'Light' screws things up (Destiny)

by Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) , London, Ontario, Canada, Monday, September 22, 2014, 21:19 (3758 days ago) @ snakegriffin

Yes, I saw said popups. So I now want to play these raids that everyone talks about, but I'm not a high enough level. And now I can only level up if I play in the strike or crucible playlists, to get light? I was given two motes of light, what the heck do I do with them? Figuring out what I'm supposed to do to have fun is so much work.

This is (quite understandably) confusing Light-giving armour with Motes of Light. The Motes are in-game currency like glimmer and Strange Coins; you can trade them with the Speaker (or Xur, I think) for items in their stock.

After hitting level 20 you increase in level by wearing pieces of Rare or Legendary armour (or Exotic if you can find a piece...) that has a Light rating. For every 20 points of Light rating in the armour pieces you wear (in total) you effectively gain one level.

The most straightforward way to get Light-giving armour is to buy them with Vanguard or Crucible marks. You can also save up Strange Coins and buy stuff from Xur, though I don't remember if his stuff has Light ratings comparable to the factions'. If you're very lucky you can get some to drop in Legendary engrams. (Maybe Rare too, but I don't recall seeing it happen.)

-- Steve also heard that Legendary and Exotic armour can have their Light levels upgraded using Ascendant Shards, but isn't certain that's the case.