Lord Saladin has arrived in the tower, which means it’s time for another week of Iron Banner — Destiny 2’s premier 6v6 PvP event. For the next week, you’ll be able to test your aptitude in a chaotic battle arena while also getting your hands on some sweet loot, including some of the best weapons the game offers.
But bullets flying everywhere and Guardians leaping around the arena can make it overwhelming to go into Iron Banner for the first time. Especially if you’ve never dipped your feet into the world of Destiny 2 PvP, you might feel like a fish out of water when it comes to taking to the battlefield.
Fear not, though, as this guide will give you all the information that you need to be able to leap into your first matches of Iron Banner and get a taste of what PvP in Destiny is all about, in the most fun PvP mode the game has to offer.
Overview
What is Iron Banner?
Iron Banner is a week-long PvP event that takes place approximately every four weeks, in which Guardians can battle it out in teams of six to emerge victorious. Aimed to appeal to both casual and hardcore players, Iron Banner is both exciting and chaotic, while also being far more forgiving than a mode like Trials of Osiris.
Importantly, also unlike Trials of Osiris, your Power Level does not matter when it comes to playing Iron Banner. This means that you can just jump in and have fun as though it were a regular Crucible mode, and battle to earn rewards and level up your progress with Lord Saladin.
Once the current Iron Banner period is over, though, the rewards in the gamemode are unavailable until the next event, as well as any Iron Banner Vendor engrams you may have in your inventory. So, be aware and make sure to buy all of the rolls you want before Saladin disappears at the end of the week. Generally, Iron Banner tends to be once a month, and the next Iron Banner event has been initially pencilled in for the week of the 24th of May, which is nearly a whole month away.
The current period of Iron Banner takes place from the 29th of April to the 6th of May, meaning it’s your last chance to get your hands on these weapons before the release of the Rite of the Nine event, which releases on the 6th of May itself.
How Do I Unlock Iron Banner?
Iron Banner is accessible to anyone regardless of the DLC that you have available, but there are a few steps you need to take before you can jump in.
Before anything else, your character needs to be Guardian Rank 4, as you’ll need to complete the “A Guardian Rises” quest and the “Light Reforged” quest before you unlock the mode.
Once you’ve done those prerequisites, go and speak to Lord Saladin in the Tower, and he’ll hand you the “Forging Iron” quest, which you can follow along to start playing Iron Banner.
Who is Lord Saladin?
Similarly to other events, Iron Banner has its own vendor in the Tower — the notorious Iron Lord turned Cabal Valus, Saladin Forge. He appears in the centre of the tower whenever Iron Banner is available to play, and he provides you with the ability to complete challenges, turn in Engrams and even focus gear that you’re after.
In lore, Saladin set up the Iron Banner to remember and honour the Iron Lords (the equivalent of Guardians during The Dark Age), while also using it to train Guardians in the ‘old ways’ in preparation for a potential attack. On top of this, the weapons and armor that you receive in Iron Banner are Dark Age relics that were used by the Iron Lords themselves, which is why they feel so unique compared to other weapons in the game.
Lord Saladin does give you rewards for reaching ranks and prestiging him, so keep an eye out for his offerings. After all, he might have a god roll available as one of his rank rewards (as a lot of Guardians learnt the hard way during Episode Heresy with Tinasha’s Mastery).
How Do I Level Up Lord Saladin’s Reputation?
As you play through Iron Banner, you’ll level up Saladin’s reputation naturally through game completions and playing streaks of matches of Iron Banner.
There are a few ways that you can boost your reputation gains, however:
- Win Matches: Winning matches will give you more reputation than losing them.
- Equipping Iron Banner Emblem and Gear: By equipping an Iron Banner emblem and Iron Banner gear (weapons, armor, and even ornaments*), you’ll boost all reputation gained with Saladin. These will drop from games of Iron Banner, or you can focus for some of them once you’ve got enough reputation.
- Weekly Challenges: There are weekly challenges available to do within Iron Banner. Completing these will give you a handful of reputation, and are relatively easy to complete while just playing the mode.
* For both getting the Iron Lord title and getting more XP, the best method is to obtain Iron Banner armor ornaments as quickly as possible and have those equipped as you play Iron Banner. To get the most out of it, obtain an Iron Banner Class Item and an Iron Banner Class Item ornament, and apply the ornament to the Class Item — it’ll register it twice over and still count towards your five slots while letting you run a piece of exotic armor.
Modes
Iron Banner has a host of different modes — each event will have a mode that is the main focus of that event, and will be the main event to play.
Alongside the main mode, Iron Banner also has a rotating playlist of other Iron Banner modes that can be played as well in case you don’t like the main mode or just want a switch-up.
