End game weapons and mods

[Rad]

2.0 feels like one step ahead, two steps back. From less interesting and more immersionbreakin superhero themed perk trees to overpowered must-have cyberware to pretty much non-existent crafting and weapon/armor customization.

At end game both crafting and all shops are useless. Iconic weapons are so niched and lacking mod slots. Many of them don't even let you add custom scopes or muzzle devices, and this makes them really boring. Custom mods on non iconic weapons can't be cleared and the weapons can't be upgraded. Shops don't sell 5++ weapons or items.

I am basically playing Diablo, slaying everything I can with the hope that a foe drops that 5++ gun I like with 2 custom unfilled modslots in a non-stupid looking color scheme while millions of eddies are piling up on my bank account. It's all about the RNG. I have actually not put a single custom mod into a single weapon yet, only scopes and muzzles, and I've been 60 for a while now.

At the same time, the game could actually use more RNG in the lootbox department, like El Capitans rewards or the Airdrops. if you get a muzzle device, sight or shard in those, they're pretty much always the same. With all the carry capacity shards from Airdrops I'll be soon able to carry a car in my pocket.


Everything have become so simplified and customization so limited that it took a good portion of what was fun with the game away. I hope this trend doesn't continue to the next installment of the game.

[UchihaCinder2049]

Well, I think their decision actually improved the game a lot, before it was just a The Witcher 3 but in 1st person and futuristic, but now it has its own identity and is more immersive.

[Drahknon]

I get what you're saying, although (1) veteran players will never struggle on normal difficulty and (2) there are plenty of "skull" enemies later who typically aren't a one-shot. I played on higher difficulty to up the challenge. It worked, but I wouldn't say I ever felt frustrated.

For newer players, they do seem to struggle as they learn the systems and tricks. Not much CDPR can do, I think.

[Simple Man]

Originally posted by Rad:

At end game both crafting and all shops are useless. Iconic weapons are so niched and lacking mod slots. Many of them don't even let you add custom scopes or muzzle devices, and this makes them really boring. Custom mods on non iconic weapons can't be cleared and the weapons can't be upgraded.

No mod slots also means no Pax (non lethal cyberware was also removed), as long as its iconic we no longer have the option to use non lethal, just stick to beheading everyone and have their limbs fly everywhere, 2.0 says you don't need options.

Originally posted by Rad:

Shops don't sell 5++ weapons or items.

More puzzling yet, what CAN be upgraded is now locked behind a component grind. A single T5++ weapon upgrade requires 200 legendary components, its a whole adventure of sitting in inventory holding disassemble. It used to be that only food and drink shops had no use, in 2.0 all shops are useless.

Some iconics have also been locked out of an upgrade path, Ozobs grenade cant be upgraded and forever remains inferior to a standard frag grenade. Improved and immersive.

One step forward two steps backward is a nice way to describe it, Police addition was nice, weaponized vehicles too (particularly good to see in Nomads, for lore reasons), sadly most other systems did a complete 180, and not for the better.

[Drahknon]

Originally posted by Kodiak.pW:

No mod slots also means no Pax (non lethal cyberware was also removed), as long as its iconic we no longer have the option to use non lethal, just stick to beheading everyone and have their limbs fly everywhere, 2.0 says you don't need options.

I don't get this. You can do non-lethal with many, many weapons in the game. If you're using guns, you can find another gun with the mod you want. You can use knives. You can use a silenced pistol. You can use a non-lethal mod on a melee weapon. Hell, for the very limited number of missions that require stealth and/or no kills, you can use some skill to perform takedowns.

More puzzling yet, what CAN be upgraded is now locked behind a component grind. A single T5++ weapon upgrade requires 200 legendary components, its a whole adventure of sitting in inventory holding disassemble. It used to be that only food and drink shops had no use, in 2.0 all shops are useless.

Yeah, they're "iconic weapons", so not very puzzling, and by the end game you should be swimming in top tier mats. If you aren't, then I suggest planning ahead.

But really, this is a little silly. No one with some game knowledge even needs iconic weapons. They're a fun diversion, but you should be able to beat the game handily with regular weapons on the hardest difficulty.

As a parting thought: don't like the vanilla game? There are mods to give you everything you could possibly want.

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by Drahknon:

Originally posted by Kodiak.pW:

No mod slots also means no Pax (non lethal cyberware was also removed), as long as its iconic we no longer have the option to use non lethal, just stick to beheading everyone and have their limbs fly everywhere, 2.0 says you don't need options.

I don't get this. You can do non-lethal with many, many weapons in the game. If you're using guns, you can find another gun with the mod you want. You can use knives. You can use a silenced pistol. You can use a non-lethal mod on a melee weapon. Hell, for the very limited number of missions that require stealth and/or no kills, you can use some skill to perform takedowns.

More puzzling yet, what CAN be upgraded is now locked behind a component grind. A single T5++ weapon upgrade requires 200 legendary components, its a whole adventure of sitting in inventory holding disassemble. It used to be that only food and drink shops had no use, in 2.0 all shops are useless.

