Iron Banner Highlights Big Issues With ‘Destiny’s’ Multiplayer

Once a month the popular game mode known as Iron Banner arrives and seeks to put the Destiny Community’s PvP (Player vs. Player) skills to the test. Unlike almost every other competitive mode in Destiny, this one actually takes into consideration your Light Level making it paramount you use high-end gear. Not only is this a major factor, but the high drop rate of rare and exclusive Iron Banner loot brings droves of players into the Crucible to battle it out for dominance. However, even with some welcomed and needed changes this month’s Iron Banner is helping highlight some of the biggest problems still plaguing Destiny.

Before we begin, it’s important to understand that the game mode this time around is a slightly altered version of Supremacy. Two teams of six are tasked with battling it out over “Crests,” which can only be collected once an opponent has died. If you pick one up it will add a point to your scoreboard and it’s possible to gather your allies crests before the enemy does thus denying them points. The first team to 150 points, or the team with the most points by the end of the round will win the match.For anyone who has played Kill Confirmed on Call of Duty, this is roughly the same idea, except that the act of actually killing someone will not add any points for your team.

One of the biggest problems is that this forces a very up close style of playing since the only way to win is to gather the crests from fallen foes. By doing this it causes players to heavily rely on their secondary weapons such as shotguns due to their high damage output and ease of use. Since players are not really rewarded for picking kills off from a distance or even really supporting their team from afar, this turns every match into a mosh pit of shotguns, grenades, and melee abilities. This can turn the Iron Banner into a chore of a game mode, given you are effectively pushed into this type of gameplay, whether you want to or not. Now that’s not to say some people can’t make the most of their fusion rifles, side arms, or shotguns, but this is few and far between.