If you think he's getting wrecked in Iron Banner because he can't get past 30, you have no clue what you're talking about.
Last IB I played on my brand new 28 Hunter and did just as well as I'm doing now rocking a 31/32. The penalty is actually relatively minimal.
As a 28, my maxed Suros did 4 points less damage per headshot compared to playing on a 32.
IIRC, it dropped from 35 --> 31. Assuming 200 health, that's 6 shots to kill at 32 compared to 7 shots to kill at 28. That's not as big of a handicap as most people make it out to be, and that's 4 levels below max. 30 is barely any different.
Besides that, vendor gear is 31 capable so it's his fault for being only 30 anyway.
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4 damage with an auto rifle to the head makes the difference between killing or getting killed
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Yes it could potentially require 1 more shot to kill if your opponent has a high armor build. Low armor build potentially are exactly the same. The point is, levels in the high 20s are not prohibitively handicapped in iron banner. Skill is still most important by far. I may actually be doing worse so far in this iron banner on my 32 compared to last time on my 28 because I'm not playing quite as well...