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Anthem’s new loot system changes sound awesome

By Matthew Liebl

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 11: Game Director with Bioware, Jon Warner introduces 'Anthem' during the Microsoft xBox E3 briefing at the Galen Center on June 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. The E3 Game Conference begins on Tuesday June 13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 11: Game Director with Bioware, Jon Warner introduces 'Anthem' during the Microsoft xBox E3 briefing at the Galen Center on June 11, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. The E3 Game Conference begins on Tuesday June 13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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How BioWare is improving Anthem’s loot system

It’s been five months since BioWare first announced plans to redesign many of the key features of Anthem and since then they’ve presumably heads down, hard at work. In a blog post today, Studio Director Christian Dailey finally came out of the cave to provide an update on the game’s status.

Today’s post focused particularly on the loot system which Dailey admitted fell short in the initial game. With Anthem 2.0, BioWare has a number of “high-level goals” based on player feedback.

Some of the changes players can expect when they return to Anthem is an increase in frequency Loot Drops, along with more viable loot that “better and more competitive” than your previous. This is all in an effort to “respect your time,” so you’re always feeling like you’re making meaningful progress.

Let’s be honest, there’s nothing more frustrating than farming for an entire night and not getting any meaningful gear. That was Anthem at launch.

In addition to respecting your time, BioWare wants to give you a choice in how you pursue collecting specific loot. Whether it’s through questing, specialized vendors or unique loot tables, there will be more options at your disposal. You’ll also be able to modify your loot in the form of “rerolling inscriptions and leveling up items.”

This seems like a page straight out of Destiny, in which there is a ton to do in the game now. There are story missions, daily and weekly challenges, instances and raids and more. If BioWare can deliver more content, Anthem will stay fresher for longer.

But BioWare is looking to create more than just a grind for loot. They want the entire experience to feel “rewarding” and “exciting.” This could include rare enemies popping up that feel like “walking treasure chests.”

Anthem was billed as a living, breathing world. It wasn’t at launch. The addition of randomly spawning enemies could help the world become more interesting.

Another goal with Anthem 2.0 is to simplify the entire loot process. You’ll be able to see and equip new loot immediately. A revamped equipment and stat sheet will provide you with more details so that you can make more informed decisions on the loot you choose to equip.

Lastly, Anthem‘s loot is being reworked to allow for scalability in the future.  Balance changes will be made with better reasoning based on trends discovered through “advanced telemetry data.” I can’t believe this wasn’t already the case.

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It still seems like Anthem 2.0 is far off but at least BioWare is being open about the improvements they are making. It really seems like they are making these decisions with community feedback in mind. In addition to loot, BioWare is also exploring some of the combat mechanics, including the role of melee items and builds and spending skill points to unlock new types of equipment and synergies. Unfortunately, no details were shared on that just yet.

I said it when Anthem first launched that this game had potential. Sure, it didn’t live up to the hype but I still enjoyed the basic combat mechanics. As an RPG, it was a letdown on many levels. But as a co-op action game, the gameplay was fun enough to enjoy for a few weeks. With better loot, this combat will now have meaning.

I’m excited to go back once these new improvements are implemented and I’m eager to see the new direction of Anthem. The loot system changes mentioned in the post remind me a lot of Destiny, which is really the model BioWare should’ve been following to begin with.

Dailey reminded us that these types of changes take time so I wouldn’t expect Anthem any time soon. I’d say sometime next year is a safe guess but that begs another question, with the Xbox Series X and PS5 coming this holiday season, will Anthem be making the next-gen jump?

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