Bungie has announced the first Iron Banner after the launch of Destiny 2: Forsaken. All players should be able to participate, regardless of whether the expansion was purchased or not. But how exactly will the level advantages affect the game? Bungie is in a dilemma.
First Iron Banner in Destiny 2 with level advantages: With the launch of Forsaken, Bungie has restructured the Iron Banner:
- Finally, level advantages should be active again, as the lore “prescribes.” After all, only the best should be able to compete with each other.
- At the same time, Bungie wants to allow players who did not purchase the Forsaken expansion to participate in the Iron Banner.
Both ideas contradict each other: Everyone can join. But power level advantages are active. So what about players without Forsaken?
The questions:
- Will players without Forsaken have a significant disadvantage in the Iron Banner?
- Or are the power level advantages only marginal?
We do not yet know the answer to both questions.
Bungie’s TWAB only provides vague information: A corresponding statement was found in a weekly blog post from Bungie in August: It states that buyers of Forsaken will have an advantage, but in principle, all players can participate.
Depending on the perceptibility of these advantages, two scenarios can be derived, both of which may represent a dilemma for Bungie.
Scenario 1 – The level advantages are clearly noticeable
Without Forsaken, no chance in the Iron Banner: Those who could not or did not want to purchase the latest expansion will be at most level 30 and power level 400. Guardians with Forsaken will largely be at a power level between 520 and 540 due to the raid launch this weekend.
A difference of more than 100 levels would lead to one-sided gunfights due to the strongly pronounced level advantages. What role character level plays is still unknown at this time. For players without Forsaken to have any chance at all, the character level must be completely ignored.
If players with this significantly higher level have advantages in combat, the motivation for non-Forsaken players is likely to drop quickly. They benefit from the rewards after a match but have little opportunity to make their mark on the fights.
Mixed teams could cause issues: Guardians with significantly lower power levels are likely to disrupt the team balance in the Iron Banner. If the split between players with and without Forsaken is not even, some teams may already have a clear disadvantage at the start.
If the level advantages are noticeable, Bungie’s announcement that all players can participate becomes a pipe dream. Because then Guardians without Forsaken may only be able to take part on paper in the Iron Banner but will be practically hopeless.
Scenario 2 – The level advantages are marginal
Power level differences are negligible: If the damage drop-off at a power level difference of between 100 and 140 points is only marginal, all Guardians can easily participate in the Iron Banner.
In this case, however, Bungie would have to be asked why the level “advantages” are even back in the game. If the effect is hardly noticeable even with large level differences, Bungie could just as well have kept the status quo from year 1.
No matter which scenario applies, Bungie is in a dilemma: If the power level advantages are clearly noticeable, players without Forsaken are likely to have a significant disadvantage. At the same time, this would always be a disadvantage for team balance if players are unevenly distributed.
If the advantages are only marginal, Bungie will face the accusation of having reintroduced level advantages into the game when they have no effect.
When will we know more? However the level advantages become noticeable, on Tuesday, September 18, we will know more. The first Iron Banner in Forsaken will start then.
What do you think? How will Bungie implement the power level advantages?
