Relax, fellow Guardians! Deej has already answered this question and everything will be alright. http://m.ca.ign.com/videos/2015/08/06/destiny-the-taken-king-new-gameplay-ign-live-gamescom-2015 If you were 26 before the patch drops, you will be 26. If you were 34; you will be 34. Build experience from there. [Light will still factor in someone but your level will carry over. Maybe you will be able to add light to your armor through these armor materials they mentioned. That could mean there could still be differences in damage output/armor resistance across same level players depending on how one chooses to upgrade.] If you're just starting out, take the boost consumable at the Tower and instantly have your character at the minimum level for TTK (still undetermined). There were some well rehearsed answers in this video that make me feel a lot better about things.