[2020] Community Transmission - The Battle on Scarif Update

The Battle on Scarif Update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiXo9W5jc7Y&feature=youtu.be

We’re back for a Transmission and that means it’s time for another update. The Age of Rebellion is still upon us, headlined by the return of Scarif in Supremacy, Co-Op and Instant Action.

The update releases on April 29 and we’ve got a lot to talk about, so let’s dive in with the details.

Age of Rebellion Supremacy & Instant Action

The list of Supremacy planets for the Age of Rebellion is spearheaded by the return of Scarif, a planet we know you’re incredibly excited to venture back to. Joining Scarif will also be a series of iconic Age of Rebellion locations; Hoth, Death Star II, Tatooine, and Yavin 4.

Each of these locations will also be arriving into Instant Action, making the Age of Rebellion Supremacy experience available offline as well as online.

Co-Op Updates

We continue to see great feedback around Co-Op and it’s been wonderful watching the reactions, gameplay clips and reading your comments on the last update, which brought the game mode into the Age of Rebellion.

Following on from that theme we’re adding Scarif to the list of available Age of Rebellion locations, and it will join all the existing locations in the map rotation.

Back in January, we released both the MC85 Star Cruiser and Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer as part of the Supremacy setup for the Age of Resistance. The feedback we received on both of these Capital Ships was incredibly positive. As a result of this, we’ve made the decision to bring them to Co-Op as standalone locations.

You’ll find both the MC85 Star Cruiser and the Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer within the Age of Resistance map rotation.

With this update, we’ll be renaming Co-Op to Co-Op Missions.

Instant Action Missions

With the positivity and reception surrounding Instant Action we’ve decided to expand it further, bringing a new option to offline play.

Instant Action Missions are based around the Co-Op multiplayer experience, allowing you to play with 3 friendly AI allies and take on an enemy team made up of AI using our existing Co-Op Missions.

Faction select will be possible, enabling both attack and defend gameplay options and the mode will be supported by every Co-Op location we have within the game, across all 3 eras.

Crait Heroes Vs. Villains

Heroes Vs. Villains will be receiving a new planet in April, as the battle between dark and light reaches the salty mineral planet of Crait. This is one of our most requested HvV locations to date so it’s really exciting to be bringing it to the game mode.

The combat area will be focused inside the main hangar, with the blast doors open, letting in the sunset outside.

Trooper Appearances

When we announced that you would be returning to Scarif, one of the more prominent requests that we started to see surrounded the Shoretrooper appearances.

Within this update, we are pleased to confirm that troopers will have new appearances based on the Shoretrooper setup. Members of the Empire will have their Shoretrooper appearances, while the Rebellion will have access to their Pathfinder variants.

Hero Appearances

We know that many of you have been requesting new appearances for heroes (and villains) in the game, which is why we’ll be rounding out April with a selection of brand new ones.

Darth Maul has been a hero who, in terms of new appearance requests, has consistently been one of the most prominent, which is why we’re incredibly excited to announce that he will have an appearance based on Star Wars Rebels available to him, complete with robotic legs.

Old Master Maul

Back in December, we brought three Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker™ appearances to the game, for Rey, Kylo Ren, and Finn. We’ve got two more on the way, and if you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker™ yet, look away now!

Rey Skywalker

The first of these new appearances belong to Emperor Palpatine, and will be focused around his red robes. The second Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker appearance is based on Rey with her hood down, and with her new yellow lightsaber. We’re looking forward to bringing both of these frequently requested appearances to the game in April.

Sith Eternal Palpatine

We also have a new appearance arriving for the dark side arriving in this month’s update, Kylo Ren with his hood up.

Damage Increase Messaging

We are adding in-game messaging for Damage Increase, and how it relates to damage decrease.

You can suffer a damage increase from two sources today: BB-8's Resistance Backing ability, and Dooku's Expose Weakness ability. Having a Damage Increase on yourself means that you take more than normal damage from any damage source.

Damage Increase is messaged in-game in the same three elements as Damage Decrease:

Above Head: When looking at a friend or enemy, left of their health bar, an icon denoting damage increase will be shown for the duration of the effect

• This icon is always red when looking at an enemy
• You will only ever see the increase OR the decrease icon in this placement

Hit Indicator: When dealing damage to an enemy, the damage increase icon will animate out from your crosshair to denote that you dealt more than normal damage

• This animation is always red
• You will only ever see the increase OR the decrease animation

Player Health: When looking at your own health bar at the bottom of your screen, icons will be shown to the left of your health number for the duration of any damage increase and/or damage decrease

• You will see both the increase AND the decrease icon in this placement if you are affected by both simultaneously
• The colors of these icons in this placement change to show the net effect:
• You take more damage: Increase icon is red / Decrease icon is grey
• You take less damage: Increase icon is grey / Decrease icon is yellow

Explosion Damage Reduction Redesign

We are removing the two cases in the game that would give you explosion damage reduction. This is done to ensure that our damage increase/decrease messaging is robust in all cases. We are also hoping that the redesign detailed below of the Bodyguard Star Card (which is largely unused by all Trooper classes) will make it more viable to bring into battle.

