BioWare have made it abundantly clear that they have every intention of making continued improvements to Anthem to turn things around after its disappointing launch, and while content updates are obviously going to be a major part of that plan, so too are patches to add improvements and fix upon things in the game that don’t work too well right now (or don’t work at all).
During a recently held livestream, BioWare talked about an upcoming update, which will be rolled out next week, and gave the lowdown on some of the changes and additions it will be making. The developer has promised long and detailed patch notes around the time the update goes live, but users on Reddit have also summarized all the things that were discussed in the livestream as well.
One of the most notable additions being made is Legendary missions, which, as the name implies, will replayable and more challenging versions of critical path missions. There will be six of these in total to begin with, with one being playable each day. These missions can be triggered straight from the map itself (no need to talk to an NPC), and each of these will end with an Apex creature (any one of either an Ursix, a Titan, a Luminary, or a Fury).
Also coming are several FoV sliders to the game’s PC version, including ground FoV, zoomed FoV, pilot FoV, flight FoV, and swim FoV. Forge improvements are on the docket as well- there will be no loading screen when you now enter the Forge, which can now be accessed from anywhere inside of Fort Tarsis. On the troubled loot side of things, freeplay chests and Strongholds will now see improved drop rates for rare gear.
Each Stronghold will now also have Elysian Caches available at the end, which will contain vanity items and crafting embers and will require a key to open (which you get from completing a certain daily challenge). If all four players in a group have a key, all four receive the rewards from the cache. There are several other changes listed as well, so take a look at the provisional patch notes below- final patch notes, as mentioned earlier, will be arriving next week, so stay tune for those as well.
Elysian Caches
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Elysian caches are available at the end of Strongholds when the boss has been killed
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They can contain vanity items and crafting embers
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You get a key for the cache by completing a select daily challenge
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Everyone in the squad receives the rewards, so if all 4 players have keys, you will get 4 rewards
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The number of keys is listed in Fort Tarsis next to how much coin you have
Forge improvements
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There is now no loading screen to get into the Forge
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It can be accessed anywhere from Fort Tarsis
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All equipped components are now listed under the weapons and gear
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These improvements are an incremental step to Forge improvements
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A stat screen is still being investigated. No news to share yet.
Loot
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Stronghold bosses still guarantee one Masterwork on GM difficulty, but now the remaining loot can be rolled for Masterworks/Legendaries
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Strongholds and freeplay chests will see improved drop rates for rarer gear
Legendary missions
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Legendary missions will be added to the game. These are more difficult, replayable critical path missions.
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There will be 6 missions on release, with one playable each day.
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There will be an apex creature at the end of each mission – these can be either an Ursix, Titan, Luminary or Fury
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You do not need to start conversations with NPCs to initiate these missions – they will always be on the map
FOV Options
FOV sliders have been added to the PC version of the game. The options include:
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Ground FOV
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Zoomed FOV
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Pilot FOV
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Flight FOV
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Swim FOV
Miscellaneous changes, improvements and fixes
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NVIDIA DLSS support has been added. SLI support is still being looked into.
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There is the usual performance optimisations included. This is described as being an ongoing project that is never finished.
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Salvaging in the vault should be near instant now.
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Lots of fog walls have been removed, especially in Strongholds.
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More improvements have been made to bugged quickplay missions. If a missions has surpassed a 15 minute timer, you can no longer be matchmade into it.
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You can also no longer be matchmade into a Stronghold after two minutes have elapsed (quickplay is not included in this).
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The bug where you respawn timer would reset if your revive was cancelled has been fixed.
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The bug where you could no longer interact with the environment or revive teammates has been fixed.
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Javelin thrusters have been improved by 20% across the board. Overheat time has similarly been reduced by 20%.
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You now hold the melee button to melee with Interceptor, instead of repeatedly mashing it. This change has not been made for the ultimate ability, however.
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More universal components have been added. One example is Acid Slugs, which improves Shotgun damage and applies the acid effect if 7 pellets hit the enemy.
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There have been various fixes and buffs to Masterwork components.
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The inconsistent armour bug should have been addressed, but please feed back if you are still experiencing issues.
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The bug where Strongholds/missions/contracts go missing from your map has been fixed.
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Masterwork ember drop rates have been increased.
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Improvements have been made to address the “Pilot data error” issue.
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Consumables can now be sorted by name/rarity.
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When diving into deep water, the transition is now smoother.
Still being looked into/investigated
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Javelins receiving Legendary/Masterwork components that fit in the wrong Javelin
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Power scaling issues
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New enemies and new story additions
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Better in-game communication systems
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A stats screen
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Achievements not popping
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Support gear Masterworks
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SLI support
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Increased inventory space