Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big Destiny fan. If you've been following my blog, you know this as well, as I've written various Destiny-related pieces over time. I enjoy the gameplay (PvP modes aside) and especially the lore. And, like many Destiny players, I contemplated how it might create a battle royale game mode, but never put too much thought in it.
I've never really been into the battle royale craze. It sparked some curiosity, but my dislike of most PvP game modes kept me away from it. I'll admit that a lot of this dislike comes from my lack of skill in PvP games-- and I don't have the patience to "git gud." The grind just isn't fun to me. But more recently, I got to thinking about a "Destiny Battle Royale" mode again. More below the break.
I've never played Fortnite. By that, I mean I've never downloaded it, have no real plans to do so, in spite of friends encouraging me to do so. Recently, with Chapter 2 Season 2 closing, my friend and roommate Sam was talking up the build-up to another live event in the game, concerning Midas' machine in the middle of the Agency HQ on the map. As I'd been talking about Destiny 2's recent first-ever live event (Rasputin destroying the Almighty over the City), I told Sam to let me know when the Fortnite event was happening, so I could swing by his room to watch. My excuse was "so I can see how a live event is supposed to go," as Destiny 2's event took an hour and a half to complete, something that many players complained about.
When I came to his room to watch, he had three controllers by him, one for himself, and one each for his wife and another friend, who were both stuck at work and unable to watch in-game. Every so often, Sam would wiggle a stick on the other controllers to stop the others idling out. I told him to pass me a controller, so I could wiggle the sticks instead. There I was, moving his wife's character around and watching the in-game timer, when another player started shooting. So I thought, "Well, now I gotta shoot back." I did pretty well for myself in the short time I was playing, even racked up quite a few kills.
And this got my brain thinking on a Destiny 2 battle royale mode again.
Destiny Battle Royale
Before I start, I should say that I doubt Bungie is going to add this game mode to Destiny 2. They have a three-year plan for Destiny 2 right now, having recently announced the next major expansion, Beyond Light, but also revealed the working titles for the next two expansions over the next two years-- The Witch Queen and Lightfall. Between working on new destinations and activities for the game, and refurbishing legacy content to return to the game while phasing out less-popular content, Bungie has enough on their plate without having to work out a way to add a last-man-standing, shrinking-circle game mode to an already large game.
That said, here's how I'd approach it.
Power Levels Are Disabled
I know there are a lot of players who dislike the PvP grind, which attracts the "sweats." Some players, like myself, don't even play Crucible (the PvP mode) unless there's an exotic weapon quest attached to it, and even then, we tend to hate it. Generally in Crucible, the "power levels" are disabled, so in theory all players are on an even playing field with regards to damage output etc., though in practice this means that people use their best weapons to deal as much damage as possible in as fast a time as possible. There are PvP modes that keep the power levels enabled-- namely Iron Banner and Trials-- but a Battle Royale mode in Destiny should keep it disabled.
In practice, this means that every Guardian drops in equipped with "white" (starter) armor and a "white" sidearm. As and when they find engrams (loot) in-game, it is automatically equipped if the slot for it is "empty," and can be swapped out with an interact prompt if the slot is filled.
Limited Weapon Availability
I don't mean that loot is hard to come by in-game, but rather there is a rotating pool of weapons which you can receive from engrams. Only two (maybe three) of each weapon-type are in the pool, and they should always be varied in their frame. (Example: Of two auto rifles, one would be a "precision frame" with more accuracy, while the other has a higher rate of fire.) Likewise, a limited, rotating pool of armor is also available through pick-ups.
All of these armor rolls would be curated-- a static roll with specific stats. These pools are not limited by the player's collection, which means that a player can get to play with a gun they haven't actually unlocked/earned in another game-mode (i.e. those exotics they haven't found, raid gear, or gear from endgame PvP activies), so they can find out what they've been missing. It would also then give the player something to chase, if they decide "I like that gun, I need it now."
I said these pools would rotate, though I'm not sure how frequently it should rotate. I feel that it should keep seasonal loot in the pool, to show off the new gear that is available to find/earn. Perhaps some of the loot rotates seasonally, while others rotate weekly.
Maps could rotate as well. This should be a weekly thing. EDZ, Cosmodrome, Nessus, Europa, the Moon, and so on.
Room for Player Choice
With power levels off and weapons restricted to a limited pool, one might wonder how a player can customize their experience. To answer that, players would have the ability to apply three to five mods (limited by the amount of energy available to apply mods) to their Guardian before queueing up. These mods could be armor mods or weapon mods, but would not apply until and unless the player picks up a legendary weapon or armor piece. In addition, each player can also apply two exotic pieces of gear-- one weapon, one armor-- which only get equipped if the player finds an exotic pick-up in the map.
PvP But Also PvE
Destiny 2 already has a hybrid PvEvP mode called Gambit, wherein two teams of four are dropped into identical maps with AI enemies. It was primarily about the PvE, but there was a mechanic wherein an opposing player could invade your map to hunt you down and impede your progress. I propose borrowing from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's "Blackout" mode, wherein there are places on the map where enemies could spawn, and wiping them out (or perhaps it's just a high-value target like in Gambit) causes an exotic to drop.
Other Notes
The battle royale mode should also include the "shrinking circle" mechanic. Being outside the circle does the usual thing, draining one's health and disabling one's abilities. The jump ability would not be disabled, to give players a means of trying to traverse quickly to get back in the circle, but disabling other abilities prevents certain strategies-- a Warlock camping out of the circle with a healing rift, or a Hunter chucking their throwing knife into the circle, or a Titan using their Thundercrash circle to fly across the map to get in the circle and wipe everyone inside it.
There could be many ways to further make the mode engaging. Hiding levers or buttons to press to trigger certain things on the map. Turning on a teleporter that will take one to a different location on the map. Activating a terminal maybe causes a high-value target to spawn somewhere on the map. There could be lore pick-ups located around the map. There could be an exotic weapon quest which involves performing certain actions around the map, up to and including killing a high-level boss spawn-- akin to spawning and killing the Ascendant Primeval Servitor in Gambit for the Malfeasance quest.
I'm not sure who you'd get to provide voice-over for the mode. It's easy to say Shaxx, but it seems like this is the sort of thing that Drifter might be into, or possibly even Saint-XIV. Part of me wants to see a multi-handler sort of set-up, but I appreciate that would become difficult and expensive to do.
Conclusion
As I noted above, I doubt that Bungie will ever add a battle royale mode to Destiny 2. They get enough salt from the player-base as it is for the main Crucible PvP mode. Changing up their game mechanics for a battle royale mode would require too much work and additional code that might bloat an already bloated game. But it's an interesting idea to consider, and at least now it's out of my head.
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