Level 20 and up: how long did it take you? what did you do? (Destiny)
For those of us in the level 20 and up range, I'm curious how long it took you to get there, what your strategy was, and how fun vs. grindy it was. I've read how some people are feeling down on the grind for xp and better equipment, and thought some discussion of levelling strategies while keeping things fun might be interesting.
Personally, I got to level 20 after 11 hrs, initially focusing on story levels and daily bounties. After that I got to 21 just from buying vanguard equipment with light and NO vanguard mark cost. These seem to come up periodically. From there, just doing vanguard strike playlist is quickly getting me more light. I'm all rare equipment, even got a legendary armor drop. I just need to play these strikes a bit more and I'll be able to buy legendary armor from the store. So, going well, and I see no unpleasant grind activities required yet. I'm level 24 at 18 hrs total game play.
How have things been for you?
No grind here. Just jumping around to whatever took my fancy. Hit 20 before I even finished the story mode. Maybe 11 hours total.
Number 1 tip: Make sure to take a look at the bounties available to see if there are any synergies with what you want to do already. Quite often while I was leveling up I was offered bounties on missions I was about to do anyway. Lots of extra XP that way. Do I want to play some control? Do I want to patrol? Sure, why not.
Or maybe I'll just accept the bounties today and see if they're worth doing along with something else tomorrow.
Take it easy.
Got to 23 by the time I'd finished messing around and then finally decided to complete the story. 16 hours on the clock right now.
Made a Warlock character earlier today and powered through a few levels while watching some TV. I figure if I really want to get as many strange coins/whatever as easily as possible, its best to have multiple characters and swap between them. Especially for the weekly heroic strike that can offer a load of strange coins.
Ended up with a Legendary Titan Gaunlet on my Hunter so I guess I'll be making one of those too...
26
by Cody Miller 
, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Saturday, September 13, 2014, 20:24 (3523 days ago) @ BeingU
How have things been for you?
I hit level 20 right as I killed the final boss. I just did all the story missions, the strikes as I became level appropriate, and the vanguard bounties.
26
How have things been for you?
I hit level 20 right as I killed the final boss. I just did all the story missions, the strikes as I became level appropriate, and the vanguard bounties.
I noticed that if you speedrun the first mission and don't kill any enemies, you'll hit level 2 before you reach the final encounter. The game forces you to level 2 right as you enter the second structure.
Makes me suspect the story similarly forces you to level 20 once you kill the final miniboss. I wonder what would happen if a level 2 player was carried through the final mission by a Fireteam. Would it be an easy way to get a character to 20..
I beat the final level last night with Lil' Blue and I finished as a 18 and he was a 17.
I did notice the forced level 2 rank when I started my second character.
26
How have things been for you?
I hit level 20 right as I killed the final boss. I just did all the story missions, the strikes as I became level appropriate, and the vanguard bounties.
How was your experience getting from 20 to 26? I know you've been feeling the grind of the investment system. What was your approach? How did PvP rewards compare to PvE, what did it take to get your best equipment and level it up, etc. ?
26
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 12:52 (3522 days ago) @ BeingU
How have things been for you?
I hit level 20 right as I killed the final boss. I just did all the story missions, the strikes as I became level appropriate, and the vanguard bounties.
How was your experience getting from 20 to 26? I know you've been feeling the grind of the investment system. What was your approach? How did PvP rewards compare to PvE, what did it take to get your best equipment and level it up, etc. ?
You need Legendaries / exotic past a certain point. They have more light, and they have more upgrades which in turn increase the light even further. Buying legendary armor from the vanguards and a faction is recommended. I've gotten ONE legendary armor engram, and it came out blue.
The legendary and exotic armors end up needing lots of resource at first: helium fragments or iron relics. You just have to hit up patrol mode and gather them. It sucks. The last upgrades require special items, which you get in the raid, and "rarely" by winning in crucible.
26
by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Monday, September 15, 2014, 09:00 (3521 days ago) @ Cody Miller
The legendary and exotic armors end up needing lots of resource at first: helium fragments or iron relics. You just have to hit up patrol mode and gather them. It sucks. The last upgrades require special items, which you get in the raid, and "rarely" by winning in crucible.
I have some gauntlets that need spirit blooms, which is handy because I've noticed those are WAY easier to find than the others. Not sure if they're actually more plentiful, or they're just easier to spot.
Helium fragments are easy to see, but I just don't seem to run into them much. I've found so little relic iron that I still can't remember what it looks like. Spinmetal's not tough to spot, but I just don't find myself back in Old Russia much anymore.
