Getting Started: What You Need to Know
Playing on Different Platforms
Destiny: Rising launched as a mobile game, but you don't have to stick with touch controls. The game supports PS5 and Xbox controllers on mobile devices, and you can even connect a keyboard and mouse through Bluetooth. Many players use emulators to get that PC gaming feel with better aiming and comfort during longer sessions.
While there's no official PC version, the community has fully embraced emulator play as the go-to method for serious players.
How Characters Work
Rising's character system works completely differently from other Destiny games. You collect unique heroes called Lightbearers instead of customizing one Guardian. Each character comes with their own personality, abilities, and weapon restrictions.
Every Lightbearer has:
- A signature Relic weapon that defines their playstyle
- A devastating Super ability
- Two Signature skills for tactical options
- Built-in passive perks
- Specific weapon types they can equip
You can't just hand any weapon to any character. Gwynn uses SMGs and Shotguns, while Tan-2 sticks to Scout Rifles and Snipers. This system forces you to actually learn each character instead of swapping gear around constantly.
Your Character Roster
Wolf - The Starter
Wolf serves as your starter and tutorial character. He wields a Solar Sword and uses Auto Rifles plus Grenade Launchers. Simple kit, easy to learn.
Gwynn - Aggressive Fighter
Gwynn excels at aggressive close range combat. Her Void Scythe creates overshields while she blinks around the battlefield. She heals by getting kills, rewarding players who stay on the offensive.
Estela - AI Summoner
Estela summons AI helpers that melt enemies while she provides fire support with Pulse Rifles and Machine Guns. Her Solar illusions spread corruption effects across enemy groups.
Tan-2 - Primary Healer
Tan-2 functions as your primary healer and support. Think Destiny's Well of Radiance but mobile. She creates buff zones that heal or boost damage depending on her stance.
Kabr - Tank Controller
Kabr tanks damage while controlling lanes. His Arc Barrier lets him shoot through cover while blinding enemies. Scout Rifles and Machine Guns give him solid range options.
Maru - Space Controller
Maru controls space with Grenade Launchers and Void abilities. Her Shell barriers and Vortex effects deny areas while chaining explosive damage.
Ikora - Burst Specialist
Ikora pulls enemy groups together before nuking them with Nova Bomb style attacks. Grenade Launchers and Rocket Launchers make her a burst damage specialist.
Attal - Versatile Support
Attal heals consistently while adding DPS through her mint companion. Hand Cannons and Fusion Rifles give her versatile combat options, plus her reloads trigger bonus missiles.
The roster also includes Umeko, Jolder, Xuan Wei, Finnala, and Ning Fei, each bringing unique mechanics and roles.
Core Systems You Can't Ignore
Team Level Changes Everything
Team Level might be the smartest progression system in any gacha game. Instead of grinding each character separately, your entire roster shares one level. When you unlock a new character, they immediately match your Team Level. You'll grind once for the entire roster.
You gain Team Level through story missions, daily quests, Public Events, and milestone rewards. Push story content hard early on since it gives the biggest chunks of progress.
Managing All These Currencies
Rising throws dozens of different currencies at you. Don't panic. The game includes a smart tracking system that saves your sanity.
When you spot an unfamiliar material, click it to see exactly where to get it, what converts into it, and what it's used for. This applies to every single currency and upgrade material.
| Currency Type | How to Get | Primary Use |
|---|---|---|
| Lumia Leaves | Events, Dailies, Milestones | Limited Banner Pulls |
| Bon Voyage Charms | Character Quests, Story | Standard Banner Pulls |
| Pinnacle Energy | 120 per day (max 360) | Premium Activity Rewards |
Choice Chests let you convert one material type into another when you're stuck. Exchange shops like Golden Grotto offer weekly trading opportunities. Legacy activities provide targeted farming for specific items. The system looks overwhelming but it's actually pretty elegant once you start using the built-in tools.
Turn On Auto Fire Right Now
Auto Fire transforms mobile combat from frustrating to smooth. Instead of constantly tapping to shoot, the game fires automatically while you move. This frees up your attention for positioning and dodging.
You only fire while moving, so standing still stops the shooting. Some players prefer manual control, but Auto Fire helps most people enjoy longer sessions without thumb fatigue. Even experienced players use it during farming runs or Public Events.
Smart Investment Priorities
Wolf Comes First (Seriously)
You must invest in Wolf before anyone else. Two reasons make this non negotiable.
First, the Wolf's Ascension event specifically rewards Wolf upgrades with materials that often exceed your initial investment. You're basically getting refunded for upgrades you need anyway.
