The Event That Changed Destiny Forever: Trials of Osiris - Destiny 2

All images in this video come from community players, their links will be in the description of this video, as well as all the music too! Before I start the video, I want to thank some members of the PvP community who helped me check this out and provided me with some interesting clips. Thanks GernaderJake, TyphoonTrav and itAston, follow them, there will be links in the description, please check them out as this video wouldn't be possible without them. Anyway, here we go! This was the day Destiny PVP

changed

everything! These were the Trials of Osiris and they were special!

In today's video we will review what the

trials

were, what made them special, goals, players, races, community and what ultimately led to their downfall. I want to future-proof this video by saying that I may be back when you see this, but this video from now on will focus on the "was" and not the "is." Many of you are excited to return to Trials, while some of you have no idea what it's all about, so let's take a trip down memory lane and remember a different era of Destiny PvP; one that was exhilarating, tense, and at times incredibly frustrating.

But it was, without a doubt, the pinnacle of

destiny

PvP and, for me personally, one of the most rewarding feelings of achievement this game has ever had to offer. Let's start! As many of you know, I like to start these deep dives with the context of why the stage was so big for these

event

s, and the

trials

were no exception. It was April 28, 2015, and Bungie released this trailer for a completely new mode, one that players knew next to nothing about. The trials of Osiris would be revealed live with the help of a now legendary PvP player, TripleWreck, to show what was in store for us.

In the trailer, you can already see this ancient Egyptian-looking equipment in these guardians, a then-new map, "Burning Shrine", and what appears to be a 3v3 game, not 6v6. This had its own overview for Bungie's development team and during this reveal stream all employees sported the glowing golden eye of Osiris. We were shown some things that would cement the evidence

forever

. But before moving on to testing, it's important to know the PvP landscape up to this point. In the House of Wolves expansion, a gigantic sandbox update had occurred, one that would mark a major change to the crucible.

To begin with, until now there was no good reward system in PvP. The only reason to jump into the crucible was to show off the loot you earned in PVE activities, try out some new exotic items, or just have some old-fashioned fun. The player base for the most part liked how unique Destiny was with the ability to pass loot from one activity to another, but they felt like something was missing, they weren't being rewarded the way players were. PvE endgame. The other difference in PvP up to that point was the meta. Wow, I feel old-fashioned saying that Suros Regime was the primary weapon of choice for players with shiny auto rifles, but I also can't help but mention how broken the meta was.

You had the Vex Mythoclast exotic that was like this (Clip) and the Exotic Pocket infinity that could do this! Yeah, let's just say they were tweaked a lot in update 1.1 for the Dark Below version. The Dark Below would see the upgrade of the most infamous Trials weapon ever created, Thorn! Accompanying Thorn is the most infamous pistol of the Old West, the Last Word! Finally, just for PS4 players (salty Xbox player) you had the RNG machine, Hawkmoon! All 3 weapons were at their peak at the beginning of the Trials. Finally, this was the first time in Destiny up to this point that there would be a season without raids, which meant this new mode had to be HUGE!

With all that out of the way, it's time to talk about the Trials of Osiris! After the hype over the reveal stream and all the talk about an endgame for PvP players, what was this season like? Well, aside from the 3v3 PvE activity “Elder Prison” to fill the non-raid location for PvE players, there was something else that the trials would have to prepare for. With the release of House of Wolves, Banshee-44 would now allow Guardians to spend their hard-earned materials to re-roll House of Wolves weapons, so Guardians could opt for its Shot Pack, Final Round, and Hammerforged Felwinter Lies or his The Spear of Efredeets with a final round which would make the final shot kill anyone no matter where he shot them.

This would result in perfectly balanced gameplay, right? The day is Friday, May 22 at 1 p.m. m. EST/10 a.m. m. PST. Xur got up to drink his morning coffee as usual in this reset and there was something new in the directory, that yellow symbol with an eye. Every time you tried to click on it, it told you that you needed a Trial Passage, so you went to your brother Vance on the reef, got your passage and these little extra consumables. Brother Advance offered us 3 different blessings each week. One would give us a free victory. Your first defeat was not counted.

