Light

"I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."
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"The Light lives in all places, in all things. You can block it, even try to trap it, but the Light will find its way."

— The Speaker.

The Light, also known as the Sky and otherwise simply referred to as "magic," is a type of force that stems from the Traveler. All living things possess some Light—possibily as a soul—as the spark of life is Light in itself. Ulan-Tan hypothesized that all Light is connected, later confirmed when Guardians discovered the Hive siphoning light from the Traveler through a piece of itself. The Light is antipathic to the Hive, though they are known to feed on it and offer it as a sacrifice to their gods.

Guardians are the rare few able to wield the Light as a weapon. Additionally, born from the Traveler itself, the Light was used to construct the Ghosts. Orbs of Light may also be found, which give power to a Guardian's Super, their ultimate use of the Light. Light, as used by the Guardians, comes in three different varieties; these are the elemental damage modifiers, and are used in both a Guardian's chosen subclass and in certain weapons. It is possible for Light to be corrupted, as the shard of the Traveler within the European Dead Zone is corrupting an area of forest.

Gameplay

Destiny

Year One

During Year One of Destiny, Light was a value present on all level 20 armor of Rare, Legendary, and Exotic rarity. In order to increase a character's level beyond 20, the player had to obtain armor with more and more Light, which would give them a Light level between 21 and 34 depending on the Light value of the gear. The highest attainable Light level in Year One (after the release of the House of Wolves expansion) was level 34, which required four armor pieces (one for each armor slot available at the time) with 36 Light each, which came to a total of 144 Light.

Light level determined the player's strength and what activities the player could participate in. To participate in an activity effectively, players had to have a Light level that matched or exceeded the activity's recommended Light level, or the higher-level enemy units would be able to both inflict significantly more damage on the player and resist more of the player's attacks. If the player was as little as four levels below an enemy, the player's damage output would be reduced to the point that the enemy would be "immune" to the player's attacks; the player would actually still be damaging the enemy, but the amount of damage being inflicted would be so small as to render killing the enemy within a reasonable amount of time an extremely difficult, if not impossible, feat.

Year Two

The Taken King changed the way Light was determined and used by players. Light is now a weighted average of the Attack and Defense values of all of the player's currently equipped gear; weapons count more heavily in the calculation than armor. Under this new system, Light reflects the player's strength and what activities the player is prepared for, but operates on a less severe penalty curve than Year One Light levels; whereas a Light deficit of four would make the player harmless to an enemy in Year One, in Year Two it takes a much higher Light deficit to noticeably impair the player's combat effectiveness. The Attack and Defense values of all Year One gear is capped at 170, meaning a player must equip Year Two gear in order to reach a higher level of Light.

Certain thresholds of Light must be attained in order to unlock or be able to complete some activities: Light 240 unlocks the Daily Heroic Story, Light 260 unlocks the Vanguard Heroic Strikes playlist, and Light 280 unlocks the Nightfall. The Raid King's Fall is available immediately, but it is recommended to achieve a Light level of 290 before attempting. The highest attainable Light level in Year Two was 335.

Year Three

The Light mechanic remained the same as Year Two with the transition to Rise of Iron, but the limit was raised. Light 300 unlocks the Daily Heroic Story, and Light 320 unlocks the SIVA Crisis Heroic Strikes playlist and the Nightfall. The Raid Wrath of the Machine will have a recommended Light level of 360 on normal difficulty, and 385 on heroic difficulty. The highest attainable Light level in Year Three was 400.

Destiny 2

Year Four

The Light mechanic from Year Two of Destiny was carried over to Destiny 2, but was renamed Power. The current hard cap for Power is 300, which can be stretched to 305 by equipping all Power 300 gear with Legendary mods, as these add +5 Attack or Defense. However, a soft cap at Power 265 makes rising to 300 very difficult. While players can quickly climb Power levels until 265, after 265 they are dependent on high-level gear rewards from Luminous Engrams and Exotic Engrams, as most Legendary Engrams will drop 6 levels below the player's highest possible Power, which is calculated based on all gear in their inventory and vault. Legendary Engrams can occasionally drop higher-level gear as well, but this is rare and the increase is generally smaller than with Luminous and Exotic Engrams.

Notably, all currently available gear in Destiny 2 can, in theory, be Infused to Power 350. While the hard cap prevents this at present, it is believed future updates or expansions may raise the cap over time.

Story missions, Adventures, Strikes, and the Nightfall all have various recommended Power levels, ranging from as low as 20 to as high as 240 for the Nightfall. The Raid Leviathan is locked until 260 is reached, but has a recommended Power level of 270. Power 280 is required to exchange Rare gear mods for Legendary ones with Banshee-44. Lastly, the Prestige version of the Leviathan Raid has a recommended Power of 300.

List of appearances

• The Law Of The Jungle (First appearance)
• Destiny
• Destiny 2