Is Destiny Rising Pay to Win?

Is Destiny Rising pay-to-win? That’s the question that’s been on everyone’s mind who wants to play the game. Rising’s popularity growth partially comes from the disappointment the fans of Destiny 2 felt recently. So, Rising is not just for the gacha genre fans; it is also targeted at Destiny fans who are tired of repeating the same content in the big game. And that’s why this question is so on the nose – is this just another p2w slop, or can you, as a Destiny fan, actually play this and enjoy without emptying your wallet? This is the question that we’ll answer today.

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Read our other Destiny Rising guides:

• Characters Tier List
• Leveling Guide
• Beginner's Guide
• Weapons Tier List
• Gauntlet: Onslaught Raid Guide
• Best Settings
• Current and Next Banners

 

 

How Bad is the Monetization in Destiny Rising

Despite this game being coated as part of the Destiny franchise with the recognizable characters and gameplay, it still remains a pure gacha game with very classic systems that are designed to encourage players to spend money in it.

All it takes is one surface-level look at the game’s menus to notice the sheer amount of currencies and tokens that the game has. And if it feels like there are too many of them in here, then, as they say, “that’s how they get you.”

Each one is tied to a different slice of progression — one for gear upgrades, one for character pulls, another for refreshing the shop, and so on. None of them on their own look like a problem, but together they create a web that makes progress slow if you don’t pay. That’s the foundation of Destiny Rising P2W monetization: a game that works for free-to-play players, but constantly reminds you that spending will make everything faster and easier.

The truth is the same with every gacha game: they’re built around “pay for convenience.” You don’t have to spend, but money always speeds things up. In Rising, that spending covers everything from pure cosmetics — like classic Destiny ghost shells, shaders, and transmat effects — to the most important piece of all: more pulls for Lightbearers. To really understand how this plays out, you need to look at the mountain of currencies and resources the game throws at you. Knowing how each one works is the only way to see just how much grind — or spending — it takes to keep your characters progressing.

Destiny Rising Currencies and Resources

One of the first things you’ll notice when you open the menus is the sheer number of currencies the game throws at you. Each is tied to its own slice of progression, making it hard to tell what really matters and what’s just filler. The more currencies a gacha has, the easier it becomes to slow players down and sell shortcuts — and Destiny Rising currencies lean heavily into this design.

Core Currencies

• Lumia Leaf – Precious currency earned from exploration, triumphs, and Tree of Light events. Often used in shops and can be bundled into other purchases.
• Glimmer – Basic currency, widely used for crafting and fuel. Earned from adventures, daily commissions, and bounties.
• Bon Voyage Charms – The direct gacha pull currency. These are used on banners to summon characters and items. Obtainable via shops, battle pass, and events.
• Pinnacle Energy – Stamina system. Consumed for endgame activities and capped daily. Can be supplemented with Pinnacle Energy Reserves (premium refill).

Draw-Related Resources

• Fortuna Crystal – Earned when you pull duplicate characters. Spent in the Fortuna Shop on premium items, including Lightbearers.
• Fortuna Dust – Earned when you pull non-character items. Used for consumables and enhancement mats in the Fortuna Shop.
• Bright Dust – Cosmetics currency. Used exclusively for rare cosmetics in the shop.
• Tokens (various) – Regional or vendor-specific currencies that exchange for gear, mats, or cosmetics.

Upgrade Materials

• Weapon Enhancement Prisms – Four types (Spread, Rapid-Fire, Piercing, Impact), each tied to weapon categories. Used to enhance specific archetypes. Earned from battle pass, vendors, and drops.
• Exotic Weapon Parameter – Rare fragment required to form Exotic Weapon Engrams. Dropped from bounties or dismantling exotic weapons.
• Incandescence Ribbon – High-level relic material for late ability/weapon mastery upgrades.
• Incandescence Tuft – Early-level relic material for initial super and trait unlocks.
• Artifactual Dust – Infusion material for artifacts, gained by dismantling artifacts or certain activities.

Special/Exploration Resources

• Front Lines Keycode – Consumable key used to open Front Lines chests. Time-limited; excess is deleted weekly.
• Translation Credit – Earned through Shifting Gates research, spent at that vendor.
• Ether Lotus – Gathered through exploration, particularly Jiangshi Metro. Used as a regional vendor currency.
• Shadowshaper Cards – Items tied to Shadowshaper Duels, earned/spent at Shifting Gates.

The important takeaway here is that Destiny Rising isn’t shy about segmenting progression into dozens of currencies. While most can be earned just by playing, the ones tied to gacha pulls, energy systems, and high-end upgrades also happen to be the ones with premium shortcuts. That doesn’t make the game impossible to enjoy free-to-play, but it does mean that your overall pace will always be measured against how much you’re willing to spend. BLOG20

The Gacha and Draw System

Destiny Rising gacha mechanics is something that is something worth diving into. This is where the monetization hits hardest, because the rarest Lightbearers are locked behind the draw system, and the odds are stacked to make sure you’re tempted to pay. Pulls require Bon Voyage Charms, and you’ll go through dozens before even seeing a chance at the Mythics you actually want.

Draw Rates (The Rising Lights Pool):

• Mythic Characters – 1.0% base chance
• Legendary Characters – 4.167% base chance
• Cosmetic Items – 8.333% base chance
• Other Items/Resources – 58.3% base chance

With the Destiny Rising pity guarantee system, those odds shift slightly over time:

1. After 60 pulls, you’re guaranteed a Mythic character.
2. Weighted probabilities raise your Mythic odds to about 2.52%, but only after you’re already deep into pity.
3. Pity counts for limited-time banners carry over between updates, while permanent banners are tracked separately.

