So what exactly do I do with Passage Coins? Everyone mentions trials but I have no idea those even are? Do you need a fire team first??
When you play Crucible you'll often get them in your end screen rewards. I believe you'll get some guaranteed from the Daily PvP mode but I'm not sure.
Anyways, these are basically the currency used for Trials of Osiris help packs. Once you buy a Trials passage (from Brother Vance in the Reef) for 100 Glimmer, you'll see it in the bottom left of your inventory screen (below your other consumables).
Hovering over your Trials Passage will tell you what your progress is. Each yellow dot means a win on the card, while each red dot is a loss. A Trials passage is "completed" when you reach 9 wins or 3 losses - whatever comes first.
The goal of Trials of Osiris is getting as many wins as possible on a single Passage. If you reach 5 wins, you'll get a guaranteed armor piece with random perks and random Light between 300 and 310. Last week, it was Boots. This weekend, who knows!
If you reach 7 wins before being disqualified (meaning win 7 before you lose 3), you get a guaranteed weapon with solid perks (and a single perk being random) and random Light between 300 and 310. Last week it was a full auto Scout rifle.
The last tier of Trials reward comes from going "Flawless", meaning 9 wins on the passage without a single loss. This takes you to a new destination on your game map called The Lighthouse, in Mercury. It's a small place but looks cool. Going there entitles you to a special emblem and a guaranteed Primary Weapon between 310 and 320 Light.
This is what Passage Coins are for. *Before starting any games* on your new Passage, you can inspect it. Once there, you'll see the option to buy 3 boosts using Passage Coins.
One of them, called Mercy, "forgives" one loss in the passage. This means if you lose a match, your Trials passage will still not have any red dots - you're still Flawless.
Another "boost" makes you begin your Passage with 1 win. The other one makes your first win count for 2.
Buying all of these makes reaching rewards a lot easier. Let's say your goal is getting the armor from 5 wins.
With no Boons, you'd need to actually win 5 times without having lost 3 times before then. Buying all the boons, you started with a win and your first one counted for 2. Meaning if you win your first match, your Passage will have 3 wins already. And Mercy gives you an extra free loss, further boosting your chances to progress!
It lets you reach Lighthouse by winning 7 times and with the possibility of having lost once (Mercy forgives a loss!). 7-1 is a lot easier than 9-0.
