After all of the secrecy from Bungie over the past few weeks, Destiny 2 players were officially introduced to Season of the Haunted this week. Season 17 has brought with it plenty of changes and new things to do, including the highly anticipated Solar subclass reworks. From a story perspective, Calus and his Leviathan Ship have reappeared, this time hovering over the Moon attempting to unlock the secrets of the buried pyramid ship there.
In addition to the new loot to earn and nightmares to fight, the Destiny 2 gameplay sandbox has also seen plenty of changes. Lord Saladin's Iron Banner vendor station has been completely reworked, offering new challenges, daily bounties, as well as a new triumph and seal to pursue. Weapons and gear has been rebalanced, exotics retuned, and a new activity called Nightmare Containment has been added. Players should note that this activity comes with a power level of 1580, considerably higher than most activities, so it's good that the power cap has increased as well.
What is Power Level?
Power level in Destiny 2 is a measurement indicating how strong a character is or how difficult an activity is going to be. Originally known as Light Level, it was renamed in order to properly convey what the metric stood for in game. Players can increase their power level by finding gear with a higher number through pinnacle drops or finishing weekly challenges from vendors and activities.
However, players can't keep climbing the power level ranks as Destiny 2 does have a cap to how strong a player can be. While this number has increased plenty over the years, each season typically brings with it a soft and hard cap.
Season of the Haunted Power Cap
Following the launch of The Witch Queen expansion, the starting power level for all players and gear was shifted to 1350. At this level, players will likely be outmatched in most activities and playlists, though it'll be quite easy to increasing their power as most drops, even blue rare gear, will be better.
With the arrival of Season of the Haunted, Bungie has increased Power Bands across the entire game.
- The Soft Cap is 10 points higher at 1510. At this level, Legendary engrams and normal world loot won't be enough to push the Power Level any higher. Players will need to seek out Powerful and Pinnacle Gear drops from specific activities and weekly challenges.
- The Powerful Cap is now set to 1560. Upon reaching this threshold, Powerful Gear drops from vendors like the Gunsmith or Lord Shaxx, will stop increasing the player's power level. Pinnacle Gear is the only thing that can continue pushing the number beyond 1560. These typically include more difficult activities like the latest Raid, Nightfalls, Dungeons, Trials of Orisis, Iron Banner, as well as the Playlist challenges for Crucible, Gambit, and Vanguard Strikes.
- The Hard Cap is the final step and has a ceiling of 1570. Once players reach this level, the only thing that will further increase that number will come from gaining XP levels for the seasonal artifact.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.