This is an in-depth guide to Inscriptions in Anthem. Here you will learn what Inscriptions are, how they work, what types and tiers are available, which items can have inscriptions and how many. Best of all is saved for last – a full list of all inscriptions fully explained – what they do and how they affect your Javelin’s performance in combat!
Anthem is a looter shooter game. As such the stats on each piece of gear in your Loadout tab has a unique value to your javelin’s build and enhances its performance in combat while you are on an expedition. All items above the Common (white) tier can have between one and four inscriptions.BioWare describes Inscriptions in Anthem as “random modifiers that are applied to each loot item upon creation.” Inscriptions are the little perks that you see at the bottom of the item’s description. They are not so random. All gear pieces, weapons and components can have inscriptions. Weapons and gear can have up to four, while Components can only have up to two.
In front of the inscription’s text you will find a small icon – a javelin silhouette and a cog wheel.
The Javelin Suit icon means this inscription applies to your whole Javelin suit.- The Cog Wheel icon means this inscription applies only to the item it belongs to.
The Javelin Suit icon means this inscription applies to your whole Javelin suit.
The Cog Wheel icon means this inscription applies only to the item it belongs to.When you are looking at an item, its stats block above the descriptions is NOT affected by them. The numbers for damage, RPM etc there are the base stats of the item.
Inscriptions are split into six tiers and are granted to items based on the item type and its rarity among other things. Here are the available buckets:
- Minor Primary
- Minor Secondary
- Major Secondary
- Major Primary
- Epic Secondary
- Epic Primary
Minor Primary is the same as the Major Primary, but with lesser amount of boost added. If we take as an example a + Damage Boost, a Minor Primary inscription would have between 5% and 25%, where as on a Major Primary slot this inscription would draw a value from 25% to 175%. Some Inscriptions are considered major for weapons, while being left in the minor pools for gear and components and vise versa.
Weapons can have up to four Primary Inscriptions, but this is very, very rare. In most cases they have two Primary and two Secondary. Universal Components can roll Primary Inscriptions, while Javelin-specific Components can only have secondary Inscriptions.
As it is visible from the table above, the best inscriptions are saved for the best and highest tiers of items – Masterwork and Legendary. White (common) items get no inscriptions – these are the abilities and guns you get “for free” when you start the game. You quickly upgrade to Uncommon. The green items can have one inscription. Rare (blue) items have two. Epic (purple) get three. Masterwork and Legendary get four. The difference between the last two are the values their inscriptions can have. The Legendary items’ inscriptions can have a much higher stat boost. These are the inscriptions from the Epic bucket.
So, here we come to the best part of this guide. What each inscription means and how exactly does it benefit your javelin build. The info in the table below is officially provided by EA and BioWare. Of course, during Anthem’s live service things can change with various patch notes. I will do my best to keep this list here up to date as best I can.
[table “111” not found /]Redditor Deadzors has created two excellent tables for Primary and Secondary inscriptions, showing what effects they can have – Whole Suit or specific Gear only.
PRIMARY INSCRIPTIONS TABLE
[table “112” not found /]
SECONDARY INSCRIPTIONS TABLE
[table “113” not found /]This guide will be expanded and updated with future additions with upcoming Anthem Patches. I hope you find this Inscriptioins Guide interesting and useful. If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts and opinion, write a comment below. Meanwhile, if you are a new player, don’t forget to check out my other Anthem beginners guides below.
ANTHEM Beginners Guides
Are you new to Anthem? Here you will find all the basics to help you get started! This Beginners Guides Collection is always up to date with the latest changes from BioWare!
