Legendary weapons, inner torsos and outer torsos can roll anywhere from 0 and 4 sockets while all other clothing can roll anywhere from 0 to 3 sockets. The same thing occurs at lower item rarity but the maximum number of sockets is lower. For example, epic outer torsos can roll anywhere from 0 to 2 sockets and rare outer torsos can roll either 1 socket or 0 sockets.
Prior to 1.1, it was possible to reload a savegame in front of a lootable container to re-randomize the number of sockets on an item, as well as its rarity to a limited degree.
Save scumming in this case is a problem related to the way randomization is used to generate items in Cyberpunk 2077. Save scumming isn't fun - Its shit gameplay and exposes game mechanics to the player, which is a real problem in an immersive, narrative focused game.
Nevertheless, players do it because the difference between a 0 socket outer torso and a 4 socket outer torso is very significant. The number of sockets on clothing items is really the only variable that matters: a legendary outer torso scaled to level 50 has 180 armour. A single epic armadillo mod scaled to level 50 gives +240 armour and is stackable.
We know enemies have minimum and maximum levels but otherwise track player level within this range. We know the level difference between enemy and player is expressed as "threat level" by the game UI. We also know that damage reduction% from armour scales linearly per point and is modified by threat level so this is something that will affect everyone at all stages of the game. Its not just a level 50 thing.
Now that save scumming sockets is no longer possible, it exposes a different problem with Cyberpunk's itemization. Legendary themed sets only spawn once in the game world and never again, meaning if you get unlucky and roll 0 sockets, there is nothing you can do about it.
Socket randomization is fine in a game like Diablo 2 because if you get unlucky, you can just re-instance and farm the same containers again until you get what you want. This type of item randomization was the bedrock for Diablo II's skinner box gameplay. It is the reason why a grey market exists for Jeweler's Monarch of Deflecting (JMoD) - a 4 socket shield of white/common rarity. In actual fact, the probability of rolling the Jeweler's prefix and Deflecting suffix on a white Monarch shield is extraordinarily low which is why people ended up paying real money for one. This type of item randomisation can only work in Diablo II because you can always try again. It has no place in a single player game with a finite number of one time lootable containers and no ability to re-instance.
This change is not documented in the 1.1 patch notes but could be related to the changes to the way save data is handled.
Possible solution:
The easiest fix for this is to remove socket randomization so it behaves like it does for iconics - all items at all rarities will always roll the maximum number of sockets for their item quality.
