Destiny 2’s Eververse is under fire once again, after players figured out that over half of the game’s base shaders are only available through Bright Engrams.
In the past few weeks Destiny 2’s Eververse store has come under tremendous fire for the way Bungie funnels players in its direction. Early on in Destiny 2, there were concerns that Eververse might become a priority for Bungie when players learned that ships, sparrows, ghosts, and more were locked behind the Bright Engram system, but now that the community has grown frustrated with the endgame and the lack of improvement, those seemingly insignificant issues have been blown wide open.
Recently, players have begun digging deep into Eververse to see just how much of the game is geared towards its use and what is locked behind its doors. For example, one Destiny 2 player was able to figure out that 58% of the base shaders in Destiny 2 are Eververse shaders, meaning players can only earn them through a Bright Engram or by using Bright Dust from dismantled Bright Engram items.
For those that are curious, the tester (danis5 on Reddit) calculated that there are 38 base shaders in the game. That means the shader is available through regular play and does not require a special event (Faction Rally, Iron Banner, Dawning) or completion of a challenging endgame activity (Raid, Trials of the Nine). And of those 38 base shaders, 22 of them are exclusive to Eververse and Bright Engrams.
No doubt shaders are a small point of contention for Destiny 2 right now given the larger loot and endgame problems, but the Eververse issue is still concerning. It’s made even more so because a lot of the shaders that players prefer are Eververse shaders, and those are so rare.
Ultimately, info like this can work two-fold. For starters, it makes the players aware of how Bungie has chosen to divide up some of its cosmetic items to encourage additional spending in Destiny 2. Director Luke Smith had said that the goal of making shaders consumable was to incentivize players to re-run activities to get more of its shader. But what has happened is Bungie has locked a lot of the best shaders behind Eververse, 58% of the base shaders.
Secondly, making players aware will also help give them the tools with which to debate Bungie over changes necessary for Eververse. The developer has faced some harsh criticism as of late and is likely looking to make some changes to help satisfying hardcore players, so the more problematic areas players can highlight the more things they might see change.
Change is coming in the New Year (like exotic duplicate protection); Bungie has said as much. As far as what changes will be made to Destiny 2 and whether those will be meaningful enough to bring players back? Let’s left to be determined.
Destiny 2 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
