Destiny 2's pinnacle PvP activity, the Trials of Osiris, has seen a fundamental overhaul in Season of the Lost. This mode has received a complete 180, turning from the most underwhelming mode in Destiny 2 to one of its most rewarding playlists.
Players that are especially skilled can achieve a Flawless Passage—winning seven games without a single loss. Going Flawless in Trials offers Adept weapons and mods, Masterwork materials, glows for your Trials gear, and the ability to farm some of Destiny 2's most coveted items. If you want to get the most out of Trials, here are ten tips on how you can complete a Flawless Passage and visit the Lighthouse.
10 Play With A Team
Unless you can carry an entire team by yourself, you probably aren't going Flawless by yourself. Trials of Osiris is a game type that rewards teamwork above all else, so you'll want to be part of a team that can effectively communicate and has similar goals.
Finding a Trials team is easier than ever. For most, the best way of finding a team is to play Trials of Osiris in solo queue. You might not go Flawless solo, but you'll certainly find some good players on your journey. Message any good players you stumble across and ask them if they'd be alright with you joining. Most Destiny players are more than happy to play with fellow Guardians, so don't be shy.
If you are looking for a specific type of player and don't have hours to play Trials, hop onto the Destiny 2 LFG Discord, the100.io, or the Bungie.net Forums. You can either make an LFG post yourself or look for like-minded Guardians you can join.
9 Tune Your Settings
This is a rather specific tip, but make sure your sensitivity, visual settings, and input bindings are all comfortable. Destiny 2 has quite a few options you can tweak to fine-tune how your Guardian behaves, some of which were added this season.
Since there are so many options to parse through, here are some general settings you'll want to look at:
- Look Sensitivity: Quite a few players use a sensitivity modifier that's extremely high, making precise aim adjustments virtually impossible. Tune this until aiming feels natural but gives enough control for small adjustments. This will mostly boil down to preference, so experiment.
- Sprint-Turn Scale (Controller): This alters how quickly you can turn mid-sprint. To mimic the effects of Traction from previous seasons, set it to 0.8.
- Input Bindings: You can now bind charged and uncharged melees as separate inputs this season. Consider rebinding your inputs to take advantage of this.
- Field of View: On current-gen consoles and PC, you can adjust your character's peripheral vision angle to help improve your situational awareness. If you sit close to your TV or monitor, consider 90+ FOV. If you play far away from your display device, consider 60-75 FOV.
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Note: FOV can cause motion sickness for some if tuned too low or high. Use what's most comfortable. |
8 Use Your Super
Supers can swing an entire Trials game in your team's favor. Most Supers can easily nab you a free kill or drastically improve your survivability. Don't hold onto your Super; use it to open, close, or turn a Trials round in your team's favor.
7 Practice On The Current Trials Map
Unlike other Crucible game types, Trials of Osiris only uses one map each week. Consider getting some friends together to play some pre-made PvP matches (frequently referred to as "scrims") to learn common angles and sightlines. You can find great callout maps made by R3likt on Warmind.io.
6 Use The Passage Of Mercy
On your road to Flawless, you will probably have a match that doesn't go your way. That's OK. If you use the Passage of Mercy, your first loss won't count against a Flawless attempt, allowing you to continue the climb towards the Lighthouse.
Even if you're a skilled PvP player, you should always use the Passage of Mercy if you're going Flawless. Your mercy loss can still activate well after you win seven games, allowing you to farm Adept weapons in the Trials playlist even after you lose a game.
5 Don't Neglect Your Armor
Build crafting has become a core pillar of Destiny 2 ever since the release of Shadowkeep, PvP included. Armor mods and stats should not be neglected. A player with optimized stats and armor mods will be objectively stronger than someone who doesn't optimize their armor.
For getting good armor stats, consider using Destiny Item Manager's loadout optimizer feature or Mijago's D2ArmorPicker. As for armor mods, you want to use Charged with Light mods and any mod that enhances your weapons (Targeting, Loader, Unflinching, and Scavengers).
Radiant Light, Powerful Friends, Taking Charge, and High-Energy Fire are the best Charged with Light mods you can use in PvP, granting you a 20% damage buff whenever you become Charged with Light. You also gain +20 Mobility and Strength with this setup.
4 The Two-Second Rule
YouTuber Ascendant Nomad popularized a fantastic PvP tip named "The Two-Second Rule" that we're going to mention here. In essence, keep a mental note of how often you're not moving. If you stand still for longer than two seconds (consider one second for Trials) and an enemy doesn't appear, immediately move. This prevents you from playing passive and makes you much less predictable. Movement wins games in Destiny, so get used to repositioning. You can find a more in-depth explanation of this concept in Ascendant Nomad's excellent "The Two-Second Rule in Destiny 2" video.
3 Play Around Your Radar
Situational awareness is key to winning Trials matches. The top-left of your screen, the radar, is hands-down the most powerful tool in your entire arsenal. It'll tell you how close enemies are and which angle they're coming from.
You want to know where your enemies are at all times. Glance at your radar whenever you can to get an update of where your enemies are.
Quite a bit of info can be inferred just from your radar. If an enemy is getting closer to you rather quickly, they probably have a Shotgun or are going to use a one-hit kill ability. If they start to disappear, they're crouching, turned invisible, or are running away. If you struggle with timing your radar glances, consider using Ace of Spades to always have your radar active while aiming.
Once you understand these fundamentals, you can start to manipulate the enemy's radar to force a reaction. Close the gap to force the enemy to react, crouch mid-gunfight to disappear from the enemy's radar, or use certain abilities or Exotics to alter the enemy's radar.
2 Understand The Meta
Destiny's Crucible meta shifts with every season and balance patch. It's important to stay on top of what players are gravitating towards, as you'll have a clear idea of how to counter those playstyles.
As of writing, Season of the Lost's meta consists of:
- 140 RPM Hand Cannons: Palindrome, Hawkmoon, Thorn, and Ace of Spades are most commonly used.
- Shotguns: Slugs and Aggressive Frames get a lot of use in PvP.
- Rapid-Fire Fusion Rifles: These are great for countering Shotguns and SMGs.
- The Stag + Bottom Tree Stormcaller: This allows you to contest a lane much more easily, as you have an Arc Soul and damage resistance. This is especially meta in Trials.
- Revenant + Shatterdive: Glacier Grenades and Shatterdive will one-shot any enemy near the blast radius.
1 Use What's Comfortable
There's no doubt you've seen other players using Shotguns, Hand Cannons, and meta subclasses in Destiny 2's Crucible. These are indeed meta picks, but that doesn't mean you have to play the meta. You will always play your best with weapons and subclasses you're most comfortable with.
If you're a menace with Traveler's Chosen, use it. If you get in your flow state while wielding a Bow, use your favorite Bow. It's important that you understand the meta, but it's equally as important to be confident in your abilities. Using a loadout you aren't familiar with will make you less confident and cause you to make more mistakes. Play to your strengths.