I see how people seem to have a chance to get 310 exotics when over 300, and that you can get lower number values....but in my last 100 or so engrams I have not gotten over 275 (other than exotic of course), and all 3 of my characters are 298, 284, and 280. This makes this basically impossible for me to move up. What is everyone else doing at the 284/280 to get up, what secret am I missing? I know the 298 just needs to finish the raid so he can get another piece and be over 300. But I can't get things to infuse or replace, it's becoming quite frustrating.

I see how people seem to have a chance to get 310 exotics when over 300, and that you can get lower number values....but in my last 100 or so engrams I have not gotten over 275 (other than exotic of course), and all 3 of my characters are 298, 284, and 280. This makes this basically impossible for me to move up. What is everyone else doing at the 284/280 to get up, what secret am I missing? I know the 298 just needs to finish the raid so he can get another piece and be over 300. But I can't get things to infuse or replace, it's becoming quite frustrating.

Have you tried the Engram leveling up method? You know when you always make sure you have your highest gear gear equiped when you open an engram and you open them one at a time. When I was between 280-90 and I had a stack of engrams I was guaranteed to get at least 1-2 light increase with each stack of engrams.

However I've now gotten to the 290-300 range and I'm kinda stuck without Raid gear.

Are you transferring your Top Level guns/ghost? I am sure you know that you want to have your highest level gear equipped when decrypting engrams. Outside of that, You can infuse higher level items from different classes if you don't need them. For instance, your hunter has a 300 Class Item, you get a 298 class Item, Obviously your hunters highest Item can't use it, BUT you can transfer that to your Titan, who has a 240 class Item. Infuse it, now youre up to 260ish.

Outside of that, its just strikes on strikes on strikes.

Thought I made it clear that is what I was doing sorry. but nothing I have gotten in 100 engrams has been higher.....

I have not been transferring my guns. I guess I could do that for the gear. Just seems like an unneeded step for how quickly my Main moved up.

How much Court of Oryx do you play? That's where I got a majority of 290+ rares for infusions to get my characters all up over 290. Additionally, do as many quests as possible, there are a few that give out higher light level gear.

So, the question (as I read it) was "how do you cross the 300 threshhold without raid gear when you're already in the high 290s?"

This was an interesting question to me, since I have exactly the same question.

All of the answers, so far, have been talking about how to GET to the high 290s, which the OP didn't really need (well, on his main).

So let me ask again, more clearly:

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

Good Question. Obviously getting a 310 exotic armor and 310 exotic weapon would be needed Outside of that its pretty much just get your other gear to the highest level from engrams. Nothing else is above 300 drop outside of the raid.

Edit: TO add to this, you could dismantle these above 300 Exotics into lower level gear.

It's not, but good info none the less :). I am more focused on my 280's so I can get Raid ready.

I think I have only done the court on my Main, the 298. Mainly cause I haven't been given as many coins for the others. But I could transfer them. Will try!

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

I've never seen a rare or legendary item drop higher than 300 outside of the raid. I have seen purples drop at 300, so someone can have incredible luck to get nine 300 level drops, but that's unlikely. Once you're close to 300 though, a 310 exotic can help you cross the threshold - either the Black Spindle until it's nerfed, or an exotic sword might be enough if everything else is close to 300.

The raid is the best path, of course. Drops appear to be 300 minimum, and if you've completed the "Taken War" quests you'll have an Eris quest ("Road to King's Fall") that will reward you with a 310 artifact that will really help. Note that low-level ghosts seems to be the biggest hindrance; I've gotten several 290+ while in the Court of Oryx.

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

Do the Raid seems to be the only real answer. I haven't seen anything 300 or over drop from anything else, Black Spindle excluded along with other exotic engrams if you're already over 300.

For practically purposes, it's the raid. For impractical purposes, you can hit 300 by hitting the RNG lottery. I've had blue 300 boots, a legendary 300 primary, a 300 fusion rifle, a blue 300 heavy, and I think a set of blue 300 gloves.

Theoretically, I think you could hit a Yahtzee on these things, get to 300, have your exotics decode at 310 sometimes, and use infusion to hit the max level never having done the raid.

But seriously, the raid is easier. Even doing one section a week will get you some good stuff.

