Returning Players Guide

ALL CREDIT FOR THIS GUIDE GOES TO u/Clarkey7163



For those who are not familiar with this sort of post, this is a tool for any returning players who may have stepped away from Destiny in one of its many iterations.

Notes:

---

Section 1: If you started playing Destiny at or shortly after launch, and before The Dark Below released


1.0 In the base game, the leveling system worked in 2 parts. The first part is level 1-20. You start at level 1, and you play the campaign missions, bounties, patrols, and PvP to earn experience that will automatically level you up. Once you reach level 20, armor with light begins to drop. Using armor with light, you will increase your level further up to the cap, which was level 30. The only way to reach level 30 was to get a full set of Raid armor from the Vault of Glass. You could also pair this armor with an Exotic if desired or necessary.

Notes of the time:

• 1.1 Planet materials had to be farmed planet-side. This was changed in update 1.1 on 12/1/14, where Daily missions and patrol bounties would award planet materials, and planet materials were purchasable from the Vanguard and Crucible vendors for their respective marks. This eliminated the ability to trade in planet materials for faction reputation. Notes
  
• 1.2 The loot cave in the Skywatch could be farmed for engrams. This was fixed in a Hotfix which launched 9/25/14, where they increased the respawn timers from 6 seconds to 40 seconds. Notes
  
• 1.3 The Templar could be cheesed by teams huddling on floating platforms outside of the typical play area. This was fixed by a Hotfix released on 10/14/14 which added a kill timer to those areas. Notes
  
• 1.4 The Atheon encounter was programmed to teleport the 3 players farthest from Atheon at the time of the teleportation command. This was fixed in update 1.0.2.3 on 10/28/14. Notes
  
• 1.5 The Templar and Atheon encounters could be cheesed with AoE grenades. Both of these were fixed on 12/1/14 and 10/28/14 respectively. Templar Atheon
  
• 1.6 The Cryptarch would generally decrypt engrams into lower rarity items. This was fixed in patch 1.0.2 around 10/1/14. Notes
  
• 1.7 Early on, there were only 5 slots for bounties in your inventory. This was increased to 10 in update 1.0.3. Notes
  
• 1.8 In vanilla gameplay, if you entered into any matchmaking activity alone, or with a fireteam that was not full, any ally you were paired with would be unable to communicate with you unless you all met up in a party chat. This was fixed in update 1.0.3, where Bungie added voice features, which can be toggled while viewing your Ghost in any matchmade activity (Strikes and Crucible, mainly). Notes
  
• 1.9 Exotic armor and weapons used to require Ascendant materials to upgrade. This was changed in update 1.1 on 12/1/14. Now, only the final upgrade node requires a special material, which was changed to the Exotic shard, which can be purchased from Xur or acquired by dismantling another exotic item. Notes
  

1.10 Things to know: Since this period of Destiny, The Dark Below and the House of Wolves have been released. Make note of the changes that have taken place during those times. As of this moment, you will be under leveled and will be unable to participate in most of the new end-game content. The new max light-level is 34, and the max light on any piece of gear is 42. All Exotics and old legendary armor can be Ascended with Exotic Shards and Etheric Light respectively to gain this light level, so as long as you are able to acquire these items, you will not be required to replace your old gear if you so desire.

• 1.11 Your Crucible and Vanguard marks are still usable, and getting armor from those vendors will give you a nice level boost right out of the gate.
  
• 1.12 Your Exotics can be easily ranked up by Ascending them with Exotic shards, easily purchased from Xur with Strange Coins.
  
• 1.13 If you were or nearly max level when you left (That being, 29-30), you can give Crota’s End on Normal a go, which will drop armor far more often than the VoG did.
  
• 1.14 You can also participate in lower-level weekly heroic strikes.
  
• 1.15 Once in the 31-32 range, you can begin Hard Mode Crota’s End, 32 Weekly Heroic strikes, and the Nightfall strike, as well as the lower level Prison of Elders, which will net you an armor core that will grant a 42 light level armor piece.
  
• 1.16 Once level 33, you can complete the level 34 Prison of Elders to start acquiring Etheric Light to level up your legendary armor.
  
• 1.17 Once level 34, you can complete the level 35 Prison of Elders for more Etheric Light and the ultimate end-game goodies.
  

