Even though the Destiny 2 gameplay experience is most closely attributed to raids and PvE, many still enjoy and prefer the Crucible and Trials of Osiris PvP environments instead. Bungie's legacy as the original Halo developer was partially built on designing excellent FPS multiplayer, and while Destiny has had an unusual meta to competitively balance since the first game, many continue to enjoy Destiny 2's Crucible PvP alongside PvE. Many also enjoy the competitively-oriented Trials of Osiris as well, but much like Call of Duty: Warzone, Trials suffers from a significant problem. Cheating has been a consistent problem in Trials of Osiris since it was introduced.
Granted cheating is not the only problem in Trials of Osiris, nor is cheating reserved just for the ultra competitive PvP mode. Crucible also deals with cheating on a much smaller scale, but it isn't unheard of to have cheaters in regular PvP as well as Trials. Even outside of cheating, Destiny 2's iteration of Trials of Osiris was often criticized for not being worth the effort required to go Flawless. Bungie has consistently promised wide-sweeping changes coming to PvP in Destiny 2, and with The Witch Queen expansion coming early next year, several of those changes are coming. Trials of Osiris players in particular will be very welcoming when these adjustments go live.
Anti-Cheat in Destiny 2 PvP is Huge For Guardians
Arguably, the most important feature added for Destiny 2 PvP (in Trials of Osiris, as well as Crucible) is anti-cheat. Obviously anti-cheat technology is commonplace in various shooters, ranging from Valorant to Apex Legends, but Destiny 2 has never had similarly comprehensive technology in the game before. Bungie has previously taken a proactive approach outside of the game, suing multiple Destiny 2 cheat designers for selling hack software like aimbots and wall hacks to stop the issue at its core. Beyond that, Bungie gives players enough options to report cheaters in-game but without anti-cheat, the issue has become so prolific that it's stunted PvP.
That's without even taking into account any balance issues, of which Destiny 2 has had to contend with several times on exotics and legendaries in PvP. However, even beyond issues with specific weapons or abilities, Trials of Osiris was consistently plagued by unfettered cheating. Ever since the pinnacle PvP mode was introduced in early 2020, cheaters slowly poured into the competitive mode, utilizing various things like aimbot, wall hacking, abiliity hacks, and other prohibited enhancements. Numerous Destiny 2 players and content creators have consistently asked for more comprehensive efforts to combat cheating, and Bungie is delivering.
Further Changes to Trials of Osiris Rewards and Accessibility
Alongside the introduction of anti-cheat, Destiny 2 is overhauling Trials of Osiris (and PvP in general) to be far more rewarding than it is currently. Being the pinnacle PvP competitive mode, obviously players need to work hard to go Flawless and attain max rewards, but oftentimes players have criticized Trials of Osiris' rewards for being lackluster. Bungie's future plans for Trials of Osiris involve improving the rewards themselves, as well as making rewards more accessible to all teams. Saint-14 is receiving a new reward track, retiring Trials tokens, which is planned to dish out more and greater rewards the further fireteams make it without losing in Trials of Osiris.
Even if players aren't winning consistently, progression and rewards in Trials of Osiris is now attained via match completion and individual round wins, and isn't inherently tied to wins/losses. Players who aren't necessarily winning consistently can now progress and record up to 20 round wins on Trials tickets and still garner powerful endgame rewards. Additionally, the accessibility of Trials of Osiris is being improved massively: The fireteam size restriction is being lifted, implementing matchmaking for the mode instead of closed fireteams only. The Valor rank requirements to participate in Trials of Osiris have also been reduced to allow fresher players to jump in as well.
The Witch Queen Is Bringing Big Changes to Destiny 2 PvP
Of course, this is all alongside improvements being made with The Witch Queen expansion, such as the universal Void subclass changes and weapon crafting. The Witch Queen is bringing a ton of beneificial changes to the sandbox of Destiny 2, alongside the long-awaited narrative showdown between Guardians and Savathun. For PvP specifically, anti-cheat will be a godsend to competitive players in Trials of Osiris as well as Crucible. The cheating problem in Destiny 2 has left a bad taste in the mouth of devout Destiny 2 players for over a year since Trials of Osiris came out. Bungie taking comprehensive changes to combat cheating is huge for PvP fans in Destiny 2.
Improving the rewards and accessibility of Trials of Osiris goes above and beyond the main issues of Destiny 2's PvP, which is even better. Trials of Osiris has garnered a bad rap since the pinnacle mode's launch, even if the main source of the issue was rampant cheating and not entirely at the fault of Bungie. Even with the issues within Bungie's control, improving the rewards of a newly revamped competitive mode will only bring more players to Trials of Osiris as Destiny 2 enters its next year of content.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: This Week at Bungie