In Destiny 2, many Guardians have finally had enough of the Crucible. What problems exist besides Stasis in PvP and is Destiny really just a PvE game?
This is the situation: In Destiny 2, the Crucible has been a hot topic in the past week. The already tense atmosphere has now tipped, and many big names in the community are openly rebelling against PvP, feeling ignored, and some have given up.
MeinMMO looks at the Guardians’ problems with the Crucible and also addresses the question of whether Destiny is actually a PvE game.
The straw that broke the camel’s back: On January 4, 2021, content creator Hush announced his departure from Destiny 2 in a farewell letter.
Hush made a name for himself with his mostly humorous PvP videos (via YouTube) since Destiny 1. He was never the biggest fish in the pond, but he was practically part of the furniture.
In his letter, he lists the reasons for his departure:
- After 6 years, he has reached the point where he can no longer enjoy the Destiny series.
- As a primary PvP player, he feels ignored by Bungie, and has felt this way for a long time.
- Stasis drives Hush “crazy” and since Beyond Light, the PvP has lost content instead of gaining new additions. In the finally returned Trials, only carry services or cheaters can be found, according to him.
- The silence from Bungie is unacceptable to him.
Is Hush alone in this? No, the letter hit open doors. A wave of complaint videos, tweets, and analyses about the state of PvP rolled across the internet:
- “Dear Bungie, your players feel ignored” titled Aztecross (via YouTube).
- “My thoughts on the PvP of Destiny 2 in Beyond Light (long version)” states Fallout Plays (via YouTube).
- “Why I won’t stop complaining about PvP in Destiny 2…” explained Destiny Fun Police (DFP) (via YouTube).
- “I’m quitting…” thus explained Diaside why viewers on his channel will no longer find Destiny 2 (via YouTube).
- With “PvP needs to get better (here’s how)” ZkMushroom struck a similar tone (via YouTube).
Here you see an excerpt from content creators who mostly operate in PvP. But the PvE Guardians also report their problems with the Crucible.
Many Guardians, especially the PvP faction, feel ignored. It feels as if their feedback has been falling on deaf ears for years, only rewarded with a “We hear you” from Bungie, but there’s no sign of action.
Destiny 2 is really just a PvE game – or is it?
This is what critics hear too often: When a PvP Guardian complains, they often hear the retort that “Destiny 2 is a PvE game, PvP is not needed, nobody plays it and it only brings sandbox problems.” However, the numbers tell a different story.
- On January 9, 2021, according to Destinytracker , 873,000 Guardians played a PvE activity yesterday, while a proud 675,000 Guardians participated in a PvP activity. Keep in mind that a Guardian can count for both PvP and PvE.
- The Crucible is the 2nd most played activity in Destiny 2. PvP is only surpassed by the patrol area. On average, about 25% of Guardians spend their Destiny time in PvP.
Today, on January 10, Warmind.io shows the overall distribution of Guardians across all platforms as follows:
- 28% are in the patrol area – completing general tasks on locations like hunting penguins.
- 15% are engaged in the Iron Banner PvP.
- 12% in the raid – this is an extremely high value, as this used to be around only 2%. Are the strong weapons from the Deep Stone Crypt to blame?
- The story is played by 11%, strikes account for 9%, and 7% are in the nightfall.
- Then comes the regular Crucible with 6% and the Trials with 4% – only 1% are participating in private PvP matches.
The Twitch numbers also show that PvP is strongly represented here (via TwitchMetrics). After King Gladd, the next PvP streamer is GernaderJake. He recently went overboard in the Trials. In the following ranks, there is a healthy mix of PvE and PvP streamers like Gigz, ZkMushroom, Panduh and PureChill.
PvP is not a minor aspect of Destiny 2, but for many players, it is an integral part of their Guardian life.
On a positive note, the sandbox, that is the balance of weapons and skills, is currently as healthy as it has been in a long time. If it weren’t for the fun killer Stasis and the content problem…
What do you think about the PvP problem? Do you hang around in the Crucible or has Destiny 2 driven you away from there? Do you even have ideas on how Bungie should handle this – let us know in the comments.
One of the major Crucible issues right now is Hunters with their Shade Step, but that might soon be addressed: Destiny 2 announces nerf for Stasis Hunters, which even Hunters understand
Gladd, the largest Destiny streamer, attributes the blame to Stasis, stating that he no longer appears in PvP because of it:
Stasis and other problems in the Crucible
With Beyond Light, the new Stasis element was introduced to Destiny 2. Guardians now have ice magic at their disposal. However, many content creators currently cite Stasis as one of the biggest problems in the Crucible, why?