Second, story missions only allow Wolf. Your Mythic characters can't help you here. If Wolf lacks power, you'll hit walls that stop campaign progress entirely. Players who ignore Wolf while building other characters often get stuck and have to backtrack.
Picking Your Second Character
After Wolf's foundation, choose one or two additional characters that match your preferred style. Support characters age better than DPS characters because they're harder to power creep.
- Tan-2's healing remains valuable regardless of new releases
- Kabr's barrier utility doesn't become obsolete
- Utility abilities resist power creep
- Consistent long-term value
- Get replaced when stronger attackers appear
- Vulnerable to power creep
- Short-term investment value
- Meta dependency issues
Consider your available weapons too. Building a character whose weapon types you can't equip properly makes no sense.
Building Characters the Right Way
Relic Upgrades Eat Resources
Relic abilities represent your biggest resource sink. These upgrades use increasingly rare materials as levels climb higher. Early levels need blue materials, but advanced upgrades require purple enhanced versions.
Be selective here. Don't upgrade every character's relic immediately. Pick Wolf plus one or two favorites and stick with them until you're swimming in materials.
Legacy activities provide the most reliable ribbon drops, but only when you spend Pinnacle Energy. Without energy, Legacy gives you nothing but Glimmer. This makes Legacy your top priority for energy spending.
Artifacts Let You Customize
Artifacts offer the real character customization in Rising. Each character shows role tags (offense, defense, support), element types, and combat styles that guide artifact selection.
The auto recommend system works okay, but manual selection often finds better combinations. Don't be afraid to experiment with unusual setups.
Weapon Upgrades and Resets
Weapons follow straightforward upgrade paths with safety nets. Rare and legendary weapons refund 100% of materials when reset. Mythic and exotic weapons refund 66%. This means you can freely upgrade most gear without permanent consequences.
Weapon traits are random, but the game marks good rolls with thumbs up icons. Higher star ratings indicate better trait quality. Focus upgrades on your highest gear level weapons with good trait combinations.
Mythic weapons need 200 kills to unlock their full potential and reach Legend rating. Public Events provide easy farming opportunities for these milestones.
Gacha Strategy That Actually Works
Banner Types and Spending Rules
Rising uses two banner systems with different strategies.
Permanent banners contain the general character pool. Only spend standard blue Bon Voyage Charms here. You get plenty of these from character quests, story progress, events, and weekly shop exchanges.
Limited banners feature exclusive characters for short periods. Use Limited Edition charms or Lumia Leaves here. Limited characters typically offer superior power and unique mechanics you can't get elsewhere.
Lumia Leaves Are Precious
Lumia Leaves represent your most valuable currency. 180 leaves equals one Mythic pull, so efficiency matters. Save these exclusively for limited banners.
You earn Lumia Leaves slowly through most activities, events, dailies, and progression milestones. Limited characters may never return, while permanent characters stay available forever.
Don't Chase Copies
Single copies of characters provide enough power for current content. Character duplication enables enhancement bonuses, but these represent luxury improvements rather than necessities.
You'll get more value from roster diversity than individual character optimization. Having multiple roles available beats having one super enhanced character.
Support characters maintain relevance longer due to utility focus. Damage dealers become obsolete with power creep, but healing and crowd control remain consistently useful.
Daily Activities and Energy Management
Pinnacle Energy Priorities
Pinnacle Energy gates the best rewards across multiple activities. You can play everything without energy, but you'll get basic rewards instead of premium loot.
Activity Priority Ranking
Legacy activities offer the biggest reward gap. Without energy, you only get Glimmer. With energy, you get guaranteed ribbon materials for relic upgrades. This dramatic difference makes Legacy your clear priority.
Strikes show minimal differences between basic and pinnacle rewards. You can grind strikes endlessly for decent loot without energy investment.
Singularity Chaos costs 10 energy but provides substantial elemental fruit bundles and guaranteed strange coins. Good value if you need these specific materials.
Daily Quest Consistency
Daily quests provide steady progress through multiple reward paths. Some exotic weapons unlock exclusively through daily quest milestones, making consistent participation crucial.
You get steady materials, Team Level experience, and event currency from dailies. The refresh system lets you reroll up to four quests daily if the initial batch doesn't fit your plans.
Public Events Are Free Money
Public Events offer exceptional value through XP crystals without any energy costs. These random events provide scaling rewards based on participation.
Never skip Public Events when you see them. The accumulated XP crystals become crucial for maintaining character progression as your roster expands. Since they cost nothing, there's zero downside to participation.
