Loot & Looting

Loot in NEXUS takes many forms. Players will compete for many of the same resources each time they load into the field on Missions and other Activities, particularly in Open Sectors. Every individual item in NEXUS can be looted by anyone in the same instance with the exception of Bound or Secured items. Some items will inherently be Bound to a specific player when they are picked up or spawned, but the vast majority of loot that can be found is free for the taking.

Loot Appearance

The majority of loot spawned into the world will look like the items themselves, however they will use a generic model based on the item (for instance, weapons and armor will not display any cosmetic customizations or Mods). Additionally, some items have specific auras and glows indicating their rarity for quick visual identification. Discarded Packs glow while defeated players' bodies both glow and shine a vertical light until they are despawned.

Storage

While exploring outside of Safe Zones, items can be placed in player’s Packs or Belts where they remain at risk of loss. Once Extracted, loot can then be stored safely in The Armory, dismantled, sold, traded, used, or brought back into the field. Items placed in Secure Slots can never be lost or looted, regardless of Extraction.
Players may carry a Pack and Belt at all times. Different Packs and Belts have different amounts of storage whereas Secure Slots can be permanently increased through upgrades.
If a player discovers another Pack, they will have the option to inspect it or equip it. Packs are lost on Death as they cannot be Secured. Players can transfer their existing Inventory over to a new Pack and use it instead should they come across one. Player’s Belts are permanent and cannot be lost, however their contents may be lootable.
Many items such as Consumables and materials are able to stack, however gear such as weapons or armor cannot.
While in the Inventory menu, players can shuffle and move items around as they see fit within their Pack and Belt as well as lock, split stacks, discard, or dismantle items.
Additionally, players can obtain Container-type items which allow for additional storage space in their Armory as well as on their characters. Containers can be opened from the Inventory menu while on Missions to carry even more items. They cannot be Secured, so it is best that they be kept in Secure Slots or in the Armory

Loot Spawning

The quality and spawn rates of loot is predetermined, with scarcer high-value items spawning less frequently and only in specific locations. Each distinct area in a given server instance is associated with particular Item Categories that have the potential to spawn there. The exact items spawned and their locations are generated when a server instance is created.
Loose loot can be found out in the open in a variety of different locations, and loot containers can be opened to find items. Each area has a number of sections that loot can possibly spawn in and multiple locations that have the possibility of spawning particular items and item types.
Some areas will generally have specific types of loot which can be farmed over time, however areas with particularly valuable or desired loot may be highly contested. Once an item has been picked up, the possibility for an item to respawn in its place occurs after a minimum of 60 minutes, and only if there are no players within a 10 meter proximity.
Open Sectors are primarily where players will acquire loot. Instances such as Raids or Challenger Arena matches generally will have substantially less loose loot than Open Sector exploration which are more focused on loot dropped from enemies or from completing encounters and objectives.
For example: a building with several rooms may have two rooms that spawn loot, and within each of the rooms, three possible locations can spawn items. Of those locations, a set number of items of various types can spawn, with more valuable items spawning at a more rare frequency.
When an AI enemy is defeated, their bodies can be looted for five minutes until they despawn. At that time, any loot they are carrying will fall to the ground at the location of their death.
Loot can also be found in a number of Lootable Containers such as crates, boxes, lockers, chests, supply drops, and more. Interacting with a Container displays its contents in a grid similar to player Inventories which can then be choosen to acquire or not.

Looting

By facing in the direction of an item within one meter that can be looted, it will display a brief description what the item is in a small popup. They may choose to pick up loot by using the Interact input. Players can also open containers with loot inside.
Loot follows specific logic when transferring into a player's Inventory:

• Loose loot will be directly added to the first available spot in their Pack from top left to bottom right.
• If there is no room in their Pack, it will be added to the leftmost open slot on the Belt (if the item is Belt-compatible).
• If there is no space in either their Pack or Belt, items will attempt to transfer to open Secure Slots.
• If the player does not have enough open space to carry an item, they will be unable to acquire it until sufficient space is made either by using or discarding another item.

Items also have a weight associated with them. If a player is overburdened by too much weight from their equipment and loot, their Battery drain rate, movement speed, Thruster usage rate, and other aspects will be affected.