Written by Avgjoe227
Trials of old
Trials of Osiris in Destiny 1 as renamed Trials of the Nine in Destiny 2, or more commonly called just Trials, has grown a life of its' own for Guardians in the Destiny community. Widely accepted as the ultimate challenge in the PvP arena called the Crucible. Trials of Osiris was first debuted back during the House of Wolves Expansion on May 22, 2015 in Destiny 1 and was a massive hit. Light level advantages were enabled and teammate matchmaking was disabled, having Guardians form their own fireteams to enter. A Trials passage was required to enter this game mode in Destiny 1 costing players 500 Glimmer for each passage purchased from the vendor Brother Vance. Players would purchase passages to enter Trials and buy bounties that reward players with loot upon completions, giving the hardcore player vs player community and those seeking a more competitive side to the Crucible just what they wanted. During this time, Trials was two teams of three players each with no respawns, first team to five rounds won the match. A fireteam that achieved seven wins with zero losses would be granted access to the infamous "Lighthouse" social space on Mercury, with Trials specific rewards. Trials of Osiris was only accessible Friday through Tuesday at the weekly reset. Guardians hailed having achieved a flawless Trials of Osiris passage as a top experience in Destiny, limiting the access to the Lighthouse to those only to have achieved such victories. The atmosphere of the social space was tranquil and mezmorizing. The rewards were worth the trials to obtain, having an added perk to the weapons only going flawless would have on them, making all those who saw your Guardian jealous with envy. Trials of Osiris was also said to have kept Destiny alive through the content droughts for long periods of time in between DLC drops that would have other wise killed most other games. Also giving the spotlight to some of the Destiny communities Twitch/YouTube personalities offering to aid Guardians seeking to visit the Lighthouse and also virgin Trials players a chance to have a streamers aid in achieving a flawless passage, and the exciting reactions of those players was worth tuning into their streams weekly to watch. It was truly one of the crowning jewels of the Destiny experience for all Guardians, wanting to see the Lighthouse in person only once.
Dawn of a new Trials Immense excitement was seen from the Destiny community when Trials returned to Destiny in the blockbuster sequel, Destiny 2. The community could not wait to see and play the Destiny 2 version of Trials with Trials of the Nine, which gives some spotlight to the ultra reclusive and little known of group called the Nine. The new style of Trials, surprisingly, does not require a visit to a vendor for purchase of a passage to enter. Trials of the Nine pits two teams of four vs four in a highly competitive PvP mode to match the rest of the Crucible verses modes. Also, to everyones surprise, Trials was not merely Elimination mode anymore, adding Countdown and Survival mode to the game types. This allows players to play on a rotating basis, along with maps each weekend.
At the opening of each match load-outs are locked and each teams' Guardians are showcased front and center with a complete list of locked load-outs. Then, there's a quick emote. This takes away the trouble, for some seasoned players, of having to look up opposing players load-outs in the roster while loading into the next match.
Shenjen of Sundowners II
With a fresh take on the original Trials, Trials of the Nine has alot more to offer players entering each week than just gun skills. It also offers team skills and strategies . Trials of the Nine version of the Lighthouse, named the Third Spire, is accessible to all Guardians now who achieve a single win on a Trials passage. You must achieve more victories to ascend the multiple tiers of the Third Spire, ultimately arriving to a celestial realm with a giant Emissary of the Nine and a ominous celestial horse in the background. Each tier of the The Spire comes with a new reward for your victories, and a wild gravity lift ride around the structure to each tier. Tokens are awarded to players for completing Milestones and for winning matches while in a Trials of the Nine match which can be redeemed to The Emissary for reward packages. The weapons earned in Trials of the Nine are all static rolled for perks. There is also no difference between a flawless passage obtained weapon, or one earned by turning tokens in to the Emissary at the Third Spire. The armor, as well, is no different at any tier obtained. But, those who achieve flawless are granted access to the celestial realm and an Aura that the Guardian wears to show their achievement.
Thoughts
I have enjoyed all that Trials of the Nine has to offer thus far, playing all the game modes and participating. The team work displayed by the Guardians during matches made for some amazing clutch plays. I took some time to speak to a good friend, V321gamer, a top notch Crucible player in the Destiny community. He plays Trials for the fun and enjoyment it offers in a competitive arena. During one of our many conversations I asked him how he likes Trials of the Nine versus Destiny 1 Trials, with the different game modes versus just eliminations? V321gamer answered by saying "I like how they switch each week, I for the most part love how the game modes play out and personally feel survival is a fun mode to play. however elimination i think would be splendid to have back in the game, i feel elimination was actually a lot more fun than survival or countdown it was just more thrilling". Adding "The Experience with going to the Lighthouse for the first time or anytime was just rewarding, more satisfying than going to the Third Spire at all. That's mainly because the Lighthouse was cut off from everyone unless you made it through trials, flawlessly. In oppose to D2 where anyone can go to the Third Spire despite being flawless or not, the thrill was gone so theres close to no incentive to go flawless more than once or twice. Where in D1, with the Lighthouse you had purpose with the space itself or be it the adept gear or ornaments, it all made you feel special". Lastly, I asked what he (as a weekly Trials player since its conception) would like to see returned or added to make the experience better in Trials of the Nine and for competitive players in the Crucible? V321gamer concluded " Leaderboards and ranked play lists, adding custom/private matches and giving trials that special feeling back with atleast adept gear and weapons special to only those who achieved flawless in Trials".
V321gamer
The Experience of Trials, as agreed by V321gamer and myself, is still an enjoyable and exciting time to be had. What Bungie has changed adds some variety to trials. Having a classic elimination mode in the rotation would be met with open arms by fans, as well as a nice throw back to trials of Destiny 1. Trials with Destiny 2, as a whole, is filled with breathtaking design and a weapon system that no other developer can hold a candle to. As with loyal fans and new players arriving each day with the release of Destiny 2 on PC , with a new Season and DLC on the horizon, Destiny 2 has a bright and exciting future as the player base and community grows. Bungie is as passionate about Destiny as we all are, and has proven time and again they are a studio that listens to there community, striving to make Destiny as enjoyable as possible. The work is never done, with some growing pains as seen when vanilla Destiny released, with a DLC content drop and the Taken King Expansion to make Destiny 1 truly a great experience. Destiny 2 will have those same growing pains but with a little time and taking in what the community says, Destiny 2 and Trials will be an experience of epic proportions.
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