Anthem's endgame loot drops have been boosted, more changes are coming

One of the most common complaints about Anthem is that the endgame loot situation really sucks, which is a pretty big problem for a game that's very explicitly a looter-shooter. The trouble is that it's incredibly stingy with drops, a situation that was ironically highlighted by a bug that briefly but dramatically increased the drop rate of Masterwork and Legendary-tier items. BioWare fixed the bug, which is usually a good thing, but in this case it prompted players to stage a boycott demanding that it be brought back.

I don't know if the boycott was successful and I'd guess that it's unlikely BioWare will re-break the game, but it is going to open the loot taps a little more. In a game update posted today, it said that "some notable changes to the loot drop rate in specific scenarios" have been made, including:

Masterwork & Legendary drop rates have been increased for Grandmaster 2 and Grandmaster 3 difficulty levels.
Masterwork & Legendary drop rates have been increased for harder enemies at all difficulty levels. This includes: Legendary Titan, Epic Titan, Legendary Fury, Legendary Acid Ursix and Legendary Luminary Elder.

Specific numbers and activities weren't provided but Anthem global community lead Andrew Johnson said on Reddit that the changes will effect all activities, including strongholds, in Grandmaster 2 and 3, and "in all difficulties for the noted high level enemy types."

"Don't have exact percentages to share, but they are pretty significant, yes," he wrote. "Please play and let us know what you see, but also realize experiences are still going vary person-to-person."

The changes are fully server-side, meaning players won't have to download anything, and are already in place. Johnson said in a separate Reddit post that more "significant changes" to Anthem loot will be made over the coming months, "but we’re starting with some incremental changes (like today's) so we can better navigate that evolution."

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.