Bungie has confirmed Trials of Osiris will finally return to Destiny 2 next season, but Artifact Power could ruin the mode for many players. The developer announced Trials’ return along with that of Destiny 2’s next season, Season of the Worthy.
First seen in in Destiny 1, the 3v3 Trials of Osiris mode served as the endgame activity for PvP players, providing a particularly “sweaty” challenge each weekend. Since Destiny 2’s similar 3v3 mode, Trials of the Nine, ended in August 2018, PvP players have continually complained that they had little reason to continue playing the game. Bungie hopes to fix that with Trials of Osiris’ return, but it’s already looking like there could be significant problems.
Introduced in the Destiny 2: Shadowkeep expansion, Artifacts allow both the use of unique (and sometimes overpowered) Artifact mods and the continuous gain of bonus Power levels beyond what’s provided by other gear. Bungie confirmed in the Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris reveal trailer that Power levels will be enabled for the mode (just like Destiny 1’s Trials), meaning players with higher Power will have an advantage. Additionally, a shot in the trailer shows a player with 1026 Power, currently only possible with bonus Artifact Power. The combination of these two factors would have devastating effects on the mode’s balance.
Giving higher-Powered players a damage and defense boost worked in Destiny 1, where Power level (then called “Light”) was capped. This meant only dedicated players stood a chance, but it was still an achievable goal. In Destiny 2’s Artifact-boosted ecosystem, however, enabling Power advantages means it will be impossible for lower-Powered players to know if they were beaten because of a lack of skill or a lack of time to grind - as one Reddit user pointed out - even if they’re at the seasonal armor-based Power cap. Previous PvP endgame modes simply provided a “dedication threshold” as a prerequisite for competing, but that threshold will now constantly increase, potentially allowing only players with unlimited playtime (full-time streamers, especially) to find success.
One Reddit user’s call for Bungie to disable the Artifact in Trials of Osiris has earned more than 9,500 upvotes at the time of writing. Unless Bungie planned some kind of hidden twist on how Power levels work in Trials, much of the Destiny 2 community seems to be in agreement that the developer shouldn’t reward grinding over skill. Obviously, even players with extremely high Power levels will need to have some amount of talent to compete, but it’s unlikely that unskilled players would be the ones with significant Artifact-boosted Power. Either Bungie should disable Artifact Power in Trials, or it should enable a Trials-specific Artifact Power cap.
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Destiny 2’s Trials of Osiris mode launches on March 13, 2020.