And you count his next game as 2 wins on your card (no pressure). You picked up your test card, applied your blessings, and jumped onto the battlefield praying that the matchup would pit you against a stack of blueberries (picture of the entire white team?). This made the trials a little more accessible so that less experienced PvP players (me) could participate with more confidence. Now that you have your card in hand, you can enter the tests like at Costco (points if you get that one), but wait, I can't enter alone? Yes, Trials of Osiris would make players need a team of 3 to even search for a match, this forced players to form a team, develop some strategies for team composition, and ultimately pass the buck. to another person. .

Additionally, it separated the trials as an end-game

event

, one that required at least some form of communication AND TRUST ME, you were going to need it. So you found a combination, with your Thorn that would TWO TAP enemies in hand and your final round sniper, you were going to be victorious, you were going to be the first to reach the new area that some had rumored about, you were going to be worthy of Osiris…. So…. *FAST* GiggleMonster comes in with the hammer (Gigz), TripleWreck hits you twice, Poshy Blade dances you until your ankles fall off, GernaderJake just blows you up, TyphoonTrav puts the sauce in your EYES, RealKrafty takes your money lunch and hits you. you with it, Dr.

Lupo Tea Bags your corpse, and *SLOW* (breathes heavily) you have to buy another card, then another card, then another card, then another card, until you come across another one of them again. So what was the problem with completing a card anyway and why did you run into these players? So the reward for players who pass the Test of Osiris would get the best reward I think possible for Destiny, a trip to a whole new planet. (clip) This was the first time players were introduced to the new planet in their directory, Mercury. We now think of Mercury as the place of the Curse of Osiris and soon to be the season of the Dawn, but back then we were full of mystery and curiosity.

When you landed on this planet, you didn't just land, no, you got a sunset scene that you were about to enter, then a social space all to yourself, isolated from everyone else in the game. Then, the most beautiful chest in Destiny history, with an eagle on top, you opened it to see an Adept primary weapon, meaning it was a kinetic weapon with a bow, solar, or void attached. This was especially good because the only adept weapons in the game were those from raids and the Prison of Elders. But what also made the trip to the lighthouse special was the first and, to my knowledge, ONLY exotic emblem, the “Eye of Osiris.” This emblem showed that you did the hardest thing in Destiny, you were flawless in the Trials, PvP players would be a little more puzzled, while PvE players would finally allow you to attack with them.

Also, the lighthouse was mysterious because it was small and walled, maybe for future content one day? There was even a secret rift in the starting area where a Vex corpse, a book, and a skeleton were seen. Theories about the death or disappearance of Osiris added to the epic scale of the Trials. Speaking of Epic Scale, let's talk about how many Twitch Streamers for Destiny got their foot in the door with Trials. It was safe to say that in 2015, Destiny dominated Twitch's top 10, even reaching #1 during the height of Trials, but why? Well, with the dominance of players like the ones we mentioned before and MANY MANY others, players who weren't as skilled could hang out on one of their streams and ask for help, this was free in some places and not so free in others. , but Bungie hit the nail on the head: players should come together to celebrate this epic event that occurred from Friday to reset every weekend.

For me, the viewer, I would compare this to making a trip to Blockbuster to see a movie on a Friday night, picking up a stream and watching it throughout the night to see some amazing high stakes plays, who wouldn't tune in when you have plays? how are you. As time went on, streamers became more and more creative, from doing 1v3 challenges to sharing a controller and even taking their own parents to the lighthouse. Trials became the home for Destiny content creators. I could talk about the downsides of this, with the emergence of expensive paid services, some people being scammed by websites, and DDOS attacks on players and streamers, but that comes with the territory of something of this scale, this epic.

