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The Iron Banner returns to Destiny on December 16
Raids, strikes, missions and console-exclusive content aren't the only things heralding the arrival of Destiny's first expansion, The Dark Below. Lord Saladin and The Iron Lords will return to Destiny's PvP mode, the Crucible, for another round of the Iron Banner event on December 16. Bungie Community Manager David "DeeJ" Dague detailed the news - along with plenty of other updates, such as fixes, tweaks and clarifications about how gear will work once The Dark Below is available - as part of the Bungie Weekly Update. DeeJ wrote that while more details about "the experiments happening in the PvP labs" are still incoming, players should know now that participating in the Iron Banner event gives them a chance to earn level 31 gear (the current level cap is 30), and that participants do not need to own The Dark Below to compete. The Iron Banner event, like much of Destiny's content, has seen several major changes throughout its lifespan. After high-level players complained about not feeling powerful enough in relation to low-level players, Bungie introduced "Iron Banner 2.0," which was received better. Whispers of Iron Banner 3 say it features a major villain who turns out to be a red herring thrown in to distract from the fact that the plot is actually adapted from the "Extremis" storyline. Or are we thinking of some other, iron-related trilogy? [Image: Activision]
Iron, man - Destiny's 'reforged' Iron Banner 2.0 goes live
It's hammer-time for Destiny, now that the game's "Reforged" Iron Banner event is up and running until Monday, November 24. Hammer-time, get it? You know... forges... hammers... can't touch this? Oh, never mind. Bungie pitched the first Iron Banner as a limited-time PVP event in which "power matters." It was designed to remove the level playing field of the regular Crucible competitive multiplayer mode. In reality, the level-enabled advantages weren't that advantageous. This time, Bungie knowingly introduced the tweaked Iron Banner by saying, "Power. Does. Matter! (no, really)." According to the developer, players within three levels of each other will be competitive, while "players out of your league will seem like a boss."
Why your high-level Guardian is dying in Destiny's Iron Banner
Despite advertising Destiny's Iron Banner as a player-vs-player event where - according to the official Iron Banner site - "power matters," it seems that developer Bungie may have left room for confusion regarding just how much it matters. "The way we pitched Iron Banner did make it sound like a 'no-holds-barred' playlist. In reality, we delivered what we felt would be a competitive experience for everyone, not just players at the level cap," senior designer Derek Carroll wrote on yesterday's Bungie Weekly Update. "Your skill will take you 80 percent of the way to victory, but that last 20 percent will be a much harder climb without the gear you've been relying on." How much harder? About seven levels' worth, according to Carroll: "To keep competition close and avoid unwinnable fights, the largest advantage you can have is around seven levels. So, if you attacked a target 20 levels above you, you'd have a fair shot at winning that fight." Carroll also notes that, while "time-to-kill" is the same whether a high-level player is shooting at their equal or a low-level foe, the opposite is not true, meaning lower-level players should have a harder time killing experienced combatants. Destiny has had a bit of a rough go post-launch, with players exploiting its respawn system, tweaks to how often players acquired quality loot, and bugs revealing content related to upcoming DLC. The Iron Banner began October 7 and will conclude on October 14. [Image: Activision]