---

Section 2: If you stopped playing after The Dark Below was released, but before the House of Wolves was released

2.0 When The Dark Below launched, leveling still works the same as it did. The level cap increased to 32, and Crota’s End has a much higher drop rate for armor than the VoG did. However, Crota’s End was plagued by glitches and cheeses.

Crota’s End had a different loot system than the VoG. All the new Raid primary weapons are only obtainable from the hard raid, while all secondary and heavy weapons are only available in the normal raid. Both difficulties will drop armor.

Radiant materials replaced Ascendant materials for upgrading the new raid items. However, the two types worked the same: shards for armor and energy for weapons.

Notes of the time:

• 2.1 To upgrade your vanilla exotics from their old values to new values, you had to use Xur. He would have an inventory of 5 weapons and 5 armors that would be upgradable at a cost of around 7000-8000 glimmer, an exotic shard, and resetting the level progression of whatever it was you upgraded. This was replaced for Ascending when the House of Wolves DLC launched, and is no longer relevant.
  
• 2.2 Vanguard and Crucible commendations were instituted. These were currencies you gathered from faction packages. When the House of Wolves came out, this commendation system was scrapped. Commendations can now be discarded for a hefty 250 faction rep reward.
  
• 2.3 When originally launched, the Black Hammer encountered a glitch where the Hive Disruptor perk would disrupt the White Nail perk. The Hive Disruptor perk was removed in hotfix 1.1.0.3 on 1/12/15, and was added back in working as intended on 5/15/15. Removal Return
  
• 2.4 Shortly after TDB launched, Bungie fixed the Exotic damage numbers on drops from the VoG in Hotfix 1.1.0.3. Notes
  
• 2.5 When Crota’s End first launched, the chest in the Thrall Abyss had an Exotic drop chance, similar to the chest at the beginning of the Gorgon Labyrinth in the VoG. This was changed in Hotfix 1.1.0.3, and now drops Radiant materials. The loot pool from that chest was moved to the Deathsinger encounter, and due to this switch, you cannot complete the Deathsinger encounter for a second reward drop on Hard Mode AFTER already completing it on Normal Mode. Notes
  
• 2.6 There was an exploit in the Thrall Abyss that involved taking advantage of the physics of the lamp explosions in the Abyss to fly a player most of the way through the maze, bypassing most of the Thrall spawns. This was also fixed by Hotfix 1.1.0.3. Notes
  
• 2.7 The Bridge encounter in Crota’s End has had more exploits than anything else in the game, I believe. Too many to name. To combat sword-flying, they added a kill-wall in the center of the ravine. The only opening in this kill wall is where the bridge will be when it is built (You have plenty of vertical clearance, but not much horizontal clearance).
  To combat teams wiping to let 1 or 2 Sunsingers self-revive to snipe the Ogres, they added a fail-safe, where if there are no players in the play area on the Ogre side of the ravine, the Annihilator Totems will activate and cause a wipe.
  To reiterate: All classes are still able to use a jumping path to reach the top of the tower on the spawn side of the ravine, or self-revive as Sunsingers to despawn the enemies on the spawn side and activate the Ogre timer. However, before doing so teams need to ensure they have at least 1 person on the Ogre side of the ravine to prevent a wipe. These changes were added in Hotfix 1.1.0.3. Notes
  
• 2.8 There was an exploit that allowed a team to keep Crota in his kneeling position by having the host of the lobby suddenly disconnect, either by turning off his console, or opening the disk tray. This was fixed in Hotfix 1.1.0.3. Notes
  
• 2.9 During this period of time there was a large weapon tuning. This drastically nerfed Auto rifles, buffed pulse rifles by a good margin, nerfed Handcannons (This was mainly a range nerf and you will notice a different in accuracy at range), nerfed the spread of Fusion rifles, and significantly buffed the damage of Shotguns in PvE activities (PvP remained largely unchanged). For more details on the changes made, refer to the notes. Update 1.1.1
  
• 2.10 From release, armor that increased the ammo capacity you could carry would cause you to lose ammo upon death. This was fixed in update 1.1.1. Notes
  
