Destiny 2: The 40 Best Shaders Ranked from Worst to Best Looking

What Are Shaders in Destiny 2 and How Do You Equip Them?

Shaders are Destiny 2’s dye system. These are items that allow you to change the color scheme and pattern of your armor, weapons, Sparrows, ships, and Ghost Shells. You can use them as much as you want, and you’ll never have to repurchase one once it’s used (as opposed to how it used to be years ago). Without shaders, most of your gear would look genuinely horrible. Especially with Exotics that don’t match. But now you can look cool no matter how weird the base armor you’re wearing is.

How Do You Equip Shaders in Destiny 2?

Equipping a shader is a fairly straightforward process and works basically the same for everything you can apply them to. Here’s how you do it:

• Head over to your character menu and select a piece of armor or weapon.
• Hit down on the directional button to hit the Source menu.
• Hover over the empty shader slot to start browsing through your collection.
• Before committing to a look, you can hit the preview button to see it in action.
• Hit apply to attach the shader.

This will work exactly the same way for single armor pieces, weapons, Ghost Shells, Sparrows, and ships. However, if you want to apply a shader to all of your armor at once, you can do so in the Appearance Customization menu. Scroll down in your main character menu and select ornaments on the right-hand side. Here you can look through all of your shaders just like you would on a single item, but with the option to apply it to an entire armor set. 

How to Get Shaders in Destiny 2

Shaders, like all cosmetic items in Destiny 2, are acquired at random. Luckily, they also provide the most opportunities to collect when compared to Sparrows, Ghosts, and ships. Here are a few ways to collect shaders in Destiny 2. 

Season Pass

Your season pass will typically include two new shaders that you can collect. Just remember that like most cosmetics, you’ll need to purchase the full season pass to unlock them in some cases.

Eververse

Shaders are constantly being added and switched out in the marketplace. Luckily, they also only cost a minor amount of Bright Dust to unlock as well. Just keep checking back weekly to stay on top of new seasonal shaders as well as any favorites you may have missed. Some do cost Silver, but the majority are available for Bright Dust.

Bright Engrams

You can also unlock shaders not currently available to purchase by turning in Bright Engrams. These Engrams will often provide you with a shader alongside some other cosmetic. Unfortunately, these shaders will be random, but you’ll never earn the same one twice.

Dismantle Armor and Weapons

Some Legendary and even Rare equipment when dismantled will also give you a shader. There doesn’t seem to be any clear sign when or why this occurs. So, as long as you’re regularly clearing out your inventory, there’s a chance you’ll see it happen often.

End-game Challenges and Triumphs

You’ll often find that a shader is a reward for playing missions or pursuing specific triumphs in Destiny 2. These are often handed to you when it comes to missions and typically relate to a new expansion. Triumphs on the other hand are a bit more complex, especially if a cosmetic reward is involved. 

Lastly, you can always expect new Raids and Raid challenges to provide shaders as a reward. These are typically a bit more exclusive and considered to be premium shaders reserved for those that can rise to the occasion. 

Ada-1

Ada-1 always has three shaders available to purchase, so check out her inventory on a regular basis to see what she has.