Destiny 2's Season of the Worthy has brought the return of the free to play Trials of Osiris, a competitive PvP game mode last seen in the original Destiny. Bungie's popular MMOFPS is in its third year, but fans had been begging the studio to bring this mode back since launch. Early in Destiny 2, there was an activity that ran until the release of the Forsaken expansion called the Trials of the Nine, which, though it was similar in concept, was poorly received and got pulled.
However, the original Trials of Osiris has consistently been the most requested and necessary addition to Destiny 2. In Destiny, the Trials were considered to be the peak competitive PvP mode, with players earning the gear rewarded from winning brought coveted bragging rights.
At its core, the Trials of Osiris is a 3v3 elimination game mode only available for part of the week, starting Friday and remaining until the weekly server reset on Tuesday. What makes it unique is that, in order to play, you needed to pick up a Trials Ticket that tracks your victories and losses. The more victories you gain, the higher tiers of rewards you earn. Earning elusive pinnacle gear will require seven victories. However, if you suffer three losses, that ticket is invalidated and must be reset.
The Trials are highly competitive and require an extreme amount of communication and coordination to succeed. As a result, matchmaking is disabled for Trials, meaning you have to find your own team. Players must reach a power score of 960 before they are even given access to the game mode. All of this is to ensure that both teams will be experienced and strategic, providing an appropriate challenge for one another.
Players who manage to earn pinnacle gear without a single loss on their ticket are considered Flawless and are granted access to a special social space, the top of the Lighthouse on Mercury. Also, once going Flawless, their Trials gear will have a glow that slowly dims after a week, requiring players to earn another perfect Trials Ticket. Flawless players are granted two different emblems that change the color of the glow.
Players can purchase weekly and daily bounties that help them earn Trials gear from Saint-14, a vendor located in the Tower hangar who was introduced in the previous season. Saint-14 also sells Trials Passages, which players can use as buffs to help them forgive losses, grant additional wins, earn XP and increase rewards. While the Saint has proven to be immensely popular, the original Trials started with a familiar face.
Brother Vance is the vendor on Mercury, home of the Infinite Forest and focus of Osiris' studies. He is also a member of the Cult of Osiris who worships the controversial Guardian as a prophet and provides the player with bounties and rewards. But he was first introduced as a vendor for the original Trials of Osiris, appearing in Destiny's House of Wolves expansion back in the spring of 2015.
The Cult of Osiris believes the exiled Guardian entered the Infinite Forest to prepare for a great threat to come, and that Osiris couldn't handle this threat alone. Therefore, the Cultists needed to sharpen the skills of Guardians in preparation, judging their worthiness. They saw the Trials as a way to serve Osiris, almost a form of worship. The cultists even believed that Osiris himself was watching, though that turned out not to be true.
During the events of the Destiny 2 expansion Curse of Osiris, we learn that Osiris was too busy navigating the corridors of the Infinite Forest to notice and was completely oblivious to the sycophantic cultists. This time around, the Trials have returned via Saint-14 and have nothing to do with Brother Vance and his cultists. Instead, Saint-14 wishes to help his friend Osiris by training Guardians for the approaching Darkness, honing their skills so they may inspire others to victory.
Destiny 2 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.