Here's the personal guide I used in D1. If, like me, you've had years to try PvP in various games and have had enough experience with it to confidently say that this infuriating crap is not your cup of tea, this is for you. Rule zero: Just avoid it. Juuuuust fvcking avoid it. It's a game you're playing for fun; you don't need the aggravation. If you hate the Crucible and have no reason to go in, don't be another "+1" that allows Bungie to say "Wow, our players really love the Crucible. Look at those numbers!" [i]HOWEVER[/i], in those rare instances where you deem the loot to be worthy of wading into this vile cesspool... 1) Prepare mentally. I suggest meditation or whatever floats your boat and gets you lose and focused. You'll need to keep calm because raging uncontrollably will make you play like an ineffective idiot. Build up your zen, because this shit will test you. If you start losing it, stop, and get yourself back in the right mind before going back in. 2) Make abstraction of the kind of people you will be mingling with. PvP communities include some nice people but with a few exceptions, they're largely lurkers. It's the noisy toxic twats that are the most visible ones, as if they had scared the decent humans into silence. PvP attracts more imbeciles than other activities and that's a fact. Be thankful the Crucible doesn't have vocal comms enabled by default. 3) Don't expect sportsmanship. PvP is a competitive activity, but it's participants usually don't have a sport culture (besides, maybe, watching "pro" wrestling) and their idea of sportsmanship is totally screwed-up. That's why you'll routinely see behavior that would start brawls and fisticuffs in real life. That's also why the vocal toxic twats mentioned above dislike SBMM. Because with SBMM, they can't shit on n00bz for lulz. Have the lowest expectations about PvP players and you'll never be disappointed, and will sometimes be pleasantly surprised. Just rarely. Wait... wait. I worry that what you've just read is: "have very low expectations". What I wrote was: "have [i]the lowest[/i] expectations". Do you understand? 4) Use weapons and powers you are good with and that will help you accomplish the goal you are here for. Within those options, use the META, the overpowered, the [i]broken[/i]. Fair fights are for suckers and no one is giving you one anyway. Use good gear, leave the crap in the vault. 5) Go in with a full team of friends. Misery is more bearable when shared, and you might have an edge because you're communicating and the other side often is not. Note that in the ass-backward thinking of the PvP community, teamwork in a team game is viewed as unfair and you might earn some hate. Don't try to understand, these people are idiots. 6) If playing solo, get in and focus on what you came here to do. Bungie's insistence on giving players counterproductive goals (via quests and bounties) to accomplish during an activity that requires focused teamwork is baffling, makes teams of solo randos even more disorganized, and is another source of chaos and frustration. Just roll with it, don't get bothered if a teammate seems to be throwing the game because he's insisting on punching everyone: he's likely trying to get some silly bounty done. 7) Don't leave the game early, no mater how bad you are losing. Not even if you've been thrown mid-game in a losing cause. That's unsportsmanlike (for real). Along the same line of thought, don't AFK. AFKing is worse than quitting, because it deprives your team of a replacement player and feeds free kills to the enemy. Remember that there might be some of those decent humans on your team or on the enemy team: don't be just another typical, bad experience to them. 8) If you get unsolicited hate mail, don't engage, report it to Sony or Microsoft. Stupid people who lack self-control so much that they take the time to write insults need to be periodically educated with communication bans. Besides, sparing other people from two weeks worth of mom jokes, bubbling bong sounds, farts and belches is an act of love: be generous with it. 9) If you get killed often by the same gun or power, do not come here to complain about it and/or call for a nerf. You're a PvE player, you don't want stuff to be made dull and ineffective because you got butthurt during an activity you don't like anyway. See rule 4 about using the best gear. If you go in with sub-par equipment, that's 100% on you; assume your choices and shut up. 10) Don't blame others. You're not doing so hot either. There. These rules won't make you enjoy the Crucible: you're past that, you've tried it hundreds of times, you know you. It'll just get you through with your hardware, relationships and sanity intact. Maybe. Don't blame me if your gaming rig ends up in your swimming pool by way of impulsive defenestration. That'll be because you failed to follow rule zero.