Highlights
- The new Onslaught mode in Destiny 2 offers rewards like the coveted Superblack shader, increasing player engagement and excitement.
- The Superblack shader sets a trend for more solid-color shaders in Destiny 2, providing players with unique customization options.
- The best shaders, like Superblack, should be difficult to obtain through challenging activities, adding value and longevity to the game.
Destiny 2‘s recent Into the Light update brought a host of new additions to the game, including the brand-new Onslaught horde mode, which sees players fending off multiple waves of enemies for the valuable rewards that lie in wait at each milestone and the end. While playing Onslaught is rewarding enough, simply for the weapons that players can obtain playing it, the main draw to playing it comes from the new Superblack shader — a long-awaited all-black shader that the Destiny 2 community has been requesting for many years now. In order to obtain Superblack, players need to increase their reputation with Shaxx to Rank 17 by completing Onslaught and the bounties he provides, in addition to completing all the Brave weapon quests available in the Hall of Champions. Upon meeting these conditions, players can then retrieve Superblack from a small room in the back of the hall.
Superblack has been a long time coming, as Destiny 2‘s other shaders have provided players with the ability to have a somewhat black appearance but never entirely black like the infamous D1 shader. However, now that many players have obtained the coveted shader, Destiny 2 doesn’t need to stop there. In fact, the game could potentially start a trend by introducing more shaders like it. This would not only give players a reason to continue playing Destiny 2, but it would also likely mean more activities, greater challenges, and increased longevity for the new Onslaught mode.
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How Destiny 2 Could Move Forward After Superblack
Destiny 2 Needs More Solid-Color Shaders
While being a black shader alone is enough to make Superblack as popular as it is, one of its best aspects is the fact that it is entirely one color. All of Destiny 2‘s shaders feature specific color schemes that include a variety of colors and shades of those colors. Some shaders even feature four entirely different colors, all splattered onto a player’s Guardian in various ways depending on what armor the player is wearing. On the other hand, despite varying a bit in its textures, Superblack is indeed an all-black shader, and it should start a trend for Destiny 2 involving more solid-color shaders.
Currently, Destiny 2 does occasionally offer what can sometimes appear to be solid-color shaders via Zavala (Vanguard), Shaxx (Crucible), and the Drifter (Gambit) for achieving a certain reputation rank with each of them, with each of these shaders featuring colors according to the activity required to earn them. Vanguard shaders, for example, are typically orange, whereas Crucible shaders are generally red. Even so, these shaders are, at the end of the day, still comprised of multiple colors, unlike Destiny 2‘s Superblack.
Destiny 2’s Best Shaders Should Be Difficult to Obtain
It’s true that Destiny 2‘s new Onslaught mode can sometimes feel a bit lengthy, especially when it comes to the full 50-wave playlist option, which generally takes around an hour to complete. That being said, Onslaught has still proven to be a great method for further increasing the value and appeal of the Superblack shader. Players aren’t necessarily required to play an overwhelming amount of Onslaught matches to obtain it, but it still provides enough of a challenge to make obtaining the Superblack shader all the more rewarding. In the same way, Destiny 2 should lock its best shaders — and even more solid-color shaders — behind activities such as Onslaught.
This wouldn’t be the first time Destiny 2 has locked a valuable shader behind an activity, as some of the game’s better shaders have been obtainable through playing Iron Banner. However, the road to obtaining Superblack has been arguably more balanced than any Iron Banner shaders before it, so it should set a precedent for the future of shaders in Destiny 2. At the very least, it could be a way to increase Onslaught’s longevity — by offering players more solid-color shaders if they continuously max out their reputation with Shaxx.