Hey folks! Been a while since I made a thread on here but this is a discussion i think would benefit from getting as many player perspectives as possible!
So with last month we saw the introduction of weapon packs, the way it was implemented wasn’t bad but it definitely could be refined, and through community feedback we can figure out the most optimal way to refine the process through voicing our opinions.
Here is a video I made on the very subject;
TL;DW
Instead of farming for weapons from weapon packs we could see weapons be set either to
a) player level, spawning in the plundra as player hits various level thresholds
or
b) being part of a set piece/small mission the reward of exploring/completing the set piece or mission being a 5c variant of the gun (or guns) in question!
Because really who wants anything other than the best here in our good old GZ
So I wanna know what you all think
Keep things as is (weapons are given at medium level and farmed for higher level)
Weapons spawn in plundra at level threshold
Weapons are rewarded in set pieces and small missions
0voters
Bonus points if you share a comment on what you think would be best!
Cheers, thank you for weighing in and/or watching my vid!
Having the guns be rewards for missions or set pieces imo feels so much rewarding than just getting them in the plundra and throuhg rng. I already made a vid about it but lemme use an example. If we say that the game introduced a ww2 pack then a good way to get them is through museeums or through specific houses where either a soilder, or someone who owns their stuff lives. Either through a quest there would be world building about the og guns owners and the history of Sweden during ww2.
But the process of getting them doesn’t have to be a quest. With no objectives the devs could put clues that could eventually lead the player or the player could find the locations all by their own.
This way finding the guns feels different than just kill machine hope for RNG, you’d be exploring in a meaningfull way and have learned more about the world.
Like in every other game, after buying a weapons pack we should have access to the best weapons versions through quests or by finding them in the map, never by loot that has a very low drop probability.
this has been one of the biggest bits of feedback on the weapons pack, and is one I really hope will hit home with the team, we aren’t buying a pack to farm, DLC stuff and update stuff is cool to farm for but with a weapons pack the hope is for just a quick bit of enjoyable content, not a mental grind fest.
That would be cool to see, maybe even just use environmental story telling to get the points across, i can think of those maps everyone was speculating on with the circled locations (specifically the map at Måsskär Radar Station)
having to find a map then plot out the co-ords yourself would be really rewarding a small piece of content! Again maybe the map would only spawn if you bought the dlc, and the interactable end location would only be accessible after purchase
I voted to keep 5* (and future 6*) versions of new weapons strictly in the machine loot pool.
We gotta grind for something, right?
I also think each weapon pack should come with at least one new mission, where at completion you could be awarded a 4* drop on the ground, or in your Plundra. Not 3*… 3* is BS…
And that’s exactly the merit to it! In it’s own way having a bloated loot pool can be a blessing and a curse, on one hand seeking individual weapons can be a huge game of searching for a needle in a hay stack, but on the other hand it means the loot pools can be continuously rewarding especially for new players and folks that like “the grind”
I’m not 100% against the idea of grinding for weapon packs, but personally i just look at the terms of creating unique experiences in GZ and value that a little higher than the same old grind we’ve been doing for years now but as a late game player, yeah 3c weapons go immediately in the recycler!
I went with the mission option since i’d like to do a side mission, adding to the lore and also explaining the reason of having U.S. made weapons in the GZ. Since currently, weapons just magically appear in Plundra and machine loot pool, without any word how they came to be.
E.g:
You can find some 1* and 2* weapons from select homes, few 3* and 4* from battle scenes (next/near dead NPCs) and you’ll get 5* from side mission(s).
Since there are 3 different weapons, you could do 3 different missions.
Some ideas how those missions could be.
Missions in sequence;
Prelude: You’ll get communication over radio to meet someone at X spot. Once you arrive, you’ll see new NPCs (e.g members of Yellow Reindeer task force) next to a landed Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter and small camp around the helicopter.
