Destiny players: don't ditch your armor - Light levels in The Taken King determined by gear stats
As you know, Light levels are changing with Destiny: The Taken King. Here's how.
Changes to Light Level pertain to gear
Light Level is being grandfathered in - so if you are level 34 when you start The Taken King, don't ditch anything ahead of release because your gear will be taken into account when your Light Levels are transferred over. This includes gear stashed in your vault so don't worry about wearing your best gear all the time.
How the new system works is Light will be determined by the attribute average when all your gear stats are combined. This will include the new slots available for class items and Ghost Shells. All contribute to making the character stronger. All class items and bonds have stats and abilities and are taken into account.
Ghosts have Light now, by the way, and not just so you can see in the dark.
Bungie did not detail the new Artifact gear class, but said on Twitter after the stream that it will do so soon. You need to be level 40 to equip Artifacts.
As with year one when you leveled to 20, players will level to 40 just by earning XP while playing the game. Those who worked and worked during the level 29 and 30 mark for drops can make better progress now instead of leveling up by one step and waiting for a drop that just wasn't happening.
And just because you cap out at level 40 in the expansion doesn't mean there won't be better gear available. Plus, once you earn better gear at level 40, your Light will increase as well.
Cooldowns timers on Disciples, Intelligence, etc. will also be shown instead of a percentage number.
One last snippet related to equipment: you'll be able to spend Motes of Light in your menu to level up your weapons.
Emblems: aka those pretty square pictures
When visiting The Tower, there will be a terminal that lets you have a look at all of your Emblems.
You will even be able to re-buy Emblems and you can even find out where the ones you haven't found just yet are located.
Terminals will also show players their Shaders and Ships. All of these items can be safely discarded if you need the space because everything players have collected will be available inside their collection to be reclaimed whenever they like - sort of like how Tess's special requisitions worked up till recently.
Faction gear and Year One Rep
The Faction vendors will also allow players to buy gear, and all reputation earned in Year One carries over into Year Two.
Gear will have new perks assigned, and some will tie into Burns, such as a recovery boost post damage from Solar Splash.
As previously stated, Faction vendors will also hand out quests and the Faction packages have been improved.
Players can also change Faction allegiance once a week.
Your Pretty Face is showing
Finally, those who purchase the Collector's Edition or any other edition of the game will receive a Spark of Light that will be waiting for the player at the Postmaster. It allows a low level character or alt to automatically boost to level 25 - complete with the appropriate gear.
The Postmaster will be holding the Spark of Light for the player once the tutorial/starting story mission is completed. This also works for current players.
The inspection screen allows you to see your character's face inside the UI screen. You can even pick the weapon you want to show off in The Tower and show off your face as well.
The Destiny livestream just ended but you can watch it on demand.
Destiny: The Taken King launches on September 15 for PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.