This week is the perfect time to actually grind Iron Banner

Lord Saladin will soon be returning to the Tower to run Season of the Chosen’s first iteration of the Crucible event known as Iron Banner. For the event, Saladin will be bringing two weapons returning from Year 1 of Destiny 2 with random rolls to boost them up into the current sandbox. It is because of these two returning weapons that this week is the perfect time to grind out the Iron Banner mode.

Here is a breakdown of the two weapons, as well as what perks you really want to be looking out for:

Time-Worn Spire

Before we even start to discuss weapon stats or perks, Time-Worn Spire is already worth the time to grind. This is due to it being not only the single Kinetic Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifle that hasn't been sunset, but it is the only Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifle that hasn't been sunset. Time-Worn Spire simply fills a niche within the sandbox that cannot be filled by any other weapon.

Like other Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifles that we have had previously, Time-Worn Spire suffers from both low Stability and Range but has extremely high Aim Assist, making it much more forgiving with where shots can be placed. These Pulse Rifles compete in a similar Range to Auto Rifles and have a similar time to kill but against longer ranges they are outclassed by other Pulse Rifle archetypes.

If you're looking for a new Pulse Rifle for PvE activities then you can't really go wrong with Time-Worn Spire. It can come with the classic Feeding Frenzy + Rampage roll which is good for all situations. I have really come around to One for All though as it's easier to activate than Rampage, its lasts longer, and gives a slightly higher damage boost than Rampage at 3 stacks.

For PvP, Moving Target is a good option to boost up that already high aim assist to play to the weapons strengths. This can be paired with Rampage to make the second kill in a 1v2 a little more forgiving. If you would rather cover the weapons weaknesses you can also take either Iron Grip to boost Stability at the cost of Reload Speed, or Iron Reach which boosts Range at the cost of Stability. Iron Reach will drop the Stability drastically though so I wouldn't recommend taking this if you use a controller input, mouse and keyboard with its lower overall recoil will most likely be ok though.

One thing I wanted to quickly talk about was how recoil control works in Destiny as it's a fairly hidden stat and doesn't work the way you would expect. If you look at the stats of Time-Worn Spire on third-party sites like our own DestinyTracker, you will see that this weapon has a recoil value of 60. This means that the recoil bounce will go to the right.

Here is a handy graph that explains it easily:

Basically, any recoil value that ends in a 5 will have completely vertical recoil while any value that ends in a 0 will have either a strong left or right bounce. This is why it's always important to check the weapons recoil value before slapping on a Counterbalance Stock mod or changing the barrel. If a weapon has a recoil of 55, which is vertical recoil, and you put on a Counterbalance Stock this will bring it up to 70, creating a drastic bounce to the left. This extra recoil control will still lower the overall bounce of the recoil, it will just bounce more to the left in the above scenario.

It is because of this that I strongly recommend, at least for PvP, that you take the Counterbalance Stock mod for Time-Worn Spire. This will raise the recoil stat from 60 to 75 which gives it a much easier to control vertical recoil.

Recommended Perks for PvE

• Scope - Red Dot Micro, Cleanshot IS
• Magazine - High-Caliber Rounds, Ricochet Rounds
• Perk 1 - Feeding Frenzy, Subsistence
• Perk 2 - One for All, Rampage
• Masterwork - Range
• Mod - Counterbalance Stock, Rampage Spec (If using Rampage)

Recommended Perks for PvP

• Scope - Red Dot Micro, Red Dot 2 MOA
• Magazine - High-Caliber Rounds, Ricochet Rounds
• Perk 1 - Moving Target, Feeding Frenzy
• Perk 2 - Iron Grip, Iron Reach, Rampage
• Masterwork - Range
• Mod - Counterbalance Stock

Multimach CCX

Multimach CCX is a Lightweight Frame Kinetic Submachine Gun. It is one of few Kinetic Submachine Guns in the game that havent been sunset and is only one of two of its archetype alongside Escape Velocity. Like Time-Worn Spire, this alone should give you a good reason to farm for it.

In terms of stats, Multimach CCX has better overall stats when compared to Escape Velocity with higher Range, Stability and Aim Assist. It also has a drastically better perk pool with great combinations for both PvE and PvP.

For PvE there are many perk options that can be chosen depending on your playstyle. Subsistence and Unrelenting can be combined to create a constant stream of bullets with constant healing too. Subsistence also pairs nicely with One for All so that you can take full advantage of the 10 seconds of 35% extra damage without needing to waste time reloading. Killing Wind is a fantastic neutral perk that gives a large boost to weapons stats and is always worth considering.

For PvP, Killing Wind is again a great choice due to its easy to activate stat boosts. Dynamic Sway Reduction is normally the best perk to choose though as on a Submachine Gun this gives a ton of value and makes the weapon that much more consistent. Kill Clip is another optimal perk as it allows you to shred through the second enemy in a 1v2 situation.

Iron Grip and Iron Reach should also be considered but just be sure to take into account the drastic stat penalties that come with these.

Recommended Perks for PvE

• Scope - Model 8 Red, Model 6 Loop
• Magazine - Tactical Mag, Appended Mag, Accurized Rounds
• Perk 1 - Subsistence, Killing Wind
• Perk 2 - One for All, Unrelenting
• Masterwork - Range
• Mod - Minor Spec, Backup Mag

Recommended Perks for PvP

• Scope - Model 8 Red, Model 6 Loop
• Magazine - Accurized Rounds, Steady Rounds
• Perk 1 - Dynamic Sway Reduction, Killing Wind
• Perk 2 - Kill Clip, Iron Reach, Iron Grip
• Masterwork - Range
• Mod - Targeting Adjuster