Control
Control is the 6v6 Zone Control mode that we all know and love, where Guardians have to fight to keep control of three zones on the battlefield. In other games, this is known as Domination or Conquest — and it’s pretty much as simple as trying to hold onto two of the flags simultaneously to get more points than the other team by holding the flags and killing your opponents.
The interesting thing here, however, is the addition of The Hunt. This is a feature that, when a team simultaneously obtains all three flags, each flag will lock down for thirty seconds, and each kill will provide a substantially greater number of points to the team that got all three, before resetting all the flags back to neutrality.
Control Tips
- Abilities Win Engagements: Making sure to leverage every ability you have during key fights and engagements will lead to you causing a far bigger impact than ignoring them. Even a well-timed grenade can turn into a capture, so always look at how you can be using your utility to your advantage.
- Play The F****** Objective (PTFO): A common phrase if you’ve ever played other objective-shooters like Battlefield, this essentially boils down to being aware that you can just play towards capturing and defending flags rather than running around and chasing kills. While the latter is fun to do — and if you feel confident enough to do so, then you should definitely try it — the objective is going to be the thing that wins you the game, so don’t be afraid to just play around objectives while learning the mode.
- Don’t Play Solo: On the contrary, in a 6v6 gamemode, isolating yourself will almost certainly lead to your demise. Especially in Destiny, where the time-to-kill (TTK) is so high compared to other shooters, the maths of a 1v4 isn’t in your favour. Stick with your team and push objectives together, unless you really think you can go alone and make a difference.
- 2 out of 3 Ain’t Bad: You don’t need to push to try to get locks if it means that you’re going to lose your current majority. Keeping a steady hold on two objectives will set you ahead anyway, so keep your majority up, and you should be poised to win. Of course, though, once again, if you think you can do it, then go for it — just don’t try and force it in situations where it could lose you the game.
Fortress
Fortress is very similar to Control in that you compete for Control over three points in a map. However, there are a few key differences. Firstly, only controlling objectives gives you points and not kills. Secondly, twice during the game, every point will become locked, and a Cabal point will spawn, creating a fortress to battle through and capture. Once the Hunt is done, those points will reset.
Claiming the Fortress will allow you to get even further ahead, letting you catapult your team far ahead of the other team if you can capture one or both of the Fortresses in one game.
Fortress Tips
- See Control: A lot of the Control tips carry over here, and so keeping those in mind will help you succeed.
- Use the Cabal to Your Advantage: You don’t have to go and fight for the Fortress instantly. Playing tactically and letting your opponents kill the Cabal while you get ready and swoop in to take the Fortress once the moment is right can completely define games.
Eruption
Eruption is a fast-paced gamemode all about keeping high kill streaks to be able to keep your abilities up and stay alive. The two teams fight for points through kills, and 150 is the target.
It’s a variant of Clash that also has its own twist — a streak of two eliminations will give you the ‘Surging’ buff, which gives you more ability and super energy with kills, and a streak of five eliminations will activate the Hunt for the team to give everyone ability and super energy and increasing the amount you receive per kill.
However, you get a permanent map marker, and if you don’t get an elimination every 15 seconds, you explode and die, losing the buff. This means you have to keep your streak active while players try and stop your streak throughout the game.
Eruption Tips
- Speed is Key: Making sure that you remain agile and keep your speed up will help you stay alive. Your life is the most important thing; try and run away from death as much as you can.
- Don’t Feel The Pressure: Keeping a high streak can feel like a lot of pressure, so just don’t worry about it and have a good time if you feel like the pressure is going to bubble up and get too much to handle. After all, it’s just a game!
- Force Close Quarters Combat: By forcing close quarters combat, you can get a lot of kills with a close-range weapon like an SMG while keeping mobile all along.
Rift
A fan favourite from The Taken King, Rift is Bungie’s take on a classic — Capture the Flag. There’s a spark in the centre of the map, and both teams need to fight for it and then take it to the enemy base to score.
Rift is a classic for a reason, as it takes one of the most beloved gamemodes in any game and turns it into a Crucible original — you know the drill, but the fun in this gamemode is using the Destiny sandbox to be able to achieve victory with a very well-known set of rules.
Importantly, killing an enemy takes them out of the game for ten whole seconds, meaning that combat is still going to decide the outcome of most of your games.
Rift Tips
- Don’t Go Alone: In Rift, if you have the spark, you’ll be marked to all enemies. Going alone will not only guarantee you get killed, but will also gift your enemies the spark. Play with your team and move together for victory.
- Offence is the Best Defence: Sometimes, playing too defensively will lead to one gunfight deciding the whole outcome of the game. Play to put pressure on the other team, and you’ll not only have way more success but you’ll also have way more fun while doing so.
- Movement: Movement techniques are key in running with the spark, so use what you’ve got. Icarus Dash, Blink, Snap Skating, if you know how. Take advantage of your movement kit and keep a step ahead of the other team.
