Here’s a game we haven’t written about for a while, and for good reason. If you’ve been following the saga that is Anthem, you know that the game has been marred with issues from the start. BioWare released a pretty aggressive Year 1 roadmap back in February and has consistently been missing their targets.
Cataclysm was one of the big events that was supposed to come to the game back in May, but BioWare has been silent for the most part on the update for the past few months. On Monday, the Anthem Twitter account tweeted there would be server downtime on Tuesday and Tuesday they released patch notes for 1.3.0 which include the Cataclysm update. As with most patches, the update includes a bunch of other features and fixes as well.
Cataclysm
The big news, of course, is the launching of the promised, and much delayed, Cataclysm event. In this event, players are tasked with tracking down Dr. Harken to unravel the mysteries of the event. If you have completed the “Incursion” mission in the game, you’ll be able to start in on the event.
In addition, a new Seasonal Currency in the form of Minor and Major Crystals has been added. These crystals can be spent in the Seasonal Store for time-limited rewards.
A new set of gameplay modifiers called Inversions have also been added. With two expected to be active each week for the duration of the Cataclysm event, they will affect how your Javelin interacts and is affected by the environment. Some will help while others will hinder you. Take a look at the Inversions which will rotate through each week (not necessarily in this order):
- Ultimate Boost: Ultimate meter from kills is increased.
- Turbo Gear: Gear recharge rate is increased.
- Lightning Rod: Close-range kills chain lightning to nearby enemies.
- Close Encounters: Shotguns and Machine Pistols deal increased damage.
- Precision Operator: Snipers and Marksman Rifles deal increased damage.
- Immunity Pack: Ammo pickups grant brief immunity to damage.
- On the Edge: At low armor, damage dealt increases.
- Soldier’s Reward: Killing an enemy restores a small amount of shields.
- From the Skies: Heat build-up while hovering is decreased.
- Air Support: Defeating an enemy while hovering grants increased damage while on the ground for a short time; stacks up to 5 times.
- Broken Magazine: Weapons have no spare ammo, but enemies drop ammo more often.
- Running on Empty: Firing the last shot in a weapon’s clip increases all damage for a short time.
As you can see, you’ll likely want to change your weapons, Masterworks, and strategies from week to week based on the active Inversions.
Guilds
Guilds have also finally arrived in Anthem. While you could add friends before, now you can create or join a Guild for even more social integration. Oddly enough, however, this is done through a companion Android or iOS app and not in-game. Once you join a Guild, Guild Member activity will also be taken into account for the Alliance System’s weekly Social Rewards.
Gear
A bunch of new gear has been added to the game as well. Not only have three new classes of weapons been added but new masterworks as well as new support and melee weapons.
New weapon classes
The new weapon classes and weapons include:
- Pulse Accelerators use seal technology to generate destructive energy.
- “Bad Omen” – Charges to fire a burst of energy projectiles.
- “Rain Maker” – Fires an energy burst that explodes into smaller projectiles.
- “Grave Digger” – Fires an increasingly powerful stream of energy.
- Volt Casters use seal technology to focus ambient electricity
- “Jarra’s Wrath” – Blasts a short-range lightning arc.
- “Lightning Rod” – Calls down lightning on a specific location.
- “Flashfire” – Fires a lightning attack that jumps from enemy to enemy.
- Blade Slingers charge a circular projectile with dynamic force.
- “Razorwing” – Launches a heavy blade that bounces between targets.
- “Riza’s Ripper” – Fires a barbed blade that inflicts ongoing shrapnel damage.
- “Shard Storm” – Launches experimental crystal projectiles across the immediate area.
- Added new Match Consumables for Pulse Accelerators, Volt Casters and Blade Slingers
New Masterworks
New Masterwork items include:
- Colossus:
- “Again and Again” – Upgraded Siege Artillery
- Combo Effect: Explosive. Detonates another explosion briefly after the first.
- “Venom Storm” – Upgraded Burst Mortar
- Combo Effect: Explosive. Fires a volley of acidic rounds.
- “Again and Again” – Upgraded Siege Artillery
- Interceptor:
- “Tesilar Trap” – Upgraded Cluster Mine
- Deploys a bundle of proximity mines. Mines deal electric damage and electrify targets.
- “Spectre’s Flash” – Upgraded Wraith Strike
- Projects ghost to target. Detonates Aura Combos.
- “Tesilar Trap” – Upgraded Cluster Mine
- Ranger:
- “Relentless Pursuit” – Upgraded Pulse Blast
- Combo Effect: Impact. Hitting an enemy causes Energy Pulse to bounce to additional enemies.
- “Arctic Tomb” – Upgrade Frost Grenade
- Freezes target in place. Defeating frozen enemies will also freeze nearby enemies.
- “Relentless Pursuit” – Upgraded Pulse Blast
- Storm:
- “Steam Vent” – Upgraded Glacial Spear
- Combo Effect: Chain. Deals both ice and fire damage.
- “Eternal Squall” – Upgraded Lightning Strike
- Combo Effect: Chain. Leaves a field that deals electric damage for a short time.