So, the question (as I read it) was "how do you cross the 300 threshhold without raid gear when you're already in the high 290s?"

This was an interesting question to me, since I have exactly the same question.

All of the answers, so far, have been talking about how to GET to the high 290s, which the OP didn't really need (well, on his main).

So let me ask again, more clearly:

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

As others have said, the raid really is the only practical way to crack 300 at the moment. There are a few exceptions; Black Spindle drops at 310 for the moment, as does the exotic sword and the Touch of Malice, and Eris will give you a 310 artifact as a reward for one of her quests. But the raid is the only way to get items to consistently drop at 300+.

Just be thankful that we don't need to be 310 yet.

Crossing the 300 barrier is really unimportant unless you are raiding. None of the other high level activities are over 290 anyway. If you want to do the hard mode raid, it would be good to be closer to 310, but it's not strictly necessary and you should really run the easy mode raid a few times first anyway which should get you above 300.

So, the question (as I read it) was "how do you cross the 300 threshhold without raid gear when you're already in the high 290s?"

This was an interesting question to me, since I have exactly the same question.

All of the answers, so far, have been talking about how to GET to the high 290s, which the OP didn't really need (well, on his main).

So let me ask again, more clearly:

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

As others have said, the raid really is the only practical way to crack 300 at the moment. There are a few exceptions; Black Spindle drops at 310 for the moment, as does the exotic sword and the Touch of Malice, and Eris will give you a 310 artifact as a reward for one of her quests. But the raid is the only way to get items to consistently drop at 300+.

I think you have to do the Raid for both of those things, don't you? The 310 Artifact is the reward for her "Complete the Raid" quest isn't it? I can't remember what it's actually called.

Crossing the 300 barrier is really unimportant unless you are raiding. None of the other high level activities are over 290 anyway. If you want to do the hard mode raid, it would be good to be closer to 310, but it's not strictly necessary and you should really run the easy mode raid a few times first anyway which should get you above 300.

Maybe, but it remains to be seen how Iron Banner and Trials will play out with differing Light Levels, and how much it'll matter being 300+ for those.

You can get a 310 exotic sword without running the raid, though. But that is an entirely different soul-sucking grind, lol.

Something I'm going to do three times, of course.

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

You have several options for barely cracking the barrier, but the real answer is that you have to raid.

Without raiding you can:

1. Get certain quest rewards that are 300 (310 for a few exotics).
2. Decode Exotics that are 310 and infuse
3. Get trials adept gear (presumably)

That's it as far as I know.

Eris will give you a 310 artifact as a reward for one of her quests.

You have to collect items from the bosses in the raid to complete this quest.

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

You have several options for barely cracking the barrier, but the real answer is that you have to raid.

Without raiding you can:

1. Get certain quest rewards that are 300 (310 for the sword).

Several people mentioned this - is a 310 drop GUARANTEED for the sword, or is it up to RNG?

(I'm on the second-to-last step, I think; waiting for Armsday for materials.)

2. Decode Exotics that are 310 and infuse

I was under the impression that Exotics will NEVER decode to 310 if you're not at least at 301 when you decode them. Is this wrong?

3. Get trials adept gear (presumably)

Heh. Yeah... not really likely. :)

That's it as far as I know.

1. Get certain quest rewards that are 300 (310 for the sword).

Several people mentioned this - is a 310 drop GUARANTEED for the sword, or is it up to RNG?

Guaranteed. Anything you get with a quest reward is set.

2. Decode Exotics that are 310 and infuse

I was under the impression that Exotics will NEVER decode to 310 if you're not at least at 301 when you decode them. Is this wrong?

I am not sure about that, but that could be right. I've never gotten a 310 exotic until I hit 300, but then again I was only <300 for three days.

Probably true. Ideally those would both be routes to get 300+ light items as well but who knows if that is what Bungie did.

Crossing the 300 barrier is really unimportant unless you are raiding. None of the other high level activities are over 290 anyway. If you want to do the hard mode raid, it would be good to be closer to 310, but it's not strictly necessary and you should really run the easy mode raid a few times first anyway which should get you above 300.

