Opinion: The Crafting System in Wayfinder Needs Improvement

It has been a little under two weeks since Wayfinder launched into early access. As such the game is going to be incomplete and taking feedback for many months to come. Which is why it is a good idea to bring up issues earlier on rather than later. Considering most minute feedback can get lost in the vacuum. But one problem I feel like could start plaguing the game as more content is rolled out, is the crafting system in the game. Wayfinder has a very limited range of weapons and wayfinders right now. But as time goes along, similar to game’s like Warframe, a fair crafting system can go a long way. Here are my problems with it, as someone who finally finished the main quest after 60+ hours.

Filling a Bucket with Droplets

Wayfinder uses a similar crafting system to Warframe. Where you will need to have certain resources to craft weapons, but warframes themselves need separate parts crafted with certain resources to then craft the whole warframe. Wayfinder uses this system for both weapons, and wayfinders. Where you have to craft individual pieces to then craft the whole thing and start using them. But where Wayfinder gets it wrong is the sometimes-ridiculous amount of very rare resources that you need to come by from either random drops or specific events in certain expeditions.

For example, if I wanted to build Senja and the Epitaph scythe. I would need “Archaic Bones” nearing into the 20 counts. However, a problem arises with how to acquire them. In expeditions into mine zones like Bloodworks, or The Pit, you would have to start an event called “What Lies Below”. Where you have to activate a small drill and then find it somewhere in the expedition. This is a fun event, but I have done over 20 separate runs in the mines and only encountered this event once. This resource is also required for other wayfinders and weapons as well. So one would have to run these expeditions and pray to get this event during their run.

Similarly, resources from bosses are also needed but these fights can be queued up to take on as many times as possible and the resources needed from them is almost a fourth of rarer resources such as the Archaic Bones. This feels like an odd choice with this resource in comparison. Which could be alleviated with either being allowed to buy these resources with Gold or offer guaranteed event encounters via the matchmaking menu.

Too Much Randomness in Wayfinder

While most resources in the games like boss specific resources and Archaic Bones have a clear path to earn them. Things like Weapon Essences and Wayfinder Vestiges do not for the most. Take for example, the boss-specific resource needed from Ryv’n. You will need at least six of these to craft a few parts of the Night’s Edge dagger set. But you will have to wait for a random drop on the Essence from Ryv’n himself. I ended up doing this fight nearly 15 times to get the essence and I felt more relieved than rewarded. Considering if I wanted to farm Archaic Bones or do higher level activities to level up or get more gold, I would have to have spent more time fighting one boss more times than I should have.

Obviously, this is for one weapon. But if I wanted to farm the other weapons, I would have to farm specific bosses and hope they drop the essences needed. This is further exacerbated by the wayfinder vestiges. These vestiges I have only gotten a handful and need multiple of the same ones. However, unlike weapon essences, I cannot see in game where to farm these at. Which is a shame because I do want to acquire and use Senja, or Wingrave instead of Kyros or Niss. The grind very much limits my ability to experiment with other weapons or Wayfinders.

I would be fine with a little bit of grind, so long as drop rates are fair and I can know the location. Especially when it comes to acquiring resources like the Archaic Bones.

Final Remarks

As time goes along, Wayfinder will add and improve upon the content offerings as they stand. But as someone who has played many live service titles, it is never about just day one, or week one. It is all about how things look further into the future. Wayfinder will add more weapons and more wayfinders as the game gets updated. If the grind is not very good right now with the handful of these items that we have. Then a year or two from now, how will this grind look to new players? Will it be fair and clear? Or foggy and frustrating? Only time can tell.