Destiny 2’s PvP playlist can be unforgiving to players who haven’t mastered the meta, but it can also drop incredible weapons from activities like the Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris. While some fans of Destiny 2's Crucible modes feel like their wants might be falling on deaf ears, it sounds like the future of PvP in the game is in for some serious TLC. A solid chunk of the attention should be delivered over the next few seasons.
This is major for PvP, since Destiny 2’s seasonal approach has shown how much it can do for the game’s story. With a strong PvP focus going forward, hardcore players can hope to see some updates. While Season 14 did see some Stasis balances, Seasons 15, 16, 17, and 18 all look like they’ll have some goodies for Shaxx’s favorite Guardians.
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Starting with the Witch Queen reveal in August, players will be able to get a sense of what Destiny has in store for the future. While the Witch Queen expansion is almost guaranteed to feature some significant updates for the overall sandbox as well as new PvE story missions, its August 24 reveal date will also have information for an upcoming Trial of Osiris revamp. The intense PvP mode makes up a large portion of Destiny’s competitive PvP branch, and is infamous for techniques like three-peaking that will also be getting changes in the future, according to Bungie assistant game director Joe Blackburn.
The Trials of Osiris serve as the primary focus for Guardians that have reached the current peak light level and can do more difficult endgame content, but would prefer some competitive PvP. While it has had its difficulty with hackers and cheaters it is also home to some of the best weapon drops one can find in the game. For PvP god rolls in particular, players can be hard-pressed to find a better place to farm reliable weapon drops.
What all will be shown off for Trials at the Destiny 2 August 2021 showcase is still a matter of debate. There is a lot of potential for change in the game mode, and it isn’t even the first highly competitive PvP space that Destiny 2 has used. The activity is geared toward the weekend so its addition to the regular pool of game modes seems unlikely, but it could benefit from better matchmaking that feels more balanced.
Destiny 2’s team has also acknowledged that the Crucible does have plenty of room to grow beyond Trials of Osiris, which is something a lot of fans should pay attention to. While the current focus might be around one specific mode, the future of the Crucible sounds like it will follow suit. The game’s current plan for the rest of the playlist revolves around a few different things with varying levels of importance.
In a broad sense, the future goal seems to be for the Crucible to have an update, change, or rework to systems every year or so according to Blackburn. This might not mean incredibly major things like changing the rules of certain game modes, but it is likely focused on keeping the experience fresh while the team handles balancing behind the scenes. For hardcore Crucible players this might not be enough, since it is going on almost two years since a new map was added to the playlist’s rotation.
The next few seasons in Destiny 2 should touch on this hot topic. Season 16 is expected to see two vaulted Destiny 2 maps reintroduced to the game. While there have been difficulties porting older maps after the Beyond Light engine upgrades, the time and effort should pay off in the not-too-distant future. Still, Destiny’s vaulting method needs to find its footing, especially with Crucible maps as the playlist is one of the heaviest hit areas.
Even better are the plans for seasons 17 and 18’s map additions. Season 17 should feature an entirely new map, the first one in about two years, and Season 18 is expected to feature the release of a reworked map from the first Destiny game. The drought has been noticeable, and Destiny 2's content vault has only made it more apparent for players that spend more than a couple of hours a week in the Crucible playlist. Both of these expected dates could be changed, but it is a breath of fresh air after the countless hours spent on locations like the Endless Vale.
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PvP should also see more consistent growth in the future. While the next few seasons will hopefully contain a blitz of content and new maps, the longevity of the Crucible is equally important. A two-pronged system looks to be in place to help this effort so players don’t go so long without new maps and other content.
First is expanding the team behind the Crucible. With a larger team that is dedicated to maintaining the playlist, there’ll likely be more time and effort available for future updates, and to keep an eye on things like the upcoming addition of crossplay. With a couple of game modes and maps in development, fans can hope to see the efforts of the growing team that works on Destiny 2’s PvP over the next year. This will likely include a reintroduction of modes like Rift as well as new experiences going into 2022.
The Crucible’s content schedule also sounds like it should be getting more predictable, to the point that release dates are noticeable to players. Although the effort will likely not become reality until well after the Witch Queen, the most immediate changes in the Crucible will likely be in effect by then. While it seems like quite a while to wait, putting the consistency of new releases after the next couple of updates will likely benefit players that need the time to adjust.
It provides an opportunity to adapt to things like major subclass changes in locations players are familiar with, while allowing the dev team to focus more on maps afterward. It also promotes the playlist's longevity, which looks like it is becoming a priority. Gradual progress in this instance looks like the best way to guarantee content and changes without negating their positive impact by creating imbalances and droughts.
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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