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Rift has returned from Destiny to Destiny 2, and is now part of Lord Saladin's Iron Banner, which returns a few times in a season for players to grind for weapons and armor. Though much-anticipated, Rift received an extremely negative welcome from players in its first week due to various balancing issues it still suffers from.
In the second Iron Banner week of Rift, things are still mostly the same, but better in the sense that Mercy Rule will now become active after three successive Spark dunks from one team. This makes games much faster and allows players to queue up for a different, more balanced lobby sooner. Here's how players can be successful in Destiny 2's new Iron Banner.
Iron Banner Rift mode is simple. Two teams of six guardians fight over the control of a Spark that spawns in the middle of the map. The team that can carry the Spark to the enemy's rift (located in their spawn) first and dunks it in wins the round.
8 Don't Immediately Rush For The Spark
At the start of the round, the Spark will begin to charge. This will prevent players from rushing to the middle and grabbing it immediately. Let the Spark charge, and even after it's ready, there's no rush to pick it up immediately.
Players should focus on winning the firefight mid or at least clear out the middle of the map enough so that someone can pick up the Spark without immediately being killed and dropping the Spark. These fights can sometimes take a while, but it's worth waiting for the right moment.
7 Move As A Group With The Spark Runner
Once a player picks up a Spark, the enemy team will be able to see their progress and location on the map as they draw near to their spawn. This means that they become a priority target for the enemy team to kill.
Make sure that someone is escorting the Spark runner. The whole team doesn't need to be on the Spark runner, and shouldn't even be, but the whole team should advance at the same time and support the runner with cover fire and even healing grenades if possible. If the runner dies, a teammate escorting them can also try to revive them if they have cover or pick up the Spark for them.
In order to pick up the Spark, players need to not take any damage. That's why players on Titan class can use their shields to cover the spark before picking them up or having another teammate pick it up.
6 Aggressive Gameplay Is Rewarded Most Often
Rift is a mode where a team can snowball to victory very easily. This means that the team that is faster and more decisive, as well as more aggressive, will be rewarded more often. However, a single guardian's aggression won't be enough. Players will need to work in small teams, as solo carrying in this mode is difficult due to kills not necessarily winning the round.
When the players have the advantage, they should push it aggressively and not hesitate, especially since it's possible to resurrect teammates that might get accidentally punished or picked off. A lot of kills means that the enemy has to wait for respawns, so the team with the Spark should move forward and set up before respawns come in.
5 Weapons With AoE Effects Are Ideal For Rift
Since Rift does require a degree of team play, weapons that provide AoE damage effects can be insanely powerful in this mode. Snipers will enjoy Exotics like Cloudstrike, which can take care of the Spark runner and anyone escorting them quite quickly and easily.
The Lorentz Driver, although nerfed, continues to be insanely powerful, and can be a great asset in breaking through chokepoints and sniping Spark runners with several players standing around them. Make sure to also take advantage of heavy, with rocket launchers reigning supreme.
4 Distractions And Flanks Can Buy The Spark Runner Time
Although the Spark runner will need some help making their way safely to the Rift, not everyone should take the same route to the enemy's spawn. It's advisable for some players to take alternate angles on the enemy to pull their attention away from the Spark runner.
Distractions and flanks are vital in this game mode. Even a second can be enough for a Spark runner to rush through the back and dunk the spark in while the enemy is dealing with another playing currently in their Super. It's all about making space for the runner to go in quickly and dunk.
3 Clear The Rift Area Before Dunking
Although kills and clearing enemies isn't always 100% the most important thing in Rift, one area that should always be cleared as much as possible is the enemy's Rift area before the Spark runner goes in to dunk.
Dunking is impossible if players are suffering damage, so the rest of the team should focus on killing any enemies still defending their Rift before the runner moves in for a dunk. This is the perfect time to use everything and rush in with aggressive Supers and heavy weapon ammo.
2 Understand How Each Rift Map Should Be Played
Currently, Rift only has three maps: Disjunction, Convergence, and Bannerfall. Each map has a distinct playstyle to it, and areas through which players can cut to make it to the enemy's Rift. For example, Disjunction and Bannerfall favor long range, but in both maps, one side provides plenty of cover for Spark runners to dodge snipers, scout rifles, and pulse rifles.
On Convergence, things are a bit trickier. Mid is perfect for snipers to wreak havoc, but after that, it's perfectly possible to play with hand cannons and shotguns.
1 Spark Runners Can Simply Keep The Spark From Enemy Hands
When picking up a Spark, a player's first instinct is to probably take it to the enemy spawn and dunk it. However, having game sense is key here. It's not always beneficial to run in and try to dunk the spark. If most of the team is dead, players should grab the Spark and run to their spawn to prevent the enemy from grabbing the Spark.
The same goes for matches where the player's team is up 1 or 2 points and time is running out. There's no need to rush for a dunk since players can just wait for time to expire to get their win. Simply grab the Spark and keep it away from enemy hands until the very end, instead of going for a greedy and potentially risky dunk.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.