Iron Banner Update and Drop Rate Change

Last Updated on October 16, 2022

Sound the horns of victory as the Iron Banner is here again!

Iron Banner

So, what is the Iron Banner you may ask? For the uninitiated, it is a limited time Crucible event happening every month. Lasts for one week, these events are a must for the veterans of this console shooter. We say veterans because level advantages are in enabled here. So, if you have a low light level, you better think twice before you eat some blaster fire.  Weapons and armor do more, Light Weapons do more damage and Light armor will soak up damage like a sponge in the sink.  Originally overseen by Lord Saladin and now watched by Lady Efrideet, purchase shaders, emblems and high-end weapon and armor. All this can be done by using Glimmer and Legendary marks given that your rank is high enough.

Complete the Lady’s bounties by winning matches in the Iron Banner and get 250 reputation points to your faction. Lose and not all is lost, gain a Medallion of Iron that you can carry five at a time and once you taste victory, you can exchange them with 150 reputation points. So, all in all not bad.

Rewards differ and are granted after the end of each match. Any artifacts dropped are light level of up to five more than the current level of the player. There are five levels, Rank 1 to Rank 5, Emblems, Shaders, Emblem, Armor, Bond, Mark, Cloak etc. can be collected as you complete the event. Why is this important you ask? Some of these drops are legendary and not only are they powerful, but it screams git gud once you have worn them.  Some of the Iron Banner events are tied to questlines and lets you unlock even more powerful gear down the line.  Not only will it give you one piece of each set for your class but also one specific class item.

What Changed?

So, what happened to a weekly event that almost every Destiny player is looking forward to? With the Trials of the Osiris placed on hold due to some shady player dealings, another part of the game has seemed to have taken a hit.  Trials of the Osiris was suspended indefinitely with no word from Bungie on when it would be restored, now the Iron Banner has received flacked from players. The previously lucrative deal of fighting other high-level players in a gladiatorial match for engrams, now had issues with dropping items.  Specifically, in The Eyes of Tomorrow, a powerful, exotic rocket launcher.  The process of getting this weapon is not easy and guaranteed. You cannot grind it and expect to get it right away, you must defeat Taniks, The Abomination, the final boss of the Deep Stone Crypt raid. Coming from his final drop after you get your regular loot. Only one shot per week per character, three if you have each character class. Yes, the perks are great, but some do not have the patience to wait week after week if it does not show up on your first try. Despite the numerous clears for multiple characters, the systems random numbers game seems to be broken. Bungie discovered that the bad luck protection was mistakenly applied on a per character basis instead of across accounts.  The reward was supposed to give players a sense of achievement as they try to fight tooth and nail every week to get that drop.  This means a lot of work for solo players as they would need to wait another week for a crack at the exotic.

What Now Bungie?

The developers realized that the protection for the system was mistakenly applied on a per character basis. Mistakenly adding protection points to individual characters instead of accounts. Only the first character that you ran the raid with would have the protection added. Which can take up to three times as long for the benefits to show. Bungie now released an update 3.1.1.1 where all raid completions are added to a single value.  Correcting the max possible completions towards bad luck protection regardless of the character that you used. The protection moving forward will accumulate properly regardless of the character. For Some players this will have no effect on one character. For others this means that the bad luck protection will now triple.  Increasing your chances on getting the Random Numbers game to your side.

Final Thoughts

Bungie has entered the year with issues after issues, and now must play fireman to stop the fire from razing a good game to the ground. With the Iron Banner and The Trials of Osiris gaining negative publicity for its recent issues. Us Guardians would just look forward where we can fight for the light.  Stay tuned and heed the call!