Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
Destiny 2 is known for its grind, and that’s even before players decide to do something outrageous. One Destiny 2 player by the name of Zupah is attempting the infeasible, making it to Power 999 before the end of the Season of the Undying.
In previous seasons of Destiny 2, the Power was capped at a set threshold. Each new piece of DLC raised the Power by a certain amount, and players were given the whole season to reach that and then chase other goals.
With the introduction of Shadowkeep, the max Power through acquisition of gear was capped at 960 (a feat that is seemingly highly improbable). However, the Season of the Undying introduced the Seasonal Artifact. This Gate Lord's Eye artifact grants 1 point of Power each time the player fills the XP bar. Players can fill this XP bar as many times as they want until the end of the season, at which point the artifact is reset and those Power levels are wiped.
The only problem with this Seasonal Artifact is that each level requires more XP. This results in a Power climb that dramatically slows down as players reach higher Power levels.
As for how players can gain XP in Destiny 2, well, there are things like raids, PVP matches, as well as daily bounties. A post by Reddit users EnergiserX offers a massive breakdown of the levels and how much XP is earned for completing various activites. For example, a bounty awards 6,000 XP.
According to Zupah’s Twitter account, they’re already at 984 Power, with 951 Power coming from their gear and 33 from the Seasonal Artifact. They’re a mere 15 Power away from the 999 goal. This might not seem like much, but in order to get the artifact from 33 to 34 Power, Zupah will need to amass 3,600,000 XP.
To get from 34 to 35 Power requires 3.7 million XP. Assuming Zupah doesn’t get any more Power from gear, a further 45 million XP is needed to get the Seasonal Artifact to 48 Power, bringing their gear and artifact Power to a combined total of 999.
But none of this means anything unless there is a “why”. For a lot of players that undergo these types of tasks, the “why” can be as simple as “I wanted to see if it was possible.” In the case of Zupah, the goal is actually due to a piece of Destiny 2 lore called act|choose|react.
In this piece of lore, readers are treated to a choose-your-own-adventure story. The setting is of the Last City on Earth after it has succumbed to the Vex. Every building and human has been turned into a computer network. In this story, a character reveals that in order to stop the curse that’s causing the Dreaming City to continually reset, the player must, “Achieve Light Level 999 and defeat Dûl Incaru in a one-person fireteam to unlock the true ending of the Dreaming City.”
As some players have pointed out, the lore mentions Light Level, the term used for Power in the original Destiny. This is enough for some players to suggest nothing will happen as players now deal Power. There are also those that suggest the Seasonal Artifact may have a Power cap of 40.
However, the possibility of maybe something happening is enough for players like Zupah.
As for how Zupah is actually gaining all this experience, it’s incredibly tedious and a massive grind. Eris Morn, and many other vendors, allows players to purchase a random bounty. Zupah purchases five of these bounties, heads to the Lost Sector in Anchor of Light (K1 Communion), completes the bounties, and then buys five more from Eris. This is repeated ad nauseam.
This method has seen Zupah rise from 983 to 984 in two days. As of writing, there are 43 days and 15 hours left in the season. This gives Zupah roughly a month and a half to get 15 more Power before their efforts are wiped out.
In the event Zupah beats the odds, reaches Power 999 before the end of the season, solos the entire Shattered Throne dungeon, defeats Dûl Incaru, and nothing happens, hopefully Bungie will at least reward them with a unique emblem for the trouble.