If it is a higher light level, make sure to equip it before you decrypt anything else This means that the item you just decrypted is very likely above your currently equipped one (unless it was already very close to your character’s light level). That is, its light level will either be slightly below, or slightly above your character’s current light level.
The decrypted item’s light level is determined by your current gear, and will be in the same range. If you’re currently at 360 light, but your boots are currently your lowest light level item at 350, you should first decrypt boot engrams, because: Decrypt the engram(s) of your lowest-light slot first. Using something like Ishtar Commander ( iOS, Android) makes this as easy as it can get. Remember that you can share weapons and ghosts across characters!. Equip your highest light level items before starting to decrypt anything. To ensure you get the most out of decrypting engrams, make sure you do the following: To get higher light level items, you generally have to decrypt engrams (there are other things that can also get you higher light level items, listed below). You can do that either by replacing it with something better, or (if it’s a legendary or exotic) by infusing another item with a higher light level into it (but it needs to be of the same type, so you won’t be able to use a special weapon for infusing a primary one). In order to increase your light level, you need to increase the individual light level of each piece of equipment. The rest of this assumes you have all extensions for Destiny, including Rise of Iron. At the time of writing (Destiny v2.4.1), the light level is capped at 400. So, obviously, you want it to be as high as possible. Your character’s light level is, simply speaking, the average light level of all the weapons, armor, and other items your character currently has equipped. (Note: This does not yet reflect the changes for version 2.5.0) Guide to getting Light Level 400 in Destiny