My Warlock can max out at about 291-293 light, although currently I am rocking my old FWC bond for the faction quest which drops me down to 277. My goal for this week is the FWC faction quest and getting 150 marks by Saturday afternoon, to go blind Raiding Saturday evening.

Other than the old FWC bond, I am not holding any year 1 gear on my character. Until Sunday evening, the process had been to use what ever gives me max light, regardless of what it is, and not to invest any materials in upgrading it because it would just be dismantled when I got a piece with higher light.

I invested my first 150 marks at the start of the weekend into the FWC Villainy pulse rifle, to replace my random drop Villainy I had with bad rolls. I had two of An Answering Chord auto rifles drop and ended up infusing a 200 attack one because it had 3 stability perks: perfect balance, injection mold, and unflinching. I'm pleased with both these and plan to keep them long term.

When I got another 150 marks, I was ready to get a year 2 exotic primary, but felt I would be better served with a heavy. So, back to FWC, I picked up the Vertigo rocket launcher, which is basically my beloved Fear but without Tripod; grenades and Horseshoes instead of tracking. I opted for the Void sword. It's ok.

The only slot I'm really lacking a comfortable option for is my special. I got a 300 attack arc shotgun, but it's no Found Verdict. I'm also upgrading an ok roll side arm, and I have a sniper that I don't really have any attachment to. The real star in this slot has been the 4th horseman, which I've just gotten, being on Xbox, and it is hilarious. I also have a year 2 Invective, although I haven't started with that one yet.

Armor, I have nothing I'm attached to except a nice shader that dropped. I miss my boots with the heavy ammo perk! I'm hoping to get some good armor over the course of the week as well, but the biggest focus has been weapons.

I'm at 290-294, depending on what gear i equip. I'm pretty happy with my gear at the moment, but i am severely lacking in a good sniper. I may have to break down and buy one. I have yet to get a legendary sniper, and am stuck with a 267 Rare sniper. I keep getting sidearms and fusion rifles.

I’m 284, but expect to be 290 by the time we start the Purity Pledge Raid on Friday. What I’d really like is to be high enough to be a 290 while using a 190 year one weapon. Don’t know if that’s doable.

Aesthetically, I love the Alchemist’s Raiment, despite if not because of its cheap Spencer’s Gift 80s-kitsch portable lightshow effect. Haven’t really leveled it to enjoy its perks yet, but on paper they look good. Got a new The Last Word, which isn’t quite what it was, but is still a fun gun to use. My favorite new primary is Down and Doubt 00-0, which in terms of look and feel couldn’t be more different than the The Last Word even though it has almost identical specs. Pew Pew!

My new true love is Telesto. I’m shooting sticky purple slime that explodes after I’m gone. What’s not to like? It’s more effective on bosses than you might think.

I’ve just started infusing stuff, and I have to say I like this! Re-rolling always intimidated me to the point that I was paralyzed. I didn’t want to waste time and resources on a gun to throw it all away on still better perks. For some reason I can more easily judge a set of perks to be better than another than to judge against an unknown or even hoped-for set. I don’t feel like I need to research the hell out of something and have something abstract in mind. Got an Answering Chord that I hope to infuse soon to raise its number in time for the raid.

I’m enjoying everything. Bungie made something good.

Only run my Hunter through the new stuff so far, and he's reached 278 if I max everything out, IIRC. So far my favourite new gun is that sniper rifle you get from Banshee after trading in a bunch of Rasputin's busted fusion guns; going up against bosses, I see it sometimes scoring over 20 000 damage on a headshot.

-- Steve likey.

PS: Light's limited by the game's stubborn refusal to drop a Legendary or Exotic helmet, and scrounging together 125 Marks to unlock the new Knucklehead Radar is proving tougher than I'd hoped. :(

I’m 284, but expect to be 290 by the time we start the Purity Pledge Raid on Friday. What I’d really like is to be high enough to be a 290 while using a 190 year one weapon. Don’t know if that’s doable.

Okay, so first off, Y1 weapons top out at 170 (unless you know something I don't, which is actually quite possible)... but more importantly, the way things work is that your light level is the average of the light levels of the 10 items you have. Let's say you had 300 everything, except for that Y1 weapon - your light level would be ((300*9)+170)/10 = 287.

