Light Rating (LR) Disclaimer: I did not play during Year 1, so if my assumptions are incorrect, please correct me. I will be giving two examples and adding comparisons about leveling toons and max level toons to bring in some theories and points. During Year 1 weapons and armor had ratings. Your defense rating was a combined total of your armor pieces. Weapons were based solely off of their damage ratings. Light level I am not too sure about, where you got it from. Year 2 now uses a Light "rating" based system. Very close in comparison of other games like WoW, that use a Item Level (IL) to determine the players ability to handle quests, dungeons, raids, and now even PvP. They used this IL to control LFG, LFD, LFR. Bungie does this to a point, where you can get in certain events as long as you are close. Year 2 now gives you an average LR score based off of all weapons, all armor, and now the Ghost Shell, which I'm assuming had no affect on your ratings from Year 1. The LR is a way to show how "strong" your toon is. This is true to some extent and can be stretched, but not broken. First lets look at a leveling toon. As you level, and right now you can quickly, you will be finding gear all over the place. Lets say I am really good at using auto rifles and suck at scout rifles. My current auto is LR 40 and I just found a LR 50 scout. Personally I will keep using the auto. I will get more kills and stay more consistent by using my auto over a scout that I'm horrible at using. Now this stays true up to certain points. In events and strikes my weaker weapon will do less damage and my kill ratio will probably be less. This is more true with boss fights, but it all matters. It also matters as if the auto I'm using is level 3 and now I'm shooting level 15 mobs. I will do less damage. The only time this LR may not matter are in Crucibles where level advantages are disabled. So it comes down to players pick and abilities. As for armor while leveling, I wouldn't worry about upgrading. Pick the armor that gives you a higher rating and do not worry about upgrading. Save your glimmer and resources until you hit max. Now Legendary/Exotic armors and weapons from Year 1, it would be a wise investment to upgrade these. I say this because these armors and weapons can carry you to max level without having to trade off. Personally I use the "Strangers Rifle" and 'Murmur", from level 10/14 until the current, level 40. Around level 35 they start to fall off, but they hold out even until the quest to fight Oryx. At max level this is where LR counts the most. You need to be able to kill and kill quick while staying alive. Find weapons that suit your style and keep them upgraded. Armor should do the same. Keep them upgraded and match them to your play style. But the LR is very true here. Get the higher rating and you should be set to take out heroics and raids. Don't forget to mix it up, Max level weapons act differently than lower level weapons. A scout that I wouldn't use at level 10, I would probably use at 40. So be mindful and pick wisely. More topics will follow that tie into this one: Attributes, Armor Specialization, Weapon Specialization, and Situation.