Destiny guide: how to level fast

Strikes, bounties and the Crucible will have you charging through Destiny's levels. Learn how.

How to level fast

Level is everything in Destiny. If it's too low you're going to be locked out of certain events and instances, and even if you could access them you'd get blasted to smithereens for being the weakling you are. Hitting level 20 is a big Destiny milestone, both in terms of gear and fun, so we thought it'd be good to show you how to get there as quickly as possible.

Here are some knowledge to zap through the early levels and get to the good stuff.

The Bounty Tracker

The Bounty Tracker, found at Tower Watch, is one of the quickest ways to level your character. The Tracker is a droid named Xander 99-40, an NPC which constantly stocks 14 different bounties. Seven will be for the Destiny story, and the other seven will be for the Crucible.

Guardians can only take on five bounties at any one time, so start with the easy ones. You'll see a bounty for completing six Patrol missions on Earth (the Patrol missions only take you around 15 minutes, and are obviously quicker if you're playing with a friend), and there's one for finishing a Strike without dying. Check them against the names of the missions to make sure you're getting to most out of completing them.

Crucible bounties also give plenty of XP, and you usually don't even need to win matches to complete them. They range from completing five rounds of a particular mode to beating opponents with a specific weapon. Pick the ones which fit play style for easy wins.

If you accept a bounty that's harder than you anticipated, or you just can't be bothered with it and you don't want it filling one of your five available slots, put your cursor over it and dismiss it. Now go back to the Bounty Tracker and get something more suitable.

Get into the Crucible as soon as possible

Don't be intimidated by the Crucible, Destiny's "straight" multiplayer component: if you're looking to hit level 20 quickly, the sooner you get involved the better.

Before you get going, grab some Crucible bounties in the Tower. Try modes with objectives, like Control. If you've played Domination in Call of Duty or Conquest in Battlefield, you'll recognise the lay-out. You'll level by killing the other team, but you'll also benefit from capturing the points. And watch the end of each round: you should get some nice drops.

Play with friends on hard settings

Don't be a chicken. The harder the difficulty, the greater the rewards. If two of your friends are ranked higher than you, piggy-back their games and raise up the difficulty.

You may not be able to contribute too much thanks to your lower level, but you'll get a nice XP boost at the end of the completed mission.

These three tips are all good methods of levelling up, but, as ever, you're going to have to put the effort in for success. Just see these as best practices to give you a boost.

Head over to our Destiny guide for more tips and info.