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Iron Banner Guide in Destiny 2 Season of the Witch

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Iron Banner is back in Season of the Witch and we have a bunch of rewards available including weapons and cosmetics. Today I am going to cover the complete guide for Iron Banner including how to get started, how to earn Iron Banner loot, how to find the Iron Banner Challenges, plus check out the god roll weapons you should be chasing this season, plus a look at the Iron Banner title.

Without further delay, let’s dive into things.

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.

When does Iron Banner happen?

Iron Banner is 3 times per season, rather than 2, with the first instalment of Iron Banner kicking off this week. Iron Banner will then run in upcoming weeks, and in previous seasons it’s run in Week 6, and Week 9.

Iron Banner Game Modes

This season we’re going to have rotating game modes throughout the season including regular Control, Eruption and Fortress. Rift has been removed from the rotation of Iron Banner game modes, and that’s been relegated to a regular rotating playlist mode.

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.

How to earn Iron Banner loot

Iron Banner has a range of loot on offer including weapons, armor and the Iron Lord Title. Lord Saladin is our Iron Banner vendor, and you can find him in the Tower near the courtyard landing zone. By playing Iron Banner you can rank up with Lord Saladin, and each time you rank up you’ll earn Iron Banner Engrams and powerful upgrades. Play Iron banner to earn XP, and get as many Iron Banner engrams as possible. Iron Banner engrams can be decrypted at Master Rahool in the Tower for Iron Banner loot, or you can focus your Iron Banner Engrams with Lord Saladin himself, but be aware this can be a costly business regarding legendary shards.

Weapons God Roll Guide

Here’s the best rolls to look out for related to Iron Banner weapons this season.

Point of the Stag

Point of the Stag is a Legendary Energy Combat Bow with a Precision Frame meaning it’s a Compound Bow. Longer draw time optimized for damage.

We have a choice of Origin Traits for all Iron Banner weapons this season

  • Skulking Wolf – While at low health, Guardian final blows with this weapon grant enhanced radar and remove you from opposing radar.
  • Wild Card – Final blows with this weapon have a chance to create experimental submunitions at the target’s location.

For PVE Elastic String, Compact Arrow Shaft, Archer’s Tempo and Dragonfly would be good.

  • Elastic String – Decreases accuracy, Faster draw time, Slightly increases handling speed
  • Compact Arrow Shaft – Increases handling speed, Increases reload speed
  • Archer’s Tempo – Draw time decreases after every precision hit.
  • Dragonfly – Precision kills create an elemental damage explosion.

For PVP Polymer String, Compact Arrow Shaft, Archer’s Tempo and Swashbuckler would be good.

  • Precision Instrument – Dealing sustained damage increases precision damage.

The Guiding Sight

The Guiding Sight is a Legendary Kinetic Scout 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.

For PVE Hitmark IS, Flared Magwell, Rapid Hit and Vorpal Weapon would be good.

  • Hitmark IS – Greatly increases handling speed, Slightly increases range
  • Flared Magwell – Slightly increases stability, Greatly increases reload speed
  • Rapid Hit – Rapid precision hits temporarily increase stability and reload speed.
  • Vorpal Weapon – Increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active.

For PVP Cleanshot IS, Ricochet Rounds, Slideshot, Iron Grip would be good.

  • Cleanshot IS – Increases handling speed, Slightly increases range
  • Ricochet Rounds – Increases range
  • Slideshot – Sliding partially reloads this weapon’s magazine and temporarily boosts range and stability.
  • Iron Grip – Massively improves weapon stability at the cost of reload speed.

Armor Guide

This season we continue with the very popular set of Iron Banner armor from The Taken King Era of Destiny 2. This season we have options, as we can focus legacy armor sets through legacy focusing.

Iron Banner Legacy Focusing

We also have legacy focusing through Lord Saladin, meaning you can get past season weapons and armor. There are a range of weapons made available, plus some good looking armor sets. Iron Banner Armor Sets Available for Legacy Focusing:

Iron Forerunner
Iron Will
Iron Truage
Iron Fellowship
Iron Remembrance

You can access the Iron Banner Legacy Focusing options by chatting with Lord Saladin in the Tower, and checking out the Legacy Focusing menu.

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.

Let me know in the comments what you think of Iron Banner.

That’s it for this Iron Banner Guide in Destiny 2. For more Destiny 2 content like this check out more on This Week In Video Games youtube channel and subscribe today.