Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris return to Destiny in October
Destiny: The Taken King will offer PvP experts the chance to duke it out in just a few more weeks.
The first Iron Banner of Destiny: The Taken King is scheduled to kick off on October 13. The first Trials of Osiris will follow on October 16.
For new players we've provided a summary of these events below, and for returning players there are a few notes on the changes Bungie has implemented for the expansion.
The Iron Banner is a PvP playlist where power matters; your Guardian and gear are not level-adjusted, so players with higher Light will have an advantage. You need to be level 40 to get in, or have a level 40 player lead your fireteam. Bungie recommends a minimum Light level of 230.
End of match loot drops are now the Iron Banner's primary reward system, and have been increased accordingly. You can still purchase form Lord Saladin if you like, but he takes Legendary Marks instead of Glimmer. Saladin's inventory is identical to available loot drops, which include weapons and armour as well as all-new emblems.
Over the course of the three day event Saladin will offer nine daily bounties (three per day) as well as three weekly bounties which reward Legendary Marks.
Everybody automatically gets the Tempered buff. In case you're not familiar, Tempered gives you an Iron Banner Reputation gain buff which becomes more affective as the event wears on - it's much more valuable in the final hours of day three than the opening hours of day one.
Trials of Osiris is another non-level-adjusted PvP challenge which requires pre-formed fireteams of three. Most weekend-long Trials events take place on a single map, and are played in Elimination mode. Players must purchase or otherwise obtain a Passage item each time they wish to enter, which is good for three losses before expiring. Players who win nine matches undefeated are invited to the Lighthouse, an exclusive social area.
This time around Brother Vance will not sell Trials armour and weapons; they'll be offered exclusively as end of match drops. The more wins you have on your Passage, the better these drops will be. Winners and losers will both receive Passage Coins as random drops; you can use these to purchase buffs from Brother Vance before you begin a Passage. Your Passage will show you what buffs you have active.
Matchmaking will favour equal wins; if you have one win you'll meet other teams with one win. Teams with eight wins will be matched together, which is going to be heartbreaking. Players with nine wins can continue to play on the same Passage if they want to ruin everyone's day but Bungie said "they won’t get any better gear" (which sort of suggests they'll continue to get loot drops, just not of a higher tier). Matchmaking will not prioritise win counts over ping.
Don't be scared of losing: Brother Vance now offers bounties which will allow players to earn Trials equipment even if they can't manage to score eight wins.
Bungie suggests a minimum Light of 290 for Trials of Osiris, and at least your fireteam leader must be at least 251 Light for you to enter.
Hit up the Bungie Weekly Update for a few more little changes to both tournaments. It's not clear whether those who own vanilla Destiny (no Taken King or House of Wolves) will be able to access Trials of Osiris, unfortunately.