• Destiny 2’s annual Guardian Games kick off on Tuesday and there is finally a PvP playlist activity.
• The event also sees the return of Strike playlist scoring while also adding new rewards for players to the pool.
• The event is set to end on 23rd May so be sure to compete for your class.

On Tuesday 2nd May, Destiny 2’s annual Olympic Games-inspired event, Guardian Games, arrives as an in-game event.

The Guardian Games have been a feature of Destiny 2 for three years and the event calls on players to prove their mettle as the best class between Warlocks, Titans and Hunters. Each class has won the Games once so this year will make it two titles for one class.

As per usual, the event centres around earning Medallions with two ways to earn this in-game currency.

• Activities that award you low-tier (Bronze or Silver) Medallions include Gambit and Quickplay Crucible matches, anything from the Vanguard playlists, as well as most Neptune activities and Defiant Battlegrounds. For high-tier (Gold and Platinum) Medallions, play Nightfalls, raids, dungeons, Competitive Crucible, Trials of Osiris, or Legend Defiant Battlegrounds,
• Contender Cards which are purchased for 1000 Glimmer also award Gold Medallions. You can only carry two Contender Cards at a time: one for strikes and Gambit and another one focused on the Crucible. Platinum Cards award Platinum Medallions, and those cost 1500 Glimmer each. Just like Contender Cards, you can carry two of these at a time: one for strikes and Gambit and one for Crucible.

During the event players will be able to receive the weapons The Title and a new Legendary Strand Scout Rifle, Taraxippos as rewards. To earn rewards players must deposit Medallions at The Tower. Lighting torches earns players progressively better rewards so be sure to do this weekly to earn these weapons. That Strand Scout Rifle looks good especially given that it can drop with perks like Hatchling and Fourth Time’s the Charm. Will it be enough to replace Hung Jury and Rufus’s Fury for many players, remains to be see.

The primary direction Bungie is pushing players is the special Guardian Games strike playlist where players earn points and get to unlock buffs they can use in that playlist.

“Another returning aspect of the Guardian Games is the two split strike playlists: the Guardian Games Ops Playlist and the Guardian Games Ops Competitive Playlist. Both are available with regular matchmaking and with class-based matchmaking that can earn you additional rewards. The Competitive Playlist will also feature a non-matchmaking option in case you want to compete with a premade fireteam. Both lists will have strike scoring active, the difference being the Ops Playlist features all the currently available strikes while the Competitive Playlist focuses on a weekly strike that operates as a Nightfall, with modifiers and a Hero difficulty scaling,” Bungie explained.

The real draw of this event for us, and we suspect many others, is a new PvP mode where classes will go up against each other for glory. This mode will take the form of Supremacy (which in itself isn’t a new mode) but players will only matchmake with others of the same glass.

“Every Guardian that falls will leave a class-branded crest behind, and collecting those is the key to win each match, no matter if they were dropped by a defeated enemy or by a fallen comrade. Focus on recovering the crest to earn points and defeat the opposing classes,” Bungie explained to players.

Truth be told, this is how we initially saw Guardian Games playing out and the fact that we’re finally getting a PvP mode for this event is great news.

This event will also be the first time players can earn the Reveler title in Destiny 2. This title requires participation and completion of every seasonal event that happens throughout the year.

Guardian Games will be available to all Destiny 2 players for free until 23rd May when the next season of Lightfall – Season of the Deep – is set to arrive.