Destiny: The Taken King will soon see the return of the Iron Banner Crucible event. As previously announced, Lord Saladin will return to the Tower with the coming weekly reset, on Tuesday, October 13, where he will remain for a full week. In that time, hundreds of thousands of Guardians will be hunting down the Banner’s newest suite of gear. Here are some tips to help you stay ahead of the pack and avoid that dreaded sixth medallion.
Have a plan
Iron Banner (or as my group likes to call it, Iron Banana) consists solely of Control games, so rather than individual skill, the most important thing is having a plan. That said, contrary to popular opinion, the biggest part of Control is still killing enemy players. The captures you’re fighting over are just touchstones to that end, a way to maximize the point value of each kill. Even so, the team with the most kills will always win. The trick is maneuvering the captures to your advantage.
In Control, you want to maintain, er, control of the two points that are closest together. This doesn’t necessarily translate into your “spawn” point (the point closest to your starting point) and the B point. Occasionally, A and C, the spawn points of both teams, are the best to hold. It all comes down to proximity.
The closer together your points are, the easier they are to defend, because you will naturally spawn near points your team controls. Let’s say you hold A near the back of the map and B in the middle, with the enemy C on the far side. If B is attacked, your team will spawn on A, making it easier to rush in and clear out invaders. The enemy, meanwhile, will take longer to get from C back to B. This gives you time to reinforce B, and distance to pick enemies off. This is to say nothing of how secure A will be throughout the B-side bickering.
If your team already holds two points, do not attack the third. All you’ll do is spread yourselves thin and open yourself up to counter-captures. This highlights the secondary function of tailoring your captures: controlling and predicting enemy spawns. If they only have one point, you know where they’ll spawn, and by extension, where they’ll attack from. Take all the points, and they’ll attack from everywhere, because they will spawn around the perimeter of the entire map. And chaos makes for a much tougher win.
The only time you should consider invading enemy territory is to sabotage or steal the heavy ammo closest to their spawn area. A well-timed Super can not only wipe out the players who move to grab heavy, but net a second helping of heavy for your team. Especially in the case of machine guns—which you should be using given how long they can control a game's flow—a heavy steal alone can win a match.
Obviously, if you’re playing with a team of random players there’s only so much you as an individual can do. But one effective individual is better than none, so you’re better off playing smart. Consider joining the public fireteam chat as well. Players are much more invested in Iron Banner’s high-reward play, so you’re liable to run into a few people willing to listen.
Oh, and don’t sit in the points you’ve captured. That’s the worst place to be. You’re vulnerable to grenades, supers, rockets—everything, really, when you’re just sitting on your flag. That’s why retaking is such a pain. Instead, orbit the area around your captures and pick off invaders from superior positions—the high ground, behind cover, etc. You already took the point; leave the disadvantages to the enemy team.
Know the rules
Iron Banner’s mantra is “level advantages enabled.” It’s no grand secret that having more powerful gear and a higher Light level is more impactful in Lord Saladin’s playground. But don’t obsess over it. As long as you’re 290, you’re TTK (time-to-kill, i.e. amount of time/bullets required to kill an enemy) shouldn’t be 
affected. There may be some corner cases where a 290 player has to put an extra auto rifle bullet into a 307, but more brutal weapons like shotguns, hand cannons, sniper rifles and Supers shouldn’t have a problem getting their point across. At the very least, don’t sacrifice good or relevant armor perks for the sake of an extra Light level. It isn’t worth it.
And remember, this is a whole new Iron Banner. The experience-boosting Tempered buff will be active at all times, so no need to worry about repurchasing it. You’ll also be getting far more in-match loot drops, as Bungie intends for them to be the primary source of rewards this time around—though the drops are dependent on what Saladin is selling. That also means you can keep playing matches at max rank to reliably hunt perfect rolls on your new gear. That said, you can still spot-clean and pick up your favorite items from Lord Saladin if they continue to elude you, albeit for a chunk of Legendary Marks. And stay on top of those bounties, especially if you plan on running a second character through Banner. Getting your main to rank five before playing your alt will net you roughly 400 percent more experience your second time through.
Best of luck. And be on the lookout for our guide to Trials of Osiris.
