Once you've finished the campaign in Destiny 2 and wondered what the heck that ending was all about, it's time to start the real grind as you work your way towards major post-story activities like Strikes and Raids.
After you've reached Level 20 by working your way through the story, you've actually hit Level cap. However, there's plenty more levelling to do, as you'll want to try and get your Power Level as high as you can to have the best chance at getting good loot.
But that doesn't mean you're not still earning XP with every kill or activity. In fact, there's a whole new levelling system that gets you shiny things called Bright Engrams. Those glowy white orbs, along with Bright Dust, won't boost your Power Level, but if you're as obsessed with Destiny 2 as we are, you're going to want them.
How to get Bright Engrams
Every time you level up after hitting Level 20 you'll actually earn a Bright Engram, so getting one just requires you to carry on doing what you're doing. Play through Adventure quests, take part in Strike, dive into the Crucible and all the other yummy post-campaign stuff Destiny 2 has to offer and you'll be working your way towards a Bright Engram.
You'll be notified when you've earned one and then it's just a case of paying Tess Everis a visit when you're next in the Tower.
Bright Engrams won't get you shiny new weapons or armour. Instead, they're geared towards cosmetics. Bright Engrams contain things like shaders so you can change the colour of your existing gear, new ships and even new sparrows. If you're very lucky, you might even get a brand new emote. Although I'm still waiting on that awesome Ramen emote.
There is another way to get Bright Engrams though and you're probably not going to like it. Yes, you can spend your real dosh to get Bright Engrams by buying Silver. You can get 500 Silver for £4.49/$5, 1000 (+ 100 bonus) Silver for £8.49/$10, 2000 (+300 bonus) Silver for £16.79/$20, and 5000 (+800 bonus) for a mega £39.99/$50.
You can get one Bright Engram for 200 Silver, three for 500 and five for 800. There's also a Silver Start Pack package that you can buy for 900 Silver that includes Bright Engrams, Bright Dust and SUROS-brand shaders.
Of course, if you don't want to spend real-world money you really don't have to. You're going to be earning these things anyway. And here's a little tip, watch out for when you've got the Well rested perk, which will appear as a little green triangle next to your kinetic weapons slot. You get it every Tuesday on the weekly reset and allows you to earn your first three levels faster than you would normally.
- Destiny 2 - the best Exotic weapons and how to get them
- Destiny 2 Chest locations guide - every Region, Lost Sector, and Cache
How to get Bright Dust
Bright Dust is the stuff that's actually inside these Bright Engrams along with your shaders and other swag, but you won't necessarily get some every time you level up. In fact, we've only randomly got some Bright Dust from Tess on a level up and aren't quite sure how it happened.
However, you are guaranteed some Bright Dust every time you dismantle Legendary versions of anything you get out of a Bright Engram. So dismantle any Legendary emotes, sparrows, shaders, and other Bright Engram swag and you'll earn yourself Bright Dust.
To find your shaders, head to your Inventory in your character menu and go down to the shaders section. Your ships and sparrows are down in the section below where your Guardian is in the character section.
However, for dismantling each Legendary shader I only got nine or 10 pieces of Bright Dust, so you're going to have to get collecting if you want to buy anything significant. I didn't dare try scrapping a sparrow or ship, sorry folks, just because I like them all far too much.
What can you use Bright Dust for?
There's a special section of Tess' Tower shop that offers you a ton of cosmetic items to buy using just Bright Dust. There are emotes, shaders and other items, including Exotic ornaments, which you can use to change the detailing on your Exotic weapons - seeing as shaders don't work.
This is the best way to stock up on your favourite shaders, because she always has a good, rotating selection.
And yet, still no Exotic emotes to buy yet. Damn you Tess.
They don't come cheap though, with average prices as follows:
- Rare emotes: 400 Bright Dust
- Legendary emotes: 700 Bright Dust
- Legendary sparrows: 600 Bright Dust
- Legendary ships: 600 Bright Dust
- Exotic weapon ornaments: 800 - 1250 Bright Dust
- Legendary armour: 800 Bright Dust
- Legendary Ghost shells: 250 Bright Dust
- Legendary shaders: 40 Bright Dust
- Fireteam medallions: 50 Bright Dust
