'Light' screws things up (Destiny)

by Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) , London, Ontario, Canada, Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 17:54 (3523 days ago) @ Jabberwok

To be honest, I don't really understand how the skills unlock, aside from the fact that I seem to get one per level. The interface is sort of nebulous in its presentation. I assumed that I would have to level beyond 20 to unlock skills that I don't already have by that point. Maybe it's just some of them and not others?

Subclass skills progress with experience points even after you hit the level 20 cap. XP accumulate in them "right and down"; once you've filled the top skill in a column, XP accrue to the skill immediately below it and to the top skill in the column to its right. It's important to note that XP only accrue to the subclass equipped when the XP are earned.

The same goes for weapon and armour upgrades; XP gained will go to the upgrades of gear you have equipped when you gain it in the same "right and down" pattern.

All of this is in addition to the level gains before hitting 20, or the reward of a Mote of Light after hitting 20.

-- Steve's going by personal observation, not deep-diving the code, so he'll hold off on guesses about how the XP are split and such.