Heya,
Here’s my idea of how to make weapon acquisition and crafting more fun for the player:
First things first, get rid of the anti-fun one hour shop, it’s a horrible system. Give us a basic class specific weapon each time we level up or reach level up milestones. Let us then be able to grab that weapon and upgrade it over time through the “crafting” system. More ways of modifying the weapon will unlock when we reach levels 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 - very similar to the talent system for classes. Each respective level giving us more perks/blessing/properties that we can use, there’ll be a limit of course to the modifiers we can add. So, for example, if you’re low level you’re limited to basic perks/blessing/properties, but over time, you get more of these modifiers to play with. The value of the modifiers will be determined by your level too. For instance, if you want to max power vs x, you’ll need to be level 30. This will give the player more agency over the development path of their weapon while also being more friendly to time invested; instead of it being all random with no agency. Again, just to reiterate, this is grabbing the talent system for classes and using it as a foundation for weapons.
The Tech Priest, of course, will play a big role in unlocking the potential of one’s weapon through ritualistic acts; but she can only do so if you prove your worth to the Machine Spirit by running missions and leveling your character. Machine spirit will only bestow blessings upon those who are deemed worthy. This makes sense to me.
Additionally, let us change the name, this will use a list of pre-generated 40k lore appropriate names that are friendly to lore - with each name having a rarity system that is tied directly to your level, so again, levels 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 will each give you access to different titles for your weapon. With max level giving you access to the title of: Super Crusher Nine Thousand That Was Probably Once Used By Primaris Ultra Marine - you get the idea. Perhaps we can call this the “true” name of the weapon you use. Another thing is for us to be able to change the skin of the weapon too, and be able to add purity seals to them. All of this will be more personal to the player and let’s us, as players, get attached to our progression and development.
As for attachments, let us modify ranged weapons with different types of scopes. For melee weapons instead of modification, let us add extra bonuses that are melee specific. I am reminded of Chaos Waste, retool some of those boons from that game, and implement them as melee specific blessings or whatever. An example would be, could be a perk that shoots out lighting when we successfully parry an enemy. Or one that gives x power when you hit multiple enemies in one strike. Perhaps there can be one that gives bonus attack speed and movement speed when you kill ten enemies in quick succession within x seconds.
This is what I think would make for a much cooler experience for us. It’s more deterministic than RNG based systems but I think this is for the better. We need more control over our weapons.
Thank you for reading,
I would like to read community feedback on my suggestions.