The BODYGUARD Star Card keeps its name but has a new description to reflect the new design. The gameplay effect changes to:

• When at Critical Health (below 30%), you gain X% overall damage reduction
• The amount of damage reduction scales with Star Card Rarity

The Critical Health Level is already messaged in-game by an audio filter and a red vignette, letting you know that you are in grave danger. The new design of the Bodyguard Star Card is meant to give you an increased chance of survival while in this state in certain situations.

The new gameplay effect means that some low/mid damage weapons will require 1 additional shot to kill an enemy that has Bodyguard equipped. As an example, it will take 7 instead of 6 body shots to kill a non-Heavy, and 8 instead of 7 body shots to kill a Heavy with Bodyguard equipped. The number of headshots from a default blaster to kill a non-Heavy and Heavy are unchanged.

High damage weapons such as sniper rifles are largely unaffected as well. You can still kill a Trooper that has Bodyguard equipped with 1 headshot or 2 body shots with the NT-242 sniper rifle.

All examples above are made from the Epic Rarity of the Star Card, which is where the biggest effect kicks in. This damage reduction is only applied while below 30% health and is immediately removed when you go above that. For non-Heavy Troopers, this state is entered when below 45 health. For Heavy Troopers, the threshold is below 60 health.
From everyone on the Star Wars Battlefront II team, we thank you. Thank you for being a part of everything we’ve done, and for being the best community we could have asked for.

May the Force be with you. Always.

Release Notes

FEATURES

• Scarif added as a new playable map on Co-Op Missions, Supremacy, Instant Action, Heroes Vs. Villains and Hero Showdown.
• Supremacy and Instant Action are now available in the Age of Rebellion (Death Star II, Hoth, Yavin 4, Tatooine and Scarif).
• New Missions (Attack) and Missions (Defend) modes added under Instant Action, allowing you to play Co-Op style maps as a single-player alongside AI.
• Co-Op Missions are now available on the MC85 Star Cruiser and Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer.
• Crait is now available on Heroes Vs. Villains and Hero Showdown.
• New Episode IX-inspired appearances for Rey, Kylo Ren and Emperor Palpatine are now available to all players.
• New appearances for Darth Maul and Rey are available to unlock via Milestones.

QUALITY OF LIFE

• Vehicle units are added as AI players on certain maps on Co-Op and Instant Action Missions (Geonosis, Kashyyyk, Naboo, Felucia, Hoth, Endor, Yavin 4, Takodana and Ajan Kloss)
• Previously map-specific appearances for the Galactic Empire troopers are now available as selectable appearances across Age of Rebellion maps.
• Cosmetic items that were previously available to unlock only through Events are now available to unlock through Milestones.
• The First Order Snowtrooper appearance is now available for First Order Assault-class troopers as a selectable appearance across Age of Resistance maps.

Damage Increase Messaging

• Added in-game messaging for when you take increased damage, e.g. from BB-8´s Resistance Backing or Dooku´s Expose Weakness abilities.
• This is shown by an icon consisting of two red horizontal spikes above players´ heads, in the hit marker animation, and in your own health bar.
• When affected both by damage increase and damage decrease at the same time, we show both icons in your own health bar.
• The dominant buff or debuff will be displayed in color, while the weaker one will be greyed out.

UI - New HUD options added:

• Options preview, a new window with a visual representation of each setting.
• Damage Increase Message (On/Off)
• Capture progress (On/Off)
• Nametags (Default/ No Outline/ No Background/ Health And Icon/ Only Icon/ Off)
• Objective Style (Default/ Outline/ No Outline (only letter)/Off)
• Objective at screen Edge (Opacity slider)
• Objective at screen Zone (Opacity slider)
• Objective at screen Focus (Opacity slider)
• Cards, starcard shuffle at spawn (On/ Off)
• Weapon hints (On/ Off)
• Game mode bar (Default/ NoOutline/ Off)
• High contrast slider to improve readability in the static HUD containers with blurred backgrounds.
• Commander portrait (On/ Off)
• Tutorial (On/ Off)

Other changes:

• Kill Message, Legacy - Changed so the Score Feed disappears at the same time as the kill message.
• Scoreboard now shows "Planet" and current "Game Mode".
• Game Mode bar visual updates.

HERO CHANGES

• Based on his new era-appropriate appearance, Emperor Palpatine, alongside Chewbacca, is now available as player-controlled and AI Heroes on Age of Resistance - era maps of Supremacy, Instant Action and Co-Op Missions.
• Fixed an issue that would cause headshot damage when hitting certain Heroes in the right-side forearm as a Hero.
• Blaster Heroes who can use a scope on their weapons, now go in full first-person view and do not stay in third-person anymore. This changes where the blaster shot comes from, improving the experience.
• Based on his new era-appropriate appearance, Darth Maul, alongside Yoda, is now available as player-controlled and AI Heroes on Age of Rebellion - era maps of Supremacy, Instant Action and Co-Op Missions.

