Forever 290 is a myth. You can and will hit 300 light on your own. You need three things. The 300 weapon you get through TTK storyline The 300 artefact you again get through the TTK storyline. And the 310 exotic sword (matchmaking is avaliable for the dark blade strike, it just takes a little bit of communication in game once you're matched) With those three items equipped [i]every single time[/i] you decrypt an engram, you get better and better chances of getting 290+ gear. It takes patience. It takes effort. It takes diligence. I was stuck with that shitty 300 shotgun for ages because it was the highest level one I had. Sucked haha. I got to light level 299 [i]100%[/i] with solo play. I rarely did nightfalls (this was before the rewards were upgraded to better light levels), I didn't do the raid. My light was 1/3 away from being at 300. So I was 299 and 2/3. The cool thing about repeat exotics and the three of coins is that once your light hits 300, you have a good 30-40% chance of getting 310 exotics. Those 310's are then infusion material for all your other gear. And if not, they're more exotic shards. Either those are scarce or too abundant, more won't hurt. So if you can't get to 300 light without doing the raid or playing with others, why was I able to do just that? I'm not even that good of a player, either, I just kept at it. It's a really satisfying feeling getting your light that high by playing alone. Good luck, solo guardians. 300 light is out there if you're willing to work for it. Edit: I have a team I play with, I just rarely / if ever get a chance to play with them. I have done the raid now and if it was a huge concern to me to get the raid done I would use the recruitment sites. I wasn't all that bothered about it. This post is directed at those who refuse / don't want to use those sites for whatever reason who think they will never hit 300+ light.