Through Stasis, opponents can be frozen and slowed down. And not just with one skill, but with a whole arsenal of ice abilities. Many of these abilities are homing or target a large area.
Crowd Control is only cool when it happens to others
This old story is about: Essentially, Destiny 2 has handed players a ton of tools for Crowd Control :
- From other games, it is known that it’s a hell of a lot of fun to immobilize other enemies or take them out of the game.
- But when you are immobilized yourself and have to watch an enemy aim at you with pleasure, pull the trigger, and secure the kill, then morale plummets.
- Stasis takes it to the next level: Because frozen enemies can be shattered, causing the opponent to explode and potentially taking out half his team. Stasis thus stops every enemy in PvP and deals enormous damage.
- Often you are simply hopeless and feel powerless. Not a nice feeling when you actually want to play.
In short: Freezing enemies is great, being frozen is not. You can find more about this in a dedicated article on MeinMMO:
That’s why PvP players feel like second-class Guardians
Stasis is one of the major innovations of Beyond Light, and while some Guardians wish Stasis would completely disappear from the game, that will 100% not happen. But even without Stasis, there are many complaints about PvP, which Forbes lists neatly.
Where is the PvP content? With Europa, Destiny 2 received a brand-new location in November. In addition, the Cosmodrome (in a stripped-down form) made a return. But there’s been no sign of new PvP maps for several seasons.
Additionally, more than 10 PvP maps were removed from active play at the launch of the DLC. They are not gone forever, but are under review in the Content Vault – for how long these maps will be gone, nobody knows at this point. In summary: Instead of receiving new maps for Crucible battles, the map selection has been cut down.
Here’s the situation with the loot: There is also a lack of PvP-specific loot. While the past lured Guardians into the Crucible with immensely powerful toys like Luna’s Howl or the Recluse, hardly any worthwhile loot is in sight.
- The new quest weapon from Season 12 can also be earned in the Crucible, but also anywhere else.
- And the PvP highlights Iron Banner and the Trials lure with rather reskins and only minimally different weapons and armors instead of fresh content.
- The master weapons with their new mods from the Trials are a real innovation, but unreachable for most players.
- At least there is some improvement in sight, as Season 13 brings new weapons for core activities and DDoS protection – but will that be enough?
Even if everything isn’t going smoothly in PvE, players expect a new story, quests every season, and they already know 2 strikes that will soon expand the Cosmodrome.
Many Guardians, especially the PvP faction, feel ignored. It feels as if their feedback has been falling on deaf ears for years, only rewarded with a “We hear you” from Bungie, but there’s no sign of action.
Destiny 2 is really just a PvE game – or is it?
This is what critics hear too often: When a PvP Guardian complains, they often hear the retort that “Destiny 2 is a PvE game, PvP is not needed, nobody plays it and it only brings sandbox problems.” However, the numbers tell a different story.
- On January 9, 2021, according to Destinytracker , 873,000 Guardians played a PvE activity yesterday, while a proud 675,000 Guardians participated in a PvP activity. Keep in mind that a Guardian can count for both PvP and PvE.
- The Crucible is the 2nd most played activity in Destiny 2. PvP is only surpassed by the patrol area. On average, about 25% of Guardians spend their Destiny time in PvP.
Today, on January 10, Warmind.io shows the overall distribution of Guardians across all platforms as follows:
- 28% are in the patrol area – completing general tasks on locations like hunting penguins.
- 15% are engaged in the Iron Banner PvP.
- 12% in the raid – this is an extremely high value, as this used to be around only 2%. Are the strong weapons from the Deep Stone Crypt to blame?
- The story is played by 11%, strikes account for 9%, and 7% are in the nightfall.
- Then comes the regular Crucible with 6% and the Trials with 4% – only 1% are participating in private PvP matches.
The Twitch numbers also show that PvP is strongly represented here (via TwitchMetrics). After King Gladd, the next PvP streamer is GernaderJake. He recently went overboard in the Trials. In the following ranks, there is a healthy mix of PvE and PvP streamers like Gigz, ZkMushroom, Panduh and PureChill.
PvP is not a minor aspect of Destiny 2, but for many players, it is an integral part of their Guardian life.
On a positive note, the sandbox, that is the balance of weapons and skills, is currently as healthy as it has been in a long time. If it weren’t for the fun killer Stasis and the content problem…
What do you think about the PvP problem? Do you hang around in the Crucible or has Destiny 2 driven you away from there? Do you even have ideas on how Bungie should handle this – let us know in the comments.
One of the major Crucible issues right now is Hunters with their Shade Step, but that might soon be addressed: Destiny 2 announces nerf for Stasis Hunters, which even Hunters understand
