The portal was supposed to "simplify" things for new players ... you'll come to understand why it's notoriously hated. lol First off, the pinnacle tab doesnt mean "pinnacle" anymore. Its just a mix of some exotic missions, and random encounters from a few different dungeons. Any portal activity will give you "pinnacle" gear (meaning a few points higher than your current level) if you select the right difficulty & modifiers. Easiest approach is solo ops, or run fireteam ops with an actual fireteam. If you rely on match-made stuff, it doesnt always give the best modifiers for a good overall score. You'll want to score at least a "B" to get all the bonus drops & higher tier gear. When you choose the activity, select customize & choose the highest difficulty you can, then apply enough modifiers to predict a "B" score. It will show the predicted rewards on the bottom right, what tier & level they are. You might be fine at Master right now, but soon you'll have to start selecting GrandMaster. The point of the portal is to ALWAYS push you to your limits, to get the best score & best rewards. If you're doing solo ops, pay attention to the bonus objective on the left of screen during the mission. It will be something like "get 30 precision kills" etc... ignoring this objective will hurt your overall score & might cost you the "B" grade. Folks say that its easy to level up in PvP, but its been hit or miss for me since I'm trash at PvP lol.