More Destiny 2 players to enter the Lighthouse in Episode Heresy with Bungie’s huge Trials revamp

There hasn't been much to celebrate in Destiny 2 of recent, especially if you're a Trials or PvP player — but developer Bungie is looking to win back the community with a series of core updates coming with Feb. 7's Episode: Heresy.

Today's blog post focused particularly on PvP in Destiny 2, with massive revamps coming to the Crucible's competitive mode and Trials of Osiris. The goal: boost rewards across the board — and you don't even have to be a PvP god to get your hands on them.

The lengthy Jan. 23 post from Bungie touched on Destiny 2's PvP system as a whole and how it will change with Episode: Heresy.

For a significant time PvP, particularly Trials of Osiris, has languished in Destiny 2. Poor rewards, a high entry barrier, and the need to go flawless every week saw numbers plummet. "The worst performing Iron Banner we had during that period still had almost identical participation to the best performing run of Trials over the same period," Bungie said, adding that Iron Banner participation was three times higher than Trials.

The first change involves getting as many people into the Lighthouse as possible. Previously, to earn the best rewards at the Lighthouse, you'd have to go flawless — seven wins in a row without loss. Now, landing seven wins regardless of loss count gets you in.

Players will earn more rewards depending on how big their win streak is, but as long as you win seven matches, you're guaranteed a trip to the Lighthouse. For the more competitive player, Flawless Passages grant the highest rewards.

From there, win streaks build over the course of an episode or season with better rewards the more visits to the Lighthouse are made. Along the way players will earn more Enhancement Prisms, Ascendant Shards, Trials Engrams, and other rewards.

In addition, Bungie is rolling out new cosmetics including armor, emblems, sparrows, and ships to keep players coming back for more. Players will earn points by completing challenges, winning games, and opening the Lighthouse chest. Once a point limit is reached, players will get one of the cosmetics.

Weapons, too, are getting a revamp with competitive rolls on new weapon frames for players will chase. In all, Bungie aims to make Trials in Destiny 2 a more enjoyable and rewarding experience for every player — and not just those who take the mode seriously.

It's not just Trials getting a fresh coat of paint with Episode: Heresy. The Crucible as a whole will look a lot different, with new rewards to chase and reworked systems as per the new episode.

Bungie is consolidating Quickplay again, splitting modes into three nodes that cater to everyone — from small, two-versus-two versions of Clash or Supremacy to your standard six-versus-six. Events like Iron Banner and Trials will replace one of the rotating nodes each weekend or week.

Bungie also confirmed new weapons, including an Iron Banner trace rifle and sidearm, as well as a standard Crucible pulse rifle. General game modes will utilize Bungie's open-skill matchmaking.

"These modes have been designed to rotate in such a manner that there is minimal overlap between them in terms of experiences, to avoid them cannibalizing each other for population," the team said.

That and so much more is coming with Episode: Heresy on Feb. 7, but Bungie's plans for the Crucible stretch into the Frontiers update beyond. "This has been a massive collaboration between multiple teams, including the Crucible Strike Team, Engineering, Activities, Armor, Weapons, and UI/UX. The new system is shaping up well and we’re excited to get it back into the game once it has been completed," the team wrote.

The full blog post with changes can be viewed here. For more Destiny 2 news and updates, stay tuned to esports.gg.