Destiny’s New Freelance Mode Makes Solo Queue Viable in PVP

Bungie is making some interesting changes to Destiny’s Crucible–the game’s competitive PVP mode.

In the most recent weekly update, which has been rebranded as This Week at Bungie, the studio revealed that two new Crucible playlists are being added to cater to solo players — Freelance 3v3 and Freelance 6v6. In each of these two new modes, players will only be able to access them alone as solo queue players and not with a fireteam. The idea behind their addition is to stop stacked fireteams from dominating the game and provide PVPers with a fighting chance alone.

“Freelance 6v6 and Freelance 3v3 are mixed-mode playlists that are only accessible by solo players – no Fireteams allowed,” said designer Jeremiah Pieschl. “Freelance playlists will be available sporadically on the weekly rotators in your Director.”

Each mode will feature a mix of gameplay modes, including Clash, Control, and Rift for 6v6, and Elimination, Salvage, and Skirmish for 3v3.

Another new change to the Crucible is the removal of special ammo at the start of the game, so you won’t be able to snipe other players right off the bat. Instead, you’ll have to go out and get special ammo from one of the crates before you can use your shotgun or sniper rifle.

The developers state that they made this change to increase the use of primary weapons at the match start. Many players used sniper rifles and shotguns to gain an advantage early in the round, making life rather miserable for players who prefer primary weapons. This change will be coming to all 3v3 playlists, though 6v6 playlists will still be as before as the developer believes that larger game modes are less sensitive to these initial conditions.

The studio’s efforts to combat lag introduced by their skill-based matchmaking system are proceeding, as they’re rolling out changes across Skirmish, Rumble, and Control playlists. Players will see some lag improvements in the Trials of Osiris and the upcoming Valentine’s Day events, which kicks off on February 9, 2016.