With Destiny 2 being around for over four years now, it doesn't come as a surprise that players can amass a large number of ornaments and sets to customize the look of their Guardians as they please. Destiny 2's fashion game has always been considered a nice aspect, and players who have been playing for a long time will know that the system has endured several different phases as a whole. Back when stats on the armor were negligible enough for players to use whatever they wanted, it wasn't hard to mix and match set pieces in order to create a look that would stand out, despite the lack of diverse options at launch.
With time, fashion and customization have become much more interesting in Destiny 2, and especially so with the way the system changed thanks to the introduction of Armor Synthesis just last season. The relatively new addition was a much-needed one simply because, with the Armor 2.0 update that came with Shadowkeep, players couldn't put on whatever armor they wanted, and so fashion became a difficult endeavor outside of universal ornaments coming from season passes and the Eververse store. With this season's Festival of the Lost, now well into the Armor Synthesis system, players are wondering if their fashion sets can pose disadvantages when it comes to PVP, and especially so due to the large proportions of the event's masks.
Destiny 2: Armor Sets, Festival of the Lost Masks, and Hitboxes
Because of how critical the use of masks in Festival of the Lost is, Destiny 2's players are concerned that their size could end up increasing the hitbox of their Guardians' heads in the Crucible or in Gambit. This is a reasonable concern, and it ties in with an underlying fear that comes from some of the game's sets being extremely bulky and colossal in size, which is particularly experienced by Titan players with a male character over any other class or gender. The debate is not a new one in video games that have competitive game modes where players can challenge one another, but it doesn't affect the actual hitbox of any character in Destiny 2.
Having different hitboxes based on the size of a player's character or the set pieces they use for fashion would be extremely detrimental in any competitive mode, and it would promote the use of the most slender combinations of characters and sets. Furthermore, it would likely be a torment for developers to change hitboxes depending on how big a character ends up being, and that would be even more troublesome in a game like Destiny 2 where there are substantial differences between the Titans and the Hunters. Regardless, the doubt remains all the same, and it is strengthened by the fact that occasionally there are bugs that make the accuracy of shots in PVP dubious.
This is something that has been plaguing the Fortnite community as well, as the game is one where PVP elements are key to the gameplay, but so is the act of collecting skins that change the base character model in many ways. An example comes from the addition of the Mecha Morty skin with Fortnite's last season when players thought that the collectible's size would have an impact on their characters' hitboxes. This was disconfirmed to be the case, and yet players thought that there could be another disadvantage to the skin in the form of how different it looks from most due to its cel-shading.
As such, while cosmetics and various customization options might not be an issue in terms of hitboxes, it doesn't mean that each set and every color is immune to handicaps of sorts. In fact, Destiny 2 players can suffer from this as well due to how distinguishable some shaders can be due to their peculiar color palettes, and also how they shader specific armor pieces.
How Destiny 2 Shaders Can Impact PVP
Shaders are another major aspect of Destiny 2's customization possibilities, and they too can drastically change the appearance of some characters depending both on their shades and how they apply to different sets. Because shaders come with a bunch of main and side colors to them, it's not impossible that those traits might be highlighted by some sets and not noticeable on others. This makes each combination unique, but once again, it can be troublesome when taking PVP into consideration.
Destiny 2 players tend to prefer darker shades to brighter ones as a rule of thumb, but of course, there are due exceptions. Combining shaders and armor sets to match the environment of a map is a very rare occasion, especially in regular playlist Crucible activities, where maps can change at every new match. Some players, however, have been discussing the impact this can have in the newly reworked Trials of Osiris due to how the map doesn't change for the entire weekend.
This allows players to master the area after a handful of Trials of Osiris matches. Some hardcore fans can at times be seen preferring looks that match the environment, or at least darker looks to be harder to spot in naturally dark zones. The opposite can also happen, though, as seen with the Radiant Cliffs Crucible map. This zone contains a few key spots where a player can take advantage of the sun in the background almost blinding opponents facing them, and the use of bright shaders like Gambit Chrome doesn't help.
Ultimately, even if there are no official issues with cosmetics and customization options in Destiny 2, there can be problems with shaders and imposing armor pieces based on the environment. Map manipulation is generally considered as cheating by Bungie, and the line between this and taking advantage of one's surroundings and adapting to them is very thin.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.