• 2.11 Update 1.1.1 added matchmaking for the Weekly Heroic strike. It works as any other selected strike now. Notes
  
• 2.12 There was a glitch that would prevent ammo consumables from working properly if that part of your inventory was full. This issue was fixed. Notes
  
• 2.13 From launch, the Vault was pretty small. This was a major player complaint especially after The Dark Below released and players had a large influx of weapons they wanted to keep. Bungie added slots to the vault so now the vault has 24 armor and general slots, and 36 weapon slots. Notes
  
• 2.14 There was an issue in where Xur did not reliably sell Heavy Ammo synthesis. He does now. Notes
  
• 2.15 Valus Ta’aurc had his health reduced by 33% to much player happiness. Notes
  
• 2.16 Since launch, relic carriers in the VoG had issues with hit registration against Minotaurs and Praetorians. This issue was fixed in 1.1.2. Notes
  
• 2.17 Update 1.1.2 made modifications to the drop rates, drop features, and locations of special and heavy ammo in the Crucible. Basically this resulted in a lower availability of these ammo types. The full list of changes is in the notes. Notes
  
• 2.18 A connection recovery system has been added to attempt to reconnect players upon a disconnection that would have previously kicked them from a match. It works. Sometimes. Notes
  
• 2.19 The speaker now has a material exchange for certain materials. Visit him with your materials in your inventory to ensure all options will appear. Notes
  

---

Section 3: If you stopped playing shortly before the House of Wolves was released but haven’t played the House of Wolves

3.0 The new campaign has been released along with a new social space that has all you need for the new activities. The Prison of Elders is the new PvE endgame activity, which is a round and wave based gamemode, not unlike endurance gamemodes such as Nazi Zombies (CoD) or Horde Mode (Gears of War). The main difference is the Prison actually has a conclusion. It is hosted by Variks of the House of Judgement, located in the Vestian Outpost.

The new PvP endgame activity is Trials of Osiris. It resets every Friday at 6pm GMT, 1pm EST, 10am PST. To compete, you first need to buy a card from Brother Vance in the Vestian Outpost for 100 Glimmer. The card has 9 wins available and 3 losses available. Once you finish the card by filling either of those sets, you can turn in the card for free for a new one.

Notes of the time:

• 3.1 There are 3 leveled modes that can be completed once a week for their rewards.
  
• 3.2 There is a level 28 playlist that works similar to the strike playlist, and can be completed as desired for rewards.
  
• 3.3 The Gunsmith can now reforge any of the new House of Wolves legendary weapons.
  
• 3.4 The Blades of Crota that appeared during The Dark Below have been replaced by Packs of Wolves that will appear in patrol areas. To complete Eris Mourn’s bounty for the Blades of Crota kills, you must launch the Fist of Crota mission.
  
• 3.5 There is a large reward chest at the end of any Prison of Elders activity that requires a Treasure Key to be opened. These keys can be obtained from the Ether chests that appear after defeating a Pack of Wolves, completing a queens bounty each week (1 key from the first bounty turned in, per account*, per week), Packages from the Queen, and the smaller chests in the Prison treasure room.
  
• 3.6 There seems to be a discrepancy here. Most people in the comments report only getting 1 key per account per week. Personally, I have experienced 1 key per character per week. I can’t imagine I’m just so incredibly lucky to get a key off the first bounty on each character EVERY week since this patch. Either way, it seems individual experience may vary here. I question the possibility of it being a system-specific glitch. However, until further testing is done, I cannot be sure.
  
• 3.7 Upon release of the House of Wolves, Ether chests from Packs of Wolves could be looted multiple times by leaving the play area the chest was located in and quickly returning. This was fixed. Notes
  
• 3.8 Ammo consumables have had their stack limit increased to 100 due to the previously mentioned multi-dipping from Ether chests and being awarded an inhumane number of special weapon synthesis. Notes
  
• 3.9 When initially launched, if your bounty inventory was full during the Skolas encounter, you would be unable to receive the Elder Cypher as a possible reward upon completion. This was fixed. Notes
  
• 3.10 Originally, the Skolas encounter would rotate burn modifiers (Solar, Arc, and Void burn). Bungie replaced this with other modifiers that better complement how the encounter was intended. Notes
  
• 3.11 When the House of Wolves launched, and upon removing the Blades of Crota from the patrol areas, Bungie mistakenly made it impossible to be rewarded a Husk of the Pit from the Fist of Crota mission. This was addressed and the drop rate was also increased. Notes
  
• 3.12 You can buy buffs from Brother Vance using Passage Coins that drop from any Crucible activity. One will give you a free loss; you can lose a game and it will not give a mark on your card. One will give a free win; this must be purchased before you play any games. The last will give you an extra win, provided your next game after purchasing the buff is a win.
  
