In the “This Week at Bungie” blog post, Bungie Senior Designer Daniel Auchenpaugh detailed how leveling player gear will be different after Warmind launches this May. First and foremost, these changes will impact the entire game, not just the Warmind DLC’s loot. So players who did not purchase the DLC will still see these changes when leveling up.

The soft level cap for loot in Warmind will be 340, with the hard cap (minus +5 mods) increasing to 380. Overall, the changes are reminiscent of Destiny’s original system, where the grind from 340 to 380 will be significantly easier if tackling endgame activities like the raid or Trials. These changes seek to give players a sense of accomplishment and give reasons to come back each week to play.

Clan engrams are being retooled a bit to make them more valuable when reaching the soft cap, netting an average of a 15-point power increase per engram prior to power level 340, while only netting a 0-2 point increase above the soft cap. According to Auchenpaugh, it will likely take players just as long to go from 340 to 370 as it will for players to go from 370 to 380.

Gear earned from older activities, such as the campaign or Curse of Osiris, will drop up to the level cap that was present for that activity. Base game quests will drop up to 260, Curse of Osiris quests will drop up to 300, and Warmind quests will drop up to 340. They will provide an average of 15 power if you have not hit that activity’s level cap.

Exotic power levels are being retooled as well to discourage farming public events instead of doing endgame activities. Exotics that drop from a non-weekly source (public events and chests) will decrypt at the same level as a legendary, which will cap at 340 to start and slowly increase as players get closer to 380. However, the exotic reworks will be going live at the same time to help them feel more powerful in the long run.

These changes go a long way to lengthen the climb to max power level, which will in turn add to the difficulty of Destiny 2 as a whole. It is clear that Bungie is listening to the community regarding the reward system, at least in terms of making the endgame more meaningful. Hopefully, the Warmind DLC will keep players engaged long enough to reach the max level cap.

Destiny 2 and its Curse of Osiris expansion are available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Warmind launches May 8, 2018.