With the beginning of Destiny 2's new Season of the Worthy, Bungie announced the return of the fan-favorite PvP activity, the Trials of Osiris. While Destiny 2 PvE players can enjoy a multitude of endgame activities, such as raids, master-level Nightmare Hunts and the newly added "Grandmaster" difficulty in Nightfall Ordeal strikes, PvP-focused players have never truly had an endgame activity of their own. Until now, their only option has been playing in the competitive Survival mode to earn glory points and certain themed legendary gear. With the Trials of Osiris active, PvP players can now test themselves against the very best, as all contenders fight for the coveted flawless run: seven straight win and no losses for the weekend. With Bungie also disabling all artifact levels for Trails of Osiris starting March 20th, grinding out Powerful and Pinnacle Engrams becomes far more important, as Trials of Osiris will be light-level enabled.
In order to even be eligible for the Trials, players must visit Saint-14 in the Tower Hanger so he can check your light level. The minimum level for Trials is 960, so those who haven't reached that level will not be allowed to participate. With the light level soft cap being raised to 1000, players seeking to reach 960 to participate in the Trials, as well as players increasing their light levels for an advantage in Trials, will want to seek out the various sources of Powerful and Pinnacle Engrams.
While the first weekend of the Trials of Osiris began March 13, players may wish to instead hold off on participating early on. With the new season having just started, there still may be unforeseen issues with this latest update. This weekend's experience, which starts on March 20, is a good time for players to start, as Bungie has only just disabled artifact levels in response to player feedback. Until then, players should continue leveling up, especially if they are just at or below the threshold. Taking this time will help ensure that, come the next weekend of Trials, the playing field will be more level.
The easiest and most abundant way to increase light level is to earn the Tier 1 Powerful Engrams available from most activities. Completing the weekly bounties from the Tower vendors (Banshee-44, Commander Zavala, Lord Shaxx and the Drifter) will reward Tier 1 Engrams, as will completing strikes and Nightfall Ordeals and playing four matches each of the Crucible Core and Rotator game modes. All of these Tier 1 Engrams will drop gear that is either one or two levels above the current piece of gear equipped. Completing the weekly flashpoint on a specific planet will also reward a Tier 1 Engram, but this generally takes longer and will only yield one Engram. Finally, completing the weekly story mission and nightmare hunt task for Eris Morn on the Moon will offer up a Tier 1 Engram for each respective task.
Tier 2 Powerful Engrams offer rewards that are three or four levels higher than the currently equipped gear, but earning them is a little more time-consuming since there are only two ways to do it. Completing three matches in Gambit and Gambit Prime will reward one Tier 2 Engram per week. They can also be collected from Suraya Hawthrone at the Tower if a player is a part of a clan and at least one member of the clan has completed a Nightfall Strike, raid or (in the case of Gambit or the Crucible) won a match.
Tier 3 Powerful Engrams are currently the most difficult of the Powerful Engrams to obtain, as they can currently only be earned by completing the weekly challenge from Rasputin, the new season's seasonal vendor. As Rasputin is tied to the season's new content (including the new Grandmaster Nightfall Ordeal difficulty) and legendary lost sectors, players may have difficulty earning this Engram, as these features are geared towards players with light levels in excess of 1000. Tier 3 Engrams will drop gear that is five or six levels above currently equipped gear.
Above all of the Powerful Engrams are the Pinnacle Engrams, which drop gear that are a whopping seven light levels above currently equipped gear. However, if the player is already at the soft cap of 1000 the Pinnacle will drop at a plus one. Pinnacle Engrams are earned through endgame PvE activities, such as raids, master-level Nightmare Hunts on the Moon, completing the Nightfall Ordeal with over 100,000 points and completing the Pit of Heresay dungeon. All of these activities have disabled matchmaking, so players will have to seek out fireteam members to complete these activities.