• 3.13 If you are disconnected from a game while competing in the Trials, it will count as a loss, even if you have the Mercy buff (It will not use the buff, however).
  
• 3.14 If you complete your card 9-0 (Buffs change how your card looks. If your card says 9-0, it counts. With the buffs, that will allow you to go 7-1), then a new destination will appear on your destination map. Mercury. Mercury is simply a social space with nothing in it as of this moment other than a chest that gives good end-game rewards, such as elemental primaries, Etheric Light, exotic chance, among other lesser rewards.
  

---

Note: The following section is irrelevant now that TTK is out, but it is a fairly neat guide for prepping for any expansion, so a little bit of guideception for you.

Section 4: Getting ready for The Taken King -

4.0 If you’ve left after the House of Wolves, or are coming back from earlier, and want to know what the best way to prepare for The Taken King release is, this section is for you. This section is highly subjective, as each person may find one thing or another to be more advantageous, especially given personal time constraints. This information may also change depending on information Bungie releases. I will try to throw a few things out there, but the best way to prepare will be to follow Bungie as they go through their reveal process.

• 4.1 Acquire all Exotic items you possibly can, and be sure you do not dismantle them. Bungie has announced a new Exotic Blueprint system, and while the descriptions around the system seems fairly vague, the best way to prepare yourself for Exotics in the future, is to have all that you can now. Running Nightfalls and Raids will be the best way to accomplish this. Exotic Blueprints begin being discussed at 37:16 in this video.
• 
  

• 4.2 Border your faction reputation. By this, I mean earn reputation for your factions to the point where they are very close to being leveled up (To rank 3 or higher), so that a quick bounty or patrol mission will be sufficient to level up that faction once The Taken King hits. This will surely net some goodies pretty quickly to take advantage of.
  
• 4.3 Complete and save a full inventory of bounties. This will net a good quick amount of experience first day to help boost up your level even more.
  
• 4.4 Save public event completion packages at the postmaster. He can hold (I believe) 20 of these at a time, and they net a good amount of experience once you cash them in. These would work pretty similar to bounties, netting a good bit of experience in a short amount of time.
  
• 4.5 Work on increasing your Grimoire. If you’re anything like me, a little burnt out on the other activities, you have all the Exotics, and just looking for something to do, I recommend Grimoire hunting. If you’re a completionist, you’ll find it a fun pastime, and Bungie has hinted that there will be a treat for those with over 3000 Grimoire score once the Taken King drops.
  
• 
  

---

Section 5: If you left after the House of Wolves release, but before Update 2.0 (9/8/15)

5.0 On September the 8th, 2015, Bungie released update 2.0, a massive overhaul for the game that prepared Guardians for The Taken King. The update is huge, and all of the patch notes can be found here. Update 2.0 requires a large amount of hard drive space for downloading and installing purposes. If you’re running into trouble with any part of this process, Bungie has crafted a special article to help you out.

Notes of the time:

• 5.1 The level cap is increased from 20 to 34. This means any players who did not have their light level to 34 are able to level up to 34 from experience gains from any source. Light level is now separate from experience level, and your experience level is based on your highest character light level before the update hit (For example, if you had a Hunter with armor that would allow him to reach light level 31, he will be a level 31 after the update, including armor that is stashed in inventory or vault).
  
• 5.2 The new light level is now calculated as the average light level of each item your character has equipped, including weapons, armor, ghosts, ect.
  
• 5.3 Grimoire score has been moved to off of a players nameplate (or, emblem) and can be viewed on the character screen (or, inventory).
  
• 5.4 The attack and defense values on equipment has been scaled to their new Year 2 levels. Max attack values before were 365 are now 170. Defense values have been scaled as well.
  