We've already talked a bit about the weapon meta, but I want to emphasize how important it is in the popularity of the Trials themselves. So when House of Wolves was released, everyone was using Thorn, Last Word, and Hawkmoon. Because? Thorn had the ability to double-tap headshot anyone on the map. There were no healing rifts, no healing grenades, and only red death had some healing buffs, so the thorn, at max range, was destroying players. Last Word was strong due to his "Last Word" perk, which allowed him to deal additional 111 hipshot damage to precision headshot, 2-tap potential, and Hawkmoon could be great as it relied on RNG if it hit a enemy for a headshot 2 or 3.

All of these were destroyed, but was that really a good thing? I'll leave you with that question, do you think basing the best PvP meta on 3 primaries like this was a good thing for testing because it balanced the mode and made the primaries relevant or do you think it was wrong to have it so based? Regardless, players would be willing to shoot these weapons at anyone anywhere. I specifically remember seeing some players take 6 shots and finish a round, that's how crazy these weapons were at their peak! But speaking of spikes in Destiny, let's continue! The Taken King is considered by many to be the best moment in Destiny, but why?

Aside from the dramatic overhaul to the leveling system and added content, Taken King would see a dramatic change to the sandbox, one in which those precious three hand cannons were gone and a new era of weapons would take shape, No Land Beyond, a sniper without a scope that allowed for high game limits, Invective, a shotgun that automatically reloaded the magazine and the centerpiece of it all, the Mida Multi Tool received an upgrade along with all scout rifles, now allowing it to deal serious damage in the tests. But what also scares all Trial players? Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom boom boom boom boom, it's a hammer titan!

Yes, when this came out, memes proliferated and players wanted this to not be so strong. You could stay in your super

forever

and cause a lot of damage. Not to mention that the sticky grenades were guaranteed to kill with just one stick and with how easy they were to use and how you could stick someone with them on the hammer titan, it became ridiculous to stop. Players were choosing to run away rather than challenge the super, which was new for D1 players, but not so much for D2 players. This also had some funny moments. Overall, though, testing returned to Year 2, this time with a spicy new emblem and some new seasonal variants, including Halloween.

But was anything new really added here? No, actually, did he take a step down anyway? Yes, you were able to reach the Lighthouse again, but aside from the new weapons and armor, which, don't get me wrong, were great, there were no adept variants of these weapons. With TTK, expert weapons were completely gone, but at least we had new things to collect and farm. Streamers were still doing well in testing and many top streamers were now able to work full time as a result of this event, making it really special for content creators to showcase their talents.

After all, this was the platformperfect for streamers to show off their skills and created some of the most entertaining games on all of Twitch. It single-handedly kept the destination relevant and always near the top of the games being broadcast. Trials has already been on the market for a year and a half. Players are starting to get tired of the mode at this point. Don't get me wrong, we loved the mode, but as I said above, there wasn't as many reasons to get to the Lighthouse anymore, especially with the changes Rise of Iron made to the game.

Special ammo

changed

massively, not allowing players to even start with any in the first round, which led to one of two things. One: players would choose to use sidearms as they were the only special weapons in the game that allowed you to spawn in the first round with a special option OR 2: use the Icebreaker exotic, an exotic that literally regenerated ammo for you and Of course, he was a sniper, so a headshot was always on the table. This made many players not want to play and streamers began to not enjoy it as much. With players increasingly abandoning the mode because it's the third version of a similar concept, this meant that the people left were probably not the average Joe, so being flawless also became more difficult.

One more thing, Taken King introduced us to the Artifact, an item that would improve your intellect, discipline, and strength. However, in Rise of Iron, the artifact gave you abilities depending on which one you had. Some of these were awesome, like Memory of Radegast which allowed you to deflect nova bombs with your sword and play ping pong with another player, or Memory of Timur which made enemies able to fight on your side for 30 seconds when you attacked them in melee. However, one of these was not so good for testing, Memory of Skorri, this meant that if you were close to other team members who also had this artifact, your super would regenerate incredibly fast.

