I built this for some buddies who haven't reached lev 20 yet. However, I thought it would be beneficial to share to others. I took launch day off work, I played all day/night & next 2 nights. I hit Lev 20 Thurs night with my warlock. Here's what I've learned. Your mileage may & probably will vary, but hopefully someone out there gets some use out of it. [b]Summary: [/b] - Level 1-20 is training... that is not the end, it's really the beginning. - The game really just opens up at 20+ for those who want to experience what it has to offer. However, if you don't like experiencing more challenges in PvE, attemping harder Raids, gearing up for bigger challenges, or working towards harder puzzles... then you are missing out. [b]Some Details:[/b] [b]At level 15, I unlocked a second sub class B. If I switch sub classes, will I have to earn more experience to unlock those other skills in sub class B?[/b] - Yes [b]Can I switch back and forth between subclasses A & B without penalty and keep all progress on each at any time?[/b] - Yes [b]Will I continue to earn EXP after I hit the level cap of 20?[/b] - Yes [b]Will all my current sub-class skills be unlocked when I hit level 20?[/b] - No [b]Will the EXP I earn after lev cap 20 be beneficial to me?[/b] - Yes. Use it for unlocking your character skills in sub classes, for leveling your gear, for earning Motes of Light [b]What is a Mote of Light?[/b] - Item you earn for each progress point instead of a new level after 20. - Mote of Light is another type of currency - Mote of light is used at the "Speaker" *for example* in exchange for legendary class items - [EDIT] [i]Many other uses - save them! (Xür vendor, Loot upgrades, Exotic Bounty missions, etc)[/i] [/ EDIT] [b]Hit EXP lev cap 20 – unlock “light”[/b] - You now can buy armor with the “light” stat modifier [b]How do you go above level 20?[/b] - You need enough “Light” stat to push you to level 21 - When you equip enough gear with enough “light” modifiers, you move up in “light” level - Just like Discipline or Strength or Intellect… Light is now a 4th stat after level 20 on your gear - Example – it may take a total of 20 total “Light” stat (across all gear) to push you to level 21 [b]What armor can have “Light” modifiers?[/b] - All 4 slots can have it, and you want it [b]Where do you get armor with “light” modifiers?[/b] - You must first reach character level 20, when go to orbit, you receive a notice, then… o Vanguard armory (Quartermaster or Vanguard Rep) o Crucible armory o Speaker o Faction armories (several in Tower) o Cryptarch (hypothetically - unconfirmed) [EDIT - Now Confirmed by Several!] o Earn it through Missions o Earn it through Crucible o Random Drops fighing in the wild o Patrol mission rewards o Events [b]How come I can’t just use Glimmer to purchase “Light” armor?[/b] - Armor with “Light” bonuses on it is harder to acquire - You now need some combination of 4 things: o Reputation (Crucible, Vanguard or *Faction) o Marks (Crucible, Vanguard or *Faction) o Glimmer o Motes of Light [b]What is the difference between Reputation and Marks for Vanguard or Crucible?[/b] - Reptuation is how much favor you have with them. - You need to earn enough favor or Rep (think street cred) before you get to see the goods - The more reputation you have, the better stuff you get access to [b]What are Marks?[/b] - Where Glimmer is currency accepted everywhere… MARKS are specifc to group - Marks are just currency for that specifc group - Each *Faction, Vanguard and Crucible all have their own set of MARKs - Each set of Marks are earned separately o Vanguard Marks o Crucible Marks o Osiris Marks o Future War Cult (FWC) Marks o Dead Orbit Marks o Etc… [EDIT] Factions don't have Marks, as others note below with more detailed info! Great feedback all! [/ EDIT] [b]How do I earn Vanguard Marks?[/b] - Strike Play Lists – circle next to the crucible circle on the Director (opens at level 18 or so) - Look for specific REWARD Vanguard Marks for special strikes / events on left column on director - Look for special Bounties and/or Daily / Weekly / Nightly Event Strike type events with Vanguard Mark rewards [b]How do I earn Vanguard Reputation?[/b] - Play ANY Strike - Perform Patrol Missions - Turn in Vanguard Bounties - Resource cash in (need 50 of a given item) at Vanguard Quarter Master [b]How do I earn Crucible Marks?[/b] - Play competitive Multiplayer i.e. Crucible - Look for special Bounties and/or Daily / Weekly / Nightly Event rewards (left column on director) [b]How do I earn Crucible Reputation?[/b] - Play the Crucible - Turn in Crucible Bounties - Resource cash in (need 50 of a given item) at Crucible Armory Bot [b]How do I earn a specific FACTION reputation?