Seeing that we are only ~50 days away from the launch of Rise of Iron, I figured I would make a post detailing the best ways I have found to prepare your guardian(s) for immediate success once September 20th gets here. I followed these guidelines heading into TTK, and was more than ready to raid when King's Fall released a few days later. Some of these won't take more than a day or two to accomplish, so you don't necessarily need to begin working on them right now, but they are still good to keep in mind. Enjoy: [b]1.[/b] [b][u]Edge Your Factions[/u][/b] -Try to bring each of your factions (Vanguard/Crucible/DO/NM/FWC/Gunsmith/etc) to within 25 reputation of leveling them up. This will guarantee you a package from them within moments of launch, which should include some sweet new gear. I would also suggest getting your factions to a certain level (NM/DO/FWC to 25, for example), just incase there are any quests that go along with it. I would even bring the Gunsmith up to rank 10 just to be safe. I will also include holding onto completed bounties until after launch in this category. [i](Estimated Time Required to Edge: 5-7 Days)[/i] [b]2.[/b] [b][u]Save Your Engrams[/u][/b] -No, they will not decrypt into new gear, but what they will do is provide you with tons of Cryptarch rep, which will in turn grant you packages which could include Legendary Gear, Exotic Gear, Shaders, or Emblems. For TTK last year, I saved up enough engrams to level my Cryptarch 8 times (24000+ rep, IIRC) on launch day, and I've already got 28 Exotic and 51 Legendary Engrams just waiting around for September. I would suggest starting to save Exotic Engrams now, Legendary Engrams a few weeks out, and even Rare Engrams in the week leading up to launch. [b]3.[/b] [b][u]Stock Your Inventory[/u][/b] -Making sure you stock up on and hoard as many Motes of Light, Strange Coins, Ammo Syntheses, Armor Materials, Planetary Materials, and Glimmer Baubles as possible could be intricate to earning good gear quickly. Most of these are for obvious reasons, such as trading in for rep or consuming for XP to level gear. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Xûr's exchange rate for Heavy Synths increase again, considering the return of Gjally. Make sure you are loaded with them. I would even go as far as saving Etheric Light received in Variks' weekly care packages, just incase. [i](ETR: 30 Days)[/i] [b]4.[/b] [b][u]Lock Down a Fireteam[/u][/b] -Having two friends to play with at launch is not necessarily imperative, but it will definitely help you get to the endgame content quicker. I main a Hunter, and I always like to approach new content with a Warlock and Titan by my side. You never know what kind of tactics will be required, so it is always best to cover all angles. [i](ETR: 1-5 Days)[/i] [b]5.[/b] [b][u]Take a Sick Day[/u][/b] -I'm sure I'll get some hate for this one, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with using your personal days to play Rise of Iron at launch (if you can afford it). Some of us work very hard, and if you feel playing at launch is an adequate use of a Sick/Personal/Vacation Day, then do it. Don't let anyone tell you how to live your life. [spoiler][b][u][i]LAST GEN ONLY[/i][/u][/b] [b]6.[/b] [b][u]Nothing[/u][/b] -Get a job, budget better, do whatever you need to do to move on from your ancient pieces of dead tech. It's about time this game cut off the Legacy Consoles, and it's nice to know that real progress can finally begin. Good luck. [/spoiler] Well, that's all I have for right now. If anyone has any suggestions that I didn't list, feel free to post them below in the comments and I will add them in later. I'm sure there are some people who choose not to prep, and that is totally fine. All I ask is that you take your hate for those who are interested elsewhere. It is not welcome in this post. -Brick EDIT: Look, I am not promoting burning through content. The sole purpose of this post is to help people be geared up and ready to go for when the raid releases a few days after launch. I feel like a lot of you guys are vastly underestimating the amount of quests and missions we will have. The Plaguelands are supposedly quite large.