There are a number of changes coming to Iron Banner season 20, most of them are carry-overs from changes that came into effect during the last Iron Banner of last season. And while Bungie announced a few things more changes coming this season, it is worth noting that Iron Banner remains largely the same as it was in previous Destiny 2 seasons.
Some of the changes from last season include increased Iron Banner reputation gains from winning matches, adjusted multipliers between challenges and gear, and significantly increased multiplier for wearing an emblem. Additionally, Bungie has stated that players will be able to claim the new Ferrous Ferocity emblem at Rank 16 on the first reset. This gives players who don’t have Iron Banner emblems yet to start earning 50% more reputation from doing Iron Banner matches.
Iron Banner Season 20 Game Mode Rotation
Starting in Destiny 2 season 20, Iron Banner will be returning 3 times per season. During these weeks, a different game mode will be applied throughout the week. In the week of March 21, 2023, the game featured game mode is the classic Iron Banner Control.
A couple of weeks from now in Week 6, the game mode is going to be Eruption. And finally, Week 8 will see the return of the Fortress game mode. Unfortunately, Rift will not make a return this season. There is a strong possibility that it’ll return during the first Iron Banner of Season 21 alongside any of the new additions to the game mode Bungie has planned.
New Iron Banner Rewards
Joining the pool of rewards for Iron Banner are the reprised weapons:
- Jorum’s Claw Pulse Rifle
- Bite of the Fox Sniper Rifle
From our initial impressions, both weapons look promising, especially the Jorum’s Claw Pulse Rifle. The Rank 4 Bite of the Fox Sniper Rifle is a bit of an odd one but it does sound and feel great. But maybe after some time, we may get something more worth chasing after.
Iron Banner Focused Decoding
The following weapons and armor can be focused when you interact with Lord Saladin:
- The Hero’s Burden Submachine Gun
- The Wizened Rebuke Fusion Rifle
- Allied Demand Sidearm
- Roar of the Bear Rocket Launcher
- Dark Decider Auto Rifle
- Gunnora’s Axe Shotgun
- Jorum’s Claw Pulse Rifle
- Bite of the Fox Sniper Rifle
- Iron Companion Set
At the cost of: (If previously acquired)
- 1 Iron Engram
- 25 Legendary Shards
- 20,000 Glimmer
Iron Banner Legacy Gear
The following Legacy weapons and armor can be focused when you interact with Lord Saladin:
- Occluded Finality Sniper Rifle
- Riiswalker Shotgun
- Archon’s Thunder Machine Gun
- Peacebond Sidearm
- Forge’s Pledge Pulse Rifle
- Frontier’s Cry Hand Cannon
- Razor’s Edge Sword
- Iron Remembrance Set
- Iron Fellowship Set
- Iron Truange Set
- Iron Will Set
- Iron Forerunner Set
At the cost of: (if previously acquired)
- 2 Iron Engrams (Weapons) or 1 Iron Engram (Armor)
- 10,000 Glimmer
- 25 Legendary Shards
(If not yet acquired)
- 5 Iron Engrams (Weapons) or 3 Iron Engrams (Armor)
- 25,000 Glimmer
- 50 Legendary Shards
Admittedly, the asking price is very steep. But if you don’t have any of these items yet in your collection, they could be worth it. Farming god rolls, on the other hand, is a completely different matter.
Finally, Bungie would like the Destiny 2 community to know that they will be sharing more information about the future of Iron Banner in a future blog post. We don’t quite know yet if it’s going to get its own dedicated post but any change is greatly appreciated at this point.
And that’s everything you need to know about Iron Banner season 20 in Destiny 2. Good luck out there on the battlefield, Guardians. And don’t forget, Iron Banner is a marathon, not a sprint. You could have all the armor and shaders in Destiny 2, and all the adjustments to make it easier, and it’ll still take a fair number of matches to reach that first reset. At the very least have the Iron Banner armor on as an ornament. (Yes, those count.) There’s no reason not to have them on in the few times per season they are actually useful.
Check out this video from Youtuber Aztecross where he goes over all the changes to Iron Banner season 20.