War of Genesis: Idle Loot Drop Rate and Combine Rate Dispute

Start with the conclusion: as of 21 September 2026, the developer has published no drop-rate or combine-rate change at all. So “the rates were quietly nerfed” currently has no official source behind it.

The other half is also true. From 19 September, Steam discussions and reviews filled up across languages with the same account: fewer drops, more failed combines.

Both can hold at once, and they do not contradict each other. One describes what players felt. The other describes what the developer published. This page lays out both, then shows you how to check it yourself.

What players are saying

From 19 September, three separate threads appeared on the Steam discussions board, all pushing the same direction:

• A Traditional Chinese thread says that in the 18 September update the developer cut the item drop rate and raised equipment combine failure rates to slow gear moving through the market, “在沒有任何公告的情況下” — without any announcement — and offered no compensation.
• An English thread is titled plainly Combine Success Rate. Its body says the rate was obviously lowered and the update notes did not mention it once.
• A second English thread challenges the change directly. A reply in it says the runs of failures are frustrating and asks for a mitigation mechanic.

Reviews carry the same tone. One player writes that a game whose “表定機率和實際機率” do not match deserves a negative review, and another mentions seeing an “進階率 78%、保留本階率 22%” on screen.

The other side is present too. The first reply in the Chinese thread is simply “你有證據?” — do you have evidence — and one commenter argues that blaming the developer the moment item prices fall is a player problem.

What the developer said

Two notices went out in this window, and both were read line by line:

• The 17 September update announcement: presets, chat translation, jewel auto-combine, market items delivered straight to the Inventory, an Arena refresh button, daily Raid and World Boss entry caps, and ranking and contract changes. Not one line touches drop rates or combine rates.
• The 18 September hotfix: a single sentence, “additional client stability updates”. No probability entry either.

One line is easy to miss. The 17 September notes fix a bug where combine success rates for Lv. 5 equipment were not displayed while combining. If the display is what needed fixing, the combine screen was already surfacing a rate. That rules out “the odds are entirely unknowable” — there is a number on screen.

Why this is so easy to argue about

Three things stack up:

1. Combining is a probability event, so failure streaks are normal. Even at a decent displayed rate, five failures in a row will happen. It is very natural to read a streak as a deliberate change.
2. There is no published rate table to compare against. The game shows the rate for the attempt in front of you, and the developer has never published a table you can compare before and after. With no baseline, anyone can say “it feels lower”.
3. Economy changes really did land that week. Market retrieval moved straight to the Inventory, contract benefits now apply off-season, and Raid rewards gained a Tier 5 Machina. All of it happened around 17 September. Linking “lots changed this week” to “my luck got worse” is a reasonable human move.

How to test it yourself

The combine window shows the success rate, so you can build your own sample instead of trusting a feeling:

1. Fix the grade and level first. Only count combines of the same grade. Keep accessories, jewels and runes separate — they may not share one rule set.
2. Record the displayed rate, then the result. A few dozen attempts minimum, ideally over a hundred. Smaller samples prove nothing.
3. Split the records before and after 18 September. Without a before-and-after comparison, “it feels lower” and “I got unlucky” are impossible to separate.
4. Drop rates are much harder to self-test. There is no on-screen number to read. You can only fix one map and one session length, log how many items drop and at which grades, and run long enough for the sample to mean something. That is exactly why the drop-rate half of this argument never settles.

If all you want is to play safely, one rule covers it: read the number in the combine window, and stop chaining attempts once it is too low to accept. Banking materials for one attempt beats gambling on five.

What the dispute means for you now

• If you farm for market income: gold bar and diamond pouch prices are public, so the Steam market trading page is always there to check. But prices also move with supply, listing costs, trade holds and Steam policy, so do not read a price drop as proof about drop rates.
• If you are pushing gear grades: failed combines cost real materials and the developer publishes no pity rule. Spend materials in batches rather than all at once.
• If you just want the truth: as of 21 September 2026 the developer has not responded to these player reports, and neither the update notes nor the hotfix notes carry a rate-change entry. No reproducible mechanic change has surfaced either. The call is yours.

For the full combine and dismantle rules and what the combine window actually shows, see synthesis and dismantle. For drop sources and grade distribution, see farming depth and drop value. For how class and elemental damage connect, see characters.

Sources

• Official Steam notices: the 17 September 2026 update announcement and the 18 September 2026 hotfix (Steam news hub, appid 4891320)
• Steam discussion threads: Combine Success Rate, the 18 September Traditional Chinese thread, and the English threads from the same window
• Public Steam reviews from the last seven days
• The combine window displaying a success rate: a percentage reading is visible in English gameplay footage, which matches the display fix listed in the 17 September official notes