Destiny 2 Iron Banner dates, start time, rewards, and quest

Destiny 2 Iron Banner is always an exciting time for PvP aficionados, with the most skillful of players being rewarded handsomely with exotic armour, weapons, and unique shaders. Iron Banner doesn’t come around often, so it’s important to know exactly when you’ll be able to compete with the best of the best in the fiercely competitive multiplayer mode.

Iron Banner is a staple of the FPS game, celebrating Destiny 2’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’s available to all players in the free PC game, regardless of whether they own in-game expansions or seasonal DLC.

Destiny 2 Iron Banner start date

Destiny 2 Iron Banner starts March 21 and runs through March 28. The next two Iron Banner events are from April 4 to April 11, and April 25 to May 2.

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. Iron Banner is open to all players, regardless of whether they own any DLC.

Throughout the event, you can rank up with Lord Saladin by completing matches and completing tasks that improve player reputation. Rank rewards are cumulative throughout the season, meaning you will begin the season’s second Iron Banner with the amount of reputation gained from the season’s previous Iron Banner, and will start the third with the rank gained from the two previous sessions.

The event typically features a special mode, and while it used to change seasonally, the event will now rotate through three different modes as it arises throughout the season. The rotation will be as follows:

• March 21 to 28: Control
• April 4 to 11: Eruption
• April 25 to May 2: Fortress

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.

Note that there is no Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris event on weekends when Iron Banner is active.

Destiny 2 Iron Banner rewards

Anyone who tells you that they play Iron Banner solely for the challenge is, frankly, a liar. The best players get the best rewards. Iron Banner will also reliably drop armour pieces with stats that are 60+, which is typically better than most world drops.

This season, players can earn previous Iron Banner weapons including the Jorum’s Claw Solar pulse rifle and the Bite of the Fox Kinetic sniper rifle. However, the weapons have been altered to include new perks. Players who have earned these weapons in the past can focus engrams to attempt to gain better rolls, while players who haven’t yet earned them are guaranteed to get them by ranking up. Guardianas can earn Bite of the Fox (Rapid Hit/Iron Gaze) at Rank 4 and Jorum’s Claw (Moving Target/Incandescent) at Rank 7. You can also focus older Iron Banner weapons such as Riiswalker, The Hero’s Burden, or Frontier’s Cry. Expect to exchange on engram, 25-50 Legendary shards, and 5,000-10,000 Glimmer to focus these engrams.

Players gunning for solid armour during the first Iron Banner of the season can earn the Iron Companion Set, released originally in the first Destiny game and reprised in Destiny 2 season 19.

Destiny 2 Forging Iron quest

As of season 19, players participating part in Iron Banner were required to acquire and complete the Forging Iron quest. Regardless of the player’s skill level, the quest is relatively easy, and most players could quickly finish it within the week. We’re unsure whether Bungie plans to retain the same Forging Iron quest steps, but we’ve left them as part of this guide so players know what they may possibly expect when Iron Banner first launches in season 20.

The quest steps are as follows:

• Complete an Iron Banner match.
• Complete a daily challenge.
• Earn Iron Banner rank points.
• Collect an Iron Banner engram reward from Lord Saladin.
• Complete Iron Banner matches while wearing armour (at least one piece) from the season Iron Banner set. Additional Iron Banner armour pieces grant faster progress.
• Speak to Lord Saladin to complete the quest.

Completing this will fully unlock all of Lord Saladin’s vendor options.

Destiny 2 Iron Banner reputation boosts and Iron Lord title

To complete the Iron Banner quest line as quickly as possible, Guardians can boost their Iron Banner reputation gains by doing the following:

• Equip five pieces of Iron Banner gear (200% increase for all five pieces).
• Complete Iron Banner daily challenges (100% increase per challenge, up to 400%).
• Equip the Iron Banner emblem (10% increase).
• Complete more Iron Banner matches, as the more matches you complete, the more the game accelerates your progress per match.
• Increase Iron Banner rank, as higher ranks also reward more reputation.

Players can find the Iron Banner challenges listed on the Destinations menu when they hover over Iron Banner. Historically, completing Iron Banner challenges also unlocks Pinnacle gear. Due to a bug, the daily challenge is not showing, but Bungie expects this to be fixed soon,

If you plan to compete in Iron Banner at some point in the future, be sure to master your character build by checking out our guides to the best Destiny 2 Warlock builds, the best Destiny 2 Hunter builds, and the best Destiny 2 Titan builds. Good luck, Guardian — you’re going to need it!