Destiny 2’s new Eruption mode is the best thing to happen to its PvP in years

Bungie’s new Eruption mode for Destiny 2 is the most exciting thing that’s happened to the game’s player-vs-player (PvP) Crucible for years. If you remember Cranked from Call of Duty, this is Destiny 2’s version. You run around eliminating players in the Iron Banner playlist to build streaks, and then you’re hunted by the entire opposite team in an elaborate game of cat and mouse.

After a few frustrating years of Destiny 2 PvP, Eruption is fast-paced, rewarding, and very fun. I’m hooked.

Destiny 2 is known for its space magic and abilities, and Eruption cranks this up into a truly thrilling back and forth, whether you’re experienced at PvP or not. Eruption is Clash with energy boosts based on kill streaks. It’s like a mix of the Mayhem mode and regular Clash, but streaks boost the amount of energy you get toward your abilities.

The energy boosts increase with each successive kill on a streak, turning you “Surging” as you run around and hunt other players. Once you hit a five streak, you become “Primed,” and players on the opposite team can see you clearly marked on their screens. The Iron Banner hunt is on, and if you fail to get a kill within 15 seconds… BOOM you explode.

Eruption sounds chaotic on paper, and it plays chaotic in the most fun way possible. It’s fast-paced, much like the recent Arc 3.0 changes, and it’s designed to reward players for streaks and teamwork. The only negative I can see around Eruption right now is that playing against a six stack of players still isn’t enjoyable, and this new mode is only available during Iron Banner, which appears just twice a season.

Eruption has launched at the perfect time for Destiny 2. Bungie has been struggling with PvP in Destiny 2 in recent years after players had to wait almost 1,000 days for a new map in the game. A recent Iron Banner overhaul saw the reintroduction of Rift and a new Disjunction map, but neither got PvP players excited. Early issues with Rift dampened the general mood around Iron Banner, too.

I play way too many hours of Destiny 2 PvP, and I’ve struggled through the problematic cheating issues, lack of maps, sandbox balancing, and constant meta shifts. It’s been a frustrating experience in recent years, but Eruption feels like a breath of fresh air. Bungie even appears to have weighted the mode against larger maps like Disjunction, Eternity, and Vostok, so everything feels faster on the smaller maps.

“We are excited to get Eruption into everyone’s hands, and we hope it continues to illustrate our desire to bring new and unique experiences to the Crucible and Iron Banner,” said Bungie when it announced Eruption earlier this year. The Destiny 2 developer is now planning “a familiar [PvP] mode with a unique experience in Season 19” of Destiny 2, which begins on December 6th. If it’s as fun as Eruption, I can’t wait.