Hello, I’ve been hearing/reading a lot about how many people are unhappy with how the cosmetics and progression systems are currently set up in DB. I’ve thought about it a bit, but never really came up with anything solid enough to share. However; I think I’ve finally had an idea that might actually work. One of the most annoying things about the DB cosmetics, is trying to get a loadout you want. And when you do get the one you prefer, getting it in a specific skin is another story. I think my idea addresses this issue, while leaving enough chance in the system to keep progression interesting. I’ll go through a little of what it would be like to use the system, then I’ll go into some more details.
There would two main types of cases, the loadout case, and the vanity case. Loadout cases would contain a random loadout card for a random merc. When you get a loadout out of a case, it would have its augments and weapons, but its cosmetic slots would be empty like this:
Once you have said loadout, you would be able to use it as normal, and it would have the merc’s default skin and weapon camos.
Now for the vanity cases. When you open one, you will get a random rarity, of a random “cosmetic chip”. Cosmetic chips can be for weapons, or for a character skin. For Example, I could open one, and get a ‘crown gold M4A1 chip’, which would go into my inventory.
Once you have a cosmetic chip in your inventory, you can go to the customization section of the barracks. Here you can see all of the loadout cards you own. We can see that skyhammer one I got earlier:
Then we would click on a loadout we want to pimp out, and it would bring the card up for closer inspection.
You can click on one of the weapons, or the banner on the side, and it will show you all of the available cosmetic chips you have for that weapon or merc. Weapon cosmetic chips would work for any merc that uses that weapon, but character chips could only be applied to their specific merc.
Once you choose a cosmetic chip you want, you can apply it to the loadout. When you use that loadout card in-game, you will now have a gold m4a1, and default skins on everything else.
As you open more vanity cases, you can apply more cosmetic chips to the loadout. It doesn’t matter what rarity they are, you can mix and match them as you please.
And now for some more specific details.
LIMITATIONS
The system is fairly simple, and benefits players by allowing them to use the skins they want, on the loadout cards they use. However; the system needs some limitations in order to maintain a lucrative economy to support the developers. One problem I see right off, is that people would simply swap their cool looking cosmetics to whatever loadout they want to use at the moment. Which would shut down the need for cases, taking away developer income. To prevent this, there would be a fairly high fee for taking a cosmetic chip off of a loadout, depending on the rarity of the chip. So if I managed to get a cobalt m4a1 chip, I would have the option of either paying credits to take off the gold chip, or destroying it when I apply the cobalt.
CRAFTING
Crafting would remain in the system. Allowing you to break down unwanted cosmetic chips into fragments for crafting. When crafting, you would choose the rarity you want to craft, and receive a random gun skin of that rarity. The three levels of loadout card (lead, iron, bronze+) would also remain in loadout cases, but wouldn’t have skins tied to them. Loadouts would have the same crafting system.
TRINKETS
Trinkets could be applied to specific loadout cards instead applying to everything as they do now. However; you could apply a trinket to as many loadouts as you want. This allows people to match up trinkets with gun camos they look good with. For example, I like how the antivirus trinket looks with cobalt guns, and how the dapper doge looks with gold guns.
VARIETY and PROGRESSION
This system also allows the developers to add more camos at each rarity level. With cosmetics not being locked to the loadout, there could be more variety without it becoming frustrating to get the skins you want. As it is now, at gold rarity, you have a 1 in 27 chance to get the loadout you want in the specific skin you like. With the mix and match system, you would build up the loadouts you like over time, leading to a nicer progression instead of a frustrating RNG grind. It would also allow the default, lead and iron skins (which aren’t that bad looking IMO) to be used competitively, as you could have them on a 3-augment loadout.
EXISTING CARDS
One of the important parts of a new system, is avoiding it being detrimental for the people who played a lot in the previous system. In this system, all the cards you already own, would simply become loadouts of the new system. An existing gold card would simply be a card that has all gold cosmetic chips attached to it. You could still use them, or pay credits to take cosmetic chips off of them just like normal. Those cobalt cards with loadouts you don’t want would finally have some value. The developers could then add additional skins to vanity cases to give long-time players something new to unlock.
NEW CONTENT
The mix-and-match system would allow dirty bomb to have more variety in its cosmetic options. As well as help prevent progression from being frustrating, or becoming stagnant with players unlocking the same few skins over and over. With the current system, new skins would water down the RNG even more, making your chances of getting your favorite skin/loadout even worse. The mix and match system would allow content to be added much easier. New skins and gun camos could simply be added into the vanity case drops.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I’d love to know what your thoughts on it are, or if you have any ideas to improve it. It would be nice for dirty bomb to have a more future-friendly system in place as we move forward.
tl,dr: The cosmetic system should allow you to mix and match primary, secondary, and merc skins. Making it so cosmetic options are not locked down to the loadout they come with.