[GameSpot] - Destiny 2's Gambit Mode Gets A Big Overhaul For The Witch Queen Expansion

[343iBot]

Destiny 2's Gambit mode hasn't been the focus of major updates or overhauls for several seasons now, but it's about to be thrust back into the spotlight. Season 16 will see the PvPvE mode refreshed with a number of sweeping changes that are designed to make Gambit feel fresh and exciting again, similar to recent work done on the PvP mode Trials of Osiris.

While the groundwork for Gambit's overhaul has been laid through streamlining of the mode in the Beyond Light expansion, Bungie's plan is to focus on key areas of its design make certain that every match comes down to the wire when teams race to see who can vanquish a Primeval boss first.

Core activity is the first field that Bungie addressed in a blog update, which boils down to enhancing teamwork and making Gambit easier to understand. A freelance node has been added to ensure that solo players don't get matched up so often against dedicated teams. New respawn points will get players back into the fight much more quickly, while Invaders will also have new points to spawn into when infiltrating the opposing side's map.

For players who like to send Blockers into the opposition's camp, there'll be an incentive to bank 10 Motes of Light as the Phalanx Blocker will be getting a health boost. Guardians who go for broke by banking 15 Motes, will send a Knight that is now equipped with Stasis-energy offense, and a Mote drain by multiple Blockers can be interrupted by attacking the Taken enemies in the central area.

Gambit's new Freelance node

Ammo chests containing special and heavy ammo will be more readily available when completing a Front and can be looted once by each player. You'll need to be quick though, as the chest will expire after 20 seconds. Other ammo changes include a Heavy brick spawning for each player when a high-value target has been eliminated, ammo chests will spawn in one of the Fronts every 60 seconds during the Primeval Phase, and Exotic perks such as Aeon Cult will still work.

As for the Primeval phase, prepare for a tougher fight. Envoys that shield the Primeval will spawn in the Fronts and have varied elemental shields. Envoys do have reduced health, but they are no longer affected by Slayer stacks, and they'll spawn a maximum of five times in any given match during the damage-dealing phase to the Primeval.

Invasions have been tweaked to focus on delaying a strong PvE team from finishing off the Primeval instead of completely dominating the outcome of a match. To that end, level advantage will still be disabled for Invader PvP, invasions trigger at 40 and 80 Mote thresholds, and Invader kills will heal the Primeval for exactly 27% of its health every time, amongst other changes.

You can read more about how the Gambit sausage is being remade in this link, but the key takeaway here is that Bungie is adding a number of smaller tweaks and changes to Gambit that will hopefully have a dramatically cumulative effect on how the mode is played, bringing Gambit back to a point that aligns with the studio's original vision for it.

Destiny 2's Witch Queen expansion launches on February 22, and ahead of Savathun's rise, Bungie has been preparing its cosmic sandbox for her arrival. If you're looking to catch up, you can see everything that we learned from Season of the Lost's conclusion, all the secrets hidden in the Witch Queen launch trailer, and what you need to do before a large chunk of Destiny content is sent to the vault.

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