Speaking of spinmetal, that's the one collectable resource thingy that I haven't yet seen as an upgrade requirement. Maybe it's only for weapons? I don't have any legendary or higher weapons yet - only armor.
Level 21 now
by Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) 
, London, Ontario, Canada, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 06:41 (3522 days ago) @ BeingU
I kind of cruised to 20 well before finishing the story by doing too many Patrol missions early (for the Vanguard rep) and ending up over-leveled for the later Story missions. I didn't feel it was grindy except for some of the Strikes.
-- Steve finds the latter a bit worrying, given that Strikes are supposed to be a big part of the end game experience... but Strikes seem to be less grindy if done as a Party, so there's still hope.
Level 20 and up: how long did it take you? what did you do?
by JDQuackers , McMurray, PA, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 06:46 (3522 days ago) @ BeingU
I just hit 20 last night. My Xbox tells me I've played 9 hours... I have not gotten to Mars yet, but I'm excited to see it. I just have too much fun playing patrol and going for bounties. I hope to get to 26 by the time that the Raid is unlocked--but I'll be in a bad time zone to coordinate with anyone here when that happens so I'm not in a rush... :-/
Level 20 and up: how long did it take you? what did you do?
by bluerunner , Music City, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 07:22 (3522 days ago) @ BeingU
I finished the campaign and strikes last night. My hunter is sitting right below 20. That took two 8-10 hour marathon sessions. I also started up a titan for multiplayer and got it up to a level 5. The titan is just for multiplayer so I'll see how long it takes to get ranked up that way.
Lil' Blue and I have had a blast. Several hours of extremely fun playtime and only two instances where we didn't have fun. Both were overly long boss fights. I'd say Destiny has been what I wanted it to be so far. Very fun gameplay and an enjoyable coop experience.
Level 20 and up: how long did it take you? what did you do?
I've probably put 20 hours in, and am level 22. I tried Crucible stuff at level 10ish and got destroyed pretty badly, so mostly I do story missions and strikes with my friends. Or I just bum around in patrol mode looking at the scenery.
Mostly story and patrol. I had a few crucible matches in there but not many. I did a lot of bounties that went along the way and that boosted me pretty quick!
I totally stayed away from the strikes until I beat the game (I was just enjoying running around solo).
Still haven't felt the grind yet (meaning I'm enjoying the game, not suffering through parts for better gear/weapons).
Yesterday.
by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 11:17 (3522 days ago) @ BeingU
I got to level 20 and I'm just now searching for Light and really taking in all the new options at the Tower. Haven't noticed any "grinding" at all, but maybe my personal playstyle just matches with the game so I don't have that issue. I still have like 4 or 5 missions left in the story to complete, unless there's more that unlock, and I've only tried Crucible and Strike playlists once or twice. I feel like I've been pouring in scores of hours into this game, and I'm still amazed how far ahead of me everyone is! Just got my first cape two days ago (and subsequently loved the game noticeably more, hah.)
Yesterday.
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 11:22 (3522 days ago) @ Leviathan
I got to level 20 and I'm just now searching for Light and really taking in all the new options at the Tower.
That's because up to 20 there is no grinding. Up to 20 is pretty fun. The first few levels after 20 are ok. After that, it just gets more tedious and more stupid.
Yesterday.
by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 11:27 (3522 days ago) @ Cody Miller
I got to level 20 and I'm just now searching for Light and really taking in all the new options at the Tower.
That's because up to 20 there is no grinding. Up to 20 is pretty fun.
Except that I'm already up to level 20 and I still have a lot left to do, so, still no grinding for me. People play games differently. Also, levels are not my goal, just a reflection of what I'm doing, so I don't think I'll ever be grinding for some number.
Yesterday.
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 14, 2014, 11:45 (3522 days ago) @ Leviathan
I got to level 20 and I'm just now searching for Light and really taking in all the new options at the Tower.
That's because up to 20 there is no grinding. Up to 20 is pretty fun.
Except that I'm already up to level 20 and I still have a lot left to do, so, still no grinding for me. People play games differently.
I wish I played it like you then.
I don't see myself grinding.
by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, September 15, 2014, 11:17 (3521 days ago) @ Cody Miller
I mean, I like having goals within a game, but only if they're within the scope of what I enjoy doing and what I can conceivably do within a reasonable period of time. The latter is one reason I've stayed away from most of the Crucible bounties.