This morning, 35 Steam gamers, myself included, began up Harmony and determined to play a number of video games of Rivalry, a aggressive mode in Harmony that dishes out probably the most XP accessible. After ready for 5 minutes (I am queuing with PS gamers, too), I lastly obtained right into a match, should you can name it that. 

Inside a few seconds, the primary spherical was over because the enemy crew flung themselves into the ocean just under the spawn level, killing them immediately. No, this is not some bizarre glitch, or only a group of notably unhappy gamers. Earlier than Sony takes Harmony offline in a few days, gamers are attempting to get as a lot XP as attainable, and one of the best ways to do that is by killing themselves in Rivalry. 

The enemy crew continued to off themselves for every of the 4 rounds, which means my crew received with no elims, no harm, and no therapeutic finished in any respect. By the tip of it, I obtained 15,000 XP for profitable and managed to degree up after only one recreation. It is really a reasonably good concept. You get tons of XP and should spend not more than a few minutes in-game—the queue occasions are literally longer than the matches. 

However not all my matches had been as clean-cut as my first one. As an alternative of leaping off a close-by cliff, the enemy crew within the second Rivalry match I performed selected dying by firing squad. At first, I assumed we had been going to play an precise recreation, so we secured the target, however after ready for a few minutes, everybody in my crew realised that nobody was coming for us. So we went to search for the enemy, and positive sufficient, they had been standing nonetheless of their spawn level, the place we rapidly completed them off. Within the subsequent rounds, my teammates and I ran straight to the enemy spawn to kill all of them as an alternative of messing round with the target. 

Not everybody has given up, although. I did have a few video games wherein at the very least a number of individuals really tried to take issues significantly. Whereas some stayed nonetheless and others ran to the closest map edge, one or two opponents put up a very good struggle, however even nonetheless, matches had been over simply as rapidly as they started. 

 In a single Rivalry match wherein my complete crew went AFK, I did attempt to struggle again, however I solely managed to take out a most of two individuals per spherical, which clearly wasn’t sufficient to safe the win. I additionally obtained the vibe from my fellow teammates that I used to be drawing issues out too lengthy and obstructing their get-rich-quick hack. Even nonetheless, a loss granted me one other 15,000 XP, and inside 5 video games, I managed to climb three ranges.  

However not everybody has been profitable with this new technique. “I have been doing this shit for an hour and solely went from Degree 44 to 45, I’m NOT getting this Platinum, bro,” one participant says on Twitter. Other than simply attempting to benefit from Harmony in its previous few days, some gamers are attempting to quickly degree up in an try and platinum the sport. 

Leveling your account to 100 means you’ve got basically accomplished the sport, and PS gamers will get a platinum trophy for all their onerous work. Proper now, it is an ultra-rare trophy, which simply 0.1% of gamers have managed to earn. The trophy identify can be “Dwelling Legend,” which some have identified as being fairly becoming: “Ironic how that is probably the most becoming trophy identify for the one particular person on the earth who Platinum’d Harmony,” one participant says on Twitter. 

Nevertheless it’s not all concerning the platinum trophy. One other good motive to degree up your account is to get all of the free cosmetics and gadgets that include it. Harmony is filled with actually cool customisable choices. Among the hero skins, just like the Freegunner outfits, look nice. There are weapon charms and skins, however my favorite customisable merchandise might be the enterprise card. 

That is like your run-of-the-mill identify card, however as an alternative of getting to choose totally different backgrounds, you possibly can fully change it up. There are totally different icons, backgrounds, and facet bars, which implies you can also make a card that appears distinctive. Then you definately additionally get to choose a motto like “Unhealthy for you, good for enterprise” or “Tighten these buns, let’s get it finished” in addition to deciding what two stats you wish to show alongside it on the cardboard. I presently have my elims and harm dealt, however you possibly can put what number of 6+ kill streaks you’ve got had, headshots, and way more.

Proper now, you may get all of those customized gadgets totally free—all of them simply unlock with playtime. But when Harmony does handle to make a comeback, there is a first rate likelihood it’s going to accomplish that by turning into a free-to-play recreation, which additionally means these customisable gadgets could be locked behind a paywall.

So, if in case you have a number of hours free and wish to be part of within the last-ditch effort to climb to degree 100, seize some cool skins, or simply have a enjoyable time watching gamers hurl themselves off the facet of the map, then you will have a pair extra days to take action.