If you played Trials of Osiris in Destiny 2 this weekend, you might have noticed a preponderance of Firebolt Grenades getting thrown around. While they’ve always been a solid pick for Solar subclasses, there’s a reason for their current popularity in the Crucible — a Seasonal Artifact perk that gives players two charges for free. Given how substantially these kinds of perks can affect Destiny 2 PVP, it’s worth asking: should they be allowed in the Crucible?
Seasonal Artifact mods were always a point of contention for Destiny 2 PVP players. However, their status as mods that had to be slotted somewhat limited their impact. Now that the Seasonal Artifact has become a set of unlockable perks that are always active, anyone who’s played enough to unlock the Rain of Firebolts perk in column five has two grenade charges in all Crucible modes. Getting a second grenade for free without any Exotic or mod investment is a meta-warping advantage in PVP. Maybe it’s what Bungie intended, but it seems unlikely.
There are some Seasonal Artifact perks that are fairly harmless, including those that reduce the cost of certain mods. But there are some, like Rain of Firebolts, Stranded Reach, and Untangler that have an outsized impact on the Crucible.
Of course, Seasonal Artifact perks in Destiny 2 can create interesting dynamics within seasons, and can also function as levers to increase the usage of certain mechanics and abilities. That might have been Bungie’s intent with the perks focusing on Firebolt Grenades, which are some of the less-used Solar grenades in PVE activities. Having an incentive to play around with different tools is definitely a good thing. But Firebolt Grenades were already pretty useful in PVP, and having two of them makes them straight-up better than any other Solar grenade option in the Crucible.
Of course, all of this leads into a bigger conversation about the relationship between PVE and PVP in Destiny 2. While some players would undoubtedly be happy with a Crucible that featured fixed loadouts and minimal abilities, that wouldn’t really be the Destiny experience anymore. One of the main draws of the game is that you can take your gear between PVE and PVP, which means there are always going to be balance issues that need to be be addressed. Certain weapons and broken combinations in Destiny 2 will always arise and require nerfing to maintain a compelling and competitive environment.
But the Seasonal Artifact perks seem like a pretty straightforward case of something where the implications for PVP simply weren’t thought through. Perhaps in the future, Bungie could split the perks into those active in both PVE and PVP and those active only in the former. Otherwise, we can look forward to being at the mercy of whatever grenades or melee abilities happen to be favored each season.
