Competitive 2.0: Introducing the Gauntlet!(OC)
Competitive: Where do we go from here?
INTRODUCTION:
I have been thinking for a while, as a pvp main in Destiny 2, there really isn’t much to do in any given season anymore. Quickplay has balance issues, gilding of unbroken, which could have provided some chase, but you only have to complete one of the six steps to guild it within the playlist which it is obtained.
Sure, there is IB which just got a refresh and to bungie's credit, Salad Bar did get updated to be on par with daddy shaxx and even ST-14 levels of goodness. But after playing a lot the first week it still feels like it falls short of being considered a pinnacle experience, but more on that another time.
Trials is for your weekend warriors, such as myself, but even that is having a rough go of it as of late. With Flawless pool, solo queue playlist some weekends and zone control trials during others. There is a lot in flux on with the premiere pvp activity.
Notice how I barely mentioned Competitive? Competitive from season 3 to season 6 was the thing to do. I know there were no trials during this time, but holy guacamole wasn’t it fun trying to get the pinnacle weapons of Luna’s Howl, Not Forgotten, Recluse, Mountain Top and the Revoker. Randy’s was there too I suppose. There was a legitimate challenge during this time and it felt very rewarding to play for and receive those weapons.
The Comp playlist has been around since May 8th of 2018 when Warmind was first released into the wild.
It has worked pretty much the same way since its inception with a couple of minor tweaks here and there.
When the playlist was first starting to gain traction amongst the player base many thought it could be a good addition to the game. Given that many guardians were searching for something a little bit more hardcore to do with their time, and a ranking system sounded like a great thing.
However when the game mode was released it was anything but what people were hoping for. Which sadly is starting to become a typical theme with Bungie when it comes to the PvP side of the game.
MAIN:
I've taken it upon myself, with the help of some others, to show bungie and the destiny community what pvp could be if it wasn't treated like toby from the office.
Which leads to the main question: what can be done to improve the gamemode and re-energize the player base?
The New Competitive Experience™
Introducing the Gauntlet
The Gauntlet is THE premiere PVP experience that players have been looking for since Competitive inception.
- The Gauntlet will replace competitive existing space on the directory.
- Will Return to 4v4 roots
- Have Locked Loadouts
- No Radar
- Feature an actual in game ranking system
- Feature 5 Game Modes
- And most importantly new things to chase
And don't fret guardians, Survival and its freelance counterpart won’t be going anywhere. So players can attempt to hone their skills to take on this new and exciting challenge.
How things work:
Upon loading into orbit, a new splash banner will show up saying to visiting Papa Shaxx.
When you speak to him he will give you a new quest for the gauntlet.
You will play a total of 10 placement matches to receive your rank (based on bungie's internal MMR) that will allow you to fall into one of the following categories:
The ranks follow the same existing structure as I didn't see a need to reinvent the wheel here.
- Guardian (0 rank points) (Guardian I, Guardian II, Guardian III)
- Brave (Brave I, Brave II, Brave III)
- Heroic (Heroic I, Heroic II, Heroic III)
- Fabled (Fabled I, Fabled II, Fabled III)
- Mythic (Mythic I, Mythic II, Mythic III)
- Legend (5,450 to 5,500 rank points)
Your ranking and corresponding symbols will be visible while in the gauntlet playlist to know what type of opponent you are facing.
You will also be able to have a true in-game leaderboardhave be able to sort it by platform to see who is the best of the best in the world (Top 500)
New Reward Structure:
I think that we can all agree that the foundational gameplay of this game is top notch and is a major driving force behind why we continue to play this game… However, the other core aspect of this game is about that sweet sweet loot and boy, do I have some of that to show you.
This new reward structure actually incentives you to play by having an evolving armor structuring based on your rank in game. The higher the rank, the sweeter your loot becomes.
There will be one new Evolving armor set for each class, two new weapons, and two brand new seals for you to chase.
Lets start off with the armor:
These sets are inspired bygreek mythology.
The hunter is inspired by the of the god of the sea, Poseidon.
Artist's Comments:
Hunter: “The Hunter was inspired by the ancient Greek god of the oceans, Poseidon. I used a lot of fin- and shell-like forms to convey a possible origin from the ocean, which you can see most prominently in the cape, pauldrons, and greaves.”
The warlock set is inspired by the god of the underworld, Hades.
Artist's Comments:
Warlock: “The Warlock was inspired by both the Ancient Greek god Hades and his Roman counterpart Pluto. Both were gods of the underworld/afterlife, hence the dark color palette and skeletal breastplate, but Pluto was also tied to wealth and riches, so I decided to depict that trait with the warlock’s silver bracelets, opulent furred half-cape, and tassets made of silver coins.”
TheTitan set is is inspired by the god of thunder,Zeus.
