Iron Banner Control Guide

Analysis Leave a comment

Iron Banner starts today! The default vendor rolls aren’t too bad this time around – start grinding for Rank 5!

Remember to wear the IB emblem, shader, and class item to get the most reputation.

The Iron Banner sniper & pulse rifle can drop at the end of matches if you don’t want these rolls.

Bounty Description
Heavy Iron Defeat 3 opposing Guardians with a Heavy Weapon.
Iron Determination Defeat 7 enemy Guardians while your team has the lead.
Iron Gauntlet Impress Lord Saladin with extraordinary feats in the Iron Banner.
Iron Hued Win an Iron Banner match with any Iron Banner emblem or shader equipped.
Iron Marathon Complete 13 Iron Banner matches and win 7.
Iron Versatility Defeat 50 Guardians with Primary Weapons, 25 with Special Weapons and 7 with Heavy Weapons.

Nirwen’s Mercy

  • Counterbalance
  • Braced Frame
  • Feeding Feenzy
  • Pros – High mag size and stability. Above average reload speed and aim assist.
  • Cons – Low Range.
  • Time-to-Kill: 1.00s (3 bursts. 3 crit shots and 6 body shots. If you hit 7 crits, you can miss 2 shots completely.)
  • Rate of Fire: 66
  • Impact: 14 (29 damage per crit shot, 19 damage per body shot)

Recommended Perks:

  • Column 1 – Red Dot-OAS, Red Dot-ORS1, TrueSight IS
  • Column 2 – Counterbalance/Rangefinder/Headseeker, Life Support, Outlaw
  • Column 3 – Smallbore/Perfect Balance/Braced Frame, Fitted Stock, Hand Loaded
  • Column 4 – Third Eye, Glass Half Full, Grenadier, Army of One, Feeding Frenzy

Red Dot-OAS is my favorite sight for this gun, since it boosts aim assist, but Nirwen’s already has above average AA for a pulse rifle, so if you have a sight you like, you’ll be good to go. ORS1 has the highest zoom multiplier of any of the Red Dot sights, and that will help to improve the range a lot while still maintaining a clear sight picture, which makes it a great second option.

In column 2, some people will probably like Counterbalance to negate the slight bit of rightwards pull the recoil pattern has, but, in my opinion, it’s not bad enough to call Counterbalance a necessity. Rangefinder and Headseeker are two other perks that I think are excellent in this spot, so as long as you have one of those three you’re a winner.

In column 3, I think Smallbore is my favorite option here, since it boosts both range and stability at the cost of only one burst per magazine, and the difference between Smallbore and Braced Frame in recoil pattern tightness isn’t very large. Perfect Balance and Braced Frame are both still great options, just without the range boost that Smallbore offers.

In the last column, I prefer Glass Half Full, but Third Eye probably has the most utility for PvP.

Weyloran’s March

  • Grenadier
  • Rifled Barrel
  • Hidden Hand
  • Pros – High mag size. Above average stability. Very high reload speed and aim assist.
  • Cons – Very low Range. Can’t kill most supered enemies or revive snipe with 1 critical shot.
    • It can take up to 3 body shots to kill outside of optimal range, or against enemies using The Ram or Juggernaut.
  • Body shot Time-to-Kill: 0.53s (2 body shots), 1.06s (3 body shots)
  • Rate of Fire: 40
  • Impact: 13 (250 damage per crit shot, 100 per body shot)

Recommended Perks

  • Column 1 – ShortGaze SLH10/LongView SLR10, Ambush SLH25, ViewTac SLH20
  • Column 2 – Life Support, Grenadier, Eye of the Storm, Army of One
  • Column 3 – Quickdraw, Snapshot, Hand-laid Stock, Injection Mold, Smallbore, Perfect Balance, Rifled Barrel
  • Column 4 – Hidden Hand/Unflinching, Hot Swap, Mulligan, Outlaw, Firefly

I think ShortGaze is the best scope option currently in the game, but any of these four will work. LongView provides a small boost of 3 to aim assist, and Ambush adds a lot of stability, at the cost taking away 25 aim assist. ViewTac is a scope that I personally like, but it seems to have much worse flinch than the other options listed here.

In column 2, Life Support is the best perk hands down, but it’s not necessary for a God-roll, so most anything will do. In column 3, as usual with snipers, you need to choose whether you want to boost ADS speed, stability, or range, and there are a ton of options, so you’re bound to get something you like.

For ADS speed, Quickdraw is your best option, with Snapshot following it up. For stability, I love Hand-laid Stock, but Injection Mold and Perfect Balance are great choices as well. Smallbore boosts stability and range, which makes it a very useful perk, but if you want to maximize your range stat, Rifled Barrel is the way to go.

In the last column, Hidden Hand and Unflinching are the two best perks, in my opinion. A ton of people swear by Hot Swap, but I haven’t been able to prove conclusively that it does anything major outside of the placebo effect, so I’m leaving it out of the top tier perks. Mulligan is more useful than you’d think, and Outlaw and Firefly are both nice to have, even if they aren’t gamechangers.