This made the Icebreaker camp very strong and was starting to bother the test players. However, the mode is always fun as, let's face it, it wasn't a make or break for many players. You were allowed 3 defeats on your card, with rewards of 5 wins (armor rotated weekly) and 7 wins (weapons rotated weekly). Sometimes, even though the dream of being flawless was over, you still wanted to see if you could get a piece of equipment you didn't have. However, the Trials of Osiris at the end of 2017 was about to close in Destiny 1. August 11, 2017 was the day the curtain closed on the Trials of Osiris, so many races created, so many memories created, what would come next?

Destiny 2 has officially launched and with the promise of being a sequel, it will feature Trials of Osi... Of the Nine? Interesting, but nothing that bad, right? Well, from the Destiny 2 beta gameplay and the changes that were going to be made, yeah, this was not well received at all. 3v3 game? No, 4v4. New weapons with random rolls? No, there are no new weapons all year outside of launch and there are no random rolls, once you get the weapon that's it. Elimination? No, a search and destroy/CS:GO variant, countdown, and a new mode that many players would describe as "I died once and I'm out?" Survival where your team shared 6 lives and you could only die and lose.

Time to kill? Much more… balance, right? Goal? Restricted to two main weapons! Hurrah. To their credit, they added a completely new space and a cool visit to the emissary, which encouraged us to meet the nine of us, with a new emblem. But this didn't have the same effect as the D1 trials, it just became team shooting and slowly killing enemies to get the exact SAME loot. Once you got it once, that was really it and this coincided with Destiny 2 year 1 dropping. The worst part for me is that nothing was really added to the trial systems, there were no new rewards at the end or even something that makes it feel new, just a watered down version of what came before.

Many streamers expressed concerns and many of the top streamers moved on to other avenues. I bet some of you watching were surprised when we showed clips of Lupo, Tfue and Krafty even playing Destiny, but it really launched their careers and after this real fall to a once special mode, can you blame them for moving on ? I don't want to sound negative, but the community objectively agreed that it was bad for the game and Bungie removed it on August 24, 2018 to completely revamp it. So you might be wondering if my future proofing has worked? Where the hell has he gone?

The last update we received about Trials was on Valentine's Day 2019, in which Bungie said: “Until we have a solid prototype for a top-tier final PvP activity, Trials will remain on hiatus indefinitely and will not return any time soon.” of the coming seasons. . When we have those new plans ready, we will be sure to share them with you.” So trials haven't returned since Season 3 (Warmind) and players were frustrated by this decision to not bring them back, but they understood since Bungie temporarily focused on the competitive crucible with all the new pinnacles like Mountaintop and Recluse, but why?

Haven't they brought it back to this point now? It's been debated a lot, but here's my two cents on why it hasn't been or wasn't if you're in the future. The crucible sandbox is very very bad right now. Mountaintop, recluse, One Eyed Mask, Handheld Supernova, skill-based matchmaking, and for some, not all, dedicated servers to avoid some difficult connection issues, plus a long list more. Not only that, but how can Bungie find a way to reinvent the wheel with it? It's very difficult when the rewards were so powerful and the system worked for many players. It's a frustrating process for both parties and both parties want it to come back in the best shape possible, so it would have to be perfect.

This brings me to my last question: what would you do to improve testing? Leave me a comment. Overall, Bungie and the player base want nothing more than to see the return of the king of PvP and with the Dawn season just around the corner and Osiris on the cover, nothing sounds juicier. Maybe I'm romanticizing the trials of Osiris. He had his problems and it caused me more anger than I would like to admit. But I still look at him fondly. In fact, I still have friends to this day that I met through a LFG group from this activity.

It was something special to have 3 guardians fighting to achieve the same goal. Being the last keeper standing in a game tied 4-4 and getting that key kill was an achievement that hasn't been matched since. I know the trials will return one day and I hope to see you all at the lighthouse when that happens.