Summary
- Heresy's release captivates players with an engaging story, seasonal weapons, and new activities.
- The new Iron Banner weapon, Warlord's Spear, will likely spark a farming frenzy with strong perks, but may face controversy.
- Farming Iron Banner for PvE weapons can be frustrating, and the same issues with Tinasha's Mastery in Revenant may surface.
One could argue that despite all the issues that Episode 2 had leading into Heresy, Destiny 2's newest release managed to instantly captivate players with its story, seasonal weapons, the new secret Exotic quest, The Nether as its main activity, as well as the return of the Dreadnaught itself. This, combined with a complete overhaul of Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris for PvP, is already making Heresy the best Episode so far, even in the face of some issues tied to the launch of the Sundered Doctrine Dungeon and voice acting. Even though the premise is great, there is a chance the upcoming Iron Banner will cause another controversy similar to the one in Revenant.
Episode Revenant was one of the lowest points in the franchise's history, and that's because of many contributing factors that had varying impacts. Among them was the debacle of Iron Banner offering one of the best weapons in the game for PvE, but gating it behind a PvP activity, random rolls with no crafting, and a Glimmer issue. As such, even if Tinasha's Mastery was one of the best weapons in Destiny 2, with many players grinding for it, only a few Guardians got the god roll. This may all happen again next week when Iron Banner returns in Heresy.
Destiny 2's New Heresy Exotic Mission is a Double-Edged Sword
Destiny 2's weekly refresh brought a new secret Exotic mission to get the Barrow-Dyad Strand SMG, and it could be both a blessing and a curse.
Destiny 2's New Warlord's Spear Trace Rifle is Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Heresy will introduce a new Iron Banner weapon in Destiny 2, called Warlord's Spear. This is an Adaptive Frame Arc trace rifle that will have some incredibly strong PvE perk combinations, meaning it will once again spur players to farm Iron Banner to get the weapon. Still, no changes have been announced to the formula, meaning that players will still most likely have to get Warlord's Spear with random rolls, paying one Engram and 25,000 Glimmer for every focusing attempt. This made the farming process a slog, and without protection from duplicates or some kind of perk-focusing, it's entirely up to RNG to get a god roll.
On top of that, Tinasha's Mastery was in the Reputation Track in Destiny 2 last Episode, but it was not there all the time. As such, those who had already claimed that specific reward from Lord Saladin couldn't get that specific Tinasha's Mastery roll afterward, at least not in a guaranteed way. This upset many players who had been grinding for the gun when Iron Banner first came out, and the same thing may happen again in Heresy.
Why Destiny 2 Players Should Farm Iron Banner in Heresy
As it stands, there is a good chance that Warlord's Spear will be a meta weapon even in Heresy with no trace rifle mods so far, though more Artifact mods will be unlocked with Act 2 and Act 3. The reason is that this weapon will be able to roll with the new Detonator Beam perk, which is currently available on the new Strand trace rifle Unsworn from Destiny 2's Sundered Doctrine Dungeon. Dungeon weapons are not easily available as god rolls, so Warlord's Spear may be easier to farm. It's also an Arc gun with a few perks that synergize with the Arc focus of Heresy, making it all the more worthwhile to get.
Heresy's Iron Banner will return to its original one-week schedule as opposed to two weeks in a row. The first Iron Banner week will run from February 18 to February 25, and the next will be on April 1.
Farming Iron Banner For Warlord's Spear is History Repeating Itself
Assuming the conditions for farming this new trace rifle in Destiny 2's Iron Banner remain the same, it's likely that Warlord's Spear will be as controversial as Tinasha's Mastery, which is bad press that Heresy doesn't need at the moment. It can be particularly difficult to balance the issue with Reputation Track rewards, as they change weekly, so it's likely that a good roll of Warlord's Spear will appear at some point. Players may be wise to not claim Reputation Track rewards unless they are about to reset Saladin's Rank, but this is not a long-term solution. Only time will tell if Bungie is making the right choice, but Warlord's Spear does seem enticing enough to warrant farming Iron Banner even for PvE players.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
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