A little over a month ago it was revealed that changes were on the horizon for the Crucible playlist in Destiny 2. Among these changes was a widely anticipated Trials of Osiris overhaul. With the Witch Queen reveal in August, players got more concrete information. and this past weekend they were able to enjoy the revamped version of the Trials of Osiris game mode. With the mode’s addition of matchmaking, its loot pool and player participation became more accessible to everyone.
This is probably the largest change that fans of Destiny 2 can point to with the revamp of Trials of Osiris. While other quality of life changes were made, such as the addition of BattlEye Anti-Cheat, the increased access to Trials has made the mode more enjoyable. This raises the question of why Destiny 2 isn’t using matchmaking for other higher-level activities. Post-game content like Nightfall: The Ordeal and raids could all benefit from matchmaking for players, and hopefully this change will come in the future.
Raids
While raids have had Guided Games in BETA for a while now, Destiny 2 still lacks a dedicated in-game way for players to build raid teams. In the past, some fans have shared concerns about players communicating during these endgame activities, but this doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be an option. Right now, Destiny 2 does host its own Looking-For-Group on the Bungie website, but it adds an extra step that shouldn't be so necessary as the Witch Queen expansion gets closer to release.
It’s true that raids, in particular, will continue to need player coordination and communication to be completed with any ease. The security checks in the Deep Stone Crypt and the different puzzles in The Last Wish raid rely on players being able to work together and are great examples of where it's necessary. This is something that has been a part of each Destiny raid, but not providing matchmaking for players can create a barrier to end-game activities that don’t need to be there.
While the worries of communication and possible griefing are things that should be taken into consideration and addressed, they shouldn’t be used as reasons to continue to limit the ways players can build raid teams. Destiny 2 already has a reporting system, and while it can struggle and be inundated like those used in games such as Overwatch or League of Legends, it continues to be a useful tool for the community. Highlighting this feature could help maintain a healthy player environment and help facilitate things like matchmaking for raids. A complementary option is to also adopt a role queue-styled system.
While Destiny 2’s subclasses might make it difficult, a role queue doesn’t have to be as in-depth as “Solar Warlock: Well of Radiance.” Instead, just a Warlock option might suffice. Many players already use this on Destiny 2’s LFG for different raids and completing related triumphs, but its addition would streamline the process and make it easier on players. Similar systems have been used by games like Final Fantasy 14 Online to help fill out teams for the game’s different activities.
Nightfall: The Ordeal
Destiny 2 should also consider expanding matchmaking for Nightfall: The Ordeal strikes, especially since Nightfalls are how players get strike weapons like Uzume RR4 and Plug One.1. While Grandmaster Nightfall strikes might not be an appropriate area for matchmaking to be implemented, since limited revives and being kicked to orbit if the entire fireteam dies is a concern, at least the four levels of Nightfall strikes should have the feature. Currently, only the first two difficulties, Adept and Hero, allow players to use matchmaking.
This has been kind of odd since the Nightfall playlist tends to scale pretty well in difficulty. Each version adds or subtracts modifiers based on what level it is. On top of the recommended Light level that players should have, the current versions have been able to generate a rather diverse and rewarding way to play through the old and new Nightfall strikes. So, like with raids, adding matchmaking to higher-level Nightfall strikes would make them more accessible, streamlining the process of teambuilding. There could also be restrictions in place to prevent players from griefing or using matchmaking to benefit themselves at lower levels without contributing to their fireteam.
For Grandmaster strikes there is a required minimum Light level, and a similar feature could be used for matchmaking Legend and Master strikes. It could also require that players have at least one of the necessary champion mods, a feature some players might already want in place for the lower-level strikes. This would help to instruct players on mods and fighting champions in other areas of Destiny 2, encouraging them to seek out harder endgame PvE activities. Building players up to participate in these harder activities might not mean a huge influx of people are going to start doing Grandmaster Nightfall strikes, but it could increase the number of people that at least want to try their hands at Destiny 2’s more difficult activities. Additional matchmaking options can help those players accomplish this while they figure out whether or not they’re interested in taking their experience to the next level.
Trials Solo Queue
As great as the addition of matchmaking to Trials of Osiris has been, and as much as these other parts of Destiny 2 could benefit from it, there is still a shortcoming to how it has been implemented. The lack of separate queues for matchmade teams and teams with three players has created some noticeable disadvantages for those solo queuing in Trials of Osiris. While a lot more players are completing the Trials of Osiris, Bungie should still look at improving the matchmaking it uses.
Iron Banner and Destiny 2’s Glory mode already implement a version of this. While it might need some tweaking in Trials of Osiris, any additions that encourage more player participation in Destiny 2 are often appreciated by the community at large. While there are end-game activities like Grandmaster Nightfall strikes and the Master version of the Vault of Glass raid for hardcore players, there still seems to be a couple of oddly separated activities. Tearing down more of the trivial barriers that players encounter when looking to play the game could be great for the health and longevity of Destiny 2. Since the Witch Queen and Year 5 look like they'll shake things up a lot, hopefully they'll include some additional matchmaking options for players as well.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
