Customization

In addition to the arms and armor necessary for a Guardian to survive on the battlefield, you are also outfitted with your companion Ghost, a Sparrow to traverse the planets of the solar system with speed, and a ship to travel between the planets.

To ensure that you stand out from the crowd, you can customize your Guardian with unique armor colors by using Shaders, adorn yourself with Class-specific Class Armor, and choose an Emblem for your player card.

Your Ghost

Companion, mentor, hacker, transport aid, restorer of life, your Ghost is your best friend on and off the battlefield.

Ghosts are fragments of the Traveler’s Light, and they choose you to carry on the task of the wounded Traveler in protecting the remnants of humanity.

The least you can do is get your Ghost a nice paint job…

Your choice of Ghost shell is purely cosmetic. It appears in the world during any cutscene where your Ghost is active, and your Ghost always shows up when you bring up your Navigation menu in the field.

Traveling in Style with Your Sparrow

Unlocked early in the Story campaign, your Sparrow can be generated instantly to you anywhere in the open via transmat.

If your Sparrow is destroyed, you must wait a short time before another can be regenerated.

Unlike Ghost or Ship upgrades, Sparrow upgrades are not cosmetic.

Better Sparrows have slightly better durability and top speed, and truly exceptional models can even come with special mobility tools, such as strafe capability or overcharged thrusters.

Solar Travel in Your Ship

Your ship may be a cosmetic choice, but it is a major one. You hover above every planet in the game in your ship, form Fireteams in space in your ship, and travel to and from every destination in the solar system in your ship.

You see your ship a lot, so why not splurge some Glimmer on a custom ride? If you are particularly lucky, you can find or earn rare ships with unique appearances and color schemes.

Class Armor

Class Armor is a mostly cosmetic armor slot that all three Classes have access to. Titans wear waist cloths of unique design, Warlocks adorn themselves with armbands, and Hunters garb themselves in cloaks. While it has no in-combat effect, wearing Class Armor of a specific Faction is how you represent that Faction on the battlefield.

If you wish to earn reputation for Dead Orbit, the Future War Cult, the New Monarchy, or the Iron Banner, you must purchase and equip a Class Armor item of their Faction. Without such a Faction-specific armor piece equipped, all reputation gains you get on the field go toward Vanguard reputation, the catch-all Faction that represents the entirety of the Guardian forces in the Tower.

Shaders

Shaders are paint jobs for your armor. You can find, purchase, and earn these from the various vendors and Factions in the Tower, or obtain them by completing various events and activities in PvE and PvP. Shaders have a quality level that determines which armor you can apply them to. High-quality, high-level armor of great rarity requires rare and expensive Shaders and does not accept lower-quality Shaders. Shaders are not applied to each piece of armor individually. Instead, they are a full body paint scheme that gives you a unified appearance. While early, cheaper Shaders tend to be basic colors, more sophisticated Shaders can have complex patterns or material types in their designs.

Emblems

Emblems are a totally cosmetic item that affects the appearance of your player card to other players in the game. Whenever you interact with other players through the menus (such as joining a Fireteam or adding a friend), you can see their Emblems. Emblems also show up in the top-right area of the screen any time you are together in a Fireteam in orbit over a planet. You can purchase and acquire Emblems from various vendors in the Tower. You can also discover them as loot in the field, or earn them as a reward for various events and activities.