Yeah, they're "iconic weapons", so not very puzzling, and by the end game you should be swimming in top tier mats. If you aren't, then I suggest planning ahead.

But really, this is a little silly. No one with some game knowledge even needs iconic weapons. They're a fun diversion, but you should be able to beat the game handily with regular weapons on the hardest difficulty.

As a parting thought: don't like the vanilla game? There are mods to give you everything you could possibly want.

Still using the second igla I picked up in this runthough, although granted its tier 5...but I picked it up around level 35 or so.

For what its worth, upgrading and crafting is largely now a non-event. There really isnt much need to tweak out the pittance of a bonus it provides.

[Sentient_Toaster]

The endgame item progression does boil down to complete luck.

You might never see a T5++ weapon of any kind w/ two free mod slots for two dozen air drops/car thefts in a row, for instance.

At this point, I have over 25 T5 scopes for long arms (half Gaki, maybe a quarter Jue, the rest various) and have never found a T5++ two-slot Nekomata or SPT32 Grad, for instance. I've found at least... three or four T5++ two-slot Nues, a couple of such Lexingtons, probably 3+ such Shingens, 2+ such Dians... but a T5++ Nekomata with even one free mod slot is exceedingly rare for me.

[PanPan]

Didn't play before 2.0, i like simple and easy but i have the same feeling for :

Originally posted by Rad:

with 2 custom unfilled modslots in a non-stupid looking color scheme while millions of eddies are piling up on my bank account.

At the same time, the game could actually use more RNG in the lootbox department, like El Capitans rewards or the Airdrops. if you get a muzzle device, sight or shard in those, they're pretty much always the same. With all the carry capacity shards from Airdrops I'll be soon able to carry a car in my pocket.

The crafting/leveling/shards is very boring and unbalanced. That's a huge part of why i don't usually like RPG.
Also, no newgame+ and you can't replay missions, which would have made the grind ok...

[Rad]

If at least gun-stores could offer wares in your level-range, I mean 5++ including orange scopes and muzzles, randomized each day.

I could even settle for a Loot-box mechanic, not totally random like with the new clothing binge, but something similar. You pick a model and it's guaranteed to be a certain tier matching your level, like 5 at 45+, 5+ at 50+ and 5++ at 55+. The rest is randomized.
It would still be a stupid RPG mechanic more fitting for the fantasy genre, but that way I could higher my chances getting that 5++ gun with two empty custom slots in black finish, and there would be a money sink in the game.

[attiladafun]

The game was gutted of rpg mechanics in favor of fps gameplay. There are no more rewards for exploration or loot variety. Most mechanics became useless but are still in the game as cosmetics only. Everything was pushed into cyberware, so now Tech is almost a must. Instead of a variety of playstyles, its come down to 2 metas for optimal builds.
This game is dead. Anything that made rpg replay interesting is gone.

[Computerz]

Originally posted by BigDimono:

The game was gutted of rpg mechanics in favor of fps gameplay. There are no more rewards for exploration or loot variety. Most mechanics became useless but are still in the game as cosmetics only. Everything was pushed into cyberware, so now Tech is almost a must. Instead of a variety of playstyles, its come down to 2 metas for optimal builds.
This game is dead. Anything that made rpg replay interesting is gone.

crafting is useless
clothing is useless
combine all the above with the fact that cyberware capacity shards just cease to exist after some unidentifiable point in everyone's save file, and the game went from having infinite replayability to being completely pointless once you hit roughly level 40.

[Computerz]

Originally posted by Rad:

If at least gun-stores could offer wares in your level-range, I mean 5++ including orange scopes and muzzles, randomized each day.

I could even settle for a Loot-box mechanic, not totally random like with the new clothing binge, but something similar. You pick a model and it's guaranteed to be a certain tier matching your level, like 5 at 45+, 5+ at 50+ and 5++ at 55+. The rest is randomized.
It would still be a stupid RPG mechanic more fitting for the fantasy genre, but that way I could higher my chances getting that 5++ gun with two empty custom slots in black finish, and there would be a money sink in the game.

i have never in 200+ hours seen a 5++ gun from a vendor. in my experience, vendors are 100% worthless and serve no purpose once you are using 5++ equipment. They have nothing I need, and I have 5 million eddies.

[attiladafun]

money is also useless because its so easy to get now. Used to take a while to pay Viktor back, but now it only takes selling about 10 guns.

[Rad]

Originally posted by BigDimono:

The game was gutted of rpg mechanics in favor of fps gameplay.

Yeah, I got that feeling too. I actually started my Phantom Liberty review with the comment that it feels like they team didn't want to make a open world RPG DLC, they wanted to make a Call of Duty game.

[DYNIA]

2.2 is rly good patch, git gut ^^

I rly don't care about guns cause I hacking only

I have breakthrough sniper
random shotgun if needed in melee and that all

no reflex
no cool

just hacking everything even they see me
hacking > shooting
you can even make it better with smart weapons lol

hacking and smart weapon don't even need aim a lot ^^

[/dev/random]

Pizdets smart submachine gun is ohuenen.