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Max Power cap - Destiny 2

Learn the 'Light' level cap in Destiny 2 which is comprised of a soft cap, Power cap, and Pinnacle cap which is the max Power excluding the Artifact.

Bill Lavoy and Sam Chandler

April 25, 2024 4:50 PM

Bungie

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Every time Destiny 2 releases a new expansion, expect the max Power level to increase to a new cap. This has been the case with every new DLC and season (as well as with some limited-time events). When Destiny 2 first launched, the max Power was 300 (305 with mods) but now, all these years later, Guardians have grown fat with strength. With the release of each new DLC, players want to know the new soft cap, Power cap, Pinnacle cap and what other new levels there are to chase. The latest expansion, Lightfall, will continue the trend of increasing the max Power.

Last updated on April 25, 2024.

Power Cap, Max Pinnacle Power, and Soft Cap - Season 23

The Power cap in Destiny 2 increases whenever a new expansion or piece of DLC is released. Previously, Destiny 2 also raised the player level (a now defunct system). The last time “levels” were involved was the release of Destiny 2: Forsaken, which saw the level cap raised to 50. Now players only need to focus on Power.

The new max Power is 1990 (2000 with Pinnacle gear) as of The Final Shape. The following table shows what the max Power is for the new season as well as what it was for previous seasons, DLCs, and events. It also includes the previous soft caps. Check out our guide on the Destiny 2 season release dates for a deeper look at each previous season.

It’s important to note that all these figures do not take into consideration the seasonal artifact. Every new season (as of Shadowkeep) introduces an artifact along with a Power increase. This artifact is used to gain additional Power through XP acquisition. Check out our guide on Artifact XP: Perks & Power.

How to increase your Power

Power is how Destiny 2 balances your own strength against that of the enemies. Your Power is the average of all your equipped gear, meaning a higher piece can pull your Power level up while a really low piece can drop it down.

You can amass Power by completing activities of varying difficulty levels. When first starting, simply completing a campaign will get you to the soft Power cap. You can follow this up by running Strikes, playing Crucible, and other standard activities.

Once you reach the soft cap, you will need to focus on activities that reward Powerful gear. You will need to play these activities a few times in order to receive an engram, which are typically only available once per week (for each activity).

After hitting the Powerful cap, you will need to focus on activities that reward Pinnacle gear. These are things like the featured raid, dungeon, and Trials of Osiris. All of these types of engrams (Powerful and Pinnacle) are highlighted when hovering over an activity.

Destiny 2 now includes account-wide Power. This means that playing on your main character will positively impact your alt characters. When you switch to your alts, the gear that drops will be around the same Power as the gear on your main. 

Fireteam Power explained

The Finals Shape will shake up many different aspects of Power in Destiny 2. The first, and biggest, is Fireteam Power. When playing with friends, the player with the highest Power level will become the Power Leader and all other players’ Power will be lifted to five Power below the leader. If your Power is above this, you won’t be affected.

Fireteam Power will allow more players to experience tougher content without needing to spend a lot of time leveling up. However, it is still beneficial to increase Power as activities will retain their Power caps. You will still receive drops based on your own Power level, not the Power Leader's.

Activity Power

Activities in Destiny 2 will either have Power Disabled or Power Enabled. When Power is disabled, Power will not matter, anyone can play the activity, and you cannot over-level the enemies to gain an advantage.

When Power is enabled, your Power will directly influence how effective you are in combat. However, there is still an Activity Power Cap. Any Power you amass over this threshold will be ignored. What this means is that you will grow more capable of defeating enemies as you increase your Power up to the activity’s maximum.

Artifact Power

As mentioned elsewhere, your Artifact has a direct effect on your Power. Any Power you earn from the Artifact will be added to your Power as a bonus. Note that this does not increase the Power of gear that drops for you. Items that drop will have Power that is in-line with your gear’s average Power (it ignores the Artifact completely).

In The Final Shape, Bungie is rebalancing the Power structure of the Artifact given that each Episode will last longer than the previous Seasons model. What this seems to mean is that it will take more XP to reach a new Power level.

It’s important to note that although Fireteam Power is useful for increasing your team’s Power, it should not replace leveling up the Artifact. The Artifact perks are critical when engaging with endgame content. Just because your Power Leader has lifted your Power level does not mean they have also unlocked Artifact perks for you!

Old level system

For those that are curious about the aforementioned levels that were removed, here is what they were over the course of the first year and a bit of Destiny 2:

• Destiny 2 base game – Level 20
• Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris – Level 25
• Destiny 2: Warmind – Level 30
• Destiny 2: Forsaken – Level 50

While the max Power will likely increase with every new season and DLC, it’s safe to say that there will no longer be a player level like there was with the base game. This streamlines the experience, allowing players to focus on completing new content (like the campaigns) and then shifting focus to Powerful reward drops and Pinnacle activities to reach the new max Power in Destiny 2. Take a moment to look over the Shacknews Destiny 2 complete strategy guide to make sure your Guardian is fully prepared to take on the next threat.

Bill Lavoy and Sam Chandler

The Destiny 2 Guys

Bill and Sam are the two Shacknews writers who handle the bulk of the Destiny 2 content. As a Hunter and Warlock main respectively, they can cover a great deal of ground with whatever is happening in Destiny 2 today. What they don't know they can find out thanks to their all-star lineup of Destiny 2 friends.