There are a lot of reasons to loot farm in Destiny. You want engrams and don’t have a team to do Strikes or you think Strikes are repetitive and boring and it’s not fun or profitable to have to spend 10 or so minutes to kill a boss that doesn’t even have a loot table. Turning in Engrams also levels up your Crypto-Archeology level and every time you gain a level you will get free Engrams from the Postmaster.

Also farming materials (Spinmetal for one) helps raise Crucible and Vanguard faction and provides super easy Marks. Materials are also needed to upgrade Legendaries and Exotics. In case you didn’t know you can turn a 50 stack of materials to either the Vanguard Quartermaster in the Hanger or the Crucible Quartermaster downstairs and they will give you +25 Faction and +5 Marks (as long as you are below your 100 weekly max). There is also a bonus that if you kill 1,500 enemies on a planet then more materials will drop. It’s not very specific but I’ve started to get 2 from a material node instead of the standard 1 over half the time.

Am working on vids and keeping track of stats to really show what each area is capable of.

UPDATE 9/25/2014 = Patch 1.0.1.5 – Bungie has removed the Cave via patch! Other options still working at this time.
This by far the best found so far. Then you get to Skywatch head to the left and there will be a small hill. There are several concrete slabs sticking out of the ground. You want to be on these but NOT in front of them. Look towards the building in front of you and there is a small cave below it that should have a never ending stream of Hive coming out. Just keep blasting them until you get bored. The best part is you can just sit there and go AFK and take turns doing the shooting and the loot will still drop. The biggest issue is that if even one Hive gets out you need to eliminate them before more will spawn. Things that mess this up are other people who get too close to the cave kills the spawns and there is a non-public event war that happens with pretty high level mobs that can kill you if you go AFK. If the Hive get out of the cave you need to kill them all or the spawning will stop. Please note you can NOT loss Legendaries. I know its exciting to see but they will be waiting for you later. Don’t go running into the cave killing the spawn every little drop you get.

PROS:
1 – Lots of enemies to kill
2 – Can be done Solo but due to number of Hive 2 is recommended

CONS:
1 – No Material drops
2 – Other players can grief the location
3 – Even one Hive out of the area equals no new spawns

Options: Levels 6, 9, 20, 24, 28
Setup Time: 8 minutes
I did this on level 24. The doors will open and a FLOOD of Hive will come right at you. Just shoot straight ahead and take as many as you can before they kill you. DO NOT clear the entire area. You want to die and restart. I’ve now done this on level 6, 9, 20 and 24 and see no difference in drops so do it so that you can get the kills but the enemies still kill you without you having to stand there and take it for awhile.
Stats: Level 24 – :30 of farming – 1 Leg, 4 Rares, 18 Greens – 785 kills

PROS:
1 – Lots of enemies to kill
2 – Can be done Solo
3 – Range of level options
4 – Instance, so no interference

CONS:
1 – No Material drops
2 – If you do too well you will checkpoint past the area and need to restart the entire mission

Level 14 Only
Setup Time: 10 minutes
You will want a full team as randoms will definitely ruin this. You need to fight all the way to almost the end. You will come to a cave section with some warning tape. Once you clear this cave you will be out on a ledge. There will be a large drop of Vex at the end to kill. Once you kill them all the entire team leaps to your death to reset.
Success: :90 of farming – 1 Leg, 9 Rares, LOTS of Greens

PROS:
1 – Instance, so no interference

CONS:
1 – Need a full fireteam
2 – No Material drops
3 – Ledge could lead to possible loot loss

Level 9 Only
Setup Time: 0 minutes
This is a loop farming of Spinmetal and Crates in the opening area of the Devil’s Lair Strike mission on Earth. Technically you can spawn into the instance and get matched up with a Fireteam and just stay in the opening area. The bonus to having a team in here is that there is a Public Event that spawns and also to just not be a dick to other players trying to do the Strike leaving them a man short and you just stay in the opening area.

PROS:
1) Instant set-up
2) Spinmetal
3) Public event possible

CONS:
1) Strike mission so randoms
2) Not many engrams
3) Higher level area so lower level Guardians could die repeatedly

Level Whatever
Setup Time: 0 minutes
This is a cave farming loop around the very first opening area for Loot Chests and Helium Fragments. We are checking all the caves and all the building along with a few other open areas for chests and materials to pick up. Always make sure to check the large building in the back as this is a 90% loot location with probably a 10% chance of having 2 loot crates. If you do the full loop it should be respawned by the time you get back.

PROS:
1) Low level area so safe
2) Possible Public Events
3) Materials

CONS:
1) Low engram chance
2) Other players are running around messing with spawns

Level Whatever
Setup Time: 1 minute
This is a cave loop on the Forgotten Shores. There are 5 caves and the ship hulls to look through. It’s a high traffic zone though so be prepared for some competition for loot chests. There are public event and there are also Captains with some large range that will be shooting at you. The bonus to this area is you can get to everything while on your Sparrow so it’s a pretty quick loop. People say chests spawn on the rocks on the road up to Skywatch but since you have to get off your Sparrow to do it, I skip it unless I can see one as I fly by.

PROS:
1) Low level area so safe
2) Possible Public Events
3) Materials

CONS:
1) Low engram chance
2) Other players are running around messing with spawns

Swaggers

I’ve been a pretty hardcore gamer since the Xbox 360 came out. I’m was top 10 on TA for all Xbox ONE games for gamerscore. I created this site to house all my YouTube guide videos and everything else video game related we can come up with.