Cellar Key

Loot Boxes

Relationship Between Difficulty Level and Drop Rate Multipliers

After digging through the game files, I found that difficulty level has no effect on loot box drop multipliers or quality. Every difficulty in the same scene pulls from the same config. What actually matters is the scene itself, not how hard you set the game.

Item Quantity Impact

The number of random items you get from loot boxes comes down to lootboxItemCountMultiplier (loot box item count multiplier) in the scene config. A higher multiplier means more stuff drops.

Probability Calculation Formula

The drop probability of items in loot boxes varies depending on the drop type:

1. Fixed Drop Probability

Fixed drop probability directly uses fixedItemSpawnChance (fixed item spawn chance) from the loot box configuration:

Fixed Drop Probability = fixedItemSpawnChance
Fixed Drop Quantity = 1

2. Random Drop Probability

Random drops have two generation methods with different probability calculations:

Method A: Generate from Random Pool (randomFromPool = true)

Random Drop Probability = Item Weight / Total Random Pool Weight

Method B: Generate by Tag and Quality (randomFromPool = false)

Random Drop Probability = (Tag Weight / Total Tag Weight) × (Quality Weight / Total Quality Weight) × (1 / Matching Items Count)

Where:

• Tag Weight: The weight of the tag that the item belongs to in the loot box
• Total Tag Weight: Sum of weights of all tags in the loot box
• Quality Weight: The weight of the item's quality in the loot box
• Total Quality Weight: Sum of weights of all valid qualities (1-6) in the loot box
• Matching Items Count: Number of items that match both the tag and quality

Example: Calculating the drop probability of an Equipment tag, Quality 1 item

Assume a loot box has the following configuration:

• Tag configuration: Equipment (weight 2), Gun (weight 8), Bullet (weight 4), Explosive (weight 3), Accessory (weight 10)
• Quality configuration: Quality 1 (weight 250), Quality 2 (weight 150), Quality 3 (weight 80), Quality 4 (weight 30), Quality 5 (weight 10), Quality 6 (weight 3)
• Matching items: There are 5 items with Equipment tag and Quality 1

Calculation process:

1. Total Tag Weight = 2 + 8 + 4 + 3 + 10 = 27
2. Total Quality Weight = 250 + 150 + 80 + 30 + 10 + 3 = 523
3. Random Drop Probability = (2 / 27) × (250 / 523) × (1 / 5) ≈ 0.00708 = 0.708%

So the random drop probability of this item in this loot box is approximately 0.708%.

Average Expected Count Calculation Formula

When an item only has random drops (no fixed drops) in loot boxes, the average expected count is displayed. The calculation formula is as follows:

1. Expected count for a single random drop:

   Expected Count = Random Drop Probability × Average Quantity
   Average Quantity = (Min Quantity + Max Quantity) / 2
   

   Where min and max quantities come from the loot box configuration's randomCount (random item quantity range).

2. Average expected count:

   Average Expected Count = Sum of all expected counts / Number of random drops
   

   That is, the average of expected counts from all random drops.

Example:

• Loot Box A: Random drop probability 0.1, Quantity Range 1-3, Expected Count = 0.1 × (1+3)/2 = 0.2
• Loot Box B: Random drop probability 0.05, Quantity Range 2-4, Expected Count = 0.05 × (2+4)/2 = 0.15
• Average Expected Count = (0.2 + 0.15) / 2 = 0.175

Note: When there are sufficient loot boxes in the game, you have a high probability of obtaining this item after one scavenging run.

Item Quality Impact

Item quality in loot boxes depends on LootBoxQualityLowPercent (loot box low quality percentage), calculated from lootBoxHighQualityChanceMultiplier (loot box high quality chance multiplier). The higher this multiplier, the better your odds of getting high-quality loot.

Drop Rate Configuration by Scene

Here's what I found for each scene. Note that all difficulty levels share these same values:

Notes:

• Item Count Multiplier: Higher value = more items drop.
• High Quality Chance Multiplier: Higher value = better chance for high-quality gear.

Creature Kill Drops

Creature drops are completely unaffected by difficulty:

• What you get is locked to the creature's preset config
• Cranking up difficulty won't change their drop tables
• Same drops whether you're on easy or the hardest setting

Time's Impact on Creature Spawning

Time doesn't change drop rates, but it changes what spawns. Certain creatures only show up at night (22:00-5:00). They drop the same loot as daytime creatures—just different spawn windows.

So why does night feel more rewarding? Simple: more creatures. Daytime spawns stick around, and night creatures spawn on top of them. More targets = more loot.

Night Creatures by Scene

These creatures only appear at night:

Ground Zero

• Spider-Bot

Warehouse Area

• Spider-Bot
• Spider-Bot

Farm Town

• Spider-Bot
• Lost Spider-Bot

Summary