Artist's Comments:
“The Titan was inspired by Zeus, Ancient Greek god of thunder and head of the Greek pantheon. Because Titans are the most war-like out of the three classes, I pulled on a lot of forms used in Ancient Greek armor, which you can see most easily with the helmet, greaves, pauldrons, and leather skirt. To tie in Zeus himself, I decided to paint his two most well known symbols across the armor: lightning bolts and eagle feathers.”
Thetwo new weapons for you to obtain are also inspired by greek mythology:
Artist's Comments:
Crucible Weapons: “The Crucible weapons were inspired by famous monsters from Greek mythology, namely the three-headed hellhound Cerberus for the hand cannon and the snake-haired woman Medusa for the pulse rifle. Both had touches of Ancient Greek weapon design in them, such as the hand cannon’s pommel décor and the pulse rifle’s flared shoulder rest.”
Stone Gaze & Man’s Best Friend
The armor will also provide set bonus’ at 2, and 4 pieces.
Having just two pieces equipped will allow you to capture zones, revive, and disable the bomb in countdown quicker depending on the mode you're playing.
Having all 4 pieces equipped will allow you to respawn slightly faster(1 second), increase the rate of points gained while holding the ball by 1 point per second, and decrease the amount of time it takes to be revived.
But Wait There’s More
The two new seals provide some incentive to improve as well.
We have shaxxs favorite robot buddies, The Redjack Seal.
And for those daring to climb the mountain, The Eternal Seal.
Animated Emblems make there first appearance as a cosmetic reward:
Oh, and there are two new maps:
One with Clovis bray aesthetic:
And one with the splicer aesthetic:
Surprise!
You right now.
Gameplay:
Besides the loot, the ranking system, cosmetics, and the new maps,, the gameplay within the gauntlet will see some major changes.
Like I mentioned earlier we will be venturing back to a 4v4 playstyle. Which I feel provides a good sense of balance to the game and because the maps are made for this set up.
There will be no radar in the gauntlet. This will not be for the faint of heart and you will have to have solid skills in order to climb.
Loadouts will be locked at the start of the game. That's right guardians, no more switching weapons when you get down. Strategize, overcome, adapt ;)
Every week there will be a ban in place on certain weapon types (1 Special, 1 Primary). This will allow for all types of weapons to shine and for all playstyles be represented.
Special ammo will be tuned similar to trials for round based modes, for continuous play you will be maxed out with two special bullets to keep things fair.
The Five Gamemodes that you can get when loading to a match are as follows:
Clash
Zone Control
The Reintroduction of Countdown.
Two BRAND NEW game modes:
Lets break these modes down to what they bring to the table:
Clash is just straight up comes down to who is better, Slay out and win.
Zone Control allows players to show off their strategic prowess and map knowledge by controlling the zones and only scoring 10 points every 5 seconds.
Countdown. I know what a majority of you are going to say. This guy is an idiot. Countdown was terrible. Well, you guys are kind of right, but also wrong at the same time. If you look at any other competitive game. What is one of the primary modes that exist in the competitive mode? Plant the bomb. Counterstrike, one of the premier ESPORTs (destiny esport omgealul) has this as THE mode for competitive games not deathmatch or slayer. By dropping the number of round wins to 5 and taking the current elimination sandbox into consideration, this gamemode could truly shine and bring in different strategies.
is a staple in many competitive environments, but there will be some things in place to balance out the flag carriers ability to sprint to the other side due to movement in destiny 2.
First off Flag Carriers can not double jump. This will prevent extreme movement and give players time to rally to the flag.
As long as you dont sprint you will not be seen. If you pick up the flag and just normally walk with it you will not appear on the map with a giant I AM HERE icon over your head, but if you sprint this will appear. You will be able to drop the flag and repickup the flag, this will allow the flag carrier to be able to make plays and help their team advance the flag. There will be a 15 second return window once the flag is dropped and a 10 second return window if the enemy team is on your flag.
Will work similar to oddball in halo. There will be two rounds of a best of 3 format for any given match. Each team will have 5 minutes to score 100 points. Once the ball has been picked up the game clock will freeze and will restart anytime the ball is dropped or is played(Knocked or dropped off map) It will always spawn in the same location once played or round starts.
This type of gameplay can add different strategic elements to the game. Do you drop the ball when you have a lead and slay out? Can you make a play by playing the ball and killing the team to all allow your team to still keep the advantage?
CONCLUSION
Destiny has that secret sauce that keeps us engaged. The crispy movement, the fluid gunplay, the customization of builds. It leaves us always with the feeling of wanting more. One more trials card, one more raid, one more strike. Wanting to see the game improve to be the best it can be. With each season and new expansion the PvE side of destiny has continued to grow and flourish. The Witch Queen has been top notch so far. All that the PvP community is asking for is to receive the same love and care. I think with these changes taken into consideration competitive could return to its glory days (ha see what I did there) and finally give PvPers the premier experience we have known Destiny could have been all along.