PC Game Update: Tactical Loadout

PC servers will come down tomorrow, Wednesday April 15, 2020, at 6:00 AM PDT (3:00 PM CEST) to bring you the Tactical Loadout April update. Downtime is expected to last up to four hours.

Full patch notes below:

Tactical Slot and Merit Assets

We have added a new loadout slot to all players. This slot now houses Merit Reward deployables, and in the future may house other limited, tactical equipment.

Tactical Slot Deployables

Tactical Slot deployables will now be able to be restocked with Merit from the loadout screen after purchasing an initial schematic from the Outfit Quartermaster on Sanctuary.

Flash XS-1 is now located in the Tactical Slot.

• Caltrop has been added as a Merit Reward item. These deployables are for outdoor use only, and can be placed to help hinder the movement of enemy vehicles.
• Hardlight Canopy has been added as a Merit Reward item. Provides small, circular cover to protect infantry against airborne assaults.
• Auxiliary Spitfire has been added as a Merit Reward item. Places a single-use Spitfire Turret that mimics the functionality of the Engineer version.
• Cortium Bomb has been added as a Merit Reward item. Deploys a large explosive device that deals high damage over a wide area, particularly to construction objects. This bomb can be defused.

Caltrops - These deployable tank traps prevent the passage of enemy vehicles, while the holo-emitters allow the passage of allied vehicles. Enemy vehicles with gate shield diffusers will be able to pass through, as well!

Cortium Bomb - This high-yield explosive are effective at destroying enemy constructs. While armed, their beeping can be heard from far off, so finding good hiding spots are important.

Hardlight Canopy - This portable skyshield provides limited cover to infantry from airborne attacks. The skyshield is heartier than the generator itself, which can be destroyed fairly easily with gunfire.

Outfit Resources

• Outfits now require a minimum participation score (combined between members) of 3000 before receiving base capture resource rewards.
• Outfits who capture the base now receive their first tick of resources over time immediately.

World Map

• Multiple instances of the same zone will now associate a number with each one. For example: Sanctuary 1, and Sanctuary 2.
• The targeting reticle when selecting Sanctuary on the World Map is less obstructive now.

Koltyr

The island of Koltyr has now become an instanced playspace that will become available under certain conditions.

• During times of high server population, Koltyr will become available to accommodate the population overflow.
• Likewise, during times of very low server population, Koltyr will become available to provide a more focused playspace.
• Capturing 66% territory on Koltyr will trigger a 30-minute Meltdown alert, after which the continent will lock.
• Unlike Meltdown events on full continents, Koltyr does not provide rewards on completion, but will increased experience gain by 25% for the duration of the event.
• War Assets are not available for use on Koltyr.

Sanctuary

• Various visual improvements and art cleanup.
• Warpgate Terminals have been added to the lower levels of Sanctuary.
• The Join Combat prompt no longer appears in Sanctuary.

Outfit Armory

• Outfits now have access to the "Bastion" permission type, and all Bastion-related components now use this permission instead of Expedition permissions.
• Overclocking assets can no longer be done by players who do not posses the correct permissions.

War Assets
We've made our first round of adjustments to War Assets to make them more accessible to Outfits, and adjusted pricing based on their relative desirability in-game:

Steel Rain

• When Steel Rain is activated, a swirling maelstrom now appears above the location, visually indicating the drop zone.
• Polystellarite cost from 5 to 0.
• Synthium cost from 50 to 25.

Orbital Strike

• Maximum held count from 3 to 2.
• Polystellarite cost from 3 to 5.

Citadel Shield

• Weight from 75 to 50.
• Auraxium from 100 to 75.
• Polystellarite cost from 3 to 0.

ANVIL (Light)

• Auraxium cost from 20 to 15.
• Synthium cost from 2 to 0.

ANVIL (Medium)

• Auraxium cost from 50 to 25.
• Synthium cost from 10 to 3.

ANVIL (Heavy)

• Auraxium cost from 100 to 75.
• Synthium cost from 25 to 10.

Expeditions
Length of each expedition has been cut in half.

• Expedition (Short) from 24 hours to 12 hours.
• Expedition (Medium) from 48 hours to 24 hours.
• Expedition (Long) from 72 hours to 36 hours.

Crafting Adjustments
Each piece of the Bastion now crafts in 6 hours, opposed to 12 prior.
Pieces of the Bastion must now be crafted in the following order.

1. Hull Reconstitution
2. Support Systems
3. Rearm and Refuel
4. Response Vehicles

Dev Note: The intention of these changes are to create a buffer of time where resources won't feel "wasted" if they're not going directly toward funding a Bastion. This does slow the rate at which a Bastion can be pulled for those outfits who can easily harvest resources, and we can readjust again in the future if Bastions appear too infrequently on the battlefield.