Here's the thing, though:

If I'm at 301, and I decrypt an Exotic engram, I have a decent chance (1 in 4?) of getting a 310 Exotic. If I'm at 300 (or below), I have a 100% chance of getting a 290, instead.

I'm getting two or three exotics for every few hours of gameplay (I'm no longer keeping track of actual numbers of coins used, or fights waged, because what really matters is drops per hour of gameplay), so that's a LOT of lost opportunity, even if I can't find the time to beat the raid. Do I NEED them? No, probably not (though they'll likely make my chances of beating the raid in a reasonable amount of time better)... but that's not really the point.

I don't have a life right now that allows me to raid properly. I joined with a blind group a couple of weeks ago, and we played for a lot of hours - so far, I've beaten the Warpriest twice, but nobody else. (I wasn't available for the night they ran Golgoroth successfully, and we were unable to take down the Daughters even though we knew the mechanics.) I can't schedule multi-hour sessions in advance, because my life doesn't work that way - so it's opportunity-only, and so far the opportunity hasn't arisen.

So yeah, I don't NEED 310s - but it seems like a stupid waste not to raise my overall light by 1.5 points before decrypting those engrams, because if I don't, I lose 20 points per.

So yeah, I don't NEED 310s - but it seems like a stupid waste not to raise my overall light by 1.5 points before decrypting those engrams, because if I don't, I lose 20 points per.

I'm not going to call it a mistake, because anything over 301 seems to not matter (unless if has some kind of measurable effect on Iron banner / Trials). However, it does fall in to the trap that they wanted to avoid of having people be stuck unless they get raid drops, and you have large jumps in benefit for just a few light points. From 299 to 300 is a huge deal if you can now get 310 exotics. The chance to get 310 should be granular, not on/off. My arms and chest pieces are still stuck at 296/297 because I have not gotten much armor from the Raid.

I think the fact that nightfall rewards are not automatically 300+ is absolutely insane. Making that so would provide a way for non raiders to advance a bit. Right now, unless you want the actual challenge of the modifiers, nightfall rewards are complete garbage.

So, the question (as I read it) was "how do you cross the 300 threshhold without raid gear when you're already in the high 290s?"

This was an interesting question to me, since I have exactly the same question.

All of the answers, so far, have been talking about how to GET to the high 290s, which the OP didn't really need (well, on his main).

So let me ask again, more clearly:

If you have a character that's in the high 290s (297-299), and you're already doing the high-light-decoding trick, and you haven't finished the raid... how do you cross the 300 barrier?

Here are all of the sources of light 300 or higher items which I am aware of, which are also not from the raid:

- Chaos Theory D, a light 300 shotgun, is the reward for the 5 strikes, 5 heroic strikes, 1 nightfall quest chain.
- You get a light 300 relic for finishing Eris' court of Oryx rank 3 quest chain (court of oryx 3 can also drop light 300 legendaries and blues).
- Until they patch it, Black Spindle is a light 310 weapon from a secret daily heroic mission.
- I have not done this yet, but I've been told that you get a 300 ghost shell from finishing the Taken War quest chain completely (can someone verify this?).
- I have gotten a high percentage of light 300 drops from the elimination crucible playlist (of my 20 or so games, I've gotten 5 as rewards at the end of a full match, both from winning and losing).
- You can get light 300 rewards from rep packages from any and all factions.

Of note:
- Raid drops are guaranteed between 300 and 310 and are hands down the best means of crossing the 300 threshold. Go raid! It's fun!!!
- There are no activities in the game which require light higher than 290. Anything higher than that is purely an ego stroke right now. There is one (ONE) special strike for the Touch of Malice that is light 300, but it is fully doable at 290 (albeit very difficult).

My advice would be to either chain vanguard heroic strikes, farm the court of oryx (doing as many rank 3s as possible), or play the elimination playlist, depending on which game mode appeals to you the most. Mix and match to keep things interesting!

I think the fact that nightfall rewards are not automatically 300+ is absolutely insane. Making that so would provide a way for non raiders to advance a bit. Right now, unless you want the actual challenge of the modifiers, nightfall rewards are complete garbage.

I'm glad you brought this up... I've run 3 or 4 nightfalls since TTK shipped... every single reward I've seen (including the rewards of my teammates) has been laughable. The best drop I've witnessed has been 13 strange coins. More often than not the drops seem to be legendary weapons or armor in the 260-280 range (worse than the gear you already need in order to run the nightfalls).

