‘Destiny 2’ Trials Of The Nine Arrives With Major Changes, What You Need To Know

Friday isn’t just the debut of Xur in Destiny 2, but Trails of the Nine too. The ultra-sweaty competitive mode is the successor to Trials of Osiris for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sequel and it comes with some important changes.

Destiny 2 players should see a new “Trials of the Nine” milestone appear in their game director as long as they have completed the campaign, the Call to Arms milestone once, and have reached level 20 with a 260 Power level for their character, according to Bungie.

Getting started in Trials is as simple as going to the Game Director, selecting Crucible, and picking the activity there. There’s no need to go visit anyone or pickup Passage Coins as before.

As expected, Trials of the Nine is a four-versus-four activity in Destiny 2. The game mode for the first week is Countdown and it takes place on the Eternity map. It will be live until Tuesday, September 19 at the weekly reset.

For those unfamiliar, Countdown is the new defuse the bomb multiplayer mode. One team tries to activate and detonate one of two bombs on the map. The other team must attempt to stop the bombs from being activated and must deactivate them if they are activated. Both sides can also win by wiping out the other team. The teams switch sides at the end of each round and the first to win six rounds wins the match.

Big Changes

Now here is where the major changes occur beyond a change in player count and game modes. The level advantages have been removed for Trials of the Nine. Destiny 2 players will all be on equal footing when competing against one another and don’t have to worry about bringing a friend who is several Power levels below what is ideal.

Additionally, Bungie has locked the loadouts for Trials of the Nine. Destiny 2 players will need to choose their weapons carefully before starting a match because they will not be able to switch out anything prior to a match starting.

Here’s the good news. Trials of the Nine only requires seven games to fully win instead of three. The three loss limit is still there before you have to start over.

Trials of the Nine Rewards

Winning just one match of Trials of the Nine will unlock the Spire, a new social space in Destiny 2 that can be accessed from the Crucible menu just above the Trials icon. The end of each match in Trials will offer the possibility of a Rare or Legendary piece of gear. A win also guarantees the receipt of Trials tokens, which can be turned into the Emissary in the Spire.

The Spire features up to five different platforms based on the number of wins you’ve achieved. The base platform is available at one win and accessible just by walking up to it. The second platform is accessible from a jump plat at 3 wins, the third platform at 5 wins, and the fourth platform at 7 wins with at least one loss. Finally, the fifth platform is for achieving a flawless 7-0 and has a quicksand-like portal for players to fall through to reach an unknown space.

The Emissary is present at each platform and grants different rewards as follows:

• First platform – Can only turn in tokens
• Second platform – Free Trials weapon
• Third platform – Choice of free Trials armor
• Fourth platform – Choice of free Trials weapon
• Fifth platform – Choice of free flawless “Annihilating” armor, aura, and flawless emblem

The tokens can be turned into the emissary at any point to reward Trials armor, weapons, and shaders.

[Featured Image by Bungie]