In Destiny, we take a closer look at Silver Dust and the Radiant Treasures.
When the first information about “Silver Dust” surfaced a few months ago, the Guardians cheered: It was supposed to be a new currency that could also be earned through gameplay to buy items in the Eververse. There was hope that one could now earn all Eververse items by playing – meaning one could invest either time (Silver Dust) or money (Silver) to obtain the items. There was also speculation about an exchange rate, how much Silver Dust would be worth compared to Silver.
But no luck! While Silver Dust is indeed a currency that can be earned through gameplay to buy items from Tess Everis – it is in a very different manner than hoped. A post in the Reddit forum titled Silver Dust as the “most idiotic thing ever in Destiny” received thousands of upvotes. Why is that? Here are all the details.
Silver Dust – What do I actually need this currency for?
According to the in-game description, you need Silver Dust to apply weapon and armor ornaments and to buy certain items. If you want to style your items with ornaments, you need 5 Silver Dust.
In the Eververse, you can acquire the following with Silver Dust:
- Reputation boosts for Strikes, Crucible, and the Trials of Osiris (3 for 5 Silver Dust)
- Artifact lenses (15 Silver Dust)
- Gjallarwing Sparrow (75 Silver Dust)
Additionally:
- Xur sells various ornaments weekly for 25 Silver Dust.
- At Eva Levante in the Tower, you can directly purchase Chromatin with Silver Dust (2 Silver Dust).
- Lord Saladin sells Dusty Iron Engrams for 5 Silver Dust.
Silver and Silver Dust are two entirely different currencies. There is no exchange rate. In other words: The items you “must” buy with Silver cannot be acquired with Silver Dust. However, Silver Dust can be purchased in the form of Radiant Treasures with Silver.
Radiant Treasures – How do I get Silver Dust?
Silver Dust is exclusively available on PS4 and Xbox One. There are several ways to obtain it:
- Eververse: You spend real money and buy a Radiant Treasure for 200 Silver. A Radiant Treasure contains a Silver Dust particle, an exotic weapon ornament, and up to two possible additional items. Here you can see the possible items:
- Heroic SIVA Crisis Strike Playlist: Once a week, you can earn a Radiant Treasure by completing a Strike.
- Dismantling ornaments: This way, you get 5 Silver Dust.
These are the possibilities that currently exist. However, in the near future, the Silver Dust economy is expected to be made “more player-friendly” with updates. The first step is that soon you won’t need Silver Dust to equip the ornaments from Trials, “Wrath of the Machine”, and the “Iron Lord” armor. Additionally, you will receive Silver Dust when you dismantle items from the Dusty Iron Engrams. However, even larger changes are expected to come.
So Silver Dust is not the hoped-for step away from microtransactions, but rather a big step towards them. For example, to buy ornaments from Xur, a real money investment is almost unavoidable, as it takes a long time to earn enough Silver Dust with a Radiant Treasure per week through Strikes.
Have you already invested money in Radiant Treasures? Or is it not worth it to you?
