Anthem's new patch lets you (finally) access your equipment without a loading screen

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Patch 1.0.4 also adds FOV sliders and a new endgame mission type.

One of Anthem's biggest sins, for me, was having to sit through a loading screen just to access the Forge, where I could change my javelin's weapons and equipment. Sure, it was a quick load—less than a second or two—but this is a loot shooter. I want to see my loot whenever I damn well please, and having to walk to a specific location in Fort Tarsis and sit through a loading screen just to access it was aggravating.

So thank god BioWare finally fixed that in its latest patch.

Available now, patch 1.0.4 includes several great quality of life updates, tweaks to Anthem's ongoing issues with loot, and some new endgame modes to hopefully mix up that grind. It's not enough to make me like Anthem, but it's a good start.

The biggest features added in 1.0.4 is new Legendary Missions and Elysian Caches. The former allows players to replay one of Anthem's main story missions at higher difficulty missions. Each day, one randomly selected story mission will be available and players can complete it as many times as they like, hopefully earning some nice gear in the process. 

Elysian Caches are a new way to earn cosmetic items after completing Strongholds. By completing daily challenges, you earn keys that can be used to unlock these Caches, which grant vanity items and crafting materials. BioWare says there are over 67 of these new items to earn, including poses, emotes, and vinyls. Players are a little miffed, though, that different cosmetic armors and helmets won't be found in these chests. At least you can't earn duplicates.

Steven Messner
Steven Messner

With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven's mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it's colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming's greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.