Ok, we all need to sit down and put this topic to bed already. It's a continuous argument between both sides wanting better gear and it's getting old, fast, so let's change the way this game looks at level and start looking more at "armor" in general. I think we should scrap light levels as it exists currently. Not the entire system, but the process of being dictated by a single piece or set of gear. What we replace it with is a new progression system that puts player focus on the perks and bonuses of their armor compared to a single number on their stat list. What I'm suggestion we start with is removing the progression of gear light by means of upgrading the armor through leveling it up. Instead we'll move to a new system to handle that. With that in mind every armor piece will start at a "fixed" number based on the rarity: [b]Starting Values:[/b] Rare: Start at 0 Light Legendary: Start at 21 Light Exotic: Start at 30 Light [b]New Progression[/b] So here's what we do, instead of upgrading the light every time you hit a defense upgrade perk, we remove that completely. Now, you'll progress the armor until it is completely maxed out in terms of experience gain, and that's where the new system comes into play. You will then be able to take your armor to The Speaker who by trading a Mote of Light with, can add one light to your specified armor piece. The only "blocking" status we'll put on armor will follow the exact current system we have with a key change. [b]Armor Caps[/b] Rare [Minus TDB]: Caps at 21 Light (Lv. 26) Rare [With TDB]: Caps at 25 Light (Lv. 28) Legendary [Minus TDB]: Caps at 30 Light (Lv. 30) Legendary [With TDB]: Caps at 36 Light (Lv. 32) Exotic [Minus TDB]: Caps at 36 Light (Lv. 30 [6 minus necessary number to hit 31]) Exotic [With TDB]: Caps at 42 Light (Lv. 32 [6 minus necessary number to hit 33]) [b]Mote Trading[/b] To help players with the new mote economy, The Speaker will allow Guardians to trade 2 Ascendant Shards for 1 Mote of Light or 1 Radiant Shard for 1 Mote of Light. [b]Concluding Notes[/b] This system completely eliminates all need to worry about which gear gets you to what level. There is a set line of progression that is reinstalled into the game, and instead of putting a big wall called RNG in front of player progression, it is now simply dictated by the amount of time they put into the game to acquire the necessary Motes of Light to level up their armor. This also introduces the avenue of upgrading old raid gear to new status with the release of each DLC, and it instantly adds a multitude of combinations that are possible to reach the maximum level. Finally, this system will put the focus back on Bungie to design "better" gear for activities, for instance by introducing for example set bonuses for wearing a full set of specific gear. These are my thoughts on how to fix the light level system for the better, what do you guys think?