BioWare Technical director Brenon Holmes dropped a little hint on Anthem's weapon/ability progression model on
Reddit. Read on to see our analysis of his response!
Redditor DirrtiusMaximus asked whether we'd see MMO style weapons that come with max stats or would Anthem have a weapon progression system within the game. Meaning, the more you use the weapon the more powerful it gets. Mr Holmes responds,
One advantage to having a more static model is that it's a lot easier to entice players into different styles of gameplay. You find something new, it's more powerful than what you have... you're likely to give it a go! 😊
Alternatively, with things that grow in power over time/usage... you tend to get a lot more attached to the items you have. They start to form part of the identity of your character.
A lot of it depends on what the progression goals are with a given system. Currently we're doing both styles (for different areas of progression).
Anthem will be getting both styles, but as of right now, we don't know what that means. There are so many possibilities that Anthem developers could do with both styles.
For instance, in Destiny if a player wasn't max level and got an Exotic drop (exotics are top tiered weapons and armor), that weapon's stats are severly hampered by your level and can only be leveled later in the game. In theory, Anthem's weapon system would allow that same epic drop to level with you as you progress in the game until it reaches maximum potential. That way it won't end up in your vault never to be used again. This could also mean that the weapons base stats are static while the weapons "perks" would needed to be unlocked through gameplay.
Holmes never mentions weapons in the last paragraph where he states "different areas of progression." This could also mean that they're doing a highly customized ability tree similar to Dragon Age. Abilities would level up the more play or rather different sub abiliites would unlock once you are worthy of using them.
Dragon Age has several different types of main abilties that gamers can choose from. Destiny has three abilities, but most gamers lock into one subset of those abilities depending on if its PVP or PVE. BioWare does a marvelous job at allowing gamers to explore all the classes abilities. Hopefully the upcoming EA Play reveals more on Anthem's customizable side.
What progression system would you like to see within Anthem? Let us know in the usual place below!