How Trials of Osiris is changing in Destiny 2 Season of the Lost

Things aren’t quite what they used to be in Destiny 2’s Trials of Osiris, but that isn't  necessarily a bad thing. The taxing PvP mode has undergone a major rethink with the launch of Season of the Lost. The changes introduced could make Trials of Osiris a far more palatable experience for newcomers, but the mode has also had new restrictions put into place. Below, we’ll run you through everything that’s changed with Trials of Osiris in Destiny 2's Season of the Lost update.

Destiny 2 Season of the Lost Trials of Osiris changes

Trials of Osiris will return to Destiny 2 from September 10, once players have had ample time to explore the new content Season of the Lost has brought to the game. Here’s everything that’ll have changed once it returns.

Trials of Osiris is now premium

First up in the big news: Trials of Osiris is now premium content. That means free-to-play Destiny 2 Guardians won’t be able to jump in and test their skills in its PvP mode. To get access, you’ll have to have picked up the yearly expansion. That means you need to have purchased Beyond Light to take part. When The Witch Queen arrives in 2022, owning that will grant you access once more.

Bungie claims that the swap to premium is intended to improve security within Trials. The aim is to restrict players from creating numerous free accounts to circumvent cheat detection or bans and restrictions they have in place on other accounts.

You can play Trials of Osiris solo

Another large change arriving in Season of the Lost is the fact that you’ll no longer need to partner up with two friends to take on Trials of Osiris. Instead, you can jump into matchmaking solo or with a party of two. Of course, you will be at the mercy of the teammates you’re matched with here, but such is the life of a solo-queuing player. There’s also a solo-queue only mode in the works which will start in Trials Labs.

Matchmaking will also attempt to partner you with players that have a similar aim. You’ll be able to match with people who have the same number of wins of the card and with a similar performance for that week. This should mean that players aiming for a flawless run won’t be paired with more relaxed players just aiming to have fun. Bungie has said it will tweak this system depending on how long matchmaking takes to form teams.

Trials Reputation, Engrams, and Passages

Previously, Trials’ 3v3 matches challenged players to score as many consecutive wins as they could, with rewards granted based on whether the team made it to three, five, or seven wins. In Season of the Lost, you’ll earn reputation for winning both matches and individual rounds. Trials Tokens are gone, and your Trials ticket will record up to 20 round wins. That means you’ll make progress with losses, though you’ll still have to finish a match to claim those round rewards. 

Trials armor sets and weapons can now be gained through Trials Engrams gained from ranking up your reputation. You can even focus these Engrams to aim for the loot you’re really after. Unique weapons are guaranteed at Ranks 10 and 16 for the first three resets in Season of the Lost.

As of Season of the Lost, Passages are account wide and no longer track losses. Instead, they’re either flawless or not. You can keep playing even after losing if you want to claim match and round win rewards. 

The win rewards for three, five, or seven matches have been removed. Instead, if you win matches above a total of seven, you’ll have a higher chance of receiving bonus engrams, Masterworking materials, and Trials armor. This should make Trials a more accessible and rewarding experience for all skill levels, while encouraging players to keep going even after securing three wins.

Trials of Osiris gameplay changes

Some adjustments have been made to how Trials matches will work based on player feedback. Here’s what Bungie has listed:

• Round time is reduced to 90s (from 120s). 
• Stalling to wait for ability energy is not fun for either the winning or losing team.  
• This will not eliminate stalling but will lessen the amount of stalling that can take place. 
• Emotes stay in first-person camera, and Swords can't be equipped unless you have ammo. (This change is in Elimination and Survival also). 
• If you run out of Sword ammo while using it, you will be force-swapped to a different weapon. 
• This removes the ability for players to secretly peek around corners without putting themselves in danger. 
• Special and Heavy ammo no longer carries over between rounds. 
• Having the winning team keep all collected ammo, but the losing team getting set back to default creates too big of a snowballing advantage. 

BattlEye anti-cheat

Some positive news for regular Trials runners is that Season of the Lost introduces a new anti-cheat system run by BattlEye. It’s worth checking that you’re not running any software incompatible with the service, as this could prevent you from starting up Destiny 2. The full details on the security measures can be found here.

Those are all the major Trials of Osiris changes coming to Destiny 2 in Season of the Lost. Have the adjustments made you more or less likely to test your skills in the mode when it returns? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Henry Stenhouse

Associate Editor

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video games stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry@moonrock.biz, or catch him on Twitter.