In the MMO shooter, the start of the next major event is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, December 16. The Iron Banner is set to begin again.
In the hustle and bustle around the expansion “Darkness Awaits,” the event “Iron Banner” is almost overshadowed; however, it is supposed to take place tomorrow at 10:00 AM with the weekly reset: Lord Saladin will set up his tents. The PvP event will start anew.
So far, a precise announcement with the details is still pending. There isn’t much “mysterious” left anyway. Most of it is known.
This is likely to remain the same
Most of what is known about the Iron Banner, although at the moment the official confirmation is still missing that it will be “just like this”, but that is what everyone assumes. After the first event in October was nothing, Bungie fundamentally revised the concept and relaunched at the end of November with significantly more success. One can assume that the basic pillars of the concept will be retained:
- Equipment counts, but not too much (the diagram above makes the curve clear).
- For defeats, there will likely also be a coin that can be converted into reputation with a victory and is stackable up to 5 times. For a win, there were 50 reputation points, for a defeat coin 40.
- A bonus ensures that Guardians receive much faster reputation at the end of the event. The bonus “Hardened” lasts for 12 hours and costs a strange coin. It can be redeemed multiple times. Last time, the bonus increased significantly towards the end of the event. While it was only 10% at the beginning, it continuously rose until it increased reputation gain in the Iron Banner by 150% on the last day.
- On rank levels 1, 2, and 4, there are shaders, emblems, and class items that grant a 10% reputation bonus.
- In the last Iron Banner, ranks 3 and 4 had the “new armor”, with even purchasable legendary weapons at higher ranks. These cost little marks, but a lot of glimmer.
- The Iron Banner will not include any of the new maps that came with Darkness Awaits.
- Last time you needed 100 reputation for rank 1, plus 1200 reputation for rank 2, plus 2400 (rank 3), plus 2400 (rank 4), and an additional 2400 reputation (rank 5) to rank up. This should remain the same this time.
This is likely to change
So far it is known that instead of the previous level-30 armor, there will be level-31 armor, so which has a light level of 33. This was significantly more spectacular when we did not know yet that light level-33 armor would also be available from the vendor. But at least that saves a bunch of marks.
There will also likely be new legendary weapons or at least new versions of the old ones that will go up to 331 damage – like the vendor weapons.
Last time there were only boots and gloves for armor; as “purchasable” weapons a fusion rifle and a scout rifle, whose “properties” could be rerolled. Whether these items will be available again is not currently known. That remains the only “real” surprise.
And this time, reputation in the Iron Banner will be reset to zero before it starts.
It is likely that we will also hear something officially by tomorrow morning. We will update the article accordingly.
How can you still prepare for the December Iron Banner in Destiny?
If you want to prepare at short notice: The Iron Banner costs money. Farming glimmer helps immensely: Here we have a guide to glimmer farming for you.
Last time, the “old” shaders, emblems, and class items from the Iron Banner could be reused. You could already pick them out and get them ready. Then you start with a bonus of 30%.
Well, and of course it would help if you already had a fully upgraded 331 weapon or were already at level 31, but … it would be somewhat cynical to recommend that to you, wouldn’t it?
Update 9:45: The official announcement came, the respective page is above. Everything appears just as expected. Level 31 armor pieces, and for the armors actually only boots and gloves.
The announcement also states that Guardians can retain their old ranks … but that looks like a Bungie error on the presentation side. They probably copy-pasted the old message and did not update this part.
Update 10:30: As expected, the ranks have been reset, even though the message says otherwise. Much more importantly: Reports are surfacing that you can only play the Iron Banner if you have purchased and activated the DLC “Darkness Awaits.” This is likely to cause serious trouble. That is certainly not intended; in the last Weekly Update, it was explicitly stated that you do not need the expansion.
The rerolling of old Iron Banner items does not upgrade them to the new version! If you were hoping to cheaply obtain a 331 version of an old Iron Banner weapon, that is not possible.
The weapons that are available are new: The sniper rifle Efrideet’s Spear at rank 4, and the auto rifle Silimar’s Wrath at rank 5. The sniper rifle has a high impact and is already attracting interest.
