It’s been a running theme since the return of the Iron Banner event in Destiny 2 that fans have pleaded with Bungie for the reprisal of the event’s armor from The Taken King era of the original Destiny. Those prayers have been finally answered in the latest This Week At Bungie blog, where the developer announced today that the iconic Iron Companion sets for Titan, Warlock, and Hunter will be available in Iron Banner for season 19.
The new Iron Banner sets introduced each year in Destiny 2 have been released to a mixed reception from fans, while the Iron Companion sets—released during The Taken King and year two of the competitive Crucible mode’s lifetime—have been held up as the gold standard for what the aesthetic of the Iron Lords should be. With Destiny 2’s Iron Banner in need of another annual refresh for its cosmetic offerings, it seems Bungie has decided to give the players what they want and remaster the Iron Companion armor for Destiny 2 next season.
“We’re expecting these to be a fun complement to many sets in the game,” community manager Dmg04 said, adding that the team is “looking forward to your fashion statements coming out of Iron Banner next Season.”
While the return of such often-requested armor will no doubt be the main appeal for players diving into Iron Banner in season 19, they aren’t the only new additions to the mode. Next season, guardians can also expect to find two returning Iron Banner weapons from the earlier years of Destiny 2, updated with new perks and an Origin Trait.
Bungie only teased that these returning guns are an auto rifle and a slug shotgun, with a lot of options for both. The Forward Path and Gunnora’s Axe are two inevitably easy choices to make a comeback, but it remains to be seen if Destiny 2 will be diving even deeper into the vault with its reprisals.
When the Iron Banner was reworked during Season of the Haunted, it also started to receive new modes such as Rift and Eruption. Bungie plans to continue this trend next season, introducing another new game mode to the Iron Banner pool with Fortress. In Fortress, Dmg explains that the core objective is still holding and controlling zones in a similar fashion to Zone Control. This gameplay loop is intentionally similar because Fortress offers some additional stakes to spice up the classic mode.
Dmg was secretive about the specifics but mentioned that Empress Caiatl will be involved and that players “may be dying to cap a hill.” An image released alongside the blog gives us an additional teaser, with a Titan squaring off against multiple Cabal turrets currently defending a captured zone, suggesting an almost PvE element being woven into the classic Zone Control experience. The mode was announced to launch with the Iron Banner week starting on Jan. 3.
Destiny 2’s next season still lacks a name, but the updates to Iron Banner and the wider Crucible environment will be released alongside it on Dec. 6.
