As someone who played Destiny 1 on day one, fell off, came back, and is still on since Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, I feel qualified to help new players figure out Destiny 2. Many things in this game are confusing, but hopefully, this guide can help you, Guardian.

How to play Destiny 2

Whether you’re brand new or returning to Destiny 2, there are a few things you should know that will help make the game make more sense and be more fun. When I jumped back into Destiny 2, I didn’t know what to do or where to start. Now, every time I log in, I’m streamlining my playtime for maximum returns and fun as I work toward my goal.

Related: Destiny 2 Scattered Signal God Roll: Best perks and how to get it

The first big thing that confused me for a while was what to even do in Destiny 2. As basic as it sounds, it’s hard to know how to play or engage with Destiny 2. The cool thing about Destiny 2 is there are a lot of different activities, and therefore, people have different goals while playing. Figuring out the goal — the “why” — of playing is how you’ll unlock the joy of playing Destiny 2.

There are many gameplay loops to engage with, but the main one is to play the story released with an expansion, and once that is done, play the Seasons and their stories, which come out weekly. Those experiences are for those who pay, but if you’re a free player, here’s what you can enjoy:

• Crucible and Trials of Osiris (PvP)
• Gambit (PvPvE)
• Vanguard (PvE)
• Dares of Eternity (PvE)
• Seasonal Events
• Prophecy Dungeon (High-level 3-person PvE)
• Vault of Glass and King’s Fall Raids (High-level 6-person PvE)
• Open world exploration
  • Lost Sectors
  • Public Events
  • Patrols

As a free player, you can do any of the above activities just for fun. And it’s my opinion that Destiny 2 features the best gunplay in gaming currently, so you will have fun. If you want to do more in Destiny 2, you need to buy expansions, Season Passes, and Dungeon Keys. Let’s move on to some of the goals people have that help them enjoy Destiny 2.

Hunt for God Rolls, the perfect builds, and Exotics

While you can play any of Destiny 2’s content for fun, the main reason people come back to it is to get God Rolls (which is the name for the best set of randomized perks on a weapon), craft a great build, and collect Exotic weapons and armor (Exotics are unique pieces of gear that perform much differently, often offering a unique playstyle, than normal weapons and armor).

If you want to engage with Destiny 2 at a higher level, you need to learn what perks are good on which weapons. This allows you to grind the available activities to try and get a God Roll since you’ll know what you’re looking for. With optimized, or God Roll, weapons, you can perform much better in every activity in Destiny 2, which is why they are desirable.

Destiny 2 is famous for its buildcrafting. There’s a lot to learn, but start with unlocking every subclass, Solar, Void, and Arc (Stasis and Strand if you have those expansions), and unlock every melee, grenade, Aspect, and Fragment. Then, you can get creative and make your build, which should be centered around an Exotic Armor, that performs exactly how you want it to. If you need an example, check out the guide I wrote to help you create the best Void Warlock build.

Hunting for Exotics is also fun. Exotic armor and weapons drop from any activity through Exotic Engrams. You can use the resources you earn while playing at Monument to Lost Lights, which is in The Tower between your Vault to buy Exotic weapons and you can focus Exotic Engrams at Rahool in The Tower to get Exotic armor. Once you’ve unlocked Exotic armor, you can chase triple 100 stat armor, but I recommend doing that after you have a good grasp of what your goals are in Destiny 2.

Streamline grinding XP

A really fun part of Destiny 2 that makes me feel smart is to streamline the grind for XP. This only matters if you have the Season Pass and want to get to 100 before the season ends, but this is a fun gameplay loop that I like to engage with in Destiny 2 at least once a week.

To streamline getting XP, start your Destiny 2 session by going to The Tower and buying every Bounty for whatever activities you’re gonna play. Do this at The H.E.L.M. too if you’re looking to play Seasonal Activities. After doing that, play the activities you want to and focus on completing as many Bounties as you can. When you do this, you’ll kill two birds with one stone by getting XP through Bounties while also earning a reputation with vendors for playing activities and completing Seasonal Challenges.

Prepare for and play high-level content

The last tip I’ll give to you to help you make sense of how to play Destiny 2 is almost every player is grinding for God Rolls, making the perfect builds, and getting good Exotics just to prepare for and play the high-level content known as Dungeons and Raids.

Though there are only a handful of free Dungeons and Raids, these PvE experiences are very challenging and require you to be a high-level player with a great build and great weapons. I personally love Dungeons since they require fewer players, but Raids are the main ticket item. Both are challenging, but Raids are much harder and require six players. If you really want to know why people love Destiny 2, prepare for and play a Dungeon and/or a Raid.

I hope this guide helps you understand Destiny 2. There’s so much more to discover, and I hope you can learn as you go with helpful Guardians to point you in the right direction. Just take everything bit by bit, and you’ll learn to enjoy Destiny 2 in no time. To start off, check out how to focus Exotic Armor.