The 1.04 update brings a number of changes to Anthem’s loot system, with inscriptions on masterwork items being its primary focus. Specifically, players can now expect these inscriptions to be directly applicable to the item on which they are found, or else they will provide a bonus that affects a Javelin overall.
Inscriptions are random bonuses that appear on weapons or items, and, for players that are looking to maximize the power level of their Javelins, finding high-rarity gear with the perfect inscriptions is key. Prior to the update, the random inscriptions that were assigned to these items were selected from many of the bonuses available in the game.
This meant that players would often encounter items with completely useless inscriptions — an assault rifle with a bonus to pistol damage, for example. Under this system, players would often need to obtain many masterwork items before finding one with inscriptions that were even applicable to the piece of gear itself.
Inscriptions are not where the changes end in this update though, as BioWare has also reduced the number of masterwork embers required to craft masterwork items from 25 to 15. Combined with the overall improvement to the inscriptions that are assigned to this high-rarity gear, players should expect to more quickly obtain desirable loot with the update in place.
Finally, common and uncommon items have been fully removed from Level 30 drop tables. This means that players will no longer see these when farming for end-game loot.
While these changes certainly appear to be an improvement, it remains to be seen if they will be enough to keep players invested and playing. With figures suggesting that Anthem’s initial sales were less than stellar, it is indeed critical that BioWare finds a way to appease and maintain the established playerbase.
More details on the change to loot can be found on Reddit.
