The Iron Banner in December started just a week after the expansion “Darkness Looms” and threatens to get lost in the general hustle and bustle around Eris Morn. Is it even worth a visit to Lord Saladin?
The Iron Banner is a bit like a snack stand that goes out of style overnight during the pre-Christmas season. Last month, Lord Saladin had great food, and the Guardians were starving.
Everyone gathered around him, admired him, and tried to wheedle the items out of him. The sun was blazing down from above, and his level 30 boots and gloves were highly sought after: The Guardians wanted to be fit for the DLC “Darkness Looms”.
Now a month has passed, and Saladin is offline. The Guardians have filled their bellies elsewhere.
This week, the timing of the Iron Banner is unfortunate: The weather is bad, the snack stand is out of style, and Lord Saladin stands in the corner, wondering why no one wants his stuff while the ungrateful audience gathers around Eris Morn, the new hot thing, dreaming of holding the Necrochasm in their hands.
What Lord Saladin is selling this week
Let’s take a look at what Lord Saladin is selling this week in the Iron Banner:
- Rank 1: Seal of the Iron Lords (3500 Glimmer), an Iron Banner emblem that grants a 10% reputation bonus
- Rank 2: Millions Millions (7000 Glimmer), the Iron Banner shader, which also grants a 10% reputation bonus
- Rank 3: Scar of Radegast (2400 Glimmer), another emblem; two pairs of Light 24/33 boots (9950 Glimmer)
- Rank 4: The respective Class Item (4500 Glimmer), which also brings a 10% reputation bonus; two pairs of Light 24/33 gloves (9950 Glimmer); the legendary Sniper Rifle Efrideet’s Spear 272/331 damage (11,500 Glimmer)
- Rank 5: Golden Spiral, another shader (7500 Glimmer); the legendary Auto Rifle Silimar’s Wrath 272/331 attack (11,500 Glimmer)
It is important to note that you do not need to buy the emblems, shaders, and class items again if you have acquired them in the first two Iron Banners. They grant 10% reputation again if you have equipped them.
Is the Iron Banner worth it?
The Iron Banner is being used extremely rarely this week, especially compared to last month, because the rewards are simply not very attractive. Above all, the Glimmer costs are still astronomically high.
This was okay when it was there last month and the Iron Banner was the only opportunity in Destiny to spend Glimmer. Now with the many changes at Xur and the legendary merchants, Glimmer has become significantly more important.
However, the limit of 25,000 still exists. Even though Bungie does not rule out increasing it at some point.
Here’s a method to farm Glimmer currently in Destiny.
The Armor
Additionally, the armor pieces are made more difficult as he only sells gloves and boots this week. Players have somewhat weaker ones from last time. Additionally, there were legendary gloves from the “Urn of Sacrifice” series for everyone. And the vendors in the Tower now sell similar or better stuff.
Furthermore, many are sharp on the loot in the Raid. And well: Right now everyone is upgrading their stuff and needs Glimmer for it – the Guardians are already “loot-sated.”
The trend in Destiny right now is that players already have enough items; now they have to upgrade all of them, try them out, and then they can think about what they might “buy extra.”
The Weapons
The weapons, especially the sniper rifle, are the highlight of this appearance. However, they come quite late (with ranks 4 and 5), and there is so much else to do in Destiny. The auto rifle Silimar’s Wrath is similarly built to the “Eidolon Ally,” the new auto rifle from the “Husk of the Pit” quest line. Everyone is likely to get the weapon in the coming weeks anyway.
It’s different with Efrideet’s Spear sniper rifle. This is by far the most attractive item in Saladin’s offer. However, it costs almost half of the Glimmer cap, and there are several alternatives now in this slot, including the Black Hammer, the Icebreaker, the Patience and Time, and the vendor rifle LDR 5001.
It’s a question of whether players will have the desire and time this time to keep rerolling the perks of the weapons with Light particles until something suitable comes up. Last time, players bought two editions of each weapon, to reroll one and save the other for now. Whether they will do this again seems questionable.
Guardians are full, timing is bad
Nevertheless, Lord Saladin’s items, armor, and weapons are an interesting “sideway” to obtain armor.
However, this week, Saladin’s snack stand meets more than loot-sated Guardians who are currently fattening themselves at the other snack stands, whether in the Raid, at Eris Morn, or the Vanguard and Crucible vendors.
One can only hope that he encounters hungrier Guardians next time.
