Experience points are part of virtually every video game that has been released in the last console generation. Completing activities, killing enemies, or just playing the game can grant points towards earning new skills or cosmetics.
Destiny 2 uses experience points to unlock features in the Season Pass, seasonal Artifact, and grant Bright Engrams, which provide vanity items. With a large portion of Destiny's content locked behind these systems, it's important to earn XP as fast as possible. This guide will cover everything from experience-boosting sources to the best farming strategies. Here is a complete guide to earning XP quickly in Destiny 2.
Updated April 10th, 2022, by Charles Burgar: While earning XP hasn't changed much with the release of The Witch Queen, some small changes warranted an update to this guide. We've reorganized this article to give more concise information, and the fastest XP farm section has been rewritten to be easier to follow for newcomers.
Every Way Of Earning Experience
Nearly everything you do in Destiny 2 will provide experience points. Here is every method of earning XP:
| Method | Type | XP Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Killing Enemies | Activities | 20-100 |
| Repeatable Bounty | Bounty | 4,000 |
| Daily Bounty | Bounty | 6,000 |
| Weekly Bounty | Bounty | 12,000 |
| Weekly Milestone | Weekly | ~12,000 |
| Seasonal Challenge | Triumph | 12.5K-100K |
As you can see, nearly everything tied to Destiny 2's gameplay loop grants some form of experience points. The best experience earnings come from Seasonal Challenges, followed by weekly milestones and bounties.
Ways To Increase Your XP Gains
Before you decide to grind out activities to earn XP, note that there are quite a few methods for increasing your experience gains.
| Method | Type | XP Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Wisdom | Buff | 8% |
| XP Mods | Ghost Mod | 2-12% |
| Season Pass | Season Pass | 32% |
| Well-Rested | Buff | 100% |
Ghost Shell Mods
XP Buff: 2-12%
Ghost Shells have a dedicated mod slot for enhancing your XP gains. There are six different Ghost Shell mods in this category as of the Beyond Light expansion:
| Mod | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Flickering Light | 1 Energy | Increase XP gains by 2%. |
| Little Light | 2 Energy | Increase XP gains by 3%. |
| Hopeful Light | 3 Energy | Increase XP gains by 5%. |
| Burning Light | 4 Energy | Increase XP gains by 8%. |
| Guiding Light | 5 Energy | Increase XP gains by 10%. |
| Blinding Light | 6 Energy | Increase XP gains by 12%. |
Blinding Light is the best of the bunch but will be removed at the end of Year 5. These mods enhance the XP gains from every source, including missions and bounties. Make sure to equip one of these mods before turning in a large sum of bounties.
Well-Rested
XP Buff: 100% for your first five levels
Every Tuesday at 12 PM PST, Destiny 2 will receive its weekly reset. Weekly challenges, bounties, and the Eververse store will all be refreshed. More importantly, your account will gain a buff called Well-Rested, which will increase all XP gains by 100% until you gain five levels that week.
Well-Rested stacks with other XP boons such as Blinding Light and the Season Pass upgrades. As long as you play Destiny 2 at least once per week, you can easily gain five Season Pass levels.
Season Pass Experience Boost
XP Buff: 32%
Purchasing the current Season Pass will immediately grant a 20% experience boost to your account for the rest of the current season. Ranking up the Season Pass will periodically increase the strength of this buff.
The following ranks in the premium Season Pass track increase your XP gains:
| Rank 1 | 20% increased XP gains |
| Rank 7 | 2% increased XP gains |
| Rank 16 | 2% increased XP gains |
| Rank 36 | 2% increased XP gains |
| Rank 46 | 2% increased XP gains |
| Rank 66 | 2% increased XP gains |
| Rank 76 | 2% increased XP gains |
When you reach rank 76, you will be receiving 32% increased XP from all sources for the rest of that Season. As with the Ghost Shell mods, this buff stacks with other sources of XP boosts.
