For as much as I thought I was going to hate this game mode, this was one of the easiest Flawless runs I ever completed lmao. Frankly, I appreciate Bungie’s willingness to experiment with the Trials format given its historic record of nonsensical and confounding design. Is it imperfect? Yes, it unduly exacerbate and exposes outlying performers in an already skewed sandbox (i.e. bows, hand cannons, SMGs) and it also reveals the base inconsistency of systems built on Flinch and irregular opponent health. But I also think that it is precisely the kind of shift that allows, ironically, for MORE experimentation and creativity in an otherwise solved meta game. It provides an opportunity to leverage game knowledge, map familiarity, and build crafting to meet the challenges of different match-ups. For example, against bow campers, I used Cryoclasm, a Glaive, and Feedback Fence to flush them out and give them the CQC business. If anything, I think Checkmate weekend has exposed more of the player base’s refusal to adapt and problem solve. Such is the Destiny paradox: players clamoring for change yet still clinging to years old systems and habits. Not every game mode is or can be Clash. If you’re not doing well in Checkmate, I hate to break it to you but it not just the bows and hand cannons that are giving you grief. You need to embrace the new pace of careful, considered gunfights. The name of the game is coordination, tempo, and POSITIONING POSITIONING POSITIONING. Some of y’all need an education on FPS fundamentals and Checkmate will teach it to you faster than any other. Ask yourself, if Checkmate TTK remained unchanged, do you think we would actually see a different weapon distribution than what we see every weekend? Bows and Hand Cannons would still be dominant. That’s just the reality of our Crucible sandbox. It’s ok not to be cracked all the time, you’re going to miss shots and lose gunfights. It’s all a process and improvement needs time. So why not take the chance to try something new? Best of luck to you Guardians on your Lighthouse journeys. Happy Holidays! Be well. <3 kaaphro