[Top 10] Destiny 2 Best XP Farm Tactics (Latest Patch)

Updated:

16 Aug 2022

Like most MMOs or RPGs, Destiny 2 is a game that uses experience points to determine and track progression throughout the game. XP in Destiny 2 serves 3 main purposes.

The first purpose is to unlock the seasonal mods within the seasonal artifact. These mods are all available for the duration of a given season but go away when the season ends. Unlocking these mods early will allow for higher build crafting potential and add more flexibility to your loadout. The second thing that XP does is increase the guardian's Power Level, which is again tied to the seasonal artifact. Players can increase their power level through the artifact to go beyond the seasonal pinnacle cap (which is 1570 in Season of the Haunted). Increasing power beyond the cap will allow players to complete high-level content such as the Grandmaster Nightfall strikes, Master version raids, and Master version dungeons.

So now that you know what experience is for, how should you go about getting it? Well luckily for you, almost anything that can be done in Destiny 2 grants experience points. However, not all sources of experience are created equally. If you’re looking for the best ways to maximize your XP gains, look no further than the list below.

10. Equipping XP Mods for your ghost (Passive increase, applicable at any point)

How to get XP FAST! | #destiny2 Season of the Haunted

If you are new to Destiny 2, you may not have even realized that your friendly little ghost can equip mods that passively help you in different areas of the game. Most of the mods relate to finding resource nodes or chests while on patrol or grant small increases to drop chances of rare materials in core activities. The first slot of mods will be crucial to your XP gains, as they offer up to a 12% increase in XP gains, essentially for free! The Ghost mods offer XP increases in increments of 2, so you can increase your XP by whatever level fits your playstyle. If you’re going for only XP, use the 12% mod, but if you need extra mod energy, the other options work just fine.

Open the character menu
Go to Ghost slot
Slot your desired mod (All mods are unlocked at character creation)

9. Acquire the Well Rested Buff (Passive Increase, applicable at any point)

Double XP From Seasonal Challenges - Well Rested Exploit

Okay, so this may seem counterproductive, but one of the best ways to increase XP gains is to take a break and wait until the Tuesday reset. When the game resets each week, players will be granted a buff known as Well-Rested, which increases your XP gains by 100% for the first 5 levels of that week. So rather than burn yourself out over the weekend, maybe think about taking a break, enjoying some time away for a day or two, and then returning to the grind when the bonus is present for you.

Wait until the Destiny 2 weekly reset on Tuesday
Profit

8. Acquire XP boosts from the Season Pass (Passive, Acquired over time)

REACH MAX RANK FAST! FASTEST WAY TO LEVEL UP SEASON PASS & ARTIFACT FOR SEASON 17! [DESTINY 2]

So this is the last of the “passive” methods of XP. Throughout each season pass, specific levels will drop 2% bonuses to XP. These drop at levels 5, 7, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76, and 86 in the season pass. This boost can help you, and any member of your fireteam increase your XP gains in all activities

Buy the season pass
Complete any farming method of your choice
Level up the season pass
Acquire passive increases over time

7. Complete Endgame Activities (Best for Endgame Grinding)

BUNGIE BRINGS BACK WEEKLY ROTATION RAIDS + DUNGEONS! TWAB NEWS!

Given that the endgame of Destiny 2 is where some of the most fun activities in the game are housed, you would think that grinding those would give the best XP gains. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Destiny 2. The best way to consistently gain XP in Destiny 2 is through completing bounties, which there are very few that can be completed through raids. Clan challenge bounties and Gunsmith bounties are completable during raids, and as such are an inferior way to bounty grind. However, if you’re not super concerned about the XP gains alone and wish to target farm loot while also gaining some XP, farming the old and newer dungeons and raids can be a great time.

Acquire Clan Bounties from Hawthorne in the Bazaar
Acquire Gunsmith bounties from Banshee in the Plaza
Play any raid or dungeon of your choice
Repeat as much as you would like.

6. Complete Weekly Bounties (Great for beginning grind)

REACH MAX RANK FAST! FASTEST WAY TO LEVEL UP SEASON PASS & ARTIFACT FOR SEASON 17! [DESTINY 2]

Weekly bounties have been somewhat phased out of the game in recent seasons, but the ones that remain are still worth completing. Most patrol spaces still offer a selection of 2 weekly bounties that can be completed each week. These bounties offer 12,000 XP upon completion, and newer locations (Such as Europa, the Moon, and the Dreaming City) also offer additional rewards for completing them.

