Iron Banner is back in Destiny 2, which means it’s the week-long PVP event headed up by Lord Saladin. We’ve got some changes this season including Iron Banner Tribute, we’ve got new and returning loot, plus all the regular challenges and some classic armor sets returning. Today I’m going to cover all the Iron Banner details, so you can jump right into Iron Banner in Destiny 2.
When is Iron Banner?
Iron Banner is back and this time we’ve got three helpings. One this side of the holidays, then 2 events currently scheduled in 2024. However, given Season of the Wish is a long one, it’s likely more will get added later on. Here’s the known schedule for Iron Banner so far:
Week 2: Dec 5th to Dec 12th
Week 6: Jan 2nd to Jan 9th
Week 9: Jan 23th to Jan 30th
Tribute
Tribute is the new game mode for Iron Banner this season. It’s similar to Supremacy, given when you defeat enemies they drop crests. You’ll have to take these to a Tribute station, and this will earn you points when you bank them. Banking a large amount of Crests will start a Hunt, allowing you to get an advantage on your opponents, so make sure you save up those Crests. When a Hunt is active, this is going to activate a special Tribute Station, which increases the amount of points when you drop of your crests. Bungie also mentioned Caital will be watching, which means it’s likely we’ll encounter some Cabal turrets or something similar in this new Iron Banner mode.
Returning armor
Some very popular Iron Banner armor sets are returning in Season of the Wish, including some long lost sets from vanilla Destiny 2. Here’s the returning armor
Iron Truage Iron Banner set for all classes
Iron Pledge Iron Banner set for all classes
Weyloran’s Iron set for Hunters
Bretomart’s Iron set for Titans
Ashraven’s Iron set for Warlocks
Phenotype Plasticity Season of the Undying set for all classes
Lord Saladin recently got an upgrade when it comes to his loot system, so speak to him in the tower and check out his legacy focusing options, and you’ll be able to exchange Iron Banner engrams for focused loot. The good thing about this returning armor is they will be available to all players, you don’t have to have they previously drop to be able to access them, so these classic Iron Banner sets will be available for all players.
How to get started
To get started in Iron Banner you’ll first want to go to the Tower and speak to Lord Saladin. You can find Lord Saladin front and centre when you land in the Courtyard. Iron Banner is free for all players, and if you haven’t played Iron Banner before then there is a quick introduction quest to get through, but you only have to do this once per account. When Iron Banner is on, you can access it via the Cruicble section in the Director, and Iron Banner replaces the Control Node for the entire week, plus Trials of Osiris is cancelled when Iron Banner is around.
To get the most out of Iron Banner play Iron Banner matches to get XP, this XP will level you at with Lord Saladin, get Iron Banner engrams through leveling up or as random drops at the end of matches, then either decrypt your engrams as per normal, or trade-in your Iron Banner engrams with Lord Saladin. Iron Banner is objective focused PVP, with a rotating game mode each season. Play matches level up, and get Iron Banner-themed weapons, armor, plus the Iron Lord Title.
Iron Banner God Rolls
Lethal Abundance (Auto Rifle)
This is the new weapon this season, it’s a brand new Strand High Impact Auto Rifle.
Lethal Abundance is a Legendary Kinetic Auto Rifle with a High-Impact Frame meaning it’s slow firing and high damage. This weapon is more accurate when stationary, moving slowly, and aiming down sights. Looking at the stats we have Impact 33, Range 80, Stability 31, Handling 32, Reload Speed 36, Airborne Effectiveness 17, Rounds Per Minute 360, and Magazine 32.
For PVE Slice and Hatchling look good. Slice is a new Strand perk where casting your class ability allows this weapon to sever targets on hit for a brief duration, up to a maximum number of targets. For PVP Dynamic Sway Reduction and Target Lock looks good.
Riiswalker Shotgun
This is the returning Iron Banner weapon this season, it’s a fan favourite, it’s a Kinetic Lightweight Shotgun. For PVE Shot Swap and Vorpal Weapon look good. For PVP Killing Wind and Opening Shot looks pretty decent. We know a lot about Riiswalker, it’s a fine PVP shotgun, and it’s going to be worth hunting a decent roll this season while the weapon is back in rotation.
Both weapons have the Skulking Wolf Origin Trait while at low health, Guardian final blows with this weapon grant enhanced radar and remove you from opposing radar.
Iron Banner Challenges
Challenges are available for Iron Banner and you can find these by hovering over the Iron Banner node in the Director. For example, it could be complete Iron Banner matches with a void or stasis subclass. Complete Iron Banner challenges and you’ll earn powerful upgrades to help you level up. Completing Iron Banner challenges also give you XP boosts. On the first day of Iron Banner you’ll only see one challenge, then more challenges get released each day at reset time, each challenge offers you a pinnacle reward that will help you level up. You can see which XP boosters are active when you select the Iron Banner game mode, it’s on the left hand side.
Daily Iron Banner challenges have been split into 2 series. Each series has 4 challenges rolled out daily over the week.
Series 1: Players complete Iron Banner matches (with no restrictions) to earn Iron Banner Rank bonus multipliers.
Series 2: Players earn points in Iron Banner as a Seasonal subclass to earn Pinnacle rewards.
Iron Lord Title
Finally we have the Iron Lord Title, which you can find on the second page of the titles and seals. This is going to be a grind, including resetting your Iron Banner rank twice with Lord Saladin, however, it’s one of the best titles to get in the game, and allows you to show off your dedication to Iron Banner.
That’s about it for Iron Banner in Season of the Wish. Let me know in the comments what you think.