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Next Week's Destiny 2 Iron Banner Patch Adds Masterwork Armor, Makes Raids More Rewarding
Next week, Destiny 2 will have its first Iron Banner event, bringing with it a number of new armor ornaments, improvements, and changes.
The Iron Banner event this time around is Control, in which teams hold down capture points to earn more points per kill. The event be the first time players can earn ornaments for the Iron Banner gear by completing specific challenges in the mode. As is a running theme of Season 2, players will be able to directly purchase gear and three different weapons from Saladin instead of having to hope it will drop from the next engram.
This update also includes the addition of Masterwork Armor, which provides the use with a three-percent defensive boost during a super (for a total of 15 percent with five masterwork armors equipped) and can be re-rolled to have a different stat package for one Masterwork core and 10 legendary shards.
Raids will also be more rewarding. Raid weaponry and gear will drop after every encounter and with mods that offer raid-specific perks, making them more useful and varied. Exotic gear can now also drop from raids, and players will be able to use these items immediately. Additionally, Prestige raids will now drop twice as many drops as usual per encounter. And, in keeping with Season 2's theme, you'll be able to start buying raid gear directly from the raid vendor. There is also a new exotic raid shell which will increase the chances of getting Bright Engrams and new exotics during raids.
Finally, Bungie is currently looking at ways if reworking the shader system. "It should be easier to get rid of a stack of shaders. We are looking at mass exchange solutions," said Destiny 2 lead designer Tyson Green. "We know you miss D1 Armor Shader mechanics. [We are] looking at ways to re-integrate that capability without losing the ability to shade weapons, Ghosts, ships, Sparrows, or customize specific pieces of armor. We also understand you want shaders to be more freely usable and not limited by availability. We’re looking at re-introducing shader collections or a way to get copies of a shader in your possession."
[Source: Bungie]
Our Take
Masterwork armor is a great idea, and I like being able to re-roll the stats on armor I like the look of but aren't a fan of the stats of. Raids being more rewarding will hopefully make more people in my clans more eager to tackle the Prestige raids, which I still haven't been able to do. Hopefully Bungie can avoid having to apologize for some feature in this patch and finally gain some positive momentum with it.
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