If you want to hit the highest Power levels in Destiny 2 for Trials of Osiris or the new Grandmaster Nightfalls, you’ll need to get Pinnacle drops. These engrams give you gear that lets you exceed the soft Power cap of 1000, and you’ll only get them from a select set of sources across PVE and PVP play. These sources all grant Pinnacle drops with +2 Power to your current possible total. However, you may sometimes receive a piece of gear that doesn’t increase your total Power:
Pinnacle Gear Sources
- Garden of Salvation Raid (each encounter)
- Pit of Heresy dungeon (completion)
- Nightmare Hunt (Master difficulty completion)
- Nightfall: The Ordeal (complete any difficulty with 100k+ score)
- Iron Banner bounties
- Trials of Osiris
As of the April 21 update that added Guardian Games, there are a number of new Pinnacle drop sources in Destiny 2. However, these new sources only award gear that is +1 Power as they are typically easier to complete than the existing Pinnacle activities. Aside from the shift from Powerful to Pinnacle drops, nothing’s changed about these activities — you just have to complete the required number of Strikes or matches to get the engram:
- Weekly Strike Challenge
- Weekly Crucible Challenge
- Weekly Gambit Challenge
- Weekly Clan Engram
More Destiny 2:
- Destiny 2 Guardian Games Guide – Heir Apparent, End Date, Who is Winning?
- One Simple Change Could Fix Grandmaster Nightfalls in Destiny 2
- I’m Grinding Pinnacle Drops in Destiny 2 for the First Time and It’s Awful
Best Pinnacle Gear Farming
Now that the core weekly activities have entered the Pinnacle drop pool, these are objectively the easiest and fastest method for leveling up your Guardian. Previously, the other activities required you to have a pre-made fireteam, which can be a hassle if you’re alone. The best method is to complete your four Crucible matches, three Strikes, and three matches of Gambit. These are all comically easy activities that can be easily conquered if you are at or around Power level 1,000.
Remember, the rotating 6v6 Crucible playlist does not award Pinnacle drops. Only core matches, so if you need a quick Pinnacle drop hop into Rumble and blast through four games. This will be faster than Elimination or Control, regardless of your skill level. As for the raid, the Garden of Salvation is another solid source, but completing the raid takes around an hour for an experienced team. Don’t bother with Master Nightmare Hunts since they’re Power level 1030, which is well above the hard cap and most player’s who are still grinding gear.
All of this is building to the new endgame activity introduced alongside the Guardian Games event. You need a Power level of 1025 to attempt Grandmaster Nightfalls and have a chance at getting the Conquerer Seal, though your Seasonal Artifact will also give you a boost. Using a mix of Pinnacle drops and bonus Power from the artifact is the easiest way to get there.
