This week, Destiny 2 Iron Banner returns, giving players one last chance to earn specialty armour, weapons, and rewards that are only available for a few weeks each season. If you missed the previous Iron Banner event or simply needed more time to earn Iron Banner rank rewards, this is the event for you.
Destiny 2 Iron Banner is a staple of the FPS game, celebrating the game’s PvP activities at their most chaotic. Although it operates similarly to Crucible, this special timed event offers a limited set of rewards that players can only get by completing Iron Banner activities. It is available to all players, regardless of whether they own in-game expansions or seasonal DLC.
Destiny 2 Iron Banner season 18 start time, rewards, and quest: Two Guardians attack in front of an Iron Banner symbol.
Destiny 2 Iron Banner: Overview and start time
The final Iron Banner of Season 18 begins on Nov. 15 with the weekly reset, which takes place at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT / 6pm CET. The event runs only for a week and will end on Nov. 22. PvP players should note Trials of Osiris will be disabled during weeks when Iron Banner is active.
New players must have completed the New Light quest through to the point where they’ve met Lord Shaxx to access Iron Banner. Guardians must then speak with Lord Saladin in the Tower Courtyard. Lord Saladin typically only appears when Iron Banner is active.
Throughout the event, you can rank up with Lord Saladin by completing matches and completing tasks that improve player reputation. You will begin the season’s second Iron Banner with the amount of reputation gained from the season’s previous Iron Banner.
Iron Banner used to take into account Light levels, but that is no longer the case. Therefore, you needn’t worry about leveling your weapons and gear before participating in the event.
This season’s Iron Banner features a game mode called Eruption. Players will grow stronger as they earn kills until, after reaching a streak of five kills, they enter a ‘Prime’ state that scores additional points but consumes the Guardian after 15 seconds. This season, Iron Banner Eruption operates similarly to the Clash game mode, but in the future, Bungie plans to apply Eruption to Control and Rift.
As of Nov. 15, Bungie has fixed an Iron Banner Eruption bug that caused a Primed player on a 5+ streak to give extra points to each participant player. Now, it only rewards the player that dealt the final blow. Bungie has also implemented a fix to show only Iron Banner medals, as regular Crucible medals were showing in the season’s first Iron Banner event.
Destiny 2 Iron Banner rewards
One of the best aspects of Iron Banner is that it allows you to farm for higher-stat armour than they’ll get from typical world drops. This season’s Iron Banner set features the Forerunner set, which initially debuted in Season 15. As an added benefit, Season 18’s Iron Banner Forerunner armour features an intrinsic perk called Iron Lord’s Pride, which grants a chance to earn an Enhancement Prism at the conclusion of Iron Banner matches. Each armour piece players don during a match increases the chance an Enhancement Prism will drop (up to four armour pieces), so players should plan to equip each armour piece as they acquire them throughout the week.
Destiny 2 Iron Banner season 18 start time, rewards, and quest: Three Guaridans don Iron Banner Forerunner armour sets.
Iron Banner will also reliably drop armour pieces with stats that are 60+, which is typically better than most world drops.
You’re also guaranteed an Allied Demand Legendary Shotgun upon reaching Rank 4, at which point you will also unlock Iron Banner weapon focusing.