Two Crucibles Before Day 20 (A21.2) - Are Wildcard Loot Drops Too Powerful?

[MechanicalLens]

In my most recent A21.2 playthrough, I have found not one, but two crucibles in loot (three days apart), well before I could craft one myself. Both occurred in Working Stiff Tool crates in the desert biome, before loot stage 100, IIRC. While I accepted both with joyous reaction, it has made me ponder. Are wildcard loot drops such as these too imbalanced and should be reworked to not provide the player with the chance of acquiring the item outside intended progression. Toilet pistols could also fit into this category.

 

On one hand, you could argue that acquiring these very rare items in a playthrough almost as a fluke provides some level of excitement (although probably not to the point of replayability) and makes the looting experience less predictable and boring, on the other hand, balance is necessary for a game to function well. What is your consensus? Should the crucible and toilet pistol (to name two examples; hunting knives in various containers could join them, too) be locked behind a higher minimum loot stage than they are now?

[Vaeliorin]

No.

 

Regardless, if I don't have the ability to craft a crucible by day 11-12, I consider it a bad RNG playthrough.  But I ignore putting perk points in any sort of gun until I've maxed out the quality of life stuff (I'd skip melee weapons too if the stamina bonuses weren't tied into them now. )

[Riamus]

No.  RNG can always work in your favor... Or against.  Even with 1 in a million chance, it is possible to get 10 in a row.  The odds would be astronomical, but it is possible.  If you reduce the chance too much, you'll still get the occasional extra drops if you are lucky but the average chance will be significantly lower and the chance of no drops will be far too high.  Consider the water filter drops in the game.  Have you ever seen one drop when looting a dew collector?  I haven't.  But there is a chance for them to drop.  Too low and it feels like they aren't even in the loot table.

[ElCabong]

You got extremely lucky. That happens. I've never looted a crucible.

[Vampirenostra]

for myself -> they start appearing in the loot after I start crafting them and they show up.. so whet they are already useless for me))