1) Most of the changes you're looking for can be found in the Change Logs for Update 2.0. The Taken King changed lots of things, including things about the Expansion I and II content, so even the previous House of Wolves content has been altered because of it, so you won't be dealing with anything from House of Wolves in its previous incarnation. 2) Base level is determined entirely by experience now. Without TTK, max is 34 and with TTK, max is 40. Light level is now what's used to determine any extra damage or damage resistance you have (like the +/- 4 level algorithm from before). 3) Year 1 equipment cannot be upgraded on its own past the year 1 maximum. Any year-1 exotics that you had on your character as of the 2.0 update or that you acquired after it will also have opened up the ability to purchase a year-2 equivalent from the kiosk near the Vanguard masters. not all year-1 exotics received a year-2 update (Ice Breaker is an example). Because you have to find or unlock the equipment new, you will have to level it fresh. The year-2 exotic armors have been altered significantly from their year-1 counterparts and now get the namesake upgrade by default (no need to level at all for it) but now come with customizable other upgrades. These customizable upgrades are randomized on ones you find and so it can lead to different builds even while using the same equipment. 4) The upgrade materials are still normal for what they were before. The only new upgrade materials added that you may not know about are Etheric Light (which have been reduced to useless for any Year 2 equipment), Wormspore (found on the Dreadnaught), and Hadium Flakes (found in the chests on the Dreadnaught). All of the previous upgrade materials from Earth, Moon, Venus, and Mars are still used as normal. Motes of Light are more useful now as they can be used to feed experience to all equipped equipment at the time of a use. 5) Almost all Year-2 Legendaries and Exotics can be 'upgraded' by using the Infuse option in the equipment's Details screen. You feed a more powerful item to it and it raises its attack/defense value and along with that, the extra stats (Int, Dis, Str) can increase as well. Also (information wise), since you don't own the House of Wolves expansion, for you to upgrade to The Taken King, you'll either need to purchase House of Wolves and then the digital upgrade for The Taken King or you'll need to purchase one of the The Taken King versions that includes the Expansions, because The Taken King requires both expansions. Another change that may take some getting used to is faction packages are picked up at the relevant person and Bounties are turned in from your Quest menu, not by taking them to the bounty-giver. Also, Eris no longer gives bounties. Lastly, some FAQ things that people who don't read Updates may have missed: Xur sells a Legacy Engram every week, this engram is ALWAYS a year-1 exotic, it is NEVER a year-2 exotic. ALWAYS pick up your faction packages as soon as you receive one. If you continue to upgrade the faction without picking it up and gain another rank, the previous package will be lost. Armsday orders are turned into the Gunsmith the Wednesday of the following week. They are not used from your inventory. You must purchase the Armsday order between Wednesday and Sunday As far as what was specific to House of Wolves beyond added missions and Prison of Elders, mostly the Etheric Light and the ability to reroll legendaries received from the House of Wolves (much like you could reroll Iron Banner equipment). However, with the release of The Taken King, the equipment from any year-1 content (Base Destiny, The Dark Below, and House of Wolves) is effectively obsolete, since it cannot be upgraded to the year-2 values.