XDefiant's faster weapon level progression update further divides the player base

Ubisoft accelerated XDefiant process of upgrading weapons by decreasing XP requirements. However, to keep players engaged, the development team made the process of unlocking weapon mastery more difficult, which divided players.

As part of the day of June 18 XDefiant update, Ubisoft reduced the XP needed to upgrade a primary weapon from 3,500 to 3,000 and a secondary weapon from 1,500 to 1,000. As a counterbalance, the Bronze camouflage level was increased from 50 to 100, Silver from 75 to 150 and Gold from 100 to 200.

Previously, XDefiant Developer Patrick 'ACHES' Price explained that one kill equals 100 XP, meaning you need around 35 kills per level. Considering there are 18 main weapons and all attachments aren't unlocked until level 43, this is a daunting undertaking for a player of any skill level. Several double XP weekends helped the cause, but it wasn't enough to satisfy an increasingly frustrated player base.

XDefiant Executive producer Mark Rubin weighed in and admitted that players were unlocking attachments more slowly than initially expected, so this update should make things easier. But it was the rebalancing of weapon mastery that raised eyebrows. XDefiant Content creator NerosCinema argued that the update made no sense because while it's nice to be able to unlock attachments for primary weapons 14% faster, doubling the level requirement for camouflage mastery is too severe a change.

In response to complaints, Rubin claimed: “Weapon Mastery, on the other hand, does not affect gameplay and is meant to be something special that shows your dedication to a weapon. And so the level rebalancing was a response to that.

14% will make a substantial difference, and this will be even more visible in upcoming double XP weekends. But asking players to reach level 200 on every weapon instead of 100 is a tall order and perhaps too harsh a ask. Players who have already unlocked all three mastery camos for a weapon won't lose them, but it's also not necessarily fair that players who missed the opportunity now have to work twice as hard to get that achievement.

Another problem is that players only get weapon XP from kills. As a result, players are not rewarded for completing the objective, leading them to only hunt kills. Luckily, this update is retroactive, meaning every player will have higher weapon tiers than before. But it is clear that the system still needs improvement and that players are not fully satisfied.