EDIT: Actually M4ttchoo pointed out that combatants probably just mean enemy characters.. but i figured that would fall under the NPC thing.... hmm
If you take a peek at the new [url=http://www.bungie.net/7_Breaking-In---Dave-Matthews/en-us/News/News?aid=10516]breaking in[/url] dave mathews states:
[quote] "I also manage the Character Team as they craft new interesting and unique visuals for our player characters, combatants, and NPCs." [/quote]
This either means you have a casual and combat look or im reading into it too much. Probably the latter. But its no surprise that you could have a social/not armed to the teeth look.
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Perhaps I'm just sub-conciously basing this off of biased hope, but perhaps unique visuals could be an armor customization type system. Like dyes in Neverwinter. You acquire a piece of gear in the world of Destiny, and it comes with a preset look, but can also, to a certain extent, be customized (Color scheme, pattern, etc).