Of all the less-explained mechanics in Wuthering Waves, the Enhanced Drop Rate system in the Databank has to be one of the most opaque. Sure, it sounds simple enough, and in practice, it actually is, but only once you understand it and how to best make use of it. I’ll be discussing both today.
What Enhanced Drop Rate Does in Wuthering Waves
At the bottom of the Databank screen, you’ll see a dropdown menu titled “Enhanced Drop Rate,” plus a percentage. The “enhancement,” in this case, is how often a particular enemy type drops an Echo when killed. Note the two categories within the Enhanced Drop Rate submenu: Target Class and Remaining Chances. In the simplest terms, the Target Class is the kind of enemy that has a better Echo drop rate, and the Remaining Chances are how many times that week you can expect better drop chances.
In short, Enhanced Drop Rate in Wuthering Waves increases the chances both Overlord (world boss) and Calamity (story boss) enemies will drop an echo when killed. You have 15 total enhanced drops per week, resetting at 5:00 AM EST every Monday.
That’s not all, though. You need to take into account your Highest Drop Rarity score as well, which can be:
- A maximum of a 3-star Echo up to Databank level 7
- A maximum of a 4-star Echo up to Databank level 14
- A maximum of a 5-star Echo at Databank level 15
Your Databank level also determines the chance you have of getting a higher-rarity echo. At Databank 15, for instance, 5-star Echoes have a drop chance of 30% and 4-stars at 70%, increasing to a 50% split only at Level 17. Complicating matters further, certain Databank levels are tied to your SOL3 Phase World Level. Specifically, Databank 15 requires that you be Union Level 30 and have Rank 4 SOL 3 PHase, which means you need to have completed the second world ascension quest.
Here are the (mostly) layman’s terms. In Wuthering Waves, the higher your Databank level, the better your Echo drops in both rarity and the frequency of boss drops. Knowing that information is key to farming Echoes efficiently, but there’s one more wrinkle you should be aware of.
How to Optimize Enhanced Drop Rate Usage
Until you reach Union Rank 30 and complete the second ascension quest, there are few reasons to do much boss Echo farming, as you’ll only be able to get up to 4-star Echoes, which are resource-devouring wastelands you’re better off avoiding. The only time you should really worry about your Enhanced Drop Rate is at least when you’re at Databank 15, and more likely at 17 when the chance of a 5-star drop is 50%.
As for farming boss Echoes, it’s a simple matter of summoning the boss, defeating it, and not spending your Waveplates for rewards. Once the boss is dead, you can either stay in the area for their two-minute respawn time or you can go do something else for those two minutes. From there, repeat the process as many times as it takes to get an Echo with a good main stat you can start to Tune.
Here’s the last catch: you need to be choosey about which boss(es) you use your Enhanced Drop Rates on. As tempting as it is to get the perfect 5-star Echoes for as many characters and teams as you can until you reach Union Level 40 and higher, it’s not really efficient to do so. Your resources will be relatively limited, and you’re better off focusing them on a single team at first, then two teams in the mid-term. It takes a lot of materials to get even three characters to Level 60 equipped with Echoes with good stat lines.
Building two teams takes, well, double that amount of time and resources, at least, provided you get lucky with substats. After Union Level 40, enemies go from being around level 53-57 to automatically above 70 once you pass UL 50. You need to be absolutely sure you’re ready to take on the higher difficulties, and the only way to do that is to spend your Enhanced Drop Rates wisely, focusing on only a few characters at a time that can carry your world exploration and material farming needs. Spread your resources too thin, and just playing Wuthering Waves becomes more of a slog than a good time.
For more content, check out our Wuthering Waves guides hub for more pieces like this one and how the Depths of the Illusive Realm works.