If you had 310 gear in every slot (is that even possible, or can you just get 310 gear for Raid armor slots?) you'd be at 296 (or 291 if your four armor slots were 310, your other weapons/ghost/class item/artifact were all 300), so it's POSSIBLE... but pretty unlikely. :)

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I’m 284, but expect to be 290 by the time we start the Purity Pledge Raid on Friday. What I’d really like is to be high enough to be a 290 while using a 190 year one weapon. Don’t know if that’s doable.

Okay, so first off, Y1 weapons top out at 170 (unless you know something I don't, which is actually quite possible)... but more importantly, the way things work is that your light level is the average of the light levels of the 10 items you have. Let's say you had 300 everything, except for that Y1 weapon - your light level would be ((300*9)+170)/10 = 287.

If you had 310 gear in every slot (is that even possible, or can you just get 310 gear for Raid armor slots?) you'd be at 296 (or 291 if your four armor slots were 310, your other weapons/ghost/class item/artifact were all 300), so it's POSSIBLE... but pretty unlikely. :)

I read this as a "how-to still use Gjallarhorn" (or maybe fatebringer). Full 310 gear here I come! ;-)

I believe Cyber also has the same sweet setup. Bubble-Brothers in space!

I’m 284, but expect to be 290 by the time we start the Purity Pledge Raid on Friday. What I’d really like is to be high enough to be a 290 while using a 190 year one weapon. Don’t know if that’s doable.

Okay, so first off, Y1 weapons top out at 170 (unless you know something I don't, which is actually quite possible)... but more importantly, the way things work is that your light level is the average of the light levels of the 10 items you have. Let's say you had 300 everything, except for that Y1 weapon - your light level would be ((300*9)+170)/10 = 287.

If you had 310 gear in every slot (is that even possible, or can you just get 310 gear for Raid armor slots?) you'd be at 296 (or 291 if your four armor slots were 310, your other weapons/ghost/class item/artifact were all 300), so it's POSSIBLE... but pretty unlikely. :)

Yeah, 170. I was conflating the 290 for the current exotics. Hadn't really done the math, but I figured it was possible, and maybe worth it to be reunited with my beloved VoC.

I flew out of town super early Friday morning, won't get back to my apartment until almost midnight tonight.

I knew I was going to miss the raid hijinks, but I'm mostly disappointed that I missed out on Draksis' Three Of Coins Exotic Festival.

Check out the gear!

It's not actually my best helmet, but it looks so damn sweet... And this cloak is perfect. So much so that I've been imbuing it with other, much better cloaks just to keep the awesome art (also because I do not like the swamp thing look). Eventually I think I'll buy the Dead Orbit helmet, which has a similar Dr. Doom-ish feel to the design.

I also got seriously lucky with my weapon drops: Jade Rabbit (very effective in PvE, I have not tried it in PvP), the new SUROS Regime, and the new The Last Word, plus a spectacular roll on a Paleocontact JPK-43 with Focus Fire, Perfect Balance, and Glass Half Full. Bonus: A 294 rocket launcher with tripod and grenades and horseshoes.

I just got my sword, which I need to start imbuing like crazy, and I've been plowing my way through the quests (currently 71% with the last word quest - such a major, major challenge).

I've been having so much fun exploring the dreadnaught, figuring out how to open the chests, beat the bosses, etc... Playing fully unspoiled has been a blast this xpac and I kind of pity anyone who has looked up how to do stuff. You only get the joy of discovery once.

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According to some research by this guy, weapons are slightly more heavily weighted in the average Light calculations. Still, doing 280+ with Year 1 weapons should be totally doable.

If not for that sweet potential Stormcaller build I'm coveting, I couldn't ask for more.

Got To the Ogre before we ran out of time. I'm torn between working on my main or leveling alts for the extra marks. Getting gear above 280 is still a bit frustrating.

There's a reason we all used Etheric Light on weapons. Year 1 weapons will still be viable in a lot of content, but end-game content will benefit from the higher attack values.

This involves sharing my highest light level weapons and ghost shell.

