• Players have spent millions of hours on the current maps, playing the same modes in the same arenas.
• It's also the case that a number of maps have modes enabled that aren't perfect fits for the map.
• And generally, the current maps haven't been updated or improved in quite some time, which is causing issues as they enable newer modes on older maps.
• Already in the game:
  • An initial pass at map spawn quality of life.
  • Spawn trap fixes for Altar of Flame, Cauldron, Endless Vale, Midtown, Meltdown.
• Coming in 7.3.5 on March 5th:
  • Additional map spawn QoL improvements
    • Spawn trap fixes on Eternity and Fortress
    • Remove backfield spawns on non-rift modes for The Citadel, Cathedral of Dusk, Disjunction, and Convergence, effectively making these maps 30-50% smaller.
  • Major tuning of initial spawn, heavy ammo crate, and tiebreaker zone locations for all maps
  • Changes to their workflows so they can address the above much more easily.
    • For example, the next time Dead Cliffs returns for Trials, it will have changes made to Spawns, Zones, and Heavy ammo placement to make it more balanced.

• PvP maps have been left behind when it comes to new environments added to the game for PvE.
• The three maps they'll be adding in May will feature environments not used in PvP so far.
• The maps will be available for Control, but have generally been built to focus on 3v3 modes, like Dominion, Clash, Survival.
• The Maps:
  • Eventide Labs (Europa)
  • Cirrus Plaza (Neomuna)
  • Dissonance (Terraformed Pyramid Ship)

• They want Crucible to be at least as rewarding as PvE, and for PvP players to have more consistent methods of being rewarded with buildcrafting materials.
• The following changes have already been made:
  • Increased end-of-match rewards, including more glimmer and higher chances for Cores and Crucible Engrams
  • Created double rewards boosters for PvP
  • Competitive weapon focusing
  • Second Competitive weekly challenge that rewards ascendant alloys
• They're also working on improving endgame rewards, for those who continue to remain active in Competitive past the 3 weekly challenge matches.

• High stat artifice armor will be earnable from Competitive Crucible in a new third tier on the Competitive playlist weekly challenge.
• This challenge will only be present for players who reach Gold 3 in the current season, and will require victories instead of just completions.
• After completing the challenge, artifice armor will have a chance to drop from any victory, with drop rates increasing alongside your rank.
• The following year-1 Crucible armor will drop as artifice armor:
  • Hunter
    • Arms, Chest, Head, Legs: Swordflight 4.1
    • Class: Binary Phoenix Cloak
  • Titan
    • Arms, Chest, Head, Legs: Phoenix Strife Type 0
    • Class: Binary Phoenix Mark
  • Warlock
    • Arms, Chest, Head, Legs: Ankaa Seeker IV
    • Class: Binary Phoenix Bond
• Additionally, Competitive victories will have a higher chance to drop Exotic weapon catalysts.

• They want to create a better balance for effort vs reward for those going flawless, while also increasing reward options for players who cannot go flawless.
• The goal is to encourage players to team up with friends. With losses being less punishing, players can have more fun and be rewarded for doing so.
• They have already implemented:
  • 50% chance to get a Trials weapon on wins
    • With Update 7.3.5, this will be updated to exclusively drop the weekly weapon reward.
  • Added Flawed card rewards
• In Update 7.3.5:
  • For Passage of Ferocity, if you have not been Flawless for the week, losses after 3 wins reset you back to 3 wins instead of flawing your card
  • They're adding a new Passage of Persistence, where losses following a win will remove the win from your card. This passage will drop the weekly Adept weapon, regardless of losses taken.
    • Consecutive losses will not remove more wins. If you climb to 3 wins, then lose 1 match, you will drop to 2 wins but go no lower until you win again.
    • You will only be considered Flawless if you do not ever have a win removed, although the Adept weapon can be earned regardless of the number of losses.
  • Additional rewards are being added for match completions by 3 person fireteams.
    • Winning is not required, but participating is. AFK farming or suiciding will disqualify you from the rewards.
    • Additional 50% chance to drop the non-Adept Trials weekly weapon.
    • A 50% chance to get a Trials Engram drop
    • Additional Trials reputation.

