Destiny 2’s Shaders are being reworked, at long last

For those who find Destiny 2‘s Shader preview system needlessly obtuse and confusing,, there is good news on the horizon. Bungie is, according to the latest information, bound to rework how Shaders work with 2024’s The Final Shape DLC.

It’s an unexpected reveal that’s come from a fairly unassuming source: a recent livestream posted by Destiny 2 streamer Datto. Players have been asking for a better way to preview, filter, and group shaders for the longest time now, with threads explaining these cosmetics popping up every so often.

The crux of the issue, really, comes from the fact that even though the Shaders’ icons only show four colours and textures at a time, they actually hold way more of them, which can lead to situations where one picks a mostly grey shader, only for it to apply neon orange or green accents to a given item. According to Bungie’s Joe Blackburn, that should no longer be a concern once The Final Shape hits.

Is Bungie finally improving Destiny 2’s Shader interface?

After Bungie’s Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn announced that he’d be taking up a more proactive role in the community, it wasn’t entirely clear what, exactly that might entail. Datto’s latest stream showcases why Blackburn’s hands-on approach has been a pretty big win for the community, as the man just revealed that there will be a wholly reworked Shader preview interface coming with The Final Shape.

“This is a very small reveal, and I have nothing to talk about,” said Blackburn at 5:35:40, “but we have redone how the icons look in the Final Shape. And there’s, like, a whole another section of every Shader icon to better describe the areas that are shaded.”

This is huge news for the fashion-minded Destiny fans all on its own, but it gets better still: “So all of the colours are represented in the new icons, and they’re organized a bit differently. I still think you have to know how armour looks to really look at it and be like, ‘I get it’, but, you know, the more prominent areas take up more prominent parts of the shader, and all the little hidden colours are represented on the shader icon.”

It remains to be seen how, exactly this will work, and Blackburn did mention that it’s possible Bungie won’t be discussing the revamped Shader UI/UX anytime soon. No word on any filtering or searching options, either, but it’s not impossible that those might be coming to Destiny as well, if Bungie is up for it.