Board Thread:Questions and Answers Forum/@comment-65.30.157.23-20160128142947/@comment-24057866-20160129144556

There are two types of items: Year 1 gear and Year 2 gear. You can distinguish between them because Year 2 gear has the Taken King emblem in the corner of the icon. At this point, Year 1 gear is useless; they max at 170, so the only value is for collection and lulz. Uncommon Year 2 items can drop up to 200 and Rare Year 2 items can drop up to 300.

So at this point, your progression path is very simple:


 * Play the game (quests, bounties, etc.) to gain XP and reach level 40
 * Grind drops to gain higher-level gear that will get you to light level 280-300

Progression-wise, PoE won't level you up any quicker than anything else.

Once you're close to 300, you'll be able to start running the King's Fall raid. Normal mode drops 300-310 gear and hard drops 310-320 gear. You can use the raid gear, or you can infuse it into other Year 2 legendaries.