Iron Banner guide - Destiny 2
A thorough look at Iron Banner, including seasonal weapons, new modes, reputation boosts, and more in Destiny 2.
Iron Banner has returned to Destiny 2 and it’s a different beast. While the core principles remain the same, a lot of the overall mechanics and systems have been updated. This Iron Banner guide will give you a thorough overview of each aspect of the event, the weapons and gear on offer, and a look at how the reputation boosts work.
Iron Banner quest
Before players can dive into Iron Banner, they will first need to complete the Forging Iron quest. This quest introduces players to each new element of Iron Banner, from rep boosts to challenges and rounding it out at the Iron Engrams. There is no longer a seasonal Iron Banner quest as players can now earn gear by increasing their rank.
Iron Banner game modes: Rift
Iron Banner used to only feature Control as its main mode, but times are changing. These days, players can expect the Iron Banner mode to rotate between a selection of modes each time it’s active. For the duration of Season of the Haunted, players were treated to Rift across a variety of maps.
Rift sees players competing in a sort of basketball-like activity. Teams spawn at opposite sides of symmetrical maps and must fight to control a Spark that spawns in the center. Pick up the Spark and dunk it in your enemy’s rift to score a point, ending the round. First to five wins. Players can revive their downed teammates, which means controlling enemy Ghosts is critical for success.
Keep a tab on our Iron Banner schedule so you know what mode is coming up next and which ones were available in the past.
Earning reputation in Iron Banner
Unlike Vanguard, Crucible, Gambit, Trials, and Xur’s Strange Favor ranks, earning reputation to increase Iron Banner ranks is a bit different. Players still earn reputation by completing matches and increase the earnings by gaining streaks, but they can also earn boosts.
There are three ways to get an Iron Banner rank boost: equip five pieces of Iron Banner gear (weapons, armor, and ornaments), complete Daily Challenges, and equip an Iron Banner emblem. Doing all three of these offers a significant reputation boost, fast tracking your rank.
Speaking of rank, take a look at our Iron Banner Ranks guide for information on each level, the points need to move up, and what you get for resetting.
Daily & Weekly Challenges
Iron Banner bounties are gone. You’ll no longer have four bounties to pick up from Saladin, instead, you will have Daily Challenges that reward you with gear. These challenges are displayed on the Iron Banner node and are labelled in-game as Weekly Challenges – hence the general confusion around them.
Completing a Daily Challenge will get you one marker on the aforementioned Iron Banner rank boost. There are four Daily Challenges to complete during every Iron Banner event. A Daily Challenge is unlocked each day for players to tackle. Don’t feel you have to log in each day to do the challenge, they will all be available to complete even if you wait four days to play.
Rewards & Focusing Engrams
Rewards work a little bit different in Iron Banner these days. Players will no longer receive a new gun for completing a quest step (because the seasonal Iron Banner quest is gone). The new system ties new weapons to your Iron Banner rank – hit a specific new rank and earn a new weapon. You will also receive an Iron Engram at each new rank.
As for weapons and armor, once an item is earned, you can fish for a god roll by using the Iron Engram focusing mechanic. This is available at Lord Saladin and will set you back 20,000 Glimmer and 100 Legendary Shards per item. You get to choose which weapon or piece of armor you focus, which means you can pour all your resources into finding a Riiswalker god roll.
Season of the Haunted weapons, armor, and rewards
During Season of the Haunted, players could earn the Wizened Rebuke and Hero’s Burden as part of the Iron Banner Rank rewards. Users were also given an opportunity to weapons from past seasons.
- Rank 4: Peacebond Sidearm
- Rank 7: Razor’s Edge Sword
- Rank 10: Frontier’s Cry Hand Cannon
- Rank 13: The Wizened Rebuke Fusion Rifle
- Rank 16: The Hero’s Burden Submachine Gun
- Rank Reset: Ascendant Shard
Season 17 also introduced Focused Decoding for Iron Banner gear for the first time. Players could use one Iron Engram, 20,000 Glimmer, and 100 Legendary Shards to focus a single item.
- Iron Forerunner armor (no class item)
- The Wizened Rebuke
- The Hero’s Burden
- Razor’s Edge
- Frontier’s Cry
- Peacebond
- Forge’s Pledge
- Riiswalker
- Archon’s Thunder
As Iron Banner continues to shift and change over the coming seasons, make sure to check back here so you know what to expect. You can also take a look at the Shacknews Destiny 2 Strategy Guide for a look at other special events.
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