Following a period of stability for Trials of Osiris – Destiny 2’s Pinnacle PvP activity – the mode is entering the Labs again for the weekend.
We’ve seen Zone Capture as part of the Trials Labs tests and while it was fun, it grew stale rather quickly and there were numerous comments about how quickly the capture point spawned, and where it spawned.
This weekend is a big one, however, as Bungie is introducing an option for solo players to match other solo players in a Freelance mode. That means you won’t face a team of three PvP legends unless they happen to match up on the same team.
The Freelance mode will be located in a node above the Trials of Osiris mode in the Crucible playlist.
As a bit of extra incentive to play, Trials reputation will be doubled so if you’re looking to wrap up your armour collection or you’re searching for a decent The Messenger, Reed’s Regret or Shayura’s Wrath, then this is the weekend to try and earn those, especially if you’re a solo player.
We should also mention that this week a Seasonal Challenge for Trials of Osiris is available. By completing Trial by Firing Squad, which requires 20 round wins in Trials of Osiris you can earn yourself a shiny new Reed’s Regret. Hopefully yours drops with Fourth Time’s the Charm and Vorpal Weapon.
Whether or not the Freelance option becomes a permanent fixture in the Trials mode depends largely on how popular the mode is. While solo players yearn for more ways to get to the Lighthouse, our experience with the Freelance Iron Banner playlist is mixed.
While matchmaking is quick at first, as the week wears on matchmaking wait times get longer and longer. So much so that we favour the regular playlist, even if that means being steamrolled by a team of six.
It needs to be stressed that if you want this Freelance mode to stick around, you need to play this weekend. Bungie’s decisions are guided by data and if Freelance mode doesn’t prove popular, well we may not see it again for a long time.
As a player who avoided Trials for the longest time, it really isn’t that bad and the changes to focus on round wins rather than match wins means earning great gear is easier than ever before.
As for the map, while Bungie hasn’t confirmed it as yet, there is mention of the setting being spooky and a warning to be careful when you “open doors”. This points to The Cauldron given that there currently aren’t any maps with doors you can open besides that one.
[Source – Bungie]
