Anthem is getting a loot overhaul tomorrow – here are the details

BioWare has outlined some imminent changes to Anthem's loot system, with changes expected to roll out February 28 or March 1, central US time. Posting to reddit, lead producer Ben Irving acknowledged recent player feedback on the matter of inscriptions and masterworks, and the slow grind associated with these.

Inscriptions are now better for the items they are on
- This applies to new items earned in Anthem (not existing ones in your Vault)
- If an inscription applies only to the item it is on (gear icon), it will be useful to that item. Otherwise the inscription will provide a Javelin wide benefit
- For example, an Assault Rifle will not have an item specific +pistol damage inscription. It may have a +electric damage suit wide inscription (cool for a lightning build)
- Some more information below
Removed uncommon (white) and common (green) items from level 30 drop tables
- This was a highly requested change and we agree, so that’s that.
We have reduced the crafting materials needed to craft a masterwork from 25 masterwork embers to 15 masterwork embers
- As you salvage or harvest, you should be able to craft more masterwork items to get the inscriptions you are looking for
- Now that inscriptions are more relevant to their item, this should yield better results for players

Irving also elaborated on inscription change details. Whereas previously, inscription pools were generic, now each item type has its own set of inscription options for each of its pools.

Here it is in Irvings' words:

Current: There are a large pool of inscription options available to roll on items, the inscription pools are generic (e.g. Weapons)
- Every masterwork item has 4 inscriptions – Major Primary, Minor Primary, Major Secondary, Minor Secondary
Change: Each item type now has a specific set of inscription options for each of their inscription pools. The pools are smaller and are targeted to the specific item type
- E.g. there used to be a Weapon pool, now there is an Assault Rifle pool and the assault rifle pool has 4 pools for each of the inscription types listed above
- Primary inscriptions are focused on damage or survivability
- Any item specific inscriptions (gear icon) will always benefit the item they are on
- Javelin wide inscriptions (suit icon) will benefit damage or survivability across the whole Javelin
- Secondary inscriptions focus on utility and can be targeted to the item (gear icon) or the entire javelin (suit icon)

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.