton of sherpas in LFG newbies welcome, added them, and they help me even more. Luckily, I'll be able to experience the raid next week when I get my mic back. 9) Trials of Osiris is for the sweaty players who have talent (or a lag switch). I highly recommend doing 3v3 modes outside of trials before you do this. To me, trials just had better [b][u]LOOKING[/u][/b] gear rather than [b][u]STRONGER[/u][/b] gear. It's something they deserve for being the cream of the crop. So if you feel the need for this, I wouldn't even complain about a grind. NOTE- I didn't run trials for the flawless and the bragging, I ran trials to learn to get better, to finish the gold tier bounties and silver bounties for high level gear, and for the 5 wins I can harness for now. Trials really helped me get 380 gear. 10) ENJOY THE GAME. It's literally an MMO-FPS! It's amazing! There IS a lot to explore and do- complete your Rise of Iron mission book for example, (moments of triumph). It's not COD where the rewards are instant. If you don't like a game with a grind like this and you think it's a joke, you spent money on the wrong game. Bungie has its flaws, but this game requires a lot of talent to develop. I'd like to see you make a game from the ground up like this- the 1st of its kind. The grind is tedious, but not boring. I'm primarily a solo player who took my own advice and started to break out of my reclusive shell. IT IS HEALTHY FOR YOU. Also, if you read this, it's not all the sepkis Prime strike-. I hope this helps.

Sepiks is the fastest way. And if you wanna do anything fast in any game, you're probably gonna have to grind. If you wanna just have fun and enjoy the game like you're suggesting, just play the heroic strike list over and over again. It's the same idea as doing Sepiks over and over, but now you're actually enjoying the strikes and the game.

remember when in year one the cap was level 30 and everyone was stuck at #forever29 ? yeah well the level cap is now 385 and i'm sitting at 386.5 you don't know grind until you did 15 VoGs and didn't get the helmet.

Any 320 or 350 strike, nightfall, Iron Banner, Trials, Faction Packages, Exotic Engrams via 3oc, Wrath of the Machine, Archon's Forge, Court of Oryx for Artifacts. Not really sure what your issue is.

.....are you new to Destiny? It's all about the Grind whilst trying telling yourself it's fun. Destiny RNGesus will either addict you like crack covered in coke and msg or if you're lucky you'll just move on to a better designed and more fulfilling game. Good luck Guardian.

That's not true. There are many ways to up your light level other than that.

There are 3 times more ways to get to 385 than there was to get to 320 or 335, without raiding. Do you even read bro?

haha purple engams used to turn blue. You couldn't buy planet materials, motes of light did nothing. It was way worse then what it is now.