• Currently, Competitive modes are not at the bar of quality to promote skill and mastery between teams.
• They have already updated the Countdown Rush ruleset in Competitive, and will now be introducing a new king of the hill mode Collision to Crucible Labs in 7.3.5. The goal will be for this mode to replace Countdown Rush in Competitive after testing.
• They also feel that the Quickplay modes are lagging in updated. New modes are being made, but are either a party mode or imited-time modes like Iron Banner Fortress, Eruption, and Tribute.
• Players have had the same options for too long, they want to make new core modes available to standardized playlists and private matches, and to experiment with interesting twists on PvP that still retain the core feeling of gameplay without being limited time events.
• Already implemented:
  • Created Sparrow Control
  • Added 3v3 Clash to Crucible Labs
  • Updated the Countdown Rush ruleset for Competitive
• Coming in Update 7.3.5:
  • 3v3 Clash will be moving to 3v3 Quickplay rotator, with the following rule changes:
    • Heavy ammo will no longer be shared
    • Respawn timer increasing from 5 to 7 seconds
    • Match timer increasing to 10 minutes, but score to win remains 40
  • A new 3v3 king of the hill mode, Collision, will enter Crucible Labs
    • A single, larger zone will rotate between 5 points around the map on a timer. Capturing and controlling it will earn points.
    • This mode will test an alternative Special ammo crate system:
      • There will be four shareable Special ammo crates that spawn simultaneously at the beginning of the game or round, and on a timer afterwards.
      • Each control zone location will have an associated Special ammo crate, with the 4th crate in a neutral location.
      • Players with Special ammo will drop Special ammo bricks on death
      • They want to polish both new Special ammo acquisition systems (ammo crates and the ammo meter) so they can be utilized along with the respawn ammo system, and they can pick the ammo system that works for each mode
  • Iron Banner Tribute has multiple changes:
    • Simplifying objectives and scoring, including changing the trigger for the Hunt from depositing max crests to a team score threshold
    • Removing "wall hacks" on players carrying max crests
    • Cleaning up the user experience by decreasing the distance at which crest icons can be seen, changing how quickly the beacons de-spawn and rotate, and significantly decreasing the time it takes to interact to dunk crests
    • Reducing the number of turrets that spawn with the Hunt beacon from 4 to 3.
• Coming in Update 7.3.6:
  • Checkmate will be back in Crucible Labs, returning to a form closer to its initial version:
    • 30% penalty on ability cooldowns
    • No starting Special ammo
    • Melee damage will not be increased, it will take 3 base melees to kill
    • Primary weapon optimal TTK will be shifted to allow for a more tactical sandbox, in line with the original goal of Checkmate.
  • A new modifier, Hardware, will be tested in labs
    • No abilities, only weapons. Special and Heavy ammo will come from crates located around the map.
• Coming in The Final Shape:
  • Private matches will have more options for players:
    • Modifiers such as Mayhem or Scorched will be options in any game mode.
    • There will be more control for things like Special ammo delivery, ability cooldowns, reviving, respawning, and more.

• There's a section here that mostly covers the sandbox changes already announced in the TWID last week, the summary for that one is linked here. There are a couple additional comments though that I'll list below:
  • The goal of the Special ammo meter change is not to force players into a double Primary playstyle, but to encourage smart and measured Special ammo usage.
  • In The Final Shape they're working on changes to reduce the dominance of Ward of Dawn and Well of Radiance. They also want to improve the viability of Supers with longer recharge times in objective game modes. They'll share more on this closer to release.
  • After The Final Shape, they're exploring UI updates to the Obituary screen that will show the combination of players who killed you, rather than the one who dealt the killing blow.

This is a really detailed and comprehensive overview of the kinds of matchmaking used in the game in the past and at present. This post is long enough already, and this section would double the length, so I'm going to skip summarizing it because it has only two detail on an incoming change: In Update 7.3.5, they will be capping the competitive rank win/loss max values to make them less variable, and they will be updating the playlist tooltips in Crucible to accurately reflect the matchmaking system used in each. If you're interested on the details of PvP systems, check it out in the original blog post. The one additional

• They understand that lobby balancing is currently a pain point.
• Some of the complaints about matchmaking would more accurately be attributed to lobby balancing, making games feel unfair when players are improperly sorted.
• Lobby balancing has a large effect on how games feel, so they are being very careful to make sure a new system is good before moving to it.
• They are currently testing several different configurations of a new Snake Draft lobby balancer, and in Update 7.3.5 they have several changes planned aimed at improving how it handles fireteams.

• Coming in Update 7.3.5:
  • Console players will be able to choose between the two reticle locations, Center or Below Center. This setting has been available on PC since launch.
  • Controller players will be able to adjust Dead Zone settings
  • Players will be able to adjust the opacity of the radar background

• In Update 7.3.5, they'll be updating the weapon pool in the Prophecy dungeon.
• They're removing:
  • A Swift Verdict Sidearm
  • The Long Walk Sniper Rifle
  • The Last Breath Auto Rifle
• They're adding a new origin trait, "Crossing Over", weapons have increased range and handling for the top half of the magazine, while rounds from the bottom half of the magazine deal increased damage.
• They're adding the following weapons, with new perk pools, and maybe new damage types:
  • Prosecutor, Arc Precision Frame Auto Rifle
  • Adjudicator, Kinetic Precision Frame Submachine Gun
  • Relentless, Strand (used to be kinetic) High-Impact Frame Pulse Rifle
• They're updating the following weapons, with new perk pools and some new damage types:
  • Judgement, Stasis (used to be kinetic) Adaptive Frame Hand Cannon
  • Darkest Before, Solar (used to be arc) Rapid-Fire Frame Pulse Rifle
  • A Sudden Death, Void (used to be arc) Aggressive Frame Shotgun
• The new encounter weapon drops are as follows:
  • Phalanx Echo
    • Relentless Pulse Rifle
    • Prosecutor Auto Rifle
  • The Cube
    • A Sudden Death Shotgun
    • Adjudicator Submachine Gun
  • Kell Echo (awards at the Emissary chest)
    • Judgement Hand Cannon
    • Darkest Before Pulse Rifle

• Next week's TWID should have details on the upcoming Guardian Games.

Did we miss anything? Let us known in the #tips channel on our Discord.

Sources:

• This Week In Destiny - 02/22/2024