Destiny 2’s launch day was met with criticism from fans after the community discovered that shaders, a cosmetic-only item for re-coloring a piece of armor, have become consumable items in the sequel. Shaders in the first game were permanent items that can be swapped freely, and Bungie’s silence on the matter led many to believe that shaders would function the same way in the sequel.
Several threads on the Destiny subreddit expressed their dismay over the single-use shaders. The top upvoted Reddit thread, which has over 37,000 upvotes, strives to unite gamers to refrain from purchasing microtransactions “until shaders become unlimited use.” Generally, most fans believe Bungie’s implementation of Destiny 2 shaders is anti-consumer.
In Destiny 2, shaders can be obtained via normal gameplay means or by spending premium currency in Eververse from Tess Everis, a returning merchant from Destiny who sells loot boxes called Bright Engrams that have cosmetics and gameplay-affecting gear. Each Bright Engram has three random items and a guaranteed shader. Weirdly enough, shaders obtained from Bright Engrams come in bulks of three, which means you can only recolor three out of the four gear you have (helmet, chest piece, arms, and legs).
Below is the cost per Silver pack, the premium currency used to buy Bright Engrams, and the prices per Bright Engram:
- 500 Silver = USD$4.99
- 1000 (+100) = USD$9.99
- 2000 (+300) = USD$19.99
- 5000 (+800) = USD$49.99
- 1 Bright Engram = 200 Silver
- 3 Bright Engrams = 500 Silver
- 5 Bright Engrams (free 1 Bright Engram)= 800 Silver
Another odd aspect for Destiny 2’s consumable shaders is the lack of a shader preview option for an individual gear piece, which makes it hard to mix and match unique shaders prior to application.
Presumably, some gamers will solely use shaders on the best of the best end-game items. However, this can be a bit problematic due to the game’s RNG nature. “It's now pointless to equip any armor shaders before hitting max level because you'll be exchanging your armor every few hours...and even once you hit 20, it's fairly pointless to apply armor shaders until you have your perfectly-rolled endgame armor set,” a player said.
Update 09/13/17: A small inaccuracy was stated in the article. Shaders you own can actually be previewed before applying it to a specific gear piece. However, shaders purchasable from Eververse can only be previewed on your character's full gear. Bright Dust, a currency acquired by dismantling items obtained from Bright Engrams, can be used to purchase select items from Eververse.
What do you think about Destiny 2 shaders being single-use items? Are you fine spending on a full-priced game with a season pass and microtransactions? Do you agree with the players who are upset about this? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
