The Iron Banner is in Destiny the chance for Etheric Light. But getting there isn’t that easy. Especially if you really don’t like PvP. A end-of-the-day Guardian reports.
Yes, I did it. I, the total noob in PvP, dared to venture into the Iron Banner. Somewhere on the internet (where could it have been?) I read that the Iron Banner is the easiest way to get Etheric Light. What would Gandalf say now? “Flee, you fools!” But no. Since I still find it hard to listen to older, wiser people, I brave it. Armed with Hawkmoon, some half-baked shotgun, and Ir Yûts song, I take off.
Everything went great! Then came the first match …
I am quite proud of myself that I remembered before the first game to take the Iron Banner bounty and this hardness thingy with me. There shouldn’t be anything that could go wrong now. Oh yes. It can.
I must admit: So far, I’ve avoided PvP like the devil avoids holy water, and when I dared to talk about the Trials of Osiris in the party chat, I was just laughed at. I have done some exotic bounties and completed all those that don’t require PvP. The others have occupied (just like Urzok) bounty slots on my Warlock for ages – more out of sentimentality than with the justified hope of successfully completing these bounties someday.
This is how it is without Dorn in the Crucible. Great map. You can really jump nicely. Especially past the objective. Exactly… hop-hop!
Boom, boom, boom! Why isn’t he dying? Oh, he’s one of us
Completely free from all tactical constraints, I run through the map and shoot at everything that isn’t on the trees by three. Ha, someone comes around the corner. Boom, boom, boom. Three headshots with the Hawkmoon. WHY ISN’T HE DYING, THAT STUPID LAGGER???
Upon careful consideration, I conclude that it might also be due to the fact that “the stupid lagger” is actually on my team. Time to think, I actually have enough, because while I shot my own teammate, I was chopped up by some lousy, invisible hunter with his Arc Blade.
This is all happening too fast for me. While I finally take aim at an opponent and pull the trigger, I get sniped again by someone with the Dorn (alternately with Partycrasher, Efrideet’s Spear or any other conceivable weapon) from the left, right, behind, or above.
The fist is on! What?! Where is the bubble coming from?
But finally my super is full. Melee attack with the Titan – THE FIST OF CHAOS. I run through the map. Ha, there they are. Three reds in one spot. I will take you down. I take a run, jump off, land precisely, and activate my super. A beautiful, blue-glimmering “bubble” appears. Oh damn, wrong focus. But since the enemies are luckily even more confused by this action than I am, I still land a melee hit – before I die.
And so it continues. Another nice example is the story with the heavy ammunition. “Heavy ammo incoming,” echoes from my speakers. Uh, how? Where? What? By the time I get there, there’s either none left, or I’m of course where at least three opponents are waiting for me. The result should be known…
Well, eventually the game is over, and to my greatest surprise, my team actually won. Motivated by my glorious performance, I immediately start the next game. After a few games, I slowly realize that I’m not performing as badly anymore. Might also be because the opponents are not always equally skilled.
Interestingly, I lose most of the games in which I hit somewhat and vice versa. But I’m okay with that. At the end of the night, I am quite satisfied with myself for my standards.
Now it’s tactical playing!
I’m still not on rank 3. At least one Etheric Light should be there for all the effort. So we go into the Iron Banner as a three-man team on the last day. Then it gets wild. Now I’m told I also have to play tactically. While I still have to complete the “15 Zones capture bounty.” “DO NOT CAPTURE ZONE C!!!” Huh, why is that? “Because the enemies will spawn elsewhere!” Oh, is that how it is?
This is all too much for me. I’m just too static and standing too much in one spot. Unless I’m hopping in the wrong direction again. But still. On Monday night (Tuesday morning), sometime during the night, it is done. Two bounties completed and I fly to the Tower to turn them in. With the whole “last day bonus,” this should surely be enough for the 3700 points and rank 3. Of course, it’s not enough. I’m missing 13 points…
The call of the Etheric Light
That’s enough for me now. I don’t want it anymore. I’m tired and I want to go to bed. And I want that stupid Etheric Light. I want! I want! I want!!! So, one more game. And that’s when it goes really well. In the quarter-hour Iron Banner, I get two kills on some crappy map that I couldn’t remember the name of again. But I’ve learned: If I’m bad, my team wins. And so it is this time too.
Finally: I am on rank 3. My Hunter is at 34. And I’m tired.
The end-of-the-day Guardian is Bernd Mutschler. In two columns, he has already reported about his adventures in Destiny on our site:
