A lot of things are changing in Destiny 2 with the upcoming release of the Shadowkeep expansion. A couple of those changes share an overall change of direction for some of the items of the game, taking them from consumables to unlockables. And, with this change, the game should definitely take that same idea into at least two other item categories in Destiny 2: shaders and transmat effects.
The “consumable to unlockable” change is appearing in two key areas in players’ gear in Shadowkeep: Armor 2.0 and weapon mods. Armor 2.0 works by giving players a stat rolled piece of armor that does not have any perks. The perks themselves come from armor mods that players select. And those mods are unlockables; that is, once players have found a mod, it will remain in players' inventory, available to be slotted into as many armor pieces where they are able to be slotted.
Just last week, developer Bungie revealed that the same thing is happening to weapon mods. While weapons won’t be getting any sort of Weapons 2.0 system where players can pick their perks like they can in Armor 2.0, the mods that can be slotted into weapons are following suit with Armor 2.0 mods and going from one-time consumables to unlockables. Including mods already in players’ inventories, with the release of Shadowkeep, all weapon mods going forward will turn into infinite-use mods, able to be selected on any weapon players choose.
These changes are extremely positive for players, but with the change it makes the way transmat effects and shaders feeling outdated and less player-friendly than armor and weapon mods. From the launch of Destiny 2, transmat effects and shaders have been one-time consumables. Much of that is most likely due to the fact that both those items were used to stock up the Eververse Store, so it made more financial sense to monetize individual, consumable shaders that players would have to buy in multiples rather than a one-time buy for a forever-unlocked shader.
But again, Eververse is undergoing a major overhaul with the release of Shadowkeep. And Destiny 2 is getting a Battle Pass-like Season Pass to monetize the game in a different way. And with those changes, it seems time that transmat effects and shaders become unlockables, even if some of them stay part of the Eververse Store or are placed as a reward along the Season Pass.
At least for shaders, this would return them to a system similar to the one that was in Destiny 1, where shaders could be switched freely once they were unlocked. Transmat effects did not really exist in Destiny 1 outside of a few exotic class items that would change a players transmat effects, so there isn’t a precedent for that item. But either way, with all the changes coming in Year 3 of Destiny 2, it seems like the right time to expand the same direction the game has taken with armor and weapon mods and extend it into shaders and transmat effects.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep releases October 1, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.