So Bungie has added in new highly desired gear (for some) that has the lowest light level in the game but allows your guardian to look “taken”. In past content releases, the new gear always has had high light levels, but the new gear has only 3 which for whatever reason, seems to be the lowest light level that can be assigned, reference: Dinklebot (still have him!). So other than serving as a convenient method of allowing Eververse to sell this new gear for real $$ but still requiring people to grind for infusion material to make the gear worth a shit and neatly dodging that PTW line in the sand, why does the gear have such terrible light levels? There might be a simple grimoire explanation. Desolate armor has a low light level because it is actually made of dead taken, who have no light. This might also be true for Spektar armor. I’m paraphrasing from the card Report: Taken Power. You can read the entire card. It’s a report from the Crows in the reef. My clarification/interpretations in parenthesis. [spoiler] “Per the instructions from House of Judgment (Variks owns the Crows now in Uldren’s absence), we have moved forward with the plan to integrate the Techeuns into the R&D process.” “After some initial trials with the Prison (of Elders) specimens (Taken), we can report the program is now ready for full-scale production (of the desolate gear).” “The power they (Techeuns) wield in the transferal process ensures a 100% success rate, and we are now confident only one Techeun will need to be present for the transfer (of the Taken into the desolate gear).” “Transferred taken power has a throughput rate of [redacted], which is obviously lower than we want. Transfer rate still results in incredibly potent arms and armor (desolate gear), so for a moment this noise (a side effect of the transfer process which causes high pitched taken screams which are harmful) is acceptable. “Supply (Taken subjects) was initially raised as a concern during trials (development of the desolate gear transfer process), but whatever measures the House of Judgment has put into place to stock the Prison also assures numerous sources of Taken power.” “..initial trials raised the possibility the Vandguard would have concerns about the moral aspect of this technology (Zavala might not like guardians wearing dead taken around the tower), but the Wrath (Petra) has stated it will not be an issue.” “Taken screams can shatter plastics and burst blood vessels if not baffled, and at full-scale production that kind of auditory byproduct (noise referenced above) will be constant.” [/spoiler] So House of Judgment has been farming taken at the Prison of Elders, using the Techeuns to manufacture them into desolate gear, and giving it to the Vanguard. Taken, have no light, so it makes sense the gear has no light either. And all this time you thought it was all just a ploy for a borderline PTW cash grab ;). It’s lore based!