Have only done the story on my Titan, just wanted to run Nightfall on all 3

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Weekly Heroic - 10 marks each run (cap of 30 for the week)
Daily Story - 15 marks (105 if you do it every day)
Daily Crucible - 15 marks (105 for the week)
Dismantling legendary gear - 3 marks for unleveled, 5 for leveled

I'm at 292 with my Hunter. I think you and I are the only ones ready for Saturday. I'll continue trying to get a little higher before then. The Chaperone should arrive for me by tomorrow. Enjoying my dead orbit hung jury for my primary. Heavy slot is the only one I haven't found a weapon I like. Hopefully I'll find something before Saturday.

Just starting on the taken war stuff.

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I was wondering about that. I went from a 190 ghost to a 280 ghost, and my light number did not go up the expected value of 9. Weird how even the most basic mechanics have wacky components.

Loving Nightstalker. Grips of Ahamkara plus Monte Carlo and I'm dropping stink bombs like an all night Taco Bell binge.

I think all legendary boots have a node for either machine gun or rocket ammo. You shouldn't be missing your heavy ammo boots if you have those. I haven't seen any for extra sword ammo though.

I'm at 292 with my Hunter. I think you and I are the only ones ready for Saturday. I'll continue trying to get a little higher before then. The Chaperone should arrive for me by tomorrow. Enjoying my dead orbit hung jury for my primary. Heavy slot is the only one I haven't found a weapon I like. Hopefully I'll find something before Saturday.

I ordered the Suros scout rifle and I think I selected the higher impact Hakke pulse rifle, so those will help.

Now that I think about it, my rank 25 FWC package gave me their machine gun with Underdog (meh), Braced Frame, and Rangefinder. I haven't had a change to play with it, but if it turns out to be decent I'll just need to focus on my special slot.

I'm hoping the extra week will help everyone get up there. We were rocking Court of Oryx pretty well, which had a significant Light requirement.

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Dismantling legendary gear - 3 marks for unleveled, 5 for leveled

Yeah, forgot about that one; haven't gotten enough Year 2 Legendaries to feel comfortable sharding them yet, and you don't get any marks for sharding Year 1 gear.

-- Steve did get a bunch of telemetries and Motes for that, though.

Lots of neat new pieces to play with and had an absolute blast playing with friends.

Spent too many strange coins on farming exotics

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I think next expansion I'm not going to press to run the raid at the end of week 1. Maybe more towards Tuesday the next week, so I can stay mostly blind but not have to exist on 2-5 hours of sleep a night for a week.

I’m 284, but expect to be 290 by the time we start the Purity Pledge Raid on Friday. What I’d really like is to be high enough to be a 290 while using a 190 year one weapon. Don’t know if that’s doable.

Aesthetically, I love the Alchemist’s Raiment, despite if not because of its cheap Spencer’s Gift 80s-kitsch portable lightshow effect. Haven’t really leveled it to enjoy its perks yet, but on paper they look good. Got a new The Last Word, which isn’t quite what it was, but is still a fun gun to use. My favorite new primary is Down and Doubt 00-0, which in terms of look and feel couldn’t be more different than the The Last Word even though it has almost identical specs. Pew Pew!

I absolutely LOVE Down and Doubt, and I haven't been a Hand Cannon guy for quite a while now. It's a lot of fun. I also have a 281 FWC Hand Cannon that's a lot of fun. The Vanity, I think it was called. I have Treads Upon Stars, a new Scout Rifle. I like it, but I rolled my two go-to Year 1 Scout Rifles for Full Auto when HoW dropped, and my new one doesn't have it, which sucks.

Got a new Hawkmoon, which is nice, but I don't like it as much as Down and Doubt, honestly.

My new true love is Telesto. I’m shooting sticky purple slime that explodes after I’m gone. What’s not to like? It’s more effective on bosses than you might think.

Looking forward to getting one of those. I do have the Hereafter exotic Sniper Rifle, which is just fantastic. Beautiful and sounds amazing, and is really fun to use with Perfectionist and it's blinding perk.

I’ve just started infusing stuff, and I have to say I like this! Re-rolling always intimidated me to the point that I was paralyzed. I didn’t want to waste time and resources on a gun to throw it all away on still better perks. For some reason I can more easily judge a set of perks to be better than another than to judge against an unknown or even hoped-for set. I don’t feel like I need to research the hell out of something and have something abstract in mind. Got an Answering Chord that I hope to infuse soon to raise its number in time for the raid.