Shared Wisdom
XP Buff: 8% while in a fireteam
While you're in a fireteam with another player who owns the current Season Pass, they will grant increased experience gains to the whole fireteam. The higher their rank, the stronger the buff is. To check if the buff is active, browse the buffs section of your inventory and look for a boon named Shared Wisdom. If it's there, you are receiving increased XP gains from a fellow fireteam member.
The following ranks buff the Shared Wisdom buff:
| Rank 5 | Increases fireteam members' XP gains by 2%. |
| Rank 26 | Increases fireteam members' XP gains by 2%. |
| Rank 56 | Increases fireteam members' XP gains by 2%. |
| Rank 86 | Increases fireteam members' XP gains by 2%. |
Reaching rank 86 will grant all fireteam members an 8% increased experience gain buff. Once again, Shared Wisdom stacks with other sources of increased XP gains.
Completing Seasonal Challenges
Seasonal Challenes grant more XP than any other source in Destiny 2. These challenges are unique Triumphs that can be inspected from your Quests or Seasonal tab. Seasons have dozens of challenges to complete, each granting at least a large chunk of XP. Seasonal Challenges are also a great source of Bright Dust.
When you hover over a Seasonal Challenge, it will state that it grants "Challenge XP," sometimes followed by a multiplier. Here's how much XP these challenges give you:
The below values are base XP payouts. XP multipliers, such as Ghost Shell mods, increase how much XP you earn from these challenges.
| XP Type | XP Granted |
|---|---|
| Challenge XP | 12,500 |
| Challenge XP+ | 25,000 |
| Challenge XP++ | 50,000 |
| Challenge XP+++ | 100,000 |
Keep in mind that a Season Pass rank requires 100,000 XP. For comparison, weekly bounties grant 12,000 XP, half as much as the most common Seasonal Challenge XP reward. You'll want to prioritize these challenges above anything else if you want to level your Season Pass and Artifact quickly. Completing every Seasonal Challenge and using the Well-Rested buff each week gives enough XP to exceed Season Pass level 100.
Seasonal Challenges can be completed at any time before a season ends, so there's no rush to complete them right as they release. For more information on Seasonal Challenges and how to complete them, consult our Destiny 2 complete guide.
The Best Means Of Farming XP
If you haven't completed every active Seasonal Challenge, do that first. This farm should be used when all challenges have been exhausted.
Every weekly bounty, excluding the Spider's Wanted Bounties, provide 12,000 base XP when completed. Daily bounties typically provide 6,000 XP when turned in. Repeatable bounties grant 4,000 XP. Weekly challenges grant around 12,000 XP as well.
With this knowledge, it is clear that the best means of farming XP—excluding Seasonal Challenges—is to complete as many weekly challenges and bounties as possible. This is one of the best methods for earning XP and Glimmer.
The farm is quite simple:
- Equip the Blinding Light mod on your Ghost Shell.
- Clear out any quests you aren't actively working towards; they contirbute towards your bounty cap.
- Buy as many weekly bounties as possible. You'll find them on destination vendors.
- Purchase as many daily bounties as you can.
- Fill your remaining slots with repeatable bounties.
- Run an activity that will complete your bounties the fastest.
- Run Vanguard Ops for Vanguard Bounties, Crucible for PvP, etc.
- For generic bounties, run Lost Sectors on the Moon.
- (Optional) When finished, join a player who has all Shared Wisdom upgrades.
- Turn in your bounties.
- Repeat.
This will easily grant five levels in the Season Pass, even if you didn't complete every daily and repeatable bounty. Assuming you have every XP source active, each bounty will grant 152% increased XP—52% once the Well-Rested buff has been depleted.
Once the Well-Rested buff is used up, the best way to farm XP is to complete repeatable bounties at your favorite destination. Both Europa and the Moon are the best locations due to their large, enemy-rich Lost Sectors and easy repeatable bounties. Buy five repeatable bounties, complete all of them in one Lost Sector run, then return to the vendor to repeat the process. It is certainly repetitive and rather dull, but it's an excellent source of XP for players desperate to reach rank 100 in their Season Pass or increase their Artifact Power Level during the first few weeks of a new season.
