How to get ‘Destiny 2’ Trials loot while being bad at Trials

Destiny 2 brought Trials of Osiris back this weekend, and while it was an Iron Banner-centric season, the good new loot is actually in Trials. Three new armor sets and two new pistols, a fusion rifle and a handgun.

But if you’re not a PvP player in Destiny 2, trying to get there can be exhausting. But luckily, due to past Trials tweaks, it’s actually not as difficult as you might imagine. I mean, you’ll need patience and perseverance, but we’re a long way from the days when losing at the Trials meant you walked away with literally nothing.

I consider myself bad at trials, but after yesterday I received a full set of monkey armor on my fighter, a few parts on Titan, and three guns, including Aisha’s Embrace, which I didn’t have before. It was just maybe 2-3 hours of dedicated play, losing a plot.

So, some advice:

It’s not really the weekend to try this. It’s way more terrible than usual because there’s A) no independent playlist, which means you’ll constantly be faced with three stacks, B) no double repeats, and all of our progress and our loot come from rep leaderboards and then C) matchmaking is also broken and is now in “wild west” mode where you can take on any team, at any point on their map, which means more difficult matches for bad players. You might want to wait until next week, which is a double repeat and matchmaking should hopefully be fixed.

But you still want to get the loot? Good. Here’s what you need to know:

• You don’t need game wins, you need round wins. Even if you can squeeze a round of a 1-5 loss, I would consider that a win at this rate. Never reset your map (Ferocity, we don’t care about loss forgiveness), you’re not going to be looking flawless here. Stay on your map until you have 20 round kills, which will net you maximum rep gains afterward. Yes, wins are more rep, but you will still get 100 rep minimum per loss, so you can progress through the ranks. Major Ranks get you powerful Trials loot drops, Minor Ranks get you Trials Engrams.
• Transform your Trials engrams into Rahool. This is how you’ll put together the pieces for the new armor set, and it’s also likely to get you the weapons you’re missing, including the new Fusion Rifle. For some reason, you can’t get the new sidearm until you reach rank 16 to unlock it in Saint, or it has the potential to drop from a flawless chest (but this is not us). So it’s a long-term grind that even I’m not going to do this whole weekend.
• When it comes to playing Trials, just try to be as comfortable as possible. You don’t need to be running around with a hand cannon and a shotgun just because that’s what everyone else is doing. In your matchmaking team, choose the person with the most impressive title and follow them everywhere. Unbroken or Flawless preferred. If none of that, the Reckoners are crazy enough to be good. If no one has good titles, follow someone with the best ranking of the season because at least they play a lot. Don’t be a hero and try to figure it out on your own. Support your team and support it.
• Don’t quit the games. Again, no matter how many spins you win on your card, you will progress even after quick losses. And quitting the games is a shitty decision anyway. Listen, I was tempted when I see myself facing off against a stack of three with flawless emblems and deft loadouts, but hang in there because they can get cocky and give up a turn or two.

It’s not necessarily fun to grind drops this way, but it’s at least a path to possible full armor sets and trials loot drops, where before there was no path for players who didn’t won no victories. Times have changed and Trials loot is for everyone now. Even U.S.

Follow me on Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content newsletter, God rolls.

Pick up my sci-fi novels Herokiller Series and The Earthborn Trilogy.