‘Destiny’ Iron Banner Returns With PlayStation Exclusive Gear After Sparrow Racing Ends
Bungie is not about to let the month of December go by without running a Destiny Iron Banner event. At least, that is mostly the case. The three-week long Sparrow Racing Event for the PlayStation and Xbox shooter has monopolized most of the month. However, the special PVP event will return before the start of the New Year and bring some PlayStation exclusive gear with it.
The inaugural Sparrow Racing League will continue in Destiny until the Weekly Reset on Tuesday, December 29. For those who don’t know, this happens at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT. Bungie has confirmed in the Weekly Update that Iron Banner will launch just a few hours later at approximately 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT and will last until the following Weekly Reset on January 4, 2016.
“It’s a manual switch that we flip, so forgive the inexact estimate to account for the human element,” Community Manager David “Deej” Dague explained in the update.
Rocketing to the end of the year in the Weekly Update. https://t.co/JBVixgE4xr pic.twitter.com/uq0cqLDMu0
— Bungie (@Bungie) December 18, 2015
The mode, and some of the weapons that will be on sale for Iron Banner, were also confirmed by Bungie. The event in November experimented with the use of Clash for the first time and will not be experimented again with the Iron Banner to be kicked off at the end of the month. Instead, the oft-used Control mode will return to challenge players to work together as a team to capture and hold points on the map to earn bonus points with kills.
Bungie also confirmed the Hakkon’s Hatchet Auto Rifle and Deidris’s Retort Shotgun will be available for sale from Lord Saladin during the Iron Banner. Other Iron Banner gear will, of course, be dropped upon completing matches. As the last Iron Banner event proved, players will earn better rewards when they rank up their reputation with Lord Saladin.
The usual assortment of Iron Banner armor for Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks will be joined by a selection of new armor that is exclusive to Destiny owners on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. You can check out this gear in the image below.
The introduction of PlayStation exclusive Iron Banner gear to Destiny is part of the timed-exclusivity contract between Activision and Sony. This previously came in the form of timed-exclusive items included in DLC packs, such as House of Wolves. Since Bungie moved to a free DLC model for Year Two supported by microtransactions, the developer is fulfilling those exclusivity obligations through methods such as the Iron Banner armor.
Here’s the breakdown of what Destiny players can purchase or receive as rewards upon improving their Iron Banner reputation ranks. Available from Lord Saladin:
- Rank 3: Boots
- Rank 4: Helmets, Auto Rifles
- Rank 5: Shotgun
Available as post-game drops:
- Rank 2: Helmets
- Rank 3: Class Items, Auto Rifles
- Rank 4: Shotgun
Meanwhile, the Sparrow Racing League is at just about its midway point. The Inquisitr guide for Sparrow Racing will provide you with tips on racing and bounties. If nothing else, the racing event is the best way to get Helmets with a Light level over 310 once you reach SRL Reputation Rank 3. The only other way to receive high Light level helmets is by completing the King’s Fall Oryx challenge on Hard Mode, and even that is not always guaranteed since you could receive a Primary Weapon instead.
Sparrow Racing League Pixelart As see on the Creations page: https://t.co/xFhVq9ONp1 pic.twitter.com/myLAQVyu22
— Bungie (@Bungie) December 17, 2015
The Iron Banner schedule has been thrown off a good bit with the initial delay following the release of The Taken King and another delay due to the Sparrow Racing League. It’s typically a monthly event, so we’ll have to wait and see if and when Bungie brings back SRL and how that will affect Iron Banner going forward.
[Image via Bungie]
