What to do After Level 20 in Destiny

So you've finished Destiny's story campaign and you've hit level 20. You've finished the game! Right? Wrong. You still have faction reputation to earn, strikes playlists, daily and weekly challenges, exotic bounties, subclasses to level, and light points to earn. Congratulations: you've gotten to where Destiny really begins.

Light Level
Let's start with the basics. What is light level? Light level is how you increase your level past 20, and it can only be increased by earning gear. Additionally, it provides additional damage and defense against higher level enemies. The only way to increase your light level is with armor that has a light value, which doesn't drop until level twenty. Rare, Legendary, and Exotic armor have light values, with the higher quality offering a higher value. You can add a few light points to the value of your armor by upgrading it, but there is no other way to earn light points towards your next level. Light is not increased by weapons, Vanguard Strikes, Bounties, story missions, or any number of objectives. Progress towards your next light level can be found by hovering over your level in the character screen.

Subclasses and Upgrades
Even though you've lost your experience bar at the bottom, you continue to earn XP from enemies of a comparable level. This experience does not contribute to your light or character level, but it does contribute to weapon and armor upgrades, as well as to levelling your subclass just as you did before you reached level twenty. Your secondary subclass is unlocked at level 15, and starts at square one with no abilities or grenades unlocked, and by the time you reach level 20 you should have about 50% of your first class to unlock. Each class offers its different strengths, so take this time to experiment with each and understand how it affects your performance in the Crucible and in Vanguard Strikes. You might find that an offensively minded subclass like Striker performs better in the Crucible's deathmatch modes than a defensive minded subclass like Defender does in its objective modes.

Factional Reputation & Marks
There are five factions in Destiny with vendors from whom you may buy the sweetest of loots. There are two different currencies with which you may buy them. The first, most important, is reputation. You earn reputation for each faction buy completing activities related to that faction. Vanguard reputation is earned from Vanguard Strikes, Patrols, dailies, weeklies, and PvE bounties. Crucible reputation is earned by competing in the Crucible and completing PvP bounties. Vanguard marks are earned by completing Vanguard Strikes from the playlist, dailies, and weeklies, as well as public events in the overworld. Crucible marks, like Crucible Reputation, is earned from completing the Crucible. There is a maximum cap of 100 Vanguard and Crucible Marks earned per week by any means, and they can also be earned by turning in 50 of any harvestable resource from planets (such as Spinmetal, Helium Deposits, Spirit Bloom, and Relic Iron) to the related merchant (Vanguard merchant for Vanguard Marks or Crucible merchant for Crucible Marks.)

The three additional factions are a bit more complicated. They are the Dead Orbit (whose gear contributes to your Discipline and Strength stats), New Monarchy (whose gear contributes to your Intelligence and Strength stats), and Future War Cult (whose gear contributes to your Intelligence and Discipline stats.) You earn reputation with the faction of your choice by purchasing a Class Item at level 20 for 2500 from their merchant. This Class Item is how you earn reputation with the faction of your choice: any time you complete an activity that would reward you Crucible or Vanguard reputation, that is converted to reputation for the faction of your choice. At level 1 reputation, you can buy emblems, at level two you can buy armor, and at level three you can buy weapons with Crucible marks. If you do not enjoy the Crucible or want to earn Crucible marks through PvP, you can collect the materials mentioned above, and trade them to the Crucible vendors for Crucible marks.

Disclaimer: Pick a faction and stick with it. You'll see rewards a lot faster if you devote your time and energy into a specific faction than by jumping between Vanguard, Crucible, and the political faction you've chosen. The sooner you earn Reputation Rank 2 with any of these factions, the sooner you can start buying armor.

Keep reading on the next page for more tips!