Quality of Life Features
Shoot Everything
Every weapon includes built-in shoot-to-loot functionality. When heavy ammo drops somewhere dangerous, shoot it from cover instead of running over. For destination materials scattered around, target them with your weapon rather than exposing yourself.
Environmental materials like spinfoil and data fragments can be shot for collection from any distance. No more breaking cover to grab resources.
Support Abilities Work Better
Character deployed abilities let you shoot through them without obstruction. Kabr's barriers provide protected shooting positions. Tan-2's wells buff damage without blocking shots. Area denial effects don't prevent ally targeting.
This makes positioning much more flexible than traditional Destiny games where abilities often block friendly fire.
Advanced Tips and Tricks
Mythic Weapon Development
Mythic weapons represent the highest tier requiring specific development approaches. Each Mythic needs 200 combat kills to reach full potential.
Pick one Mythic that matches your main character's weapon restrictions. Equip it for all activities to build kills efficiently. Target Level 3 and Level 7 proficiency milestones for Golden Path progress.
Aim for one Mythic perk plus one legendary perk to reach Legend rating. Use Public Events and easy content for rapid kill accumulation.
Resource Conversion Timing
The extensive crafting system allows material conversion through multiple paths. Time conversions for immediate use rather than stockpiling to prevent waste.
Choice chests provide targeted material acquisition. Weekly exchange rotations offer varying rates. Plan upgrade sequences to minimize material loss.
Event Participation Strategy
Events provide massive resource boosts that accelerate progression significantly.
- New Light Challenge offers 14 progression levels with escalating rewards including free pulls, upgrade materials, and exotic currencies
- Wolf's Ascension specifically rewards Wolf investment with materials exceeding initial costs
- Daily sign in bonuses guarantee pulls with weekly exotic choices and bi weekly selection opportunities
- Spreading Light invitation codes provide mutual benefits for participants
Events should take priority over regular activities when available due to superior efficiency.
Singularity Paraverse Development
The Paraverse skill tree improves Singularity performance through permanent upgrades. Start with the middle path for long term benefits:
Paraverse Priority Path
The strange coin bonus deserves priority due to cumulative benefits over time. Enhanced generation accelerates further development.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Resource Spreading
New players often upgrade multiple characters simultaneously, resulting in insufficient power for content progression. Focus Wolf plus one additional character until reaching comfortable power levels.
Relic materials are extremely limited. Don't upgrade every character's abilities immediately. Stick with characters you actively use for challenging content.
Banner Spending Errors
Using Lumia Leaves on permanent banners wastes your most valuable currency on easily available characters. Reserve leaves exclusively for limited banners.
Standard blue charms are abundant through weekly exchanges and should be your only permanent banner currency.
Energy Waste
Spending Pinnacle Energy on activities with minimal reward improvements wastes limited resources. Legacy activities provide dramatically superior returns compared to other options.
Understanding reward differences prevents energy allocation mistakes.
Character Selection Problems
Focusing exclusively on damage dealers creates long term problems as power creep introduces replacements. Support characters resist obsolescence through utility focused abilities.
Team composition needs mixing damage, support, and control rather than single role rosters that lack versatility.
Planning for the Long Haul
Development Phases
Rising progression follows distinct phases requiring different approaches:
- Foundation building establishes Wolf's capabilities while learning core systems
- Roster expansion adds 1-2 specialized characters for role diversity
- Later stages focus on artifacts, weapons, and advanced systems
- Endgame preparation develops multiple team compositions for varied content
Currency Management
Long term success balances immediate needs with future opportunities. Maintain premium currency reserves while investing in current roster development.
Establish weekly routines maximizing free resource generation. Complete dailies consistently, participate in every Public Event, use Iron Commander for passive generation, and monitor events for limited opportunities.
Meta Adaptation
Character effectiveness evolves with updates, requiring flexible development. Avoid excessive investment in single characters or strategies that may become obsolete.
Diversified rosters adapt better to meta shifts while providing options for new content types. Support focused characters maintain longer relevance through utility based value.
Final Thoughts
Destiny: Rising combines familiar Destiny gameplay with gacha collection mechanics, creating unique strategic considerations. Success requires understanding interconnected systems while maintaining focus on core priorities.
Start with Wolf development for story progression, then expand to diverse character roles matching your preferences. The extensive event system accelerates resource acquisition while premium currencies provide maximum long term value through careful management.
The complexity feels overwhelming initially, but systematic approaches to character development, currency management, and activity participation create steady progression toward advanced content and strategic diversity.