According to another publication site that picked up on Brenon Holmes’ answers to fan questions, some light has been shed on Anthem’s weapon progression system. Anthem is currently set to release somewhere around early 2019 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

If you don’t know Brenon Holmes, he happens to be Anthem’s technical design director. According to  GameRant Holmes revealed that there will be two weapon progression systems in the game.

The first system aims to replace an older weapon with a better one, which is said by Holmes to “entice players into different styles of gameplay.”

The second system is said to focus on weapons found at the start of the game or near the beginning and allow players to upgrade those weapons to be applicable for harder events later in the game.

The publication site noted Holmes saying the following when asked about MMO style weapons and RPG style mechanics:

“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).”

Given that BioWare is currently going for both styles — where you can keep a weapon and upgrade it or find other weapons that are equal if not better — seems like it could be interesting. Keep in mind that this weapon system could see changes before release, but if it stays in the game as explained by Holmes, it could introduce a complex weapon meta.

EA and BioWare’s upcoming RPG, Anthem, is set to debut for PC and home consoles in early 2019.