How To Exceed Destiny 2’s Soft Level Cap And Use New Unstable Cores Material

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One notable aspect of Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate is a revamped armor enhancement system, which significantly changes the conventional method of increasing your character’s power. In this guide, we walk you through advancing beyond level 200 and maximizing the benefits of the new resources you’ll gather while engaging with the expansion’s content.

How the new seasonal leveling system works

In a nutshell, “The Edge of Fate” feature sets the maximum base level for all players at 200 to make the levels more manageable. Essentially, Bungie decreased the rate of leveling up by about ten times. The way you level remains largely unchanged: participating in activities will yield new gear with slightly increased power levels compared to what you currently own. If you prefer keeping your existing equipment, you can upgrade it using Enhancement Cores by combining it with similar new drops. Any old Upgrade Modules can be dismantled without worry. You can obtain Enhancement Cores by breaking down unwanted items, receiving them as rewards for activities, or purchasing them from vendors.

Beyond reaching 200, a different mechanism kicks in. Going over the soft level cap is now temporary – it gets reset at the conclusion of the ongoing season. This implies that when the next expansion arrives, all players will return to level 200. Bungie introduced this change as an attempt to halt the persistent level increase, which has been a defining feature of Destiny throughout its existence.

As you progress, you’ll obtain weapons and armor with a base power of 200, boosted by extra points (represented in blue on screenshots). These bonus power points accumulate to increase your character’s overall level, but importantly, the gear’s level will reset at the end of each season.

At advanced power tiers, locating loot becomes more challenging. To make steady progress, consider engaging in Legendary, Mythic, and Fabled tasks and occurrences which bestow a seasonal power enhancement instead.

How to upgrade your current gear past 200

In the current upgrade system, you can enhance your existing equipment with stronger weapons, propelling them beyond the level 200 mark. This new method employs a novel material from the expansion called Unstable Cores, which you’re likely to accumulate even before reaching the soft level cap. To elevate an item to level 200, you will use standard Enhancement Cores. However, to surpass that limit, you will need multiple Unstable Cores.

You can acquire this new material in several ways on Kepler, such as completing tasks, breaking down gear that has extra power, and by participating in Seasonal Hub challenges. From our initial analysis, it seems that Unstable Cores may be less common than Enhancement Cores, so you might want to be cautious with your infusions of 200 or more.

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2025-07-21 19:39