As a looter-shooter, one of the defining features of Destiny 2 is its loot system. Over the years, the game has expanded the different kinds of equipment that players can get obtain with a variety of weapons and armor. From cosmetics on weapons, to ships, to sparrow mounts, there have been different flashy items for players to find. While exotic weapons are an easy example to point to for items in Destiny 2 that players grind for, shaders have also given the community options for customization.
Weapon and armor shaders in Destiny 2 allow players to customize their characters, weapons, ships, and sparrows to suit whatever aesthetic fans want. However, this feature has been brought up time and time again in the community around Destiny 2 because of some of its problems. While Bungie recently addressed some fan concerns when it comes to armor synthesis in Destiny 2, there are still some aspects of cosmetics that could be improved.
Improving Destiny 2's Shaders
For improving the player experience and quality of life in Destiny 2, in regard to cosmetics, some fans have already begun discussing ideas. As a live service game, Destiny 2 has cycled through quite a bit of content since it was released, and as a result, there are a lot of items that new or returning players may have missed and can no longer get. Things like Jadestone shader from Gambit, and shaders from raids can be highly coveted by fans. However, because some of these activities have been vaulted or ended, their cosmetic items are no longer obtainable to those who hadn’t already received them.
An easy fix that players have come up with is adding these items to Xur’s loot pool. The mysterious Jovian vendor recently got an overhaul on what items he provides, expanding his inventory beyond just the traditional exotic items, engrams, and cipher quests. The expansion of his inventory to include past shaders would make sense, and would allow players to obtain the legacy cosmetic items that they want.
There might be some player concerns for things like shaders from raids and other activities, but there is a balanced solution. For general cosmetic items, like those that simply dropped randomly or may have been part of a questline, they could be added to the Monument to Lost Lights. The vendor already stocks exotic weapons like Leviathan's Breath and pinnacle weapons that players can no longer obtain, and adding past cosmetic items and collectibles seems like a pretty clear step forward.
There are certain items like any shaders, sparrows, ghosts, or ships that were rewarded for extremely challenging activities that should be omitted from this pool though. Items like the Cottontail Ghost shell, which is actually still obtainable in Destiny 2, shouldn’t be available from a vendor pool or the Monument to Lost Lights. The extreme difficulty of doing something like a solo run of a certain activity should still have weight to it, and the rewards offered shouldn’t be made easily obtainable now that they're gone.
Still, general items could be easily added to the Monument to Lost Lights. To stay in line with other raid gear, raid cosmetics that return could also cost Spoils of Conquest, similar to weapons like Anarchy. This would provide a balanced way for these cosmetic items to be obtainable by players that don’t make it feel like they’re just being handed out when others had to grind for them.
Shaders from Destiny 1
Similar to some of the coveted shaders that early Destiny 2 players got are a lot of the high-quality shaders that were released in the first Destiny game. The recent addition of the Vault of Glass raid to Destiny 2, which was the first raid released in Destiny, also had reprisals of classic weapons and a reinterpretation of the Chatterwhite shader with Bitterpearl. Chatterwhite was iconic for its color pallet being a solid white. It was eerie in the face of the Vault of Glass’s uncertain history and felt fitting, but the reintroduction in Destiny 2 was comparatively lacking.
While many players have noticed that Gambit Chrome essentially fills the gap left by the Bitterpearl shader not being true to Chatterwhite, this can’t be said for other iconic shaders from the first Destiny game. Shaders like Glowhoo, Queen’s Web, and Weldfire all deserve to be brought back to the Destiny franchise in their truest forms. They were cool cosmetic rewards that offered incredible visual palettes for players’ guardians.
While Destiny 2 has featured its own cool shaders, it struggles when it comes to providing ones that glow like Glowhoo, Queen’s Web, and Weldfire or the ability to lay on solid colors as Superblack did in the first Destiny. Seeing a lot, if not all these past shaders ushered into Destiny 2 would be great. While the game is a solid improvement from its predecessor and has been able to evolve, especially with the incredible narratives for Season of the Splicer and Season of the Lost, it could still borrow from the original Destiny.
Shaders on Exotic Weapons in Destiny 2
One cosmetic feature that it feels like both Destiny games should have allowed by now is the application of shaders to exotic weapons. While weapon and armor ornaments have been introduced to exotics in Destiny 2, they still only provide so much when it comes to customization. Oddly though, exotic armor and their ornaments allow players to apply shaders, but not exotic weapons and their ornaments.
This in itself can be frustrating. While not being able to apply shaders to exotics at all could already be a disappointment to fans, being able to apply shaders to exotic armor and not exotic weapons almost feels worse. This isn’t to say that the ornaments that are provided aren’t thrilling. Exotic ornaments often surprise players and add a special wow factor, but being able to customize the weapons like Ager's Scepter would feel all the more special.
Since these weapons can go a while and only have limited released weapon ornaments, and making new ones takes time for and work from developers, shaders seems like the way to go. Being able to customize exotic guns with shaders would be a great alternative, but it’s not an option. Hopefully, in the future, this will be fixed and maybe by the Witch Queen fans can see some improvements with how cosmetics are handled in Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.