I've almost got my sword infused to 280, but I'm not really sure I want to do the Exotic Quest for it. The Sword is fun, but I'm not sure it's good enough to give up an Exotic slot for, especially as it's not as efficient as a Machine Gun or a Rocket Launcher for Ultras, so you're double screwing yourself by not having one of those, or an exotic primary or secondary.

I’m enjoying everything. Bungie made something good.

Yes they did! It's been a ton of fun. The best part is that I'm at 283, and I didn't feel like there was any sort of grind. All I really did was play the quests, and I've only done 3 Heroic Strikes so far, and that got me up to 280. I am going to hit up the Strike Playlist some more to try and edge up to 290 before the Raid on Friday, though.

I think next expansion I'm not going to press to run the raid at the end of week 1. Maybe more towards Tuesday the next week, so I can stay mostly blind but not have to exist on 2-5 hours of sleep a night for a week.

Yeah, a Tuesday release of the raid like the Vault would have been better I think. Or else just all of us being able to stay away from spoilers! I do regret rushing a little bit, but not too much.

Had the raid been released later I would have fared better. I wouldn't have made it if I hadn't had a nasty cold and been able to put in extra time where I'd have normally been working.

I don't regret how I've done it, but I do wish I'd have spread the time out more than I did.

Even if it gets released super quick next time I won't be pushing that hard again.

so I can stay mostly blind but not have to exist on 2-5 hours of sleep a night for a week.

Sucks, doesn't it? lol

Having so much fun with Telesto.

Also gotten two pieces of Neuroghast armour so far! :)

I never understood the rush, except maybe to avoid spoilers, but is the latter really that hard?

Honestly, my preference would be to wait two weeks if I didn't have to get five people to wait with me.

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Even if it gets released super quick next time I won't be pushing that hard again.

Yeah. The six of us need to make a blood pact or something. We can wait two weeks and be the Fortnight Raiders!

I'm at 292 with my Hunter. I think you and I are the only ones ready for Saturday. I'll continue trying to get a little higher before then. The Chaperone should arrive for me by tomorrow. Enjoying my dead orbit hung jury for my primary. Heavy slot is the only one I haven't found a weapon I like. Hopefully I'll find something before Saturday.

I ordered the Suros scout rifle and I think I selected the higher impact Hakke pulse rifle, so those will help.

Now that I think about it, my rank 25 FWC package gave me their machine gun with Underdog (meh), Braced Frame, and Rangefinder. I haven't had a change to play with it, but if it turns out to be decent I'll just need to focus on my special slot.

I'm hoping the extra week will help everyone get up there. We were rocking Court of Oryx pretty well, which had a significant Light requirement.

Once we got a full six talking together it was easy.

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I never understood the rush, except maybe to avoid spoilers, but is the latter really that hard?

Honestly, my preference would be to wait two weeks if I didn't have to get five people to wait with me.

I know I just made a series of events for this week, but I kind of want to just play my alts up...the story missions are really fun!

Well, not this time. I'm committed to the event Friday, which is too early in the day for you, I bet. #wheresvextimetravelwhenyouneedit

Well, not this time. I'm committed to the event Friday, which is too early in the day for you, I bet. #wheresvextimetravelwhenyouneedit

Yeah, I've been eyeing that event, trying to think of a way to make it work. I'd LOVE to play with you guys. I'm technically available, as in I'm off work by then, but daytime-playing is almost always off limits unless Wifey and Son are out of the house. (He's 2.5, and she's ....not Destiny's biggest fan...) ;)

Well, not this time. I'm committed to the event Friday, which is too early in the day for you, I bet. #wheresvextimetravelwhenyouneedit

Yeah, I've been eyeing that event, trying to think of a way to make it work. I'd LOVE to play with you guys. I'm technically available, as in I'm off work by then, but daytime-playing is almost always off limits unless Wifey and Son are out of the house. (He's 2.5, and she's ....not Destiny's biggest fan...) ;)

Understood. Your family takes priority.

I think all legendary boots have a node for either machine gun or rocket ammo. You shouldn't be missing your heavy ammo boots if you have those. I haven't seen any for extra sword ammo though.

Mine bring me up from 5 to 6 rockets. Definitely an improvement, but not the 7-8 I'm used to. :(

I think all legendary boots have a node for either machine gun or rocket ammo. You shouldn't be missing your heavy ammo boots if you have those. I haven't seen any for extra sword ammo though.

