Went ahead and made a second Hunter over the weekend, so I could double up on chances to get Raid Gear per week + Weekly Nightfall rewards. Thought I'd offer up a few quick hints that I noticed really helped me level up from lvl 1 - lvl 20 in about 4.5 hours or so (so pretty much two gaming sessions). [b]1 - BOUNTIES![/b] They are your friends! They are quite literally free XP at the best of times, and handing one or two of them in are the equivalent of completing 1-2 story missions. You can have two different approaches with bounties: a) Pick up PvE bounties, and ignore the PvP ones (this is personal preference, but I find that you can hammer out the PvE bounties VERY quickly compared to the PvP ones which take a lot more time and luck). b) From list of PvE bounties, select the easy / quick ones first (complete 6 patrols on the moon, complete this mission with heroic modifier). c) Stack bounties, and always carry a passive bounty on you - you should always try and stack which bounties you are working on. For example, if you are running patrols on cosmodome, pick up the gold tier public event bounty, the kill 25 enemies with precision damage, and kill with headshots bounties. Basically, select bounties that you KNOW you will be able to complete without actually changing what you are doing AND that you can run at the same time. Remember, all about being efficient with our time. d) [b]QUEEN'S WRATH BOUNTIES![/b] - She also has a selection of bounties that are for PvE, but only for a limited amount of time. Take advantage of the fact that they are there, because they have pretty high XP bonus (+5000 on some!), and they aren't all that hard to do. **IGNORE / DISCARD the missions she gives you after completing the bounties. They'll be locked until higher level. [b]2 - STORY MODE ON HARD[/b] - Always keep an eye on the story missions coming up in your play through. You will want to approach planets in all the same way: Complete ALL story modes on HARD first, then attempt the Strike(s) on that planet [leave strike's until last], before moving on. Completing story missions on HARD will net you an XP bonus that becomes more pronounced the more you play. a) Do bounties until you are at a good level for hard mode. IF hard mode on a story mission = level 15, make sure you are doing bounties / levelling up until lvl 14-15. Ideally, you should try and be at least 1 level higher which will let you breeze through most of the game's story missions. b) HARD MODE story missions give you a nice XP boost compared to doing it on Normal, and the effect is more prevalent the later you get into the story. For example, on EARTH, a hard mode mission might only net you an extra +200 XP bonus, BUT on Venus or Mars a HARD MODE mission can get you an extra +1600 XP or +2000 XP, so it adds up and makes a huge amount difference. [b]3 - Ignore the Crucible[/b] - Now this basically comes down to personal preference, but in my opinion, levelling up in PvE, using bounties and racing through the story missions, is far more efficient and quicker use of time to get from lvl 1 - lvl 20 than playing in the Crucible. I know some people are very good in the Crucible, but there are a lot of variables that aren't in your control in the Crucible: a) How many matches can you play in an hour? b) How long does a standard PvP bounty take compared to a PvE bounty (typically always longer) c) Can you stack PvP bounties the same way that you can stack PvE bounties (not really). d) Gaining XP in PvE is based on your completion of a bounty / mission, whereas Gaining XP in PvP is much more based on your performance. More variables. More randomness. Much bigger grind. I highly recommend focusing on NO PvP, and only on PvE, as it's the most effective, efficient, and quickest method to get from lvl 1 - lvl 20 with a new character. Hope that helps some of you guys who are looking to roar through character levelling up - this should take you anywhere from 4-6 hours. It took me just short of 5 hours to get my 2nd Hunter very close to 20, who should be ready for next week's NightFall / Raids. Thanks. -Tick