Remember when Iron Banner armor actually felt like a badge of honor? You’d stomp into the Crucible, get flattened by some lag wizard halfway across the map, and then proudly show off your shiny new wolf-emblazoned boots to prove you survived the ordeal. Well, Bungie just announced the “return” of Iron Banner, and surprise! The big draw this time is yet another reskin being marketed as “new armor.”
While it’s true, this set has not been seen since Year 1 Season 3, which may appease a select few, the fact that Bungie opted to re-issue an old design for the umpteenth time at a point where the entire Destiny 2 fanbase, or what little remains of it, is literally storming Bungie’s castle with torches and farming equipment, is not a great look. Especially when Eververse has received not five, not ten, but twelve, TWELVE new sets of armor recently. I mean, greed has got to have a limit, doesn’t it?
But wait, it gets worse. Because Guardians with magnifying glasses and way too much free time uncovered that an actual badass Iron Banner set was in development—only for Bungie to shove it straight into the Eververse money pit. Concept art dropped earlier this week for a Titan “gladius” armor set that looked like it came straight out of a Roman coliseum. We are talking the kind of helmet broom that screams, “I block Supers with my jawline.” And right in the middle? A flaming Iron Banner tree sigil stamped on the chestplate. You know, the one detail that says, “Hey, you earned this by participating in actual PvP.”
Below you can see the two in comparison. The top image comes from artist Ben Low’s ArtStation, which he has since been taken down due to the backlash. The lower image is the armor set that is available at additional cost in Eververse for all three classes.
Take a look before Bungie makes us take this down:
Of course, as you can plainly see with the Titan in particular, in the final version that showed up in Eververse during Edge of Fate, that Iron Banner chest emblem mysteriously vanished. What otherwise remained was the same armor, now available for Silver. Bungie basically Photoshopped out the Iron Banner tattoo and said, “Yeah, that’ll be $15 each or $45 for the set, please.”
This is how you know Destiny is bleeding money like a Cabal war beast in a blender. They’re burning every last ounce of goodwill for short-term cash, hoping they can keep the lights on long enough to push Marathon out the door. Iron Banner armor used to be a reward for your time. Now it’s just another Eververse receipt stapled to your Guardian’s chest.
And the sad part? That gladius Titan set still looks awesome. Which means, yes, some whales are probably going to buy it anyway. Congratulations, Guardian—you’ve just participated in the true endgame activity: Bungie’s quarterly earnings call.
