Destiny 2’s Cosmetic Shader Overhaul Is One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (2024)

The Final Shape is here, marking a new era of storytelling and gameplay in Destiny 2 for fans to explore. Among some of the more subtle changes that this DLC has introduced to Destiny 2, the cosmetic Shaders that players can use to change the looks of their weapons, armor, and other gear now have a new look.

While this change was geared toward making navigating and previewing Shaders in the players’ inventory more convenient, this subtle change has seemingly done more harm than good. Over time, the new look of Shaders will likely become normalized as players grow familiar with this sudden change, however, this has turned out to be quite a controversy in Destiny 2 for the time being.

Why Destiny 2’s New Shader Overhaul Is Controversial

Among Destiny 2’s vast playerbase is a die-hard community of fashion enthusiasts who take pride in customizing their Guardians. This passionate part of Destiny 2’s community has shaped features in the game before, such as influencing the addition of the ‘Best Dressed’ Commendation, which is partly credited for shifting players’ perceptions of Commendations from being a highly divisive feature to a somewhat welcome addition to Destiny 2.

Now, once again, the fashion enthusiasts in the Destiny 2 community have seemingly influenced another change to the game. As of the release of the new Final Shape DLC, cosmetic Shaders in Destiny 2 have all been updated with new preview images. Yet while this highly-requested change was long overdue, its rather abrupt implementation has brought to light several additional changes that Destiny 2’s Shaders are in dire need of, now more than ever.

Destiny 2’s Cosmetic Shaders Have a New Look

With the new look to Shaders in Destiny 2, the preview images for Shaders now more accurately depict the dominant colors, textures, and patterns for each Shader. This was a much-needed change for the game, considering that the four colors depicted in the old iteration of Shader preview images often didn’t consistently represent the Shaders.

With the old iteration of Shaders, players would usually have to fully sample each individual Shader to see how it would look on a piece of equipment. While the new preview images mostly alleviate this issue, this problem hasn’t been completely solved, which raises the question of whether this overhaul to Shaders’ preview images was necessary.

Destiny 2’s Shaders Are an Inventory Management Nightmare

Regardless of how accurate the new Shader icons are though, this change has highlighted another glaring issue with the overall transmog system in Destiny 2, which is the lack of inventory management features. Considering that the old Shaders' preview images were players’ main method for recognizing the countless Shaders in their inventory, the new Shader overhaul inevitably means that navigating the transmog menus in Destiny 2 just got a lot more confusing.

With ‘favorites’ being the only way that players can currently organize their Shaders, the confusion that the new Shader overhaul has caused highlights the need for proper inventory management and sorting options. For example, future updates for Destiny 2 could address this by adding sorting options, or otherwise, allowing players to create their own sorting categories might be the best approach.

Ultimately, the new change to Destiny 2’s Shaders was one that fans have requested for multiple years, but now that it’s in the game, it only solves of one the many problems that Shaders currently face. As players familiarize themselves with the new look of Shaders, the recent overhaul will become a lot less jarring, but for now, it’s proven to be a highly divisive addition to what has otherwise been considered one of the best DLCs in the history of the Destiny franchise.

Destiny 2

Platform(s)

PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One , PC , Stadia

Released

August 28, 2017

Developer(s)

Bungie

Publisher(s)

Bungie

Genre(s)

FPS

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer , Online Co-Op

Engine

Tiger Engine

ESRB

T For TEEN for Blood, Language, and Violence

Expansions

Destiny 2: Forsaken , Destiny 2: Shadowkeep , Destiny 2: Beyond Light , Destiny 2: The Witch Queen , Destiny 2: Lightfall

How Long To Beat

100+

Metascore

85

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC, PS4,PS5, Xbox One &Xbox Series X|S

Number of Players

1-6 (Co-Op)

PS Plus Availability

Essential, Extra, & Premium (The Witch Queen)

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