Trials 2.0 is nearly perfect. (Destiny)

by red robber , Crawfish Country, Sunday, November 15, 2015, 06:36 (3391 days ago)

I'm really loving the subtle changes to the matchmaking in new trials. Earlier rounds feel much more relaxed and fitting of a tournament style play. Most of the games in general feel more competitive. Fewer blowouts and more 5-4, 5-3 matches. When you get to that 6th win though, things really get tougher. You can feel that the stakes are higher, the tension is rising, and your competition is much better organized than the noobs you swatted in game 1 :).

I also think the new weapon balance for 2.0 has affected this as well. The harsh metagame of Thorn at every turn has now disappeared, and most fights feel more varied and down to true gun skills. While pulse rifles seem to be king, the other primary classes are equally viable. Depending on your playstyle and map, you may have better success with a HC or Scout or even an autorifle. I think PR's have the best all around fit and that is why we see them more. Ar's and HC's are really only good up close, Scouts obviously at range. PR's do well in many situations and can be paired with either a shotty or sniper. Regardless of what you choose, if you put yourself in your weapons best role, you can easily come out on top.

The only weapon that really feels lost, is the fusion rifle. In the right hands, they can be deadly, no doubt. But in trials, you mostly need that quick response you only get from the other specials. As much as I hated them in Vanilla Destiny, I'd love to see them back in the mix.

The bounty system is wonderful and easy. Play 10 games and you'll generally get all of them. Rewards are usually pretty decent too. I think I nabbed 3 or 4 items tonight of 300+ light. Some you have to get from wins, but still a good haul for a reasonable amount of play time. I will say that the lighthouse rewards are pretty blah. Same gun as the regular reward, but with 310+ light. I don't think elementals should be included because I personally prefer having to use specials and heavy for elemental damage. But they could offer some perks that are unique or highly preferred to other PvP weapons. Raid weapons come with some cool perks like Cocoon and they do extra damage to Taken. Perhaps they could have a 4th perk slot.

Lastly the new Light system is much much better for Trials. In HoW after week 2, everyone was 34 and it was pretty much pointless to make level matter. Now we have a wide variety of levels, and they only give you a slight edge, but still an edge nonetheless. You have to make tough gear choices, "Do I choose my preferred gun and lose a light point or two?". Yeah RNG blows and may not be "fair", but I like seeing a range of levels and having that variability in play.

The other two things I would change would be to add in map rotation, and spawn rotation between rounds. This weeks map is Firebase Delphi and it really felt like the A spawn had the advantage. I'm glad they went with an old school map though. It was a nice change of pace.