How to get Legendary gear in Destiny without farming the now-dead loot cave

As you’re probably aware by now, this week Bungie released a patch for Destiny aimed at reducing “the effectiveness of a humbling number of economy exploits.” Among the fixes was a change to the famous loot cave, a location on Earth in Old Russia that would rapidly spawn an infinite number of new enemies that you could quickly and easily grind for loot. Because of the rapid spawn times and favorable drop rates, the loot cave quickly became a popular farming spot for high-level players. This week’s patch addressed this by slowing the respawn time from 6 seconds to 40 seconds, essentially killing this farming spot.

I won’t lie, I used the loot cave a fair amount when I first hit level 20. To be honest, though, I never really got any Legendary or Exotic drops; it mostly dropped Uncommon (green) and Rare (blue) engrams for me. I mean, I won’t complain about it since the loot cave did help me level my Cryptarch who, in turn, who reward me with Legendary (purple) Engrams that he would then turn into Rare (blue) items. Basically, all I ever got from farming the loot cave was a bunch of heartache. The actual Legendary and Exotic gear, I got from simply playing the game.

Yes, despite “the world is falling” attitude that many have greeted the recent update with, it is possible to get good gear in Destiny without sitting in front of a cave and mindlessly shooting at the black abyss. Here are a few ways you can outfit your Guardian in Legendary and Exotic gear by simply playing the game as it’s intended to be played (by grinding, I guess?)

Crucible Marks

I’ll be very honest with you, I’m level 26 and still haven’t actually completed the campaign. In fact, I’ve only done one of the missions on Mars. Yet I still have all Legendary armor and two Exotic weapons. Part of that comes from the Crucible, or Destiny’s PvP mode.

Playing a match in Crucible will reward you with Crucible marks which you can then spend on gear (armor or weapons) sold by the Crucible vendor. Most Legendary gear can be purchased for 65 marks, while a few pieces, like weapons, cost 150 marks. Just to note, you get 3 Crucible marks for a win and 2 for a loss, so there is some grinding involved; there’s also a weekly cap of 100 Crucible marks you can earn. It’s a bit of a grind, but it was a fun grind since I enjoy PvP.

But first, Crucible Reputation

Before you can even spend your Crucible Marks at vendors in the Tower, you must first increase your reputation with them. This can be done by completing Crucible bounties (like kill 25 Titans in the Crucible). Bounties will reward you with 50 to 100 Crucible reputation. At Rank 2, you can finally purchase most of your Legendary gear. Again, it’s a bit of a grind, but I managed to do it in like a week-and-a-half.

Vanguard Marks

This is basically the equivalent of Crucible marks, except for people who prefer PvE. The format is essentially the same — complete tasks to earn Vanguard marks which can then be spent to purchase gear from vendors in the Tower.

Vanguard Marks can be obtained through the Daily Heroic Story and Weekly Heroic Strike. They can also be earned through completing the Strike Playlist, which depending on what level you play at can earn a different amount each.

• Level 20: 2 Vanguard Marks

• Level 22: 3 Vanguard Marks

• Level 24: 6 Vanguard Marks

Like Crucible, you can only earn 100 Vanguard marks per week.

But first, Vanguard Reputation

Also similar to Crucible, before you can buy gear from vendors, you must first increase your Reputation with the vendor/faction. Again, this can be done by completing Vanguard bounties which will usually reward you with 50 to 100 Vanguard reputation each. At Rank 2, you can purchase legendary Vanguard gear.

Faction Gear

Around the Tower you’ll find different factions: Future War Cult, Dead Orbit, and New Monarchy. These are alternatives to the Vanguard and you can earn Reputation with them by wearing their specific symbol in your Class slot. Then simply do Crucible or Vanguard missions.

The Queen’s Wrath

The Queen’s Wrath is a temporary event in Destiny that can reward you with all sorts of Legendary gear, and it’s actually pretty simple. First, the Queen’s emissary, Petra Venj, can now be found inside the Iron Banner curtain. She sells rare weapons and armor (though they do slightly more damage than stardard rares, and Legendary emblems and shaders — all of which can be purchased for Glimmer. The catch is that you must first increase your Queen Rank by earning Reputation.

Over at the bounty board you can find a number of Reef bounties that will earn you Reputation. In addition to that though, completing a bounty will automatically start a new Queen’s mission for you. Completing this Queen’s mission will guarantee you a piece of Legendary equipment. So not only are you getting gear through completing these specific missions, but you’re also increasing your Reputation with the Queen so that you may also have the opportunity to purchase gear.

The only problem with this is that it’s a temporary event that will only be available until October 6. So get grindin’.

Exotic Bounties

Exotic Bounties are special bounties rewarded to players above level 20 that, as the name suggests, result in ultra-rare Exotic gear. These special, high level Bounties are granted randomly when turning in the regular bounties. So far, I’ve received two of them, though it should be noted that I’m the only one out of my group of friends to have gotten them. I don’t know the rarity of them, but I will say I got both of mine from turning in Crucible bounties (not sure if that has something to do with it).

If you’re lucky, when turning in the quest, you’ll be asked to choose between three different Exotic bounties — each with a different reward that you’ll probably have to look up since the game doesn’t tell you. The good news is that once you do complete them, you are guaranteed that reward so there’s no mystery or bastard Cryptarch to deal with.

Unlike regular bounties, these Exotic bounties are multi-stage missions — a series of increasingly difficult tasks that when completed will guarantee the Exotic item. For my first Exotic, Bad Juju, I had to complete 25 Strikes and then score 10,000 points in the Crucible. I did it in two days, but it was a lot of grinding. So far, the only Exotic Bounties I’ve seen have been for weapons.

Just play the game

My best piece of advice for obtaining Legendary gear in Destiny is to just play the game, whichever way you find most enjoyment. If sitting in front of the cave shooting, even with slower respawn times, is how you want to play have at it. Maybe you’ll be luckier than I was. But Destiny does reward you for just playing the game. At the end of each Crucible match or Strike, there’s a chance you can earn gear. It’s a seemingly low chance, but still a chance. At the very least, you’re still getting Reputation and Marks to eventually purchase gear, so it will come if you just play and have fun.