XDefiant’s “criminally slow” weapon progression needs major change

XDefiant features a solid variety of weapons at launch but leveling them up can feel like forever due to a painfully slow weapon progression system.

Barring some matchmaking hiccups, XDefiant‘s global release on all platforms went swimmingly well. The FPS title’s gunplay and map variety make for an enjoyable experience but the same can’t be said for its weapon progression system.

The base weapons players start with feel like peashooters when it comes to damage. Even in the SBMM-enabled Welcome Playlist, starter weapons like the M4A1 or the MP5A2 take too long to gun down enemies, forcing players to reload and leaving them vulnerable to counterfire.

Weapons can be improved through attachments as part of a CoD-like loadout system. But, unlocking these attachments feels sluggish and even frustrating at times. Simply going from level 1 to level 2 can take multiple matches, and the only reward for all that effort is a standard red-dot sight.

It can take hours of gameplay before you access effective attachments such as barrels and magazines. Until then, you’re tied to a grind without getting a genuine sense of progression. The only way to speed up this process is by using Weapon XP Boosters, most of which are locked behind the Premium Battle Pass.

The tedious weapon progression system seems to be the biggest complaint among players so far. Over on the XDefiant subreddit, players flocked under a popular Reddit post to vent their annoyance.

Titled “Weapon progression is criminally slow,” the OP shared precisely how slow the progression has been for them, “I’ve played about 5-7 hours give or take with nothing but 50 bomb games and have BARELY unlocked any gun attachments.”

Many users in the comment agreed with the sentiment, with one of them saying, “This is by far my biggest complaint, played for 6 hours only to have 3 weapons at level 2, that’s it.” Others called for the progression to sped up significantly, “Fully maxing a gun should be around 4-5 hours. Then a camo grind for 1-2 hours after that is pretty ideal.”

Since XDefiant is a free-to-play title, some comments did suggest that the slow progression could be an effort to sell XP boosters, “I reckon Ubi just wants you to buy double XP tokens for things like this.”

The slow weapon leveling is a major problem shared by many players, and the system needs a boost before they start feeling burnt out. Speaking of weapons, here are the best guns in the game and how to level up the Battle Pass quickly.