Tribute
Destiny’s take on the famous Call of Duty mode ‘Kill Confirmed’, Tribute has you collect the crests of downed Guardians and deposit them at beacons to score. But if you die, you drop all of the crests you’re holding.
At some point in the match, a deposit zone that’s guarded by turrets will appear, allowing you to have access to a more central deposit zone with a bit more risk. But, otherwise, the goal here is to simply kill Guardians and bank crests until the score limit is reached.
Tribute Tips
- Remember to Deposit: Sometimes, in the chaos of battle, it can be easy to forget to prioritise depositing the crests you have. So, make sure you’re never holding random crests if you can help it.
- Control the Deposit Zones: By taking control of the areas around the deposit beacons, you’ll be able to limit your enemies’ capabilities to deposit. This is massive, as it lets your team take control of the game.
Weapons
There are several weapons available to obtain, either through decrypting engrams or focusing them with Lord Saladin.
There are two groups of weapons to get:
- Iron Banner weapons, which can be focused using 1 Iron Banner engram and 25,000 glimmer, or can drop from decrypted engrams or game completions.
- Legacy Iron Banner weapons, which can only be obtained by focusing using 3 Iron Banner Engrams and 25,000 glimmer.
Even if you’re a PvE player, though, these weapons are nothing to be scoffed at. Some of these weapons are at the peak of the game, and getting your hands on those rolls will certainly help improve your PvE loadouts.
If you want one of these weapons, make sure to grab it during Iron Banner week — otherwise, you’ll have to wait a month to have the chance to get it again.
Let’s take a look at some of the best rolls you can get from Iron Banner right now!
Current Iron Banner Weapons
Archon’s Thunder
Ammo Type: Heavy
Weapon Type: Machine Gun
Element: Stasis
PvE
PvE God Roll: Rimestealer + Headstone
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
For PvE, while other LMGs outclass it in general, Archon’s Thunder is the best Stasis LMG available, and there’s no other one comparable to it. If you like High-Impact LMGs or simply don’t mind the slower fire-rate, this LMG can roll Rimestealer and Headstone, which is a pretty good combination of perks for survivability. While it’s not the best LMG in the game, if you’re looking for a decent option and want to earn it from Iron Banner, it’s not bad at all.
Alternatively, you can go for an ammo perk like Envious Assassin or Fourth Time’s The Charm, and still have a good time with this, but I do think that Rimestealer is the unique selling point of this gun.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Dynamic Sway Reduction + Headstone
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Any given heavy is good in PvP, and so this one will do you decently well if you decide to take it into the Crucible. It doesn’t roll an actively useful perk like Thresh or Strategist, though, even though being able to make Stasis crystals with Headstone is neat. Without a perk that makes it better than average in PvP, it just stays okay.
Claws of the Wolf
Ammo Type: Primary
Weapon Type: Pulse Rifle
Element: Void
PvE
PvE God Roll: Repulsor Brace + Destabilising Rounds
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As far as PvE primaries go, Claws of the Wolf is a great gun that can roll one of the strongest perk combinations in the game. The combination of Repulsor Brace and Destabilising Rounds is infamous, but the recent buffs, essentially making it Incandescent for Void, make having at least one gun with this perk combination a must-have.
The only downside is that the origin perk, Skulking Wolf, doesn’t really do much in PvE whatsoever, and Gridskipper’s rework can roll the same perks with a more relevant origin perk.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Headseeker + Zen Moment
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pulse rifles are incredibly strong in the Crucible right now, and while I wouldn’t say this is as good as a lightweight or especially Redrix’s Estox, the fact that it can roll Headseeker and Zen Moment makes it a strong option if you’re looking for a second-slot rapid-fire Pulse Rifle.
Crimil’s Dagger
Ammo Type: Primary
Weapon Type: Hand Cannon
Element: Kinetic
PvE
PvE God Roll: Enlightened Action + Explosive Payload
PvE Rating: ⭐
Crimil’s Dagger just simply isn’t made for PvE. The only real good perk it has for PvE is Explosive Payload, but otherwise, it just leaves so much to be desired, and there are far better options out there.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Slideways + Precision Instrument
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
While 120rpm Hand Cannons don’t have the dominance on PvP that they once did, Crimil’s Dagger is a 120rpm that can also roll Slideways and Precision Instrument, making it one of the best PvP Hand Cannons in the game. If you’re a PvP Hand Cannon enjoyer, make sure to grab one of these for your collection.
Multimach CCX
Ammo Type: Primary
Weapon Type: Submachine Gun
Element: Kinetic
PvE
PvE God Roll: Attrition Orbs + Kinetic Tremors/Frenzy
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SMGs don’t really have a place in PvE right now, and yet Multimach CCX manages to make a pretty decent use case. The fact that with Attrition Orbs, it can print orbs with ease in the Kinetic slot means it’s still pretty good. With Attrition Orbs, it’s both healing and ability gen in the first slot, which is a rarity to say the least.