• 5.5 Light level now directly relates to the damage you do and take, along with your attack and defense values. Super damage values are directly related to light level.
  
• 5.6 Intellect, Strength, and Discipline now give bonuses based on a tier system, which can be viewed in the inventory screen, with the cooldown timer values viewable as well.
  
• 5.7 All pulse grenade fuse times, blast radius, and other small variables adjusted.
  
• 5.8 The armor perk that increases super energy gained on a grenade kill has been fixed in the Crucible.
  
• 5.9 Shockwave and Razers Edge can no long penetrate the Ward of Dawn in the Crucible.
  
• 5.10 Golden Gun received a slight buff to increase killing consistency in the Crucible.
  
• 5.11 Blade Dancer is now able too spawn 6 orbs of light with an exotic item that increases orb generation.
  
• 5.12 Blink has been adjusted, increasing its cooldown by .07 seconds, and making its animation a bit more accurate.
  
• 5.13 Blink Strike now does arc damage.
  
• 5.14 Arcbolt and Firebolt grenades now do less base damage.
  
• 5.15 Arcbolt grenade range has been decreased.
  
• 5.16 The Ram’s armor bonus has been nerfed by 2/5ths.
  
• 5.17 They addressed an issue where Warlocks would spawn orbs upon self-res.
  
• 5.18 The weapon tuning of 2.0 made a lot of alterations that I will BRIEFLY summarize (I would recommend reading the article): Auto rifles have been buffed, Pulse rifles have been slightly buffed, Scout rifles have been buffed, Hand Cannons have been nerfed, Shotguns have been nerfed, Snipers have remained unchanged, Fusion rifles have been nerfed in handling but damage against PvE enemies has been increased, Sidearms have been nerfed for ammo buffed for handling, Rocket Launchers have been buffed, Machine Guns have been buffed.
  
• 5.19 The final round perk has been adjusted on snipers to only increase precision damage, not base damage. The Grenades and Horseshoes perk on rocket launchers has been nerfed. Mulligan has been buffed. Overpenetration perk no longer works on environments.
  
• 5.20 The Last Word and Thorn, which have been on a reign of terror in the Crucible, are being addressed. The Thorn’s DoT is being changed to eliminate the 2-shot-kill ability. The Last Word is receiving adjustments to make it better at close quarters combat, and worse at longer ranges.
  
• 5.21 Hawkmoon is being addressed to get rid of the 1-shot-kill ability.
  
• 5.22 Ice Breaker, Gjallarhorn, and Black Hammer, which have been the kings of PvE content, are being nerfed. The Ice Breaker is receiving a longer delay between bullet regeneration, the Gjallarhorn is losing Wolfpack round damage, and the Black Hammer can no long magically spawn ammo from thin air, but will steal them from your backpack.
  
• 5.23 The Insurmountable Skullfort, Young Ahamkara’s Spine, and Heart of Praxic Fire are all receiving new bonuses. An extra melee charge, an extra grenade charge, and increased Agility when Radiance is active, respectively.
  
• 5.24 The ghost is now voiced by Nolan North, as opposed to Peter Dinklage. This was a change made due to scheduling restrictions on Dinklage’s end.
  
• 5.25 The Fallen House of Wolves patrols will no longer appear on planets, making the Grimoire cards associated with killing those targets unobtainable.
  
• 5.26 Burn modifiers have been nerfed. Players will take the same amount of damage, but only do 2/3rds of the damage as before.
  
• 5.27 The Strikes Introduction Grimoire card has been fixed to accept strikes completed from the strike playlists as progress.
  
• 5.28 The Elder Cypher has been phased out. The exotics rewarded from completing the Cypher can now be found as rare drops from the chest in the Prison of Elders. Any partially completed Elder Cypher will be automatically completed, and rewards will be given out.
  
• 5.29 The quest screen has been added to the menu, which now allows for 16 bounties and tracking of multiple quests. The reputation tracker for factions has also been moved to this screen.
  
• 5.30 Exotic bounties that haven’t been completed have been automatically completed similar to the Elder Cypher.
  
• 5.31 Eris Morn’s bounties have changed as she alters her focus from Crota to Oryx.
  
• 5.32 Vault space has been drastically increased.
  
