BioWare makes crucial improvements to Anthem loot mechanics
Grandmaster cache.
Who loves loot? Silly question - we all love loot, but Anthem has recently come under fire for not giving players enough of it. That could be about to change, however, as a number of tweaks could see the game become slightly less stingy over its goodies.
Following a bizarre day when Anthem's loot temporarily became very generous (a mistake quickly reversed via patch), BioWare pledged to take another look at the loot mechanics and potentially make some changes.
In a post on Reddit, lead producer Ben Irving has now explained how some of these adjustments will work following the next patch (arriving sometime today or tomorrow).
First up, BioWare is removing common and uncommon drops from level 30 drop tables, meaning your chances of picking up utterly redundant gear at higher levels should be reduced. "This was a highly requested change and we agree, so that's that," the post states.
Another significant alteration is a reduction in the number of crafting materials required to craft a masterwork. Previously, this required a chunky 25 masterwork embers, but the change will now mean players only need 15.
One of the main criticisms from players has been that inscriptions - bonuses attached to certain gear and weapons - often ended up on irrelevant items, resulting in players having to craft multiple masterworks to attain a useful combination. Nobody wants an assault rifle with a pistol bonus.
To solve this issue, inscriptions will now be "better for the items they are on": gear-specific inscriptions will be "useful to that item", while all other inscriptions will provide Javelin-wide benefits.
The catch is that these inscription changes will only apply to items you acquire from now on: the ones currently in your vault are staying the same. Sorry hardcore grinders.
These changes are a good start, but it's clear BioWare still has some way to go before Anthem's loot mechanics start to feel fair. The removal of common and uncommon drops from level 30 drops is a plus, but other lower-quality loot like rare and epic gear hasn't budged: and anything below masterwork and legendary is fairly redundant at that point of the game.
Thankfully, it does sound like BioWare is considering options to resolve the issue. In response to a question on whether grandmaster two and three tasks would be made more rewarding (in terms of masterworks and legendary drops), Irving said BioWare "understand[s] the problem space for sure" and is "looking into this".
While you're sat around waiting for more of these changes, you can have a read of Eurogamer's Anthem review, in which Oli describes the game's loot as neither "fun [nor] desirable". Hopefully BioWare's about to change that.