Fully Kitted Weaponry and Perks with EVO Level Expansion

In the recent overhaul of EVO shields being tied to an in-game level which you can level up through actions such as damage, kills, squad wipes, class interactions, care packages and wildlife clearing in Season 20, this made the game feel more rewarding and cleared some of the loot pool. However, what if this was expanded?

In recent seasons with Season 21 with Solos and Season 22 with Straight Shot Revival, Fully-Kitted Weapons were added whereby all the attachments on the weapon are one of the 4 different rarities: Common, Rare, Epic and Legendary based on what rarity gun you found. Not only is this more fun to play but also clears up even more of the loot pool with absolutely no attachments (except Optics) being found on the floor.

With the developers clearly testing out Fully-Kitted Weapons to see if they are fit to being added permenantly, I think it is a good idea to conceptualise how this could be added, balanced and connected to the improved progression system added from Season 20 previously explained.

The Concept

The first change of course is the EVO Weaponry. These guns take after what level you are and upgrade alongside your Shield. However, I also think your gear items (Helmets, Knockdown Shields, Backpacks) should also reflect your EVO Level and upgrade too. Having all of these items upgrade at the same time makes the experience of the game a lot easier to understand and better for players who are playing well - not to mention also clearing a large proportion of the loot pool as well.

I would also like to clarify that I have also removed the Red Shield from the game for two reasons: to remove confusion with Gold rarity being labelled "Level 4" and Red rarity being labelled "Level 4" as well as to reduce the Time to Kill of the game in some instances. Firstly, having all the gear items as Gold makes the game easier to understand for newer players however Gold items notoriously follow a rule - They must act the same as their Purple counterparts except have an additional usage. That's why my EVO health bar displays 100 shield with a 25hp overshield which you get for 30 seconds after eliminating an enemy. This will mean for a majority of the game, players with Gold Shield (previously Red Shield) will have 100 shield instead of 125, lowering the Time to Kill unless you get an elimination, then only then you reap the benefit of the increased health. I know this may be a controversial change but it serves two purposes I believe will excel this game forward.

Lastly, you may have also noticed the perks on the left-hand side have a new addition. These are the Level 4 Gold Perks for your weaponry. This addition will give the player the option to choose which of their two weapons they want to unlock the hop-up attachment for, and can only choose one. This acts like a nerf to the max level since you already have maxed gear so having 2 maxed weapons also feels a bit unfair, so this smoothes the advantage curve between Level 3 and Level 4. Now, not all weapons have Hop-ups as of this season (Season 22) so I also propose that current Hop-ups, previous Hop-ups and new Hop-ups be attributed to each weapon so that every weapon has a unique Hop-up upgrade that can be selected for the Level 4 upgrade out of your two held-weapon candidates. If you drop or exchange your weapon with this upgrade attached, you can make that decision again of which one of the two guns you want your upgrade on.

These additions to the game would be great in reducing the loot pool, making the game easier to understand, lowering the time to kill, making the game better for players who play well rather than those who loot all game and for promoting teamwork and legend composition. I would like to hear some feedback on this concept so please ask away 😁

Edit 1 - 2nd Sep

There has also been some rumors that Fully-Kitted weapons once added may upgrade with the Ring Round number. Not only will this extend the time for someone to get decent weaponry but also removes the benefits that come with using the weapon effectively since players who are dealing damage and leveling their EVO level, their weapons will be lacking behind and makes the levelling system into two parts, making it even more complicated to understand especially for newer players. Sometimes the best solution is the easiest by having all gear, shields and weapons upgrade at the same time through EVO and keeping weapons, survival items, healing and grenade items on the floor loot - not removing the looting like what the rumors also tell us that the devs are attempting to add Loadouts to the game. Although, the idea is great to have in the replicator in case you somehow dont get your loadout amist the floor loot being cleared however, having this choice at the start of the game to remove weapons from the floor, removes the flair of battle royale entirely. I also do respect the idea that survival is an area that should be rewarded therefore, instead, I believe a +200 EVO point survival bonus should be applied at the end of every round. To combat this increase of EVO points being given out, the following EVO point requirements per level upgrade have been changed:

Level 2: 450 → 500

Level 3: 1350 → 1500

Level 4: 2000 → 2500

Edit 2 - 5th Sep

There is now rumors of explosive weapons being on the table for future seasons. If you ask me, I would love these guns to come to the game as long as they are balanced damage wise. Now with the proposed changes in this post that should clear a large proportion of the loot pool, this could absolutely allow for 7 ammo types in the game at once: Light, Heavy, Energy, Shotgun, Sniper, Arrow, Explosive especially if you get more ammo per pick-up like what has been tested in recent modes in Quads and Straight-shot Revival or if more ammo spawned in more places. This is a balancing act for the loot pool as clearing it allows for new weapons to take them spaces but these weapons could use new ammo types which clogs the loot pool more. I have made a previous concept to solve this issue alongside the issue of explosive weapons potentially needing vastly different amounts of ammo depending on the weapon (single-use RPG vs full-auto Grenade Launcher).

My concept for this is Void weapons. These weapons would consist of Arrow-based, Explosive-based and projectile-based weapons such as throwing knives etc. With this class of weapon, there is a unique feature whereby these weapons cannot get ammo from floor loot. Instead, they recharge ammo over a set amount of time whilst holding it depending on the weapon. For example, an RPG will recharge one ammo per 30 seconds and a Grenade Launcher, one ammo per 10 seconds whilst the Bocek will be one ammo per 3 seconds. This not only would remove Arrows and Explosive ammo from the floor loot, making the floor loot more available for newer weapons and newer survival items but also solves the issue that some explosive weapons need to use more ammo than others.

With this loot pool cleared, new utility items (instant activations upon pick-up such like the EVO Cache) could be added such as a Node Tracker to locate a loot tick nearby and a Hunting Device to locate the nearest team and hunt them down for 30 seconds. New survival items could be added such as a Shield Capacitor to heal up all teammembers in a small area for 10 seconds or a Crouch Cover Wall where you can setup some covers that have low health but prevents some incoming damage. These Utility and Survival Items should also all be found in the replicator to give it another use.