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Destiny’s Iron Banner 2.0 arriving next week with new rewards, tougher challenges

Destiny

Player levels and gear will actually count when facing off against opponents when the Iron Banner returns to Destiny next week

Bungie has confirmed that version 2.0 of the Iron Banner multiplayer challenge will be arriving in Destiny next week, letting Guardians get their multiplayer fix in arenas where the gear they equip and weapons they carry will determine how much damage they dish out – and receive from their opponents.

When the Iron Banner was first launched, players quickly discovered that a Guardian’s level, gear and weapon didn’t make much of an impact, meaning a low-level gamer could compete on an almost level playing field with those that had spent hours searching for the best gear (or faming it in front of the now infamous Loot Cave). This was contrary to how Bungie had described the mode in pre-launch interviews and reports, and understandably gamers were a little miffed.

That is set to change on monday when Lord Saladin re-opens the door to the Iron Banner. Now only players over level 20 will be able to bring a Fireteam into the Iron Banner, and although players below level 20 can join more powerful friends, you’ll need to be within three levels of your opponent in order to remain competitive. Defence and Attack ratings are now factored into damage and health, so geared up players should be able to plough through weaker Guardians. There are now five Iron Banner ranks, which unlock better gear as you progress through them. Weapons can be reforged to reset their unlock progression and gain new perks, letting you re-roll specific guns for more beneficial effects like faster reload times, less recoil and elemental damage. 

There are now incentives to stay in a game, even if your team has no chance of winning; previously, Guardians would quit multiplayer matches once their team was losing by a significant margin as there was no punishment, and nothing to gain from sticking around, but now tokens are gifted to the losing side. They can be redeemed for reputation rewards after your next win.

Players looking to max out their Iron Banner level will have to move fast though; their experience from the previous competition may carry over to next week’s challenge, but once that wraps up their experience will be reset.

The Iron Banner update, which is due to arrive on monday, will also launch a beta test for in-game communication, letting players in matchmaking communicate with one another. Currently the only way for Guardians to talk is via party chat on whatever console they are playing on – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Now though, it will be possible to opt-in to match chat or fireteam chat in order to coordinate attacks or organise strategies when tackling the challenging end-game Raids. Bungie’s community manager David Dague explained the feature in a blog post on bungie.net, saying that while “Bungie cannot guarantee the quality of the teammates we’ll match you with,” forcing players to opt-in to chat should lead to “more friendly environments”.

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