Mark Darrah has proven to be a vast source of information regarding BioWare's upcoming title, Anthem, but the company showcases the game specifics on video on occasion. Such was the case with item rarity and progression during a livestream.
Item rarity in Anthem will apparently have two layers, or more like one and a half. There are five "true" rarity types - Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Masterwork. These are the typical different colour means different quality types, with Masterwork having some additional benefits, much like Legendary weapons in Guild Wars or Exotics in The Division.
Legendary rarity in Anthem will be a stat and inscription pool bump for Masterwork items though, so it's basically six tiers of items in total. Just like in any MMO game, rarity will be limited by players' level. Don't expect to get Masterwork quality at level four.
Talents, prefixes or however you want to call them will be limited by the item's rarity. Anthem calls them inscriptions and some weapons will have fixed bonuses, on top of randomly rolled ones, in spirit similar to that of Exotic weapons in The Division.
Leveling in Anthem will be somewhat different than in other similar games. Players will be leveling their pilots and javelins separately, with some abiltiies being locked behind pilot level and some behind that of a chosen javelin. For example, carrying two weapons will not be possible until one reaches pilot level four.
Combos will be an additional depth layer for Anthem's gameplay. Such systems were seen in games before, such as Guild Wars 2, where one player can put a status effect on an enemy with their teammates triggering it for additional benefits.
BioWare
In Anthem's case, combo results will vary depending on the javelin types involved. Triggering a combo with Colossus will cause AoE damage, while Ranger will cause a burst of damage to a single target. Interceptors can sort of pick up the effect and spread it on contact with enemies, while the Storm will simply cause chain reactions.
There is more content that the developers revealed, such as javelin components, which will essentially serve as talents in Anthem. Full livestream is about 50 minutes long and you can check it out on the embedded video above.
Anthem, action RPG shooter by BioWare and Electronic Arts
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