Get started in Destiny 2 with these helpful guides

Destiny 2 is officially live on PC today, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve waited until the last possible moment to figure out what the heck the game is all about. If that describes you, you’re in luck: I decided to figure out what kind of game I’ll be playing slightly earlier than you have. Below are the three of the best resources I’ve found for a Destiny 2 newbie.

Aggronaut

Aggronaut has the most comprehensive, easily-understood guide around for players who know nothing about Destiny 2. Until a few days ago, the only thing I knew about Destiny 2 was it’d be on the Blizzard Battle.net launcher. After reading Aggronaut’s guide, I feel like I’m ready to go into the game with some confidence. The guide covers the game’s classes and gameplay, provides early leveling tips, and links to numerous other Destiny 2 resources if you wish to go more in-depth. Aggronaut’s tips range from fairly high-level details to valuable low-level quality-of-life advice:

Save 5 Blue Scout Rifles – Once you hit 20 there will be a planetary quest chain that will require you to dismantle 5 blue or better scout rifles. When you hit this point you are going to be in a mad dash to get them to drop unless you simply start banking them while you level.

Aggronaut already has significant experience with the console version game, so if you really want to streamline the leveling process, you should check out his write-up on how he intends to level in the PC version.

PC Gamer

While Aggronaut provides a fairly comprehensive introduction to Destiny 2, PC Gamer’s “16 things I wish I knew before playing Destiny 2” is exactly what it says on the tin. They provide a list of small details that, when you know them in advance, will provide significant improvements to your quality of life. A few of their points are redundant with Aggronaut’s guide, but there are still some goodies in there, such as how to interpret the vast array of icons on your map.

Planetside, you’ll get bombarded with stuff to do. The open world bits are huge maze-like areas. It doesn’t help that the maps look busy and confusing at first glance, littered with confusing icons and nomenclature that doesn’t really paint a clear path forward. The thing with Destiny is that every path takes you forward—some are just more inviting than others. They all earn you zone-specific coins that you redeem with each area’s resident NPC. Give them up and your reputation with them will level up and you’ll get an engram out of the deal (but not until you’re level 20).

PC Gamer’s list is an easy, breezy read which will yield some valuable info in just a few minutes’ time.

Polygon

If you prefer your information in video format, Polygon’s Griffin McElroy has provided an 11-minute overview of Destiny 2 gameplay. He explains how each class plays, the game’s progression system, how loot works, and so much more.

All three of these guides are excellent resources. Between them, you’ll be ready to jump into Destiny 2 if you so choose. While none of them dive deep into Destiny 2 end game or its raiding scene, Aggronaut will set you on the right path. Go forth, Guardian, and do whatever it is people do in Destiny 2.