There are better orb printers in the game, and better SMGs in the game, but Multimach provides a unique role and so is worth grabbing if you don’t have one (and can’t get the Banshee-44 roll).
PvP
PvP God Roll: Dynamic Sway Reduction + Target Lock/Iron Reach
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
SMGs aren’t in the best place in PvP right now either, and Multimach is still a fine option there too. It’s not going to do too well in a world of Redrix and Radiant Dance Machines, but I wouldn’t sleep on it forever.
Peacebond
Ammo Type: Primary
Weapon Type: Sidearm
Element: Stasis
PvE
PvE God Roll: Headstone + Rimestealer
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐
Like Archon’s Thunder, Peacebond provides an interesting roll in Headstone and Rimestealer, which can give you survivability and CC on demand. However, it doesn’t provide much else, and other guns in the same slot can provide far more utility using Stasis.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Rangefinder/Lone Wolf/Zen Moment + Headseeker
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is really a no-brainer, if you like how Peacebond shoots. Headseeker is one of the best perks in PvP, and all of Rangefinder, Lone Wolf, and Zen Moment are great perks that work well in addition to it. I personally also think Peacebond just feels really nice to fire and has a pretty decent TTK, so I’d argue it’s definitely good enough to take into the Crucible, depending on the map and meta.
Tinasha’s Mastery
Ammo Type: Special
Weapon Type: Rocket Sidearm
Element: Stasis
PvE
PvE God Roll: Air Trigger + Chill Clip
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If there’s any roll that you want to farm for in Iron Banner right now, Tinasha’s Mastery is the gun. It is useful in most content, providing the ability to stun all three kinds of champions in the current artifact while also being the rocket sidearm with the greatest ammo economy in the game.
Getting a roll with both Air Trigger and High Explosive Ordinance will virtually turn Tinasha’s into a Primary weapon, and is my current favourite weapon of choice in pretty much every piece of content I do.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Impulse Amplifier + Chill Clip
PvP Rating: ⭐
Rocket Sidearms are pretty terrible in PvP, due to their awful ammo economy and relatively high TTK compared to other special weapons. There’s also not really a roll here that’s amazing for PvP if it did work as intended, but Tinasha’s is definitely a PvE-only gun.
Tusk of the Boar
Ammo Type: Special
Weapon Type: Breech-Loaded Grenade Launcher
Element: Strand
PvE
PvE God Roll: Slideways + Chain Reaction
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐
Tusk of the Boar is a wave-frame BGL, which already puts it behind area denial-frame BGLs in how effective they can be in any given situation.
On top of this, Tusk of the Boar is one of the worst wave-frame BGLs in the game (behind Deafening Whisper), and the perks it offers don’t provide much when Forbearance and Martyr’s Retribution have way more relevant perks.
Other than utilising Hatchling, which makes you lose the best perk on this weapon, Tusk of the Boar has nothing to do with Strand, and so there’s no reason to run it over the other available options.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Slice + Hatchling
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐
There is no good PvP roll for this gun. It just doesn’t work that well in PvP, and if you really want to run a wave-frame in the Crucible there are a host of better options with more relevant and interesting perks.
Warlord’s Spear
Ammo Type: Special
Weapon Type: Trace Rifle
Element: Arc
PvE
PvE God Roll: Rewind Rounds + Detonator Beam/Jolting Feedback
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐
Especially if you’re not looking for Shoot to Loot or don’t have Keraunios from Guardian Games, Warlord’s Spear is a decent Trace Rifle that can get the job done while offering a lot of ad clear potential.
However, most critcally, it cannot roll Shoot to Loot, which makes it a worse option than other Traces — after all, they’re mainly used to take advantage of Shoot to Loot.
PvP
PvP God Roll: Dynamic Sway Reduction + Target Lock
PvP Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Traditionally, Trace Rifles haven’t been great in the Crucible. But, there is an argument to be made now — by using the seasonal artifact perk Harsh Refraction, you can apply an Arc debuff and increase your Warlord’s Spear damage immensely. This is much easier to do with other elements, but there’s still definitely a use case for it during this season.
Closing Time
Iron Banner is a great game mode that you should definitely give your time and attention to, as a new player.
It’s fairly low stakes, has great gear, and is less scary than it seems from the outside. If you’re looking for a great way to have fun playing PvP over the weekend, or just simply want that Tinasha’s Mastery roll, go hop on Iron Banner right now!
There’s no news as to what’s happening with Iron Banner as we go towards Rite of the Nine and beyond, into the Edge of Fate. But we’ll make sure to let you know as soon as Bungie says something.
Otherwise, have fun, and I’ll see you out there in the Hunt.
