This weekend, I started playing Destiny for the first time.  I really enjoy the game a lot but I have alreayd hit level 20.   I went to Crucibile and was promptly destroyed, and I'm not sure if I'll go back anytime soon.  I decided to do some Vanguard Strikes, and I am really liking running those so far.  I am thinking to buy the expansion soon if I run out of stuff to do, but I would like the input from you.  I want to exprience as much as I can before diving into the expansion.

Can anyone share with me more info on max level, raids and things to do in pre-expansion Destiny? 

Somebody call ethomaz :P

If you can get leveled up and can find 5 buddies, you should do the raid. Best part of the game!

I played beta, thought it was crap and boring, I refused to buy for a long time and mocked everyone I knew who tried it... During a PSN sale around xmas, I bought it and the expansion pass as a bundle, and never played until 2 weeks ago...

Playing solo isn't really that fun, there is very little content in the game, if you have friends, then thats where the fun starts..

You will be running the same strikes / missions on hard mode over and over and over again, grinding to get vangard marks the get some gear..Its boring, but if your with friends who can have a laugh and do stupid stuff for lulz then you will have a blast, as I am doing ATM.

Now you have gear, you can start doing the same raids... over and over and over again, until you have better gear, and once you have that better gear, there is only 2 options for end game... Grind the same raid over and over again, or just go pvp lol

Honestly, if you have a set of friends ( 1 - 2 ) who will be playing same time as you, this game becomes really fun, but other than that its really boring playing on your own...

And don't get me started on raids, there is no match making, so you will either have to have 5 other friends playing, or go to forums and arrange a clan / party to do them...

all in all, don't bother if your planning on solo play, if you group play then it's really fun! not to much content ATM, but there is a big expansion with new "planet" coming out later this year.

He wouldn't survive a raid right now. He needs a lot of work before he hits a high enough level. Although he says he will avoid it now, Crucible is his best bet for getting prepared quickly.

As for the questions in the OP.

Now that you hit lvl 20 you will find armors that have Light bonus on them. By adding these bonuses up you can actually ascend up to level 30, so don't be fooled by the level 20 you just hit.

Crucible, did you jump into Iron Banner? If so then that explains why you got demolished. Iron Banner takes weapons and armor into account while just about any other type of match does not and most times everything is on even ground. Try to do a non-Iron Banner Control match or a Team Deathmatch, that way even if you die alot you can still accumulate points and get rewards after each round while still be able to also feel as though you contribute to the outcome of each match.

Raid,

You are not close to being able to do the current raid on Venus. For this I suggest being at least level 26 and have a full experienced group with you. I suggest checking Neogaf forums as you will find more players there than you will here. Raid is where you ultimately get some of the best gear. These take a long time to complete, but if you have a good group then it is a ton of fun. DO NOT PLAY SOLO! You will never complete it. 

Actually, I suggest never playing this game solo. Always play with other people.

My first thought as well

Thank you for your input. I have tried some more Destiny and I think I will see some more progress with a high level Fusion Rifle. I have run some Vanguard Wolf runs for now and got some much better gear, and was able to 2 man a run that I had wiped on with a full group last time. I was also successful in unlocking the Vault of Glass.It felt good! :)

I am very much enjoying Destiny, and hope for some more challenging Strikes in the future. Hopefully I don't run out of content anytime soon. :)

That's....that's pretty much it.

The vault of glass is fun, level up and try it. Oh also, leveling up won't actually help you in the crucible (unless you are playing iron banner)

20 is barely into the game to be honest. think is now you need better gear to get to the end game content. there are a lot of things you can do to get better gear but the guaranteed route is to level of your rank with either the crucible or vanguard.

for crucible rep play the crucible and do crucible bounties.
for vanguard rep play the strike playlist and do vanguard bounties.

once you hit rank 3 you'll be able to fully suit up with purples (although you may get some randomes along the way).

once you have purples you need to level them up. public events and the daily story missions are you best bets there.

do the weekly raid if you can to get strange coins to buy exotics from xur (only appears on weekend).

once you've hit 30+ you can think about doing raids.


honestly,.. the next expansion is just around the corner and will probably be out before you hit vangaurd rank 3. the way leveling works you'll be able to just skip the 30-32 levels if you go right to the next expansion which may be the best way to hit end game content for you.

your level really doesn't matter for crucible(unless Iron Banner event is up as you lvl/gear/weapons aren't level restraint like the normal crucible) if you don't get the expansion pack the highest lvl you can go to is 31 and you can do the Venus raid; requirements is that you at least need to be a lvl 23 to participate and 6 people(although many people will want you to be 26+ in order to play

.With the expansion pack you can reach light lvl 32 as the only way to get to 32 is getting gear from the latest raid gear; "Crota's End" (however if the Iron Banner event is up you can buy raid lvl equivalent gear and equipping an exotic armor piece makes that you don't have to have a complete set of raid gear to reach lvl 32) you atleast need to be a lvl 27 in order to participate although again people will want atleast lvl 29 to even be helpful and again you need 6 people, however unlike the Venus raid it is possible to do this raid solo tough it take a high amount of skill.(or cheesing....)

for the crucible; what you should focus on it obtaining weapons; mostly of the legendary/exotic level as some they come with amazing perks and usually give you an edge in combat.(although certain rare weapons are good also.

what you should focus on is:
1st: continue do vanguard strikes in hope of getting better weapons and gear
2nd: earn vanguard points so that you can buy legendary gear/weapons
3rd: make sure to collect Strange Coins/Motes of Light so every friday-sunday an NPC by the name of Xur - Agent of the nine will sell exotic armor and weapons.

EDIT: I see you made this on the Sony board if you have the PS4 version hit me up, my PSN is in my sig