Destiny 2 Gets Iron Banner, Raid-Specific Mods And Masterwork Armor

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Destiny 2 fans have long been requesting a few features to make the game more engaging and rewarding. It appears that the developer Bungie has granted some of those requests, at least with the first major update for 2018.

Iron Banner – what’s new this time?

On Thursday, Bungie announced that the January update for the game will come alongside the year’s inaugural Iron Banner week. According to the developer, there “will definitely be Season 2 weapons in the Iron Banner engram,” along with some popular first season weapons.

Further, this time around, there would be no upper limit to the engrams that a player could earn during the weeklong event. The Iron Banner will run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, and will start after the release of the patch 1.1.2 on Tuesday.

In addition, players would now be able to buy Iron Banner gear directly using the tokens. Further, players are allowed to buy three weapons, armor, and armor ornaments from Lord Saladin. Players will also be able to win Iron Banner rewards by completing the challenge.

“Get as much playtime as you can during the week. It will always move you a little closer to opening another engram, earning an ornament, or purchasing a piece of gear from Lord Saladin. Go nuts!” Bungie says.

Raid-Specific mods for Destiny 2

Speaking of the January update, the Destiny 2 developer focused on improving two things – Raid perks and Masterwork armor. So far, the weapon and armor perks have been more or less general. Now, Bungie is coming up with Raid-specific perks to gear. Giving an example, the developer says that while playing the Leviathan Raid, a new mod – called Emperor’s Blaze – will now give 25% buff to Solar ability damage.

Further, these mods will be selectable on Raid armor that a player already owns. Also, these will be reusable, i.e., a player can shift to usual mods for regular activities, and revert back to specific mods for the Raid. However, a player will be charged one Calus Token for the reuse. Since all these are Legendary mods, players will also get five Power bonuses for using them.

Masterwork armor will get players excited

The Destiny 2 January update is also bringing Armor Masterworks, meaning all Legendary armor will now get a chance to drop as a Masterwork. Similar to the Masterwork Weapons, the player will get a chance to grab Masterwork Armor for Trials of the Nine and Raids. While using a Super, the Armor adds 3% damage resistance, and this can be extended to 15% with the use of a full set of Masterwork armor.

Further, by spending one Masterwork core and 10 Legendary shards, the Destiny 2 players would be able to rework Masterwork armor for stat bonuses. Players are allowed to rework stats on their non-Masterwork armor as well. Different stat packages for reworking Masterwork armor are: Heavy, Light or Restorative. Of these, Restorative armor is the most useful as it allows a player to look sharp without sacrificing survivability.

Going ahead, Bungie is planning to add more benefits to Masterwork armor, a move that will surely be welcomed by the players.

“This is just the first version of Armor Masterworks. We are planning to continue updating this system and adding additional benefits. As always, if you have any feedback, please let us know,” the developer said.

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