Many players came away less than impressed with Destiny's first Iron Banner event attempt. Designed to be a more "hardcore" version of Destiny's player vs. player, it was instead a long, slow grind to purchase new gear that couldn't even hold a candle to the game's existing high-level raid gear.
But Bungie is listening, and in its regular weekly update has announced some big changes are coming to the Iron Banner when the event returns in the near future. For starters, this new Iron Banner will better meet player expectations by making your own personal weapons, armor and level more important. Fireteam leaders will have to be level 20 or above to enter their fireteam into the Iron Banner playlist. Though players under level 20 can join by piggybacking on a level 20 plus fireteam leader, Bungie says under-leveled players will find the experience very challenging.
One of the primary problems with Iron Banner was the painfully slow process of gaining Iron Banner reputation needed in order to purchase the high level armor and weapons exclusive to the event. Players on a winning team were rewarded with reputation, while those on the losing team gained nothing. If you found yourself on a losing streak, the Iron Banner quickly became a chore and incentivized players to leave mid-match. To fix this, Bungie is adding the Medallion of Iron item. Losing a match will grant the player one of these medallions. When a player wins, all the medallions gained from losing matches convert into a reputation gain almost equal to that of a win.
Iron Banner bounties, or special objectives that can be completed for reputation gains, are also seeing changes. Bounties will now grant more reputation and several of the more difficult ones have been toned down. A new buff will also be available for purchase that increases Iron Banner reputation gains depending on how long the event has been going on. This is so players joining in on the event later in the week can make up for lost time.
Iron Banner items and weapons will also be getting a much needed boost. Players will have to farm for more reputation, but the reward will be a selection of 30+ level armor that is equivalent to that of the game's current raid gear.
That's a long list of major coming to what will be one of Destiny's recurring events for months to come. Bungie says more exact details will be coming soon. Until then, be sure to keep Bungie in the know about what Destiny could do better. They are definitely listening.