Is this unusual, or is everyone having similarly bad luck with the nightfall rewards?

- There are no activities in the game which require light higher than 290. Anything higher than that is purely an ego stroke right now. There is one (ONE) special strike for the Touch of Malice that is light 300, but it is fully doable at 290 (albeit very difficult).

In the raid near the end, the enemies are light 300. There is benefit to hitting 300.

you have to complete the raid for Touch of Malice, you need only complete the Taken War quests (all of them) for the artifact.

I think the fact that nightfall rewards are not automatically 300+ is absolutely insane. Making that so would provide a way for non raiders to advance a bit. Right now, unless you want the actual challenge of the modifiers, nightfall rewards are complete garbage.

I'm glad you brought this up... I've run 3 or 4 nightfalls since TTK shipped... every single reward I've seen (including the rewards of my teammates) has been laughable. The best drop I've witnessed has been 13 strange coins. More often than not the drops seem to be legendary weapons or armor in the 260-280 range (worse than the gear you already need in order to run the nightfalls).

Is this unusual, or is everyone having similarly bad luck with the nightfall rewards?

Are you asking if I'm pissed about getting Antique Runes three weeks running? Because it doesn't feel awesome at all. I've disavowed nightfalls and am much happier just farming vanguard heroic strikes.

Is this unusual, or is everyone having similarly bad luck with the nightfall rewards?

No, they suck. I got a 280 exotic. That's ridiculous. Last one I got one rune and one mote of light. Seriously.

- There are no activities in the game which require light higher than 290. Anything higher than that is purely an ego stroke right now. There is one (ONE) special strike for the Touch of Malice that is light 300, but it is fully doable at 290 (albeit very difficult).

In the raid near the end, the enemies are light 300. There is benefit to hitting 300.

Okay, so it's not purely an ego stroke, but you also do not need to be light 300 at all. I was 288 the first time I killed Crota, and we only had 2 raid members higher than 290.

- There are no activities in the game which require light higher than 290. Anything higher than that is purely an ego stroke right now. There is one (ONE) special strike for the Touch of Malice that is light 300, but it is fully doable at 290 (albeit very difficult).

In the raid near the end, the enemies are light 300. There is benefit to hitting 300.

Okay, so it's not purely an ego stroke, but you also do not need to be light 300 at all. I was 288 the first time I killed Crota, and we only had 2 raid members higher than 290.

It's going to be interesting to see the new power curve in Trials and Iron banner. It's there that being 290 could possibly put you at a disadvantage.

I pretty much don't run them anymore. I have a better chance with Three of Coins and strikes. Usually ill have a few beers, and just stay in strikes for a few hours. Much more fun than tiptoeing around for some strange coins or terribly rolled weapons. I only do them for missions/quests that require them. Speaking of which, Bolt-Caster is great!

Crossing the 300 barrier is really unimportant unless you are raiding. None of the other high level activities are over 290 anyway. If you want to do the hard mode raid, it would be good to be closer to 310, but it's not strictly necessary and you should really run the easy mode raid a few times first anyway which should get you above 300.

Here's the thing, though:

If I'm at 301, and I decrypt an Exotic engram, I have a decent chance (1 in 4?) of getting a 310 Exotic. If I'm at 300 (or below), I have a 100% chance of getting a 290, instead.

Yeah, that struck me as somewhat annoying, which is why I can't wrap my head around why they're nerfing the Spindle's Attack value, when the mission is not only difficult (no real way to cheese it), but you can get 310s regularly once you cross the threshold (in more ways than one).

I'm getting two or three exotics for every few hours of gameplay (I'm no longer keeping track of actual numbers of coins used, or fights waged, because what really matters is drops per hour of gameplay), so that's a LOT of lost opportunity, even if I can't find the time to beat the raid. Do I NEED them? No, probably not (though they'll likely make my chances of beating the raid in a reasonable amount of time better)... but that's not really the point.

