I've never been much for raiding in Destiny. For me, the main attraction has been the Crucible, but I think many would agree PvP in Destiny has always played second fiddle to PvE content.
That's hopefully going to change with House of Wolves, as Destiny's upcoming expansion has a brand new PvP-centric end-game activity, Trials of Osiris.
Officially revealed today, Trials of Osiris is a new weekly multiplayer PvP mode that pits two teams of three against each other in a new game type, Elimination. It's a round-based mode in which two teams battle to eliminate each other in just two minutes; the first team to win five rounds wins the match. During the round, there are no automatic revives, so if you die then you are dead for the round unless your teammate can revive you or you're a Sunsinger Warlock. And should the round end without a team being fully eliminated, you'll go into an overtime in which you'll fight to capture a specific point.
There's a catch though, and this is what really sets Trials of Osiris apart from Destiny's core Crucible modes. To participate in Trials of Osiris you must obtain a Trials Passage. This item, which you can obtain from Brother Vance at the Vestian Outpost in the Reef (the new social hub in House of Wolves) beginning on Friday each weekend, is essentially a scorecard that keeps tracks of your wins and losses.
Ultimately, the goal is obviously to win as much as possible, but there's another catch. The Trials Passage operates on a nine win, three strike system. If you lose three times your Trials Passage expires and you must obtain a new one from Brother Vance for 100 Glimmer. If you win nine times, and ultimately that's the goal, it'll also expire, but you'll be handsomely rewarded for your success. In either scenario, your progress will completely reset each time. As I mentioned, the Trials of Osiris event will reset at the end of every weekend, so there's no holding on to wins to carry over to the next event.
On the subject of winning, once your Trials Passage is done, you can turn it in for rewards from Brother Vance. Your package rewards are based on your win totals. At two wins, you'll receive Motes of Light and Passage Coins, the latter of which can buy consumables that cost three coins. Mercy of Osiris, for example, will forgive your first loss in Trials. Boon of Osiris will make your first win count as two, and Favor of Osiris will have you start with a win.
Various other rewards will be granted at the various win tiers. For example, at five wins you'll be able to purchase the weekly armor, while six wins will grant you a Legendary package. At eight wins, you'll unlock a Legendary package, but Bungie did not disclose the rewards. There was no mention of what you get if you hit the nine win total, but I assume they'll acknowledge it somehow.
Lastly, there's no matchmaking for Trials of Osiris, meaning you'll have to bring a pre-made fireteam of three to participate. Also, like Iron Banner, the difference in power levels matter, so equip your best gear.
Trials of Osiris will take place every weekend, with a single map being played on for the entirety of the weekend. The map will rotate on a weekly basis, however.
Destiny's House of Wolves expansion will release on May 19th, with the first weekend of Trials of Osiris beginning on Friday, May 22nd and running through Monday, May 24th.