First up, N9
Once you talk with one of the NPCs, he/she asks you to go to X POI, to gather intel about the machines, without alerting the machines (like “We are the Resistance” side mission is). You need to sneak in (prone) and keep yourself away from machines. Get the piece of intel (e.g machine HDD) and sneak out again. Report back to quest giver NPC and he/she rewards you 5* N9 with 5* N9 mag mod.
For added flare: if you’ve been made during the mission (machines aggro to you), the mission fails and you need to do it again.
Next, N16
Same or another NPC (from same group) tells you that one of his team members is pinned down at nearby X house (or barn) and he/she tasks you to go and save that person.
Once you get near it, several machines are attacking the house (perhaps even a harv). After dispatching all machines, you make your way into the house, just to find that the person is dead, with 5* N16 + 5* N16 mag mod next to him. You take the weapon and report back to the NPC. He/she is saddened of the loss but lets you to keep his/hers team member’s weapon, so you can use it against machines.
For added flare: there could be 2 waves of machines at the house. Take out the 1st wave and 2nd wave soon follows.
Lastly, N60
The camp where new NPCs are, is suddenly under attack from machines. Your task is to keep machines off from the helicopter, for long enough, so it can take off.
Here, machines could come from all sides (e.g “The Ringfort” mission) or from general direction (e.g “The Resistance” mission) but there are several waves.
Once all waves are beaten, talk to the NPC and he/she gives you a key to the supply crate they brought with them. After which, you’ll watch helicopter taking off and flying away. You’ll find loads of ammo from the supply crate and 5* N60 with 5* N60 mag mod as well (for your reward).
For added flare: helicopter can have health bar and last wave contains apo tank.
Downside of this idea is, that there are finite amount of U.S. weapons in-game and only one example of each 5* weapon. So, if you misplace or recycle the 5* U.S. weapon, you can’t get another one (which i don’t mind but some will).
@tene I agree with what you’re saying. Personally, I’m still “only” at 250 hours playtime, and there’s still a few 5* vanilla weapons I’ve yet not found from machines. Luckily, there are a lot of generous players online who have set me up with my missing weapons.
As for the US weapons I got lucky and found the 5* N16 in just a couple hours! After that, nothing… So if anyone’s got a spare 5* N9 or N60, I’ll gladly trade.
I don’t think 5* weapons should be fixed drops anywhere, and not as rewards from missions either, since GZ missions are rather trivial in difficulty. Also, the game is fully playable with 4* weapons, and considering the 5* weapon’s description: “Special”, It is most fitting to have them as a hard-earned reward for laying down an extra effort. That being said, the drop rate for 5* is astronomically low! Much lower than for experimentals, it seems.
If I could have my way, I would “build” the US Weapons Pack into the game like this:
You would get a radio call from a team of operators who have infiltrated Östertörn. They could have set up a hideout, let’s say in the NW lighthouse in the Marshlands. When you arrive to meet them, that would trigger the weapon’s release into the game’s loot pool. They could have 1 of each 3* version lying on a table for you to grab freely. Now they could have one or a few missions for you to do for them, and upon completion you would be rewarded with a set of 4* weapons. 5* would remain as loot from FNIX and Apocalypse machines.
…but I would argue that the 5* overall drop rate needs to be increased just a little bit.
Now there’s a mission chain I’d happily pay top dollar for! Fantastic ideas, especially dig the final idea for the added set piece of a helicopter flying off, we saw a jet crash in alpine unrest, seeing a chopper take off would be a sight in GZ
Now this is a fair and inherent downside, we’ve all heard the absolute horror stories of people accidently recycling their only exp or 5c gun, my hope would be that since it was hard earned through missions the weapon would potentially be more valuable to the player so they would be more careful in their inventory when recycling, but that may just be wishful thinking of the potential end result
This is fair my dude!! But on the other hand the devs could always go for option D and go with all of the above, you know variety is the spice of life right! Have some weapon packs that are farmed, some earned, some spawned into plundra. It would keep things more interesting through weapon packs, its not like any of these options is the only method, but that maybe more methods could be considered on future releases
this is a big thing, a lot of introductions that require farming don’t consider time restraints. This would be one of the biggest benefits of adding weapon packs as missions and/or set pieces, it would be a kindness to people that have families/jobs/maybe even god forbid social lives
Getting the U.S. weapons from new NPCs, as mission, ties it into the GZ lore very well. Especially since in my idea, i went with the tactical insertion team, flying the all famous Black Hawk helicopter, which implies them being most likely U.S. troops and also explaining why they have U.S. weapons.