I don't have a life right now that allows me to raid properly. I joined with a blind group a couple of weeks ago, and we played for a lot of hours - so far, I've beaten the Warpriest twice, but nobody else. (I wasn't available for the night they ran Golgoroth successfully, and we were unable to take down the Daughters even though we knew the mechanics.) I can't schedule multi-hour sessions in advance, because my life doesn't work that way - so it's opportunity-only, and so far the opportunity hasn't arisen.

People are really starting to fall into the groove of the raid's encounters (the biggest issue seems to be which of the myriad strategies the team will employ), so the length of runs is greatly decreasing, which may help your situation out (hopefully Iron Banner has high level drops too).

I also notice that a number of times that people ask for help, they're on the 360, which seems to be a small (and shrinking) part of the community, so that makes it more difficult to help out.

That said, if you're feeling extra trusting (and aren't crazy about the whole "sense of accomplishment" thing), I could play as/carry your character through some of the tougher challenges. You wouldn't be the first friend that I've taken to the Lighthouse (or gotten close. Sorry, Paddy!). ;)

So yeah, I don't NEED 310s - but it seems like a stupid waste not to raise my overall light by 1.5 points before decrypting those engrams, because if I don't, I lose 20 points per.

That said, if you're feeling extra trusting (and aren't crazy about the whole "sense of accomplishment" thing), I could play as/carry your character through some of the tougher challenges. You wouldn't be the first friend that I've taken to the Lighthouse (or gotten close. Sorry, Paddy!). ;)

Heh - I tried Trials once. That was enough for me. ;)

The idea is that since you can't reforge the guns, whatever you might get from the nightfall might be a really good roll, and then you can infuse it up. Unfortunately, since they have, in my opinion, taken away all the really good perks, and nerfed the other ones into oblivion, there isn't a really substantial difference between any two guns.

- There are no activities in the game which require light higher than 290. Anything higher than that is purely an ego stroke right now. There is one (ONE) special strike for the Touch of Malice that is light 300, but it is fully doable at 290 (albeit very difficult).

In the raid near the end, the enemies are light 300. There is benefit to hitting 300.

Okay, so it's not purely an ego stroke, but you also do not need to be light 300 at all. I was 288 the first time I killed Crota, and we only had 2 raid members higher than 290.

It's going to be interesting to see the new power curve in Trials and Iron banner. It's there that being 290 could possibly put you at a disadvantage.

Yep. Personally, I hope it doesn't as I feel like making PvE gear the best loot for PvP activities (and vice versa) is poor design. Loot should compliment the activities one prefers to spend time in, rather than "forcing" people out of their comfort zone in order to remain competitive.

Replace master with Bungie and some of you might agree. ;)

Still one of the greatest video game characters ever.

- No text -

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I'm not sure that's correct.

I know for a fact that I got the Artifact directly after completing the Raid. It was the first thing I turned in and received at the Tower directly after the Raid, but I don't recall what quest it was. I really think it was the one for defeating The Warpriest, Golgoroth, and Oryx. Road to King's Fall, maybe?

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I'm not sure that's correct.

I know for a fact that I got the Artifact directly after completing the Raid. It was the first thing I turned in and received at the Tower directly after the Raid, but I don't recall what quest it was. I really think it was the one for defeating The Warpriest, Golgoroth, and Oryx. Road to King's Fall, maybe?

I haven't done all of the Taken War missions, so I'm not sure either. That being said, the quest for warpriest, golg, and oryx was definitely the start of the Touch of Malice chain.

I haven't done all of the Taken War missions, so I'm not sure either. That being said, the quest for warpriest, golg, and oryx was definitely the start of the Touch of Malice chain.

There are two quests for Warpriest, Golgoroth, and Oryx, though.

The one for the beginning of Touch of Malice doesn't task you with killing the bosses, it asks you to collect specific items. The Blade of Famine, the Shroud of Ir Anuk, and the Ravenous Heart. So it's actually a quest for Warpriest, Deathsingers, and Oryx, I guess. You get the items automatically upon killing them (only if you have the quest, I think).

There is another quest called Road to King's Fall which the objectives Kill the Warpriest, Kill Golgoroth, and Kill Oryx. That rewards you with the Artifact, I think.

Anyway, not trying to be argumentative, and this thread is old and probably ignored now, but the point is I'm pretty sure the 310 artifact is a direct reward from completing the Raid.