Hi Herst, welcome to the vfx world. No, u do not need to use a lot of shaders in order to achieve great effects, but i highly recommend learning once u’re experienced with the vfx world. Wich versión of unity are u currently using? u can try the default standar shader but vertex based: i think this is the link https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/release-standard-particle-shader.461938/.
Try checking out my youtube list and pinterest boards, there is plenty of material there:
And u can also check the amazing vfxs that kevin @Sirhaian released for study purpouse :3
Sorry for my bad english, i don’t speak too much english either