Mine bring me up from 5 to 6 rockets. Definitely an improvement, but not the 7-8 I'm used to. :(

I haven't tested mine out yet. Are the old boots still the same, or did they get nerfed?

I think all legendary boots have a node for either machine gun or rocket ammo. You shouldn't be missing your heavy ammo boots if you have those. I haven't seen any for extra sword ammo though.

Mine bring me up from 5 to 6 rockets. Definitely an improvement, but not the 7-8 I'm used to. :(

Is this with the same rocket launcher? Some only hold 6 with heavy ammo boots, such as Hunger of Crota. Others 7 or 8.

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Only took my Warlock 12ish bounties with a focused light. Then the engram turn in process.

I think next expansion I'm not going to press to run the raid at the end of week 1. Maybe more towards Tuesday the next week, so I can stay mostly blind but not have to exist on 2-5 hours of sleep a night for a week.

Yeah, a Tuesday release of the raid like the Vault would have been better I think. Or else just all of us being able to stay away from spoilers! I do regret rushing a little bit, but not too much.

Well, for what it's worth, consider myself fully Spoiler free for the Raid and It's nearly Tuesday.

I didn't get much play time in the first week, and I'm left wanting more. That's a good thing - the story was really fun, and I feel like the game is just getting started. So much to see and do! I look forward to hearing from Ghost and Cayde - some great lines from those two. Speaking of the story... I'm feeling a little lost. What happened to the Queen? Who are the hidden? What does Eris take from the sword? Is she working for the Queen?? What happened to Oryx? What about the Stranger and the Y1 story?

My hunter is 265... if I max everything. In reality, I'm probably somewhere around 230 because my highest level gear is of no practical benefit to me (i.e., has no perks for hand cannons or sniper rifles). I really, really miss my hand cannon reloader and my "carry more ammo for hand cannon and sniper rifles".

I feel a little bit stuck in the "blue zone", but that's probably because I just haven't had much time for legendary drops. Also, I have not been able to purchase anything with my Legendary Marks because the younger Guardian who shares my account buys things for his Warlock before I can buy for my Hunter. I'm really feeling that change for the negative (I realize I'm probably a part of a very small minority who has this issue, but it hurts progress). I don't like being reliant on RNG so much; I prefer to make my own fate.

Speaking of Fate... the highlight(?) of the week is that I gave up my Fatebringer.... for a Y2 Hawkmoon. While I miss the Firefly perk and the elemental damage, I am really enjoying Hawkmoon's larger mag and smooth operation.

I have not yet fully leveled my Nightstalker, but so far I really like the enhanced radar perk. Also, as much as I like how it binds enemies, I wish it would accomplish more kills in the process. Again, maybe I just haven't leveled it enough to really feel the power.

In conclusion, after week one, I'm savoring the story and really looking forward to experiencing new content. If only I could get the gear I really want!

I think all legendary boots have a node for either machine gun or rocket ammo. You shouldn't be missing your heavy ammo boots if you have those. I haven't seen any for extra sword ammo though.

Mine bring me up from 5 to 6 rockets. Definitely an improvement, but not the 7-8 I'm used to. :(

Is this with the same rocket launcher? Some only hold 6 with heavy ammo boots, such as Hunger of Crota. Others 7 or 8.

It's the same rocket launcher. I've gone so far as when there's time, I'll swap boots, burn a heavy, then swap back. Can't do that in battle, but I can do it before I enter. Takes an extra 10 seconds, gets me an extra 1-2 rockets per heavy. Worth it. (Was worth it even more before the boots, when I was only getting 5.)

Really enjoying the new content but I do feel like I rushed he story missions. Still have many quests to go, mostly the patrol types with killing hive bosses and a couple exotic ones like the holly jolly thing.

I've got a couple new pulse rifles I really like and one on the way for armsday. It feels weird to equip all this new stuff, especially blues. I've vaulted all my old stuff in the off chance it may somehow be infusable in the future, though I doubt it.

