Anthem Update 1.0.3 addresses respawn rates, stability

Anthem has been out in the wild for two weeks, to some praise and to much criticism. But amidst all that criticism, one can't accuse developer BioWare of sitting on its hands. The developer has been busy trying to address various issues surrounding its game and in doing so, it looks like they're working weekends. Just in time for this weekend, BioWare has dropped a fresh new patch addressing a few critical quality of life issues.

Saturday's patch addresses some major annoyances, with respawn restrictions and stability being at the top of the list. Here's the list of top-level changes that are being issued out, according to the Anthem website:

Respawn restrictions have been removed: Respawn timers are now based on the activity a player is in. Crit-Path, Agent Missions and other non-end game missions now have a respawn timer of 10 seconds. Strongholds, Legendary Contracts, and other end game missions now have a respawn timer of 30 seconds. The respawn timer Freeplay remains unchanged.
Loot Changes: Common (white) and Uncommon (green) drops will no longer appear for players that are level 30.
Improved stability for all platforms: this includes fixes for a number of issues that were causing crashes or connection problems
Audio Improvements: Fixed a number of issues that could cause audio to drop out

There are a slew of other bug fixes and improvements featured in this patch. Among them are the ability to Quickplay into a Stronghold, mission endings showing up at proper times, and the ability to launch an expedition from anywhere within the launch bay and Fort Tarsis. Players will also find a round of balance tweaks for Javelins and certain Masterwork Weapons, damage scaling on secondary damage sources, and a slew of other bug fixes.

If you've stuck with Anthem this long, it looks like BioWare is endeavoring to make your patience for a better experience pay off. It's gotten off to a rough start, getting slammed by players and critics (both from Shacknews and beyond) at launch. But Bastion isn't going to save itself and with updates like this, it should at least prove a smoother experience. For more on Anthem, be sure to visit our game guide and walkthrough.