A Destiny 2 Iron Banner post-match stat screen launched controversy among Guardians who disagreed whether it should show off players’ kill-to-death (K/D) ratios even though the format ultimately rewards points earned for completing specific objectives, rather than kills – the way the FPS game has traditionally done in Crucible.
A tweet from Destiny 2 content creator Fallout Plays ignited the discussion after he suggested the number of turrets that a player destroyed in the Destiny 2 Iron Banner season 19 Fortress game mode was unimportant relative to player K/D. Soon after, Guardians chimed in with varying opinions.
Dear @Bungie
I cannot imagine ANY player legit caring about how many turrets they destroy in Banner. Yes, it's an OBJ gametype (more of those plz, btw), but people want to see Kills/Deaths, even in OBJ. Plz shake this weird vibe of not showing that info in the postgame. TY ✌️ pic.twitter.com/tm1c4qDd1h— it me, FALLOUT (@falloutplays) January 4, 2023
In the Fortress match format, a derivative of the game’s Control mode, players compete for zone control and face Cabal turrets. Just as in Control, players earn points by capturing and claiming zones for specific time intervals. Points increase as players capture and hold additional zones. Capturing and holding all three zones results in a power play, which earns the most points for the player and team.
In Fortress, turrets periodically spawn in specific capture zones. Defeating the turrets and claiming the zone is worth more points than capturing a regular zone. Because the game rewards points based on zone captures, a player’s number of kills isn’t directly relevant to the outcome. Theoretically, a player with no kills could generate the most points simply by claiming and holding zones for the longest time. But, given the format’s incentive to defend zones, it’s generally advisable to defeat opponents to prevent them from capturing zones.
Typically, Crucible Control matches offer insights into players’ number of kills and overall K/D on the post-game match screen. This allows players to see how their kill numbers stack up against their teammates and opponents. However, the Fortress limited time mode’s post-game stat screen departs from the Crucible summary screen. Instead of showing kills or K/D, it shows points earned, captures, defence stats, and the number of turrets each player defeated in the match.
Given that K/D doesn’t directly impact points earned, Bungie may have felt K/D wasn’t necessary to include in the post-game screen. The developers may have selectively chosen to hide this information to prevent toxicity against weaker players. Or, the post-game screen could be a sneaky reminder for players to focus on the capture objective rather than kill count.
K/D isn’t a direct marker of skill, but typically, above-average players boast higher K/Ds. Still, some players can become so focused on the number of kills they fail to pursue the game objective.
While many Destiny 2 players aligned with Fallout’s opinion, others disagreed.
“I don’t mind KD not being shown on objective-based modes. I’d like to see the Destiny PvP base worry about it less in these modes so you’re not the solo guy capping the zones while everyone inflates their KD and loses the game,” game journalist Tom Warren replied.
Fallout’s tweet also gave way to joke replies.
“Toxic streamer just wants to bully people because of their K/D smh,” Destiny 2 content creator KackisHD replied.
After a series of ongoing replies and a few tweets from Fallout relating to the original tweet, he summarised his thoughts on the entire controversy by suggesting he was simply interested in his performance regarding kills versus deaths.
Final note bc I got work to do.
Not every PvP player wants to stat-farm for likes. Even if they did, you could call em out anyway for seeing 0 OBJ work in the pic😂 Some ppl like tracking K/D for persnl performance, like this legend here.
If u disagree thas K have good day byee✌️ pic.twitter.com/Q5B7WvcNSI— it me, FALLOUT (@falloutplays) January 4, 2023
Ultimately, there is no consensus, and it is a matter of personal preference. Regardless, if you’re playing Destiny 2 Iron Banner this week, check out our guides to the best Destiny 2 Warlock builds, the best Titan builds, and the best Hunter builds to develop a PvP build to help you lead the scoreboard in destroyed turrets.