I'm also really glad that most everything feels balanced so far. Nothing I've run into in crucible feels like the new meta gun or armor or even subclass. I've used my Titan smash to shut down a few hammerbros, emperor palpatines, and nerf bow hunters. All weapons are useful and dangerous in their intended ranges. Sidearms and fusion rifles seem a little weak, but just a slight buff could get them in line without any other major changes.

All in all, TTK has been a great improvement in every single area of Destiny with one slight caveat. There are too many items, mats, currencies etc. I know I'll learn them all and what they do, but there is alot of vaguery in them. This is why I can't get into Witcher. Just let me shoot things :)

This is more complex than I imagined.

I have the crucible rocket launcher with tripod and rocket boots. It holds 6 to me for BOTH new boots and heavy boots. They seem to hold not that much.

And the rocket boots with Gyllenhaal do bring me to 6. You're right. Using heavy ammo boots from the past raid holds 7.

The new rockets also don't pick up nearly as many rockets as normal.

After a solid week of sticking to a single character, gaming every spare moment, sacrificing sleep, and burning my entire weekend on the game, I still haven't completed the side missions or the top tier of the Court of Oryx, and have only made it through 2/3 of the raid. Who was saying this game wasn't worth $40 again?

-Disciple

299 hunter. Oryx slain, a few raid weapons gathered, a lot of quests left to follow, and two more subclasses to get!

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Enjoying TTK more than I thought much less grinding. That being said I stuck at 289 light. I'm having a hard time finding boots and Ghost shells. My current boots are only 283 and my Ghost shell is only 263. I'm about to break down and buy a Ghost shell but I was saving the legendary marks for the Dead Orbit firefly scout rifle.

Where is the best place to find Ghost shell drops?

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Enjoying TTK more than I thought much less grinding. That being said I stuck at 289 light. I'm having a hard time finding boots and Ghost shells. My current boots are only 283 and my Ghost shell is only 263. I'm about to break down and buy a Ghost shell but I was saving the legendary marks for the Dead Orbit firefly scout rifle.

Where is the best place to find Ghost shell drops?

I feel your pain. For a long time my ghost shell & boots were the primary things holding me down. Thankfully I finally got some boots from the raid & a ghost shell from the Court of Oryx. I don't know about these guys claiming there was no grind to be raid ready, I certainly had to grind to try & get ready for the raid, but it was small compared to trying to be ready for the VoG.

I don't know about these guys claiming there was no grind to be raid ready, I certainly had to grind to try & get ready for the raid, but it was small compared to trying to be ready for the VoG.

I'm getting close to 290 and I haven't even finished all of the quests that I have, so I think it's just a matter of RNG holding some people back more than others once you get close to 290. If you don't quite hit 290 you'll have to do a bit of grinding to fill out that last loot item, but as you said it should be really small compared to getting ready for the VOG.

I'm about to break down and buy a Ghost shell but I was saving the legendary marks for the Dead Orbit firefly scout rifle.

That scout rifle is a fun weapon. The upgraded sights highlight enemies in red kind of like ODST. Doesn't work on cloaked enemies and it's not _that_ helpful, but it's a cool effect. I still haven't quite unlocked the firefly perk, but once I do I anticipate it becoming a really sweet weapon.

Nets you glimmer on Hive kills and marks Wormspores (great for Dread patrol, overall). Cost isn't that far from the Cryptarch engrams and the sooner you up your Light, the sooner you'll keep upping it. :p

I feel your pain. For a long time my ghost shell & boots were the primary things holding me down. Thankfully I finally got some boots from the raid & a ghost shell from the Court of Oryx. I don't know about these guys claiming there was no grind to be raid ready, I certainly had to grind to try & get ready for the raid, but it was small compared to trying to be ready for the VoG.

There is still grind but honestly I've gotten to this level with just doing the story and quests. I've done about ten Court of Oryx's and a lot of exploring the Dreadnought. The 3 of coins helped too. :)

Enjoying TTK more than I thought much less grinding. That being said I stuck at 289 light. I'm having a hard time finding boots and Ghost shells. My current boots are only 283 and my Ghost shell is only 263. I'm about to break down and buy a Ghost shell but I was saving the legendary marks for the Dead Orbit firefly scout rifle.

Where is the best place to find Ghost shell drops?

I feel your pain. For a long time my ghost shell & boots were the primary things holding me down.

I gotta say, this made me laugh.

You realize TTK came out a week ago today, right?