Upcoming Anthem patch to address PS4 crashes, fixes Defender rifle damage bug, more

A patch will release next week for Anthem and it fixes the temporary power-down crash on PlayStation 4.

Bioware has identified "several causes" for the temporary power-down crash PS4 users have experienced. A fix will be issued with the next Anthem patch on March 12.

Earlier this week PS4 players reported Anthem was crashing and shutting down their PS4 at random. EA was made aware of the problem and promised a fix was on the way.

In the meantime, if you encounter the crash,  you can manually power down and restart your PS4, "without risk" of damage, according to head of live services, Chad Robertson. The studio has also found zero instances of the issue causing consoles to brick; however, Robinson said to contact EA Help should you experience anything different.

Bioware also noted this in a livestream yesterday, where it discussed the upcoming Anthem patch.

Another fix in the patch applies to the Level 1 Defender rifle. A bug is apparently causing the weapon to do too much damage, and will be addressed.

Other crashing and stability issues are being addressed with the focus on console; however, these issues are being looked into for PC as well. Expect quite a bit of crash fixes, then.

In the March 12 patch you will also be able to start Expedition from anywhere in Fort Tarsis as through you were in a group.

During the livestream, the studio also said it is looking into making Grandmaster 2 and Grandmaster 3 "more rewarding." Speaking of Grandmaster tiers, once the patch drops, common and uncommon loot will no longer drop in any GM tier. What this means is once you reach level 30, common and uncommon loot will no longer drop from the pool.

The patch will also include a buff to Masterwork weapons to compensate for higher difficulty levels, which is a plus. Other changes coming with the patch include: the reintroduction of random and quickplay Strongholds; the ability to prime Titans; Mark of Ruin will act properly; respawn timers are now 30 seconds and restrictions have been reduced.

Elsewhere in the livestream, it was said inscriptions and drop rates were still being monitored.

More of what to expect with the Anthem patch was announced in the livestream. A short recap of everything mentioned is included in the video above.