Alongside the Destiny Rising draw system, you’ll fill up a knockout rewards bar. Every 180 pulls, you unlock a Mythic Choice, letting you pick one directly. Until then, most of your pulls will be padding: Bright Dust, upgrade prisms, low-rarity cosmetics, or filler weapons.

Here’s the reality if you’re chasing Mythics:

• On pure free-to-play income, expect to spend weeks saving up enough charms for pity.
• Paying players can shortcut straight to Mythics by buying more pulls, skipping that slow climb.
• Even with pity, you’ll likely burn 60 pulls minimum to guarantee one Mythic, and upwards of 180 pulls if you want control over which one you get.

The system is designed to feed you side rewards just enough to keep you invested, while dangling the characters you actually want behind an expensive wall of charms. In short: you can grind for pulls, but the structure is built so paying feels like the only way to realistically keep pace.

The Black Market and the Endgame Grind

The early game feels generous, but the story changes the moment you hit the Destiny Rising endgame. Progression slows to a crawl, and every system starts demanding exotic cores, catalysts, or high-end mats that drop at painfully low rates. That grind wouldn’t be so bad if it were just a long-term chase, but the real catch is that almost every bottleneck has a shortcut for sale in the Destiny Rising black market.

Endgame Progression Walls

Everything would be much more enjoyable and faster if it weren’t for Destiny Rising progression walls, which can be “climbed over” if you throw enough cash at the monitor.

• Exotic Upgrades: Fully upgrading a single exotic requires hundreds of infusion cores and rare items like Superpost Photons. Drop rates are as low as 2%.
• Artifacts: Now treated as a rarity tier above Mythics, artifacts add another layer of RNG — you need the right element, the right set, and high stats. Drop chance for exotics sits at just 8%.
• Pinnacle Energy: Endgame activities consume this limited stamina currency. Even if you no-life the grind, weekly caps stop you from rushing.
• Catalysts: Some provide +100% damage boosts or major stat bonuses, making them essential for leaderboard play.

All of this would already make the Destiny Rising endgame grind brutal for free-to-play players. But then comes the Black Market, which flips the grind on its head.

What the Black Market Sells

1. Exotic Infusion Cores (upgrade bottleneck, sold in bulk).
2. Exotic Shards (needed to craft exotic engrams).
3. Superpost Photons (the 2% drop, sold directly).
4. Catalyst Chips (unlocking exotic weapon catalysts).
5. Battle Pass Tokens (progression item that shouldn’t be in this shop).
6. Shop Refreshes (so spenders can keep buying more every day).

You can earn Black Market Coins slowly by playing, but the real trick is the “+” button next to the balance. With one tap you can convert real-money Silver into coins, skipping the grind entirely. Since the shop resets daily — and can be refreshed endlessly — whales can walk away with fully maxed exotics and catalysts weeks or months before free players even get close.

Why It Feels Pay-to-Win

• Artificial Grind: Resource drop rates are deliberately stingy to push you toward the shop.
• Infinite Advantage: Daily restocks + paid refreshes = no ceiling for spending.
• Leaderboards: Endgame modes like Calamity Ops rank players by performance. Extra damage and faster clears from purchased upgrades directly gatekeep F2P players from rewards.
• Direct Power Gap: These aren’t cosmetics. Paid upgrades equal raw stat boosts — damage %, reload speed, blast radius — the kind of numbers that decide leaderboards. BLOG20

The result is an endgame that feels like a bait-and-switch. The fun early grind gives way to hard walls, and the Black Market conveniently sells the way around those walls. For casual players this may not matter, but anyone chasing max exotics or leaderboard ranks quickly finds themselves in a wallet war.

Free-to-Play Experience

For all the talk of monetization, Destiny Rising isn’t a game that completely locks free players out. In fact, the early game is surprisingly generous. Within the first few hours you’re showered with Bon Voyage Charms, Lumia Leaves, and other draw resources. Daily missions, triumphs, and login streaks hand out more, and the pity system ensures that even without spending you’ll see Mythic Lightbearers in your roster. Events and launch rewards stack on top of that, giving new players a strong foundation without paying a cent.

Even beyond the gacha, account progression matters more than rerolling or luck. Consistently doing dailies, tackling strikes, and pushing through exploration gives you steady resources and materials. For a casual player just looking for Destiny-flavored PvE fun, it’s entirely possible to enjoy Rising without ever opening your wallet.

The cracks only start to show once you move into the late game. This is where the grind becomes punishing for free players. Exotic upgrades can take weeks of capped stamina farming, artifact RNG means waiting on the perfect drop, and leaderboard content like Calamity Ops punishes anyone who can’t keep up with paid upgrades. The Black Market turns this frustration into temptation, offering direct shortcuts to the exact mats you’re missing.

Conclusion

So, is Destiny Rising pay-to-win? The answer depends on what you expect from it. On the surface, Rising feels generous. The early game gives you plenty of pulls, the pity system is fairer than most gachas, and you can build a solid roster without ever touching your wallet. For a free-to-play Destiny fan who just wants to enjoy story missions, strikes, and casual progression, it’s more than possible to play comfortably without spending.

But the story changes when you step into the endgame. Exotic upgrades, artifact RNG, and leaderboard systems like Calamity Ops create walls that are brutally slow to climb as a free player. The Black Market sits at the center of it all, selling the exact materials and tokens that progression is built to starve you of. With daily resets and infinite refreshes, it gives paying players a direct power gap that no amount of grinding can realistically bridge.

That leaves Destiny Rising in a middle ground. It isn’t the kind of gacha where you’re forced to pay from day one, but it also isn’t one where effort alone can match money at the top. It’s a fun, flashy, Destiny-flavored gacha game for casual free players — but if you want to compete in the endgame, it becomes exactly what people fear: a wallet race.

F.A.Q.