Do the 36 strike. You can go all the way up to 260-270 on the drops there. I know it's tempting to jump in the higher one but the speed you do the 36 will more than balance out. Do multiple strikes without going to orbit so you can get the buff that increases legendary drop chances. They do drop in the 36. I have gotten as many as 4 a run. Just because you have done Rockets McDickface 1000 times don't kamikaze run into it thinking it is the same old song and dance. I saw multiple versions of that instance last night with different portions that changed up from time to time. I saw multiple versions of all the year 1 strikes. Don't be afraid to replace legendary items with blues! Shard the legendary and use the marks for later when fine tuning your gear load out. If you have some exp already gained on the armor piece you usually get 5 marks. The higher the armor rating the more damage you will put out. Even if it has lesser desirable stats (looking at you strength) and perks, the damage output and survivability more than makes up for it. Get up to a higher light level and fine tune your gear by being selective after you are closer to 300. It's not much but maybe it will help someone. I spent the last few hours trying to see what worked best for me and these were some of my thoughts. Edit: oh yeah it helps to have an app like "load outs" on your phone so you can send engrams to your bank from the instance when you start to have to many. Then you won't lose your streak bonus by going to orbit. Edit 2: additionally, save yourself the headache of trying to do the heroic vanguard strikes with a recommended light level of 260 until you are at least 275... Not much room for error and if you are in a pick up group with strangers and no voice it will just be frustrating. If you have voice and premade fire team go for it though at 260... Your mileage may vary. :) Edit 3. Another tip complements of RaZor- Do not "infuse" until you are 280+ because you will waste legendary marks and get something with a higher attack/defense soon after anyway. Just for clarification since some people are confused thinking the immediate drops received from the 36 strike are 260-270 items:: The drops scale just above what your current light level is. If you are 230 the items will drop with 240 etc. As your light level scales up the quality of drops does as well. I was able to go all the way to 260-270 before I noticed the quality of gear had started to depreciate and I was having a much harder time finding upgrades. At that point though you can start looking at the next tier of strikes ( the vanguard heroic ones with a recommended light of 260) hope that sound clear, everything is a bit fuzzy at the moment. Sorry Good luck! FINAL EDIT: Wow, thanks for the likes and trend status everyone. I didn't expect it and was just trying to save someone trial and error time that I spent last night streamlining leveling up my own light level. It might not work for everyone, but I think it is a pretty efficient and less frustrating way to achieve a higher light score while looking forward to raiding this Friday. I tried to answer any and all questions I could but I'm now on hour 32 since release and I'm going to go settle into some heroic strikes :D. Good luck with your leveling! Oh if anyone is unable to play and bored >< I'm not fancy enough to monitor chat though! HTTP://TWITCH.TV/UNITY_SMOKE