Bungie signals it will repeal Destiny 2's controversial shader system

Bungie has laid out a number of positive changes headed to Destiny 2 next week, tied to the game's returning Iron Banner event and raid rewards.

And, looking further ahead, the developer has addressed the long-running criticism of the game's palette-swapping shader items - which were controversially turned into one-use consumables for Destiny 2.

Shaders, which change the colour scheme of a gear item, have attracted considerable criticism since Destiny 2's launch. Many are tied to the game's Eververse microtransaction store.

"We know you miss Destiny 1 Armour Shader mechanics," Bungie's Tyson Green wrote. "[We're] looking at ways to re-integrate that capability without losing the ability to shade weapons, Ghosts, ships, Sparrows, or customise specific pieces of armour.

"We also understand you want shaders to be more freely usable and not limited by availability. We're looking at re-introducing shader collections or a way to get copies of a shader in your possession.

"This work is ongoing, and we'll go on record as to when the solution will land as we get closer to a fix that we test and certify. For now, it was important to us that you know it's on our workbench."

In other news, next week's Iron Banner event, which runs for a week from Tuesday 30th, will be the first to let players pick specific rewards rather than rely on the game's slot-machine RNG. There will also be challenges to complete to unlock cosmetic ornaments for Iron Banner gear.

Raid encounters will now drop armour with raid-specific perks, via mods selectable on new and existing gear. There also changes to when loot can drop, double loot on Prestige mode, increased chances of an exotic to drop, and the ability to directly purchase a piece of raid gear every week if you've participated during that reset period.

Lastly, there's a new exotic raid ghost to grind for with some interesting perks - a chance of an Eververse Bright Engram as a raid reward, and a boost to the likelihood your next exotic will be something you haven't gotten before.

Other changes coming next week include the addition of Masterwork armour (with damage reduction when using a Super) and a long-awaited fix for the dramatically nerfed Prometheus Lens exotic.

It makes a change to have positive news coming out of Destiny 2 - long may it continue.