- “Steam Vent” – Upgraded Glacial Spear
Support items
New Support items include:
- Colossus:
- “Berserker’s Cry” – Upgraded Battle Cry
- Forces enemies to attack the Colossus, and reduces enemy resistance to damage. Additionally increases melee ability..
- “Surging Shield” – Upgraded Shield Pulse
- Fortified effect reduces incoming damage. Additionally regenerates shields through damage while the effect persists.
- “Berserker’s Cry” – Upgraded Battle Cry
- Interceptor:
- “Voice of Courage” – Upgraded Rally Cry
- Breaks you and allies free of all status effects. Additionally revives downed squadmates who are nearby.
- “Slayer’s Furor” – Upgraded Target Beacon:
- Locks onto a target, reducing their resistances and jumping to another target if defeated. Also immediately marks additional enemies around the target.
- “Voice of Courage” – Upgraded Rally Cry
- Ranger:
- “Vanguard’s Rampart” – Upgraded Bulwark Point:
- Deploys a spherical shield. Additionally provides temporary charges for you and your allies’ Grenades, Ordnance Launchers, Assault Systems, and Blast Seals.
- “Tarsis’ Last Stand” – Upgraded Muster Point
- Deploys a field that augments allies inside, increasing gun damage. In addition to gun damage, all damage is increased while inside the muster point.
- “Vanguard’s Rampart” – Upgraded Bulwark Point:
- Storm:
- “Howling Veil” – Upgraded Wind Wall
- Creates a wall of wind to block projectiles. Additionally, enemies take damage when they hit the wall.
- “Anthem’s Grace” – Upgraded Quickening Field:
- Zone of power increases gear recharge rate. Additionally increases gear damage while in the field.
- “Howling Veil” – Upgraded Wind Wall
Melee items
New equipable Melee gear pieces with different stats change the way melee works in the game. As a result of the change to how melee damage works, the scaling of your melee damage is no longer automatic but is based on the Melee gear piece you have equipped.
New Melee gear items include:
- Colossus:
- Seismic Glove
- Heavy glove that can be smashed into the ground, causing damage in a large area.
- “Earthshaker” – Upgraded Seismic Glove
- Heavy glove that can be smashed into the ground, causing damage in a large area. Sends out a shockwave that damages enemies in front of you.
- Inferno Glove
- Flaming glove that can be smashed into the ground, burning enemies in a large area.
- “Meteor Smash” – Upgraded Inferno Glove
- Flaming glove that can be smashed into the ground, burning enemies in a large area. Cracks the earth, igniting flames around your feet that burn nearby enemies.
- Seismic Glove
- Interceptor:
- “Twin Blades”
- Double-bladed daggers that allow for fast attacks which can be chained together.
- “Blades of Warding” – Upgraded Twin Blades:
- Double-bladed daggers that allow for fast attacks which can be chained together. Hitting an enemy grants 10% increased damage resistance for 10 seconds. Stacks to 5.
- Venomous Blades
- Double-bladed daggers that poison their target.
- “Deathstalker Blades” – Upgraded Venomous Blades
- Double-bladed daggers that poison their target. Deals additional damage against enemies below 50% health.
- “Twin Blades”
- Ranger:
- Shock Mace
- Electrically charged mace that shocks enemies.
- “Transmuting Volt” – Upgraded Shock Mace
- Electrically charged mace that shocks enemies. Hitting an enemy adds 3 Ultimate charges.
- Seismic Mace
- Heavy hitting mace that deals high damage.
- “Rampager” – Upgraded Seismic Mace
- Heavy-hitting mace that deals high damage. Hitting an enemy grants 10% increased damage for 10 seconds. Stacks to 5.
- Shock Mace
- Storm:
- Explosive Strike
- Hits enemies with an explosive strike, dealing high damage.
- “Searing Blast” – Upgraded Explosive Strike
- Hits enemies with an explosive strike, dealing high damage. Sends out a fireball that seeks enemies.
- Shocking Strike
- Hits enemies with an electrically charged strike, shocking them.
- “Lightning Surge” – Upgraded Shocking Strike
- Hits enemies with an electrically charged strike, shocking them. Hitting an enemy restores 40% shields.
- Explosive Strike
Anthem bug fixes and improvements
Of course, the latest Anthem patch also comes with a number of bug fixes. Some are the usual fixing of incorrect descriptions to correcting dialogue with some of the NPCs in the game. Some weapons and gear have been adjusted as well as some tweaks to the Colossus Armor and Shield calculations.
One bigger change is the removal of Luck as a gear stat. Instead, Luck has been replaced with bonus Armor stats and drop rates across all difficulty modes have been adjusted accordingly.
For a full list of the bug fixes and improvements, you can hit up the link below.
I jumped back into the game last night for a few hours after leaving it in April. I never disliked Anthem but definitely found the endgame back then to be disappointing. While the Cataclysm content is offering up new missions the scenarios and events are still similar to previous content. Still, it is new content and a new storyline and I’ll be playing through to see if it’s actually worth it.
Are you still playing Anthem? Are you going to hop back in now that Cataclysm has finally arrived? Is it too little, too late? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, or MeWe.
[button link=”https://www.ea.com/games/anthem/news/update-130?isLocalized=true” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: EA[/button]Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
