Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn released a State of the Game post, which contained a slew of announcements regarding PVP updates. Some of the most compelling were unexpected announcements involving a forthcoming Crucible mode and a modifier — and they both sound pretty awesome.
Checkmate will be an all-new game mode where primary weapon damage is tuned to reduce the gap between the fast-kill weapons and average time-to-kill, thereby pushing long-range primaries into slower kill times. Players will have increased health, ability cooldown will take longer, and players must earn special ammo as it will not drop when you defeat an opponent. The result should be longer combat encounters designed to reward skill and consistency.
Bungie plans to experiment with implementing the modifier into various Crucible game modes in Season 22. Checkmate will be available in Crucible Labs from Week 5 through Week 10 of the season. Weeks 5 and 6 feature Checkmate Control, the next two are Checkmate Survival, and the final two weeks are Checkmate Rumble.
Blackburn also announced Relic, a new, unconventional game mode where players can dominate the Crucible using relic weapons. Relic weapons include Vault of Glass’s Aegis, Season of the Risen’s Synaptic Spear, and the Season of the Haunted’s Scythe.
Here’s how the game mode works. Players charge the relic weapon’s energy by defeating opponents with their normal loadout. Once they reach a full charge, they can acquire a relic. Defeating enemies with relic weapons earns points, as does defeating opponents using relics.
The developer designed the mode for lighthearted gameplay, similar to modes like Mayhem and Team Scorched. In Season 22, players will find Crucible Labs from Week 1 through Week 4, and again from Week 11 through the end of the season.
Blackburn also gave more information on the previously-announced Vex-themed Crucible map called Multiplex. The post also highlights some Crucible matchmaking changes and notes some security updates. Bungie also plans to introduce a new Iron Banner mode and an all-new Strand pulse rifle Competitive Division reward in Season 23.
