Lord Saladin has returned to the Tower for the first Iron Banner event in Season of the Splicer. Destiny 2 players should complete the new quest to get the new Riiswalker Shotgun and Archon’s Thunder Machine Gun.
Iron Banner is a week-long Crucible PvP event in Destiny 2 that offers its own unique weapons and armor. The gear can be earned by all players for completing Iron Banner matches during Season of the Splicer and as pinnacle rewards from Iron Banner bounties, but completing steps as part of the new seasonal quest guarantees drops for the latest gear.
Starting the Iron Banner Quest
The “Iron-Handed Diplomacy” seasonal quest can be picked up from Lord Saladin in the Tower. For this quest, Destiny 2 players will need to complete three objectives for several steps of the quest in Iron Banner matches during this season. Some involve simply playing matches and capturing zones, but other steps require players to get kills with certain elemental damage types and weapon types.
When picking up the quest, players should also make sure they grab the four pinnacle Iron Banner bounties so that they can get some high-level gear as a bonus for completing the quest’s steps. This quest lasts until the end of Season of the Splicer which means players do not need to complete the entire quest in one event. Iron Banner will return to Destiny 2 on June 8 and 29.
Any solo Destiny 2 players should queue into the Freelance: Iron Banner Crucible playlist while players in a party can queue into the normal Iron Banner playlist. During matches, players can also easily check their progress by tracking the quest and then toggling to the new quest tab under the scoreboard when players enter Nav Mode by pulling out their Ghosts.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step One – Leverage the Void
- Defeat 30 Guardians
- Capture 10 Zones
- Get 10 final blows with Arc or Void abilities
Most players should only need two or three Iron Banner matches to complete the first two objectives. It is important to note that any assists that a player gets will count towards the 30 Guardian defeats.
For the Arc and Void ability final blows, Super abilities for the relevant subclasses will be the best way to get the necessary final blows, although any Grenade and Melee ability kills will also help. Supers such as Spectral Blades for Hunters, Stormtrance for Warlocks, and Thundercrash for Titans will all be great for getting multiple kills in a single Super use.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step Two – Negotiation by Force
- Complete 6 Iron Banner matches
- Capture 20 zones
- Get 20 final blows with Hand Cannons
The first two steps for this quest can be progressed retroactively, so once players reach this step of the quest, some of the objectives will have already been progressed. For the Hand Cannon kills, players can use the Finite Impactor Hand Cannon that they will have just got for completing step one of the quest. Other Hand Cannons, such as the Igneous Hammer from Trials of Osiris and The Steady Hand, are currently some of the best Crucible weapons in Destiny 2.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step Three – Adversarial Relations
- Defeat 100 Guardians
- Capture 30 zones
- Get 10 final blows with Sniper Rifles
As with step two, the Guardian defeats and captured zones objectives are progressed retroactively. For the Sniper Rifle kills, obviously, headshots are great for securing quick kills but are not easy to pull off consistently. Players can use the Occluded Finality Sniper Rifle that they will have just been awarded, but its high zoom and low rate of fire are not great for the Crucible. Any owners of the Adored Sniper Rifle should consider using it.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step Four – Hostile Takeovers
- Get 15 Melee finals blows
- Capture 40 zones
- Get 10 final blows with Shotguns
The objective to capture zones for this step can also be progressed retroactively. Given how powerful Shotguns have always been in the Crucible, this step should not be too difficult. Felwinter’s Lie is a rare but very powerful Legendary Shotgun, so any players that own it should definitely use it. Season of the Splicer added several other Shotguns to Destiny 2 which would also be worth using.
In this case, Melee kills means both normal Melee and Melee ability kills. Given that this step also requires some Shotgun use, players should be aggressive and attack at close range whenever possible. If they miss cannot finish off a Guardian with a Shotgun, a quick punch should do the rest.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step Five – Gunboat Diplomacy
- Get 15 final blows with Supers
- Earn 25 match points
- Get three final blows with Machine Guns
For this step, the Super final blows and match points are progressed retroactively. To earn match points, players need to complete Iron Banner matches. Losses award one point but wins award three, which means players need to play between nine and 25 Iron Banner matches to complete this objective. The new Archon’s Thunder Machine Gun can be used to get the three final blows as players will have just been awarded it for completing the previous step. While not a helpful playstyle for the team, camping the heavy ammo spawn locations is the easiest way to complete this objective.
Iron-Handed Diplomacy Step Six – Reaping Rewards
Finally, for this step, players just need to return to Lord Saladin. After playing a fair amount of Iron Banner matches, players should cash in some of their tokens to try and get some great perk rolls on the new weapons.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light and the new Season of the Splicer are available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.