• 5.33 Gunsmith reputation can now be earned by using his field test weapons.
  
• 5.34 Ghosts are now sold by the Speaker.
  
• 5.35 Factions emblems can no longer be bought, but must be earned from their packages.
  
• 5.36 New Queens bounties are available, and will drop treasure keys as the old ones did.
  
• 5.37 Armor upgrade materials are now combined into one material.
  
• 5.38 Weapon telemetries are now categorized differently.
  
• 5.39 House of Wolves Crucible maps and Year 1 playstation exclusive maps are now available to all players.
  
• 5.40 Added a mercy system in the Crucible that will end games early based on an obvious score gap.
  
• 5.41 Salvage, Rift and Elimination have been added to the core Crucible playlists.
  
• 5.42 Cinematics can now be skipped.
  
• 5.43 Previously, since launch, you were able to kill yourself by crouching in any pool of water and shooting your foot. You can no longer do this.
  
• 5.44 Eris Morn has moved locations in the tower, down to the Hall of Guardians, between the two staircases that lead to Lord Shaxx.
  
• 5.45 Ascension is retired as a Year 1 leveling system, and Year 2 gear going forward utilizes ‘Infusion’, a system that allows a Guardian to take one piece of equipment with a higher light, and boost the level another piece of equipment of the same type (By type, think gear slot, so Shotgun -> Sniper is a good example). Inusion works at an 80% conversion rate (eg. A helmet at 100 light infused into a helmet at 1 light will bring the lower helmet up to 80 Light).
  
• 5.46 A new vendor called ‘Eververse’ has been added to the tower, and alongside that, a new micro-transaction currency called "Silver". Available to purchase are new Emotes for your Guardian.
  

---

Section 6: If you stopped playing before the release of The Taken King

6.0 The Taken King is the first major expansion in Destiny. It introduces a lot of new content and UI systems, quests systems have been implemented, among many other additions. It is so big, that it makes up the two different sections (5 and 6). Section 6 will focus on content that was implemented by the actual Taken King release and afterwards.

Notes of the time:

• 6.1 The level cap is now 40, and the highest Light Level score is 320.
  
• 6.2 The year 1 rewards have been set in time and given out, including the VIP rewards and the Moments of Triumph, ect.
  
• 6.3 The Weekly Heroic and Nightfall strikes have been changed. The Weekly Heroic gives different rewards (Legendary engram and legendary marks), and the Nightfall will no long kick a fireteam to orbit upon a wipe.
  
• 6.4 The new subclasses are now available upon completion of their respective quest-lines.
  
• 6.5 The Cryptarch will now sell legendary engrams for legendary marks.
  
• 6.6 The gunsmith can now accept orders for weapons on arms day, for players with reputation level 1 or higher.
  
• 6.7 Lord Shaxx and Arcite now have weekly Crucible bounties available for completion.
  
• 6.8 The Vanguard quartermaster will now exchange old class specific armor upgrade materials to the generic armor upgrade materials.
  
• 6.9 Petra Venj has different bounties to complete given the ending of wolf patrols in patrol locations from update 2.0. The new bounties will drop treasure keys similar to the old bounties.
  
• 6.10 Crucible and Vanguard marks have been phased out, and any marks left in a players inventory have been converted into commendations. These commendations can be turned in for reputation (Simply hold x/square to do so).
  
• 6.11 The Dreadnought is a new destination available for missions and patrols.
  
• 6.12 The new King’s Fall Raid is available in Normal Modes and Hard Modes. Normal mode rewards included rewards dropping from 300 light level to 310 light level, and Hard Mode drops range from 310-320.
  
• 6.13 Alongside the normal weekly rewards, the Kings Fall Raid also features a Challenge mode, which is a modifier that, in one encounter in the raid, will drop max level items (310 items in NM, and 320 items in HM) if the encounter is done following specific criteria.
  
• 6.14 A new event was introduced, called ‘The Festival of the Lost" and lasted two weeks over the Halloween period. It had Guardians killing enemies to fill up Candy Bags, which could then be traded in for goodies. Goodies included special masks that were fashioned after in-game characters (some examples; Xur, Cryparch, Oryx, Eris and Speaker masks were just a few of the ones available).
  