[/b] - After reach level 20, buy an class item from the faction in the tower - Equip it - Now – go read the Vanguard and Crucible tasks – do the same stuff - You will earn Faction Reputation instead of Vanguard/Crucible Rep [b]What is the highest Light level you’ve seen so far?[/b] - Light Level 29 [b]What is the highest PvE mob you’ve seen and where was it?[/b] - Level 26 Minotaur Vex thing - Venus in the wild [i]Next up... get ready for 6-man raids, events, Nightfall heroic challenges, and content yet to come! You will need better gear... [/i] [EDIT - added 9/15/14] [b]What are those Red, blue and purple swirl effects on mobs?[/b] Elemental Shields - [b]Fire[/b] = Red - [b]Void[/b] = Purple - [b]Arc[/b] = Blue [b]Is there a fast way to take down the shield?[/b] Yes, and at the level 26+ strikes with Epic Mode buffs on (Thorn Final Exotic Bounty for example on the moon - special strike I have) - your Fireteam will have to PLAN for this. Without it, you won't be able to drop the shield at all with regular ammo. If an enemy has a elemental shield on them - you must use the corresponding element damage / weapon or you just see "immune" pop up. With shield down, then you can unload on them as usual. - [b]Fire[/b] (red - commonly Hive wizards) - [b]Void (purple - commonly elite Cabal Psions) - [b]Arc[/b] (blue - commony Fallen Captains) [b]Is there a way to improve my damage on my level 22 and 24 Strikes?[/b] Yes, know your enemy of course... but be aware of 1. game mechanics and 2. your weapon stats v.s. enemy level and how they interact. Much of this is still demystifying and learning required. Others have done great work on testing this already. I'll tip my hat to folks like Destiny News and Dattodoesdestiny for gathering info. 1. The greater the disparity of your level to your enemy's level, the less damage you will do. - I don't know the sliding scale, but say if you were lev 20 and trying to hurt a lev 24 boss. You do really bad damage. - At lev 23, with the same gun, you do much better damage to the lev 24 boss than you did when you were lev 20, with the same gun - At level 24+ you do the best damage you can do, with the same gun, to the level 24 boss (barring other influences / changes) - At lev 25, using the same gun, you do no more damage to the lev 24 boss than you did when you equaled his level (theory) - When you hit the same or greater level as the mob, using the same gun, you *may* to do the same damage. (working theory...) - Point is - your character level in relation to the mob is directly related to your damage potential 2. Generally speaking, you want a high level weapon with high IMPACT stat. This seems to be a really important 'combination'... it's not just the high level weapon, it's not just the impact... it's both. In my experience at lev 25. So, my *current* opinion is this: - A weapon has a Level & Attack characteristic - Attack is a misleading measure, generally, higher attack is better... but it is far from your only consideration - A weapon (lev 18 for example) does not do its full damage against enemies who are HIGHER level (lev 19+) than the weapon's level - the damage drop off is WORSE the greater the disparity between your weapon level and the higher the enemy level - Impact is the damage per bullet - enemies with high armor are stopping more damage per bullet (don't use auto-rifles on cabal) - Not considering elemental effects / buffs - you generally want your highest level weapon, with the greatest IMPACT [b]Breaking the lev 25 barrier?[/b] - Rank up with Vanguard or Crucible (or a Faction) to Rank 2. - Put on their class item. Gain your marks & rep via activities. - BUY the legendary gear from them with the LIGHT you need to push you to level 26. [b]Strange Coin Guide?[/b] - http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/69377882/0/0 [b][I]9/18/14 - Exotic Hand Cannon Bounty Status - quest line for Thorn - COMPLETE [/I][/b] [b]- FT: Lv 27 Fire:Warlock, Lv 27 Arc:Hunter, Lv 25 Bubbleshield:Titan:Def[/b] - Exotic Bounty - doing strikes & bounties, turned in a bunch of bounties at once (*may* have done all PvE that day) - @ bounty board, I had a 'banner message' - read I got to pick from the 3 exotic bounties - Clicked "Exotic Depleted Hand Cannon Bounty", other two disappeared - I didn't even get to read them... :/ - 1st, basic Moon Strike vs. Phogoth thought - that was just the start - Turned in my bounty, now gun was awoken, it wanted me to kill 500 Hive on the moon - New bounty - earn 500 *points - special conditions kill more than dieing using Void :/ - Then, new bounty, went to Speaker to get clean - took a Mote of Light and illuminating charm he made - Off to the Warlock Vanguard to get final Bounty Strike - A 'special' EPIC lev 26 Strike on moon - Kill a named bad @$$ wizard in Phogoth's den - Hive Knights are Elite and shielded with Arc - Epic modifier is tricky - you want correct element damage modifiers to take down mob shields & everything is TOUGH as nails