Devs can add more lore to the NPC conversations (e.g explaining why that team is there) or keep the player guessing (by not revealing why they are there). It’s really up to what devs want us to hear.
The end of 3rd mission leaves a lot for the future as well. E.g NPC can say to you something along of the lines of: “We saw heavy opposition of the machines and we need to regroup. Perhaps we’ll meet in the future. And here, take this.” [hands over the key]
Also, in my missions idea, i figured that it’s better to have this “weapon hand-over” as one time event. E.g NPCs came, you did some missions for/with them and then they leave.
This is good since it doesn’t hinder devs in any way of developing the GZ story (bigger picture). And it doesn’t leave new NPCs standing around like statues either (if there would be no departure at the end).
But it does give players good way to gain new weapons and adds to the lore as well.
This is how i’d like to see all new weapons added to the game, by giving explanation lore wise on how it came to be, not just “put” it in the game.
I agree. Any item that you worked hard for or has only one example in existence, gives it far higher value and in turn, more care from players to keep it safe. And if you happened to recycle one, well: “tough luck buddy”.
I too am one of the people who’d love to see weapon packs and such rewarded in setpieces and small missions in the future. It adds to the immersion of the game and makes the world we play in just a tiny bit bigger, which I think goes a long way for the setting.
It’s actually really awesome to see the responses here! Those that vote for keeping things as is have definitely voiced the pro’s to that side of the conversation, but seeing the unification/creativity of the community on set pieces is really excellent… The benefits would be ten fold if we see weapon packs ever take that direction! the environmental story telling, the small additions to the map, the fun and rewarding feel of “earning” the weapons, not through grind but through fresh experiences, i really hope the team will hear this one out!
Which is a huge thing, the way things just poofed into our inventories and machine loot pools means you need to really stretch your imagination to make it feel believable, even though i liked the multifaceted story telling of the blurb on the store page, it left a lot of unanswered questions which your missions would answer much more wholly.
this is big too, as where we stand with the end of our current weapon pack is that this is “phase 1” but what really is phase 1 even, it’s not as solid as a good old (in arnold voice) “we’ll be back”
and haha i hate to say it but thats been my feel all along, i’d NEVER scrap something thats in my loadout, the freudian slip in scrapping is hard to believe sometimes, like really… you scrapped the best gun in the game what the heck sucks to suck
But luckily even with missions being a one time thing, heck if the player makes that mistake then they’ll have to suffer the consequences, either a) restart the game and don’t be dumb or b) trade with a player that maybe has had their fill, but prepared to trade your dang soul for the gun!
I would love seeing more weapons unlock as set pieces or from missions. I love exploring in-game and I feel like this would be rewarding to those who try to complete all the missions and/or explore every little corner of the map.
It might also be cool to have “random” spawn locations in bunkers, the woods, battlefields, houses, etc. (obviously there would need to be set spawn locations spread around the map). It would be a fun little surprise to go weapon hunting and scoring some elusive 5*/6* weapons on the rare occasion.
It’s now 35 hours that I destroy Hunter, Harvester, Tank (especially in FNIX and APO class), and also Reaper … and still no US weapons in Gold, not even a Gold accessory. I just found on a Hunter “corpse” on Himfjäll Island a level 4 extended magazine for N9. The chance of finding some randomly is far too low so I vote for choice b)!
but as a late game player, yeah 3c weapons go immediately in the recycler! 