Mauler Cannons

• Now have a unique model.
• No longer deal damage or impulse through one-way collision (like spawn room shields.)
• Maximum Blast Damage from 1250 to 1000
• Blast damage resistance type from 9 (Tank Mine) to 23 (Air to Ground Warhead)

Dev Note: These changes should create a better window of survivability for vehicles aware of an incoming barrage, and allows for certain defensive slots (like Flanker Armor) to help mitigate these attacks.

Misc. Bastion Changes

• Bastions now generate Power Projection score while over VS territory.
• Bastion Uplink Terminal has been renamed "Command Terminal," and has new UI visuals.
• Seats 3 - 6 no longer show empty ammo pools in the HUD seating chart.
• Added a missing panel to the starboard side of the Bastion.

Black Market
New items have been added to the Black Market vendors. We will not be rotating the old items out of the store in this update.

Infradine (Utility Slot)
This single-use Infradine injector will allow the soldier to view heat signatures as if they were using an infrared scope. Lasts up to 20 seconds.
This consumable is restocked using A7.

NS-30 Tranquility (Common Pool Battle Rifle)
Heavy modification has reclassified this NS-30 Vandal as a "non-lethal rifle," capable of firing concussive smart-slugs that slow enemy infantry on impact. While less powerful than the original, the Tranquility boasts higher projectile velocities, and remains suppressed at all times.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Included in this update are optimizations to server performance based on bottlenecks discovered during times of high population.
• Remedied some inconsistencies with construction resistances across a variety of structures.
• Construction objects beneath a Skyshield will now greatly reduce the damage taken from an Orbital Strike, but will not protect the Skyshield Module itself.
• Fixed an issue where players were using construction turrets in their debuffed state while entering them while an AI Module was active.
• Concussion Grenades' turning speed reduction now scales on distance from the blast, similar to the blurred screen visuals.
• Fixed and issue with MG-HBR1 Dragoon (TR Battle Rifle) not playing firing audio under certain conditions.
• MG-AR1 Arbalest (TR Assault Rifle) now has updated audio.
• Clicking the Outfit button as a player without an Outfit will now bring you to the Outfit Search page initially.
• Underbarrel Grenade launchers should no longer have large animation hitches during a reload.
• Repair Ribbons once again count toward directive progress.
• Wielded knives no longer flip in the hand while leaving a sprint. (Note: There still remains an issue where knives will flip in hand after a weapon swap.)
• Switching weapons while reloading pump action shotguns no longer causes you reload other weapons with the pump action's animations.
• BR15 cert refund no longer prompts players to "Leave Koltyr."
• Fixed an issue where Outfits couldn't set Outfit Decals.
• Desolation has received a beautification pass on the bases, capture points, and surrounding terrain.
• Revenant Implant can now be crafted, and has been added to the Implant Pack drop table.
• Removed the "Broadcast" tab from the Social menu.
• M96 Mjolnir (NC Top Gun) first person camera fixed for both the Vanguard and Harasser.
• SR-200 (NSO Sniper Rifle) no longer has animation hitches when aiming down sights with optics less than 6x.
• Players now regenerate Nanites on Desolation.
• Mayhem Auraxium tier directive now uses the correct tier icon.

Looking Forward
Last weekend (April 11) we completed the first Outfit Wars alpha cycle. The community's response to the event has been phenomenal, and our team was excitedly watching these matches unfold as well. Big shout outs to the community casters who made the event way more exciting and positive than we could have hoped for, and for all of the participants who put in the work. The team has a variety of changes we're looking to have completed before qualifiers begin for the next Outfit Wars. These changes aim to make qualifiers feel better, make match pacing feel better, and address a variety of the bugs that we noticed on stream. The next season will continue to be in what we're calling an "alpha cycle," and we want to make Outfit Wars feel like an integrated part of the experience.

We'll be kicking off Outfit Wars Alpha Cycle 2 enlistment on May 1, and plan to have the next war take place on May 16. I want to stress that that's the current plan, and we'll have a separate post detailing this finalized information (including phase lengths and new rules) later on. To circle back around, this April update focuses primarily on bug fixes, our first pass at War Asset pricing, and the introduction of a new Tactical slot that gives individual Outfit members more ways to influence the battlefield. We're planning for a livestream later this month to show off some of what's in store for the next update, so stay tuned.
-Wrel, Lead Designer

Special thanks to:

• ArsheeTV: twitch.tv/arsheetv
• CAMIKAZE78: twitch.tv/camikaze78
• Commander Cyrious: twitch.tv/cmdrcyrious or youtube.com/CMDRCyrious
• Faber0ne: twitch.tv/faber0ne
• PlanetSide Battles team: twitch.tv/planetsidebattles & twitch.tv/planetsidebattles2
• Project Incursus Gaming: youtube.com/projectincursusgaming
• wintergaming: twitch.tv/wintergaming