Open the Director
Travel to any destination of your choice
Complete the weekly bounties at the planetary vendor

5. Complete Core activities passively (Great for any level)

REACH MAX RANK FAST! FASTEST WAY TO LEVEL UP SEASON PASS & ARTIFACT FOR SEASON 17! [DESTINY 2]

As mentioned before, just about every activity in Destiny 2 grants XP. Core Activities (Strikes, Crucible, and Gambit) are the fastest activities to complete for XP gains. They are highly replayable and can net lots of XP in a short amount of time. They all come with daily and repeatable bounties that can be grinded as well. Fast activity completions, mixed with a large number of available bounties, make doing this a great place to begin grinding. The only downside to grinding core activities is that the bounties can sometimes take a while to complete. For example, if you are grinding the strike playlist and your bounty wants you to kill 25 Cabal, and you only get strikes with Vex and Hive, then it is going to take a while before you complete that bounty. It is also possible to complete seasonal challenges while grinding these activities, which is essential to gaining large amounts of XP.

Go to the tower
Acquire bounties from Banshee in the plaza
Acquire bounties from the core vendors (Zavalla, Shaxx, and the Drifter)
Open the Director
Load into your desired activity
Play and complete bounties
Repeat

*Note - With the Destiny 2 Companion app, players can acquire bounties from orbit. This can save time and eliminate the need to travel back and forth to the tower whenever bounties are completed.

4. Complete Seasonal Activities passively (Best for higher level play)

Nightmare Containment - Fastest Farming Methods, Vestige of Dread - Destiny 2 Season of the Haunted

The steps to this method are similar to the previous steps, but the circumstances are a little more forgiving. Whereas bounties can be somewhat stingy in the core playlist, seasonal activity bounties are more precise and relate to the completion of the season activity. As of the time of writing, the only 3 seasonal activities are PsiOps Battlegrounds (Located at the H.E.L.M.), Nightmare Containment (on the Derelict Leviathan), and sever missions (on the Derelict Levithan). It is also possible to complete seasonal challenges while grinding these activities, which is essential to gaining large amounts of XP.

Go to the tower
Acquire bounties from Banshee in the plaza
Got to the H.E.L.M
Acquire Bounties from the War Table of Crown of Sorrow
Open the Director
Load into your desired activity
Play and complete bounties
Repeat

3. Complete Weekly Challenges (Best at middle to Endgame level)

Destiny 2 | How to POWER LEVEL to 1570 in Season 17 (Over-Simplifed Guide)

These Milestones are available throughout the entire game. Any location or activity with a yellow symbol next to it on the director has a weekly challenge associated with it, and these all grant 12,000 XP upon completion. Many of these challenges can be completed while grinding other activities (Endgame, core playlists, or seasonal playlist) and also help with leveling up your power and acquiring pinnacle gear. I recommend targeting the challenges that you want to complete first and then going on to grinding out activities and bounties.

Open the Director

Choose a challenge to go after completing
Grab any bounties that could be completed during that activity
Complete the challenge
Move on to the next challenge
Repeat

2. Complete Seasonal Challenges

REACH MAX RANK FAST! FASTEST WAY TO LEVEL UP SEASON PASS & ARTIFACT FOR SEASON 17! [DESTINY 2]

These are, by far, the highest source of XP that Destiny has to offer. These challenges update weekly throughout the season and have different levels of XP rewards based on the difficulty of the challenge. Many of these challenges involve grinding out activities anyway, so picking a challenge to go after, while also grinding for weekly challenges and activity bounties, will grant the highest lump sum of XP each week.

Go to the Quests tab in the Director
Choose the Seasonal challenge you are trying to complete
Complete the challenge (Some can be done passively while completing other tasks, some require dedicated effort)
Turn in the challenge for massive XP rewards.
Repeat

1. Complete bounties and lost sectors on the Moon (yes seriously)

Fastest XP Farm In Destiny 2: 100,000 XP Every 15 - 20 Minutes

As underwhelming as it may be, the best way to grind experience in Destiny 2 is to simply load into the moon, grab daily and repeatable bounties from Eris Morn, and then head to the closest lost sector and run it over and over again. Completing the lost sector will grant XP, killing enemies will grant XP, and Eris’s bounties are some of the easiest repeatable bounties in the game to complete. If you spend a couple of hours here, and simply dedicate yourself to grinding out the bounties, you will see some massive XP gains after only a short amount of time. It may be one of the most tedious methods of XP farming, but it is the most effective