• 6.15 The ‘Sparrow Racing League’ was a 3-week PvP event that brought two racing maps, several new Sparrows and Gear sets to the game, alongside a new cosmetic item; a Sparrow Horn. A significant update which decked the Tower in promotional materials, and restocked Eververse with new items was a pretty resounding success. The event has not been slated to return as of May 2016.
  
• 6.16 The final event of this period was Crimson Days, a 10-day long, PvP event over the Valentines Day week. The event featured an altered version of the Doubles game type, where if your teammate was killed you gained several buffs to your Guardian. One focus of the event were limited special ghosts that were available during the event, which were able to drop at 320 light. However, there were issues with the drop rates of the Ghosts during the event, so at the end Bungie awarded a 320 Ghost to any Guardian who played 7 games or more.
  

---

Section 7: If you stopped playing after The Taken King but before the release of April Update

The April Update, while free, did change the economy and pathways to maximum light quite drastically, here are the changes you need to know:

• 7.1 The Light Level cap was raised to 335
  
• 7.2 The Infusion system was altered, with the conversion becoming 1:1
  
• 7.3 Prison of Elders gets a Yr 2 Reboot, a Level 41 version is available and rewards a Sterling Treasure on first completion each week (see 7.6 for more info on Sterling Treasures)
  
• 7.4 A new version of the Prison of Elders, called the Challenge of the Elders (CoE) is released at level 42. It requires a passage similar to Trials of Osiris, and will track points that you and your team rack up. The Challenge changes week to week at reset, and each one has a specific score modifier that rewards more points (eg. More points for Precision kills). There are two requirements on the passage, one is to gain 30k points in one run of the Challenge and this rewards a weapon up to 335, and the other is to accumulate 90k in one week which rewards an armor piece up to 335.
  
• 7.5 A revamped rewards system is introduced, in which at a loot drop your inventory is analysed and you have a very high chance on getting something to drop above your light level. Note, this system has some caveats. Each drop still has a maximum light level, drops that can go up to 335 include: Exotic engrams, CoE rewards, Hard Mode rewards, KF Challenge Mode rewards, Strike Specific loot drops, any Exotic drop. Some systems use the revamped system but have a cap, like the Faction Packages which go up to 330 (so below 330, a 320 Guardian might get a 324 drop, but a 334 Guardian will always get a 330).
  
• 
  
• 7.6 A new item called a Sterling Treasure is introduced, a Guardian can earn three of these a week for various activities, but can buy more from Eververse. The three activities are; Checking the postmaster after a reset, completing one match of the Weekly Cricible Playlist, and completing the Level 41 Prison of Elders. These treasures can drop several cosmetic items, from Taken armor pieces, Taken Ships and Sparrows etc. Another system introduced with Sterling Treasures are Chroma’s, which come in four colors (Red, Yellow, Blue and White), and they can be applied to armor and weapons that have the required node for them. When applied, the equipment gains a glowing pattern in that Chroma’s color, giving Guardians more customization.
  
• 7.7 Bungie added some Year 2 versions of Year 1 legendary weapons, they include The Devil You Know, Longbow Synthesis and the LDR to name a few. These are acquired by opening Crucible and Vanguard Packages and cannot be bought. Also, the current Vendor gear for the Crucible and Vanguard vendors were refreshed, they remained the same weapons but the rolls were changed (RIP Hung Jury)
  
• 7.8 Another addition is the Rep Booster consumables, which are available in three activities, Crucible, Vanguard and House of Judgement. When they are used, the corresponding activities have their reputation boosted. For a full list of the effects, see here
  
• 7.9 The King’s Fall reward system is changed, Normal Mode now drops between 310-320 gear, and Hard Mode drops between 320-335 gear. The loot drops have the system detailed in 7.5, so Guardians are likely to always receive a drop better than their current gear.
  
• 7.10 The Court of Oryx also has its gear updated, artifacts can now drop up to 335 but also have the system detailed in 7.5
  

---

This list should cover all of the changes to the game that are important for someone coming back may need to know to properly level up and understand what has come and gone. I can’t imagine everything that is important in this list has been added, and encourage others to suggest additions, and I can add them to the list to help others in the future.

---

SOURCE