Dash abilities for all Heroes and Reinforcements
These are now following the direction of the camera, instead of the character model. This applies to the below abilities:

• Rey - Dash Strike
• Obi-Wan - Defensive Rush
• Han Solo - Shoulder Charge
• BB-8 - Rolling charge
• General Grievous - Claw Rush
• First Order Jet Trooper - Jet Tackle
• Ovissian Gunner - Charge

BB-8 AND BB-9E

• Fixed an issue with BB-8's "Twist" Milestone not tracking score accurately.
• Fixed an issue where BB-9E's Charge Up ability would not lead to reduction of cooldown times on allies.

LEIA ORGANA

• Fixed an issue where Leia's Thermal Detonators ability could go in cooldown prematurely, before all detonators are thrown.
• Updated Leia Organa's Hero description to mention Thermal Detonators, instead of Flash Grenades.
• Fixed an issue where Leia's Shield would not heal, when outside the player's line of sight.

CHEWBACCA

• Fixed an issue where Chewbacca could do melee attacks in mid-air after activating Charge Slam.
• Chewbacca's Charge Slam ability will be less likely to be triggered when Chewbacca falls from small heights.
• Fixed an issue where Chewbacca's goggle lenses in the Vandor Heist appearance would not be visible in the Collection Screen.
• Fixed an issue where Chewbacca's Charge Slam animation would be interrupted when jumping over an uneven surface during the ability's duration.

BOBA FETT

• Fixed an issue where Boba Fett could disable the Blaster weapon of targets that aren't concussed, when shooting behind them.

REY

• Fixed a visual issue where Rey's mouth would not move during her emotes or voice lines.

CAPTAIN PHASMA

• Improved the animation of Captain Phasma's Staff Strikes.

OBI-WAN KENOBI

• Improved audio effects for Obi-Wan's Restrictive Mind Trick ability.

LANDO CALRISSIAN

• Fixed an issue where Lando's weapon would heat up, even when shooting during the super success minigame.

BOSSK

• Improved VFX to better show the range of Bossk's Proximity Mines on various terrains.

KYLO REN

• Fixed an issue where Kylo Ren's Freeze, while a player is performing a roll or dash, would invert the direction of the movement upon the player being able to move again.
• Fixed a clipping issue on Kylo Ren's Power of the Darkness Victory Pose.

GENERAL GRIEVOUS

• Fixed an issue that would cause General Grievous' abilities to be interrupted by abilities and melee attacks of other players.
• Fixed an issue that would allow the player to trigger the Unrelenting Advance ability twice, causing Grievous to repeat the animation endlessly.

GAME MODE AND MAP CHANGES

• Fixed an issue that could cause a player to be inaccurately kicked out of a session due to being idle.

SUPREMACY

• A round of Supremacy will now take place once per map.

CO-OP MISSIONS

• Co-Op name changed to Co-Op Missions, to be consistent with the new mode Instant Action - Missions.
• Fixed an issue where AI Heroes could be seen in outros.
• Fixed an issue where a player would not be able to spawn as the Ewok Hunter or the Rocket Jumper when playing Co-Op Missions on Kessel.
• Fixed an issue where the AT-RT and AT-ST would be visible as playable options on Kessel - Co-Op Missions.
• Fixed an issue where the "Fight as One" Milestone, would not track progress on Co-Op Missions.

INSTANT ACTION

• Added option for Advanced Settings on the menu of Instant Action (Supremacy and Missions).
• Fixed an issue where the mode description of the last Arcade Battle Scenario, would be displayed when loading an Instant Action session.

HEROES VS. VILLAINS

• Fixed a visual issue where backdrop Starfighters would occasionally be seen flying through Death Star II on Heroes Vs. Villains.

HERO SHOWDOWN

• Fixed an issue where the audio for the activation of Dark side Lightsaber on the intro of Hero Showdown would be delayed.
• Fixed an issue where Hero voice lines could be heard during the Hero Showdown intro.

MAP CHANGES

• Fixed various collision, exploits and visual issues on Jakku, Ajan Kloss, Yavin 4, Endor, Death Star II, Felucia, Kamino, Kashyyyk, Naboo, Geonosis, Republic Attack Cruiser, MC85 Star Cruiser, First Order Star Destroyer.
• Fixed an issue where a player would incorrectly take damage from an invisible fire asset on Kashyyyk, by the Republic Attack Cruiser entrance.
• Fixed an issue where players would not die when jumping off the mine on Kessel.
• Fixed an issue where the Gonk Droid, during the Campaign mission "The Cleaner", would be unable to walk, due to misplaced legs.
• Fixed an issue where the Living World droid on the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer could occasionally be seen bouncing only up and down.
• An iron droid was added to the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer.

CHANGES TO CLASSES AND SPECIAL UNITS

• Various balancing changes on Reinforcements and Weapons.

ARC Trooper

• Raised rate of fire in toggled fire mode (360->420).
• Increased damage (34->35 | 15->17).
• Decreased the recoil setting that would make the aim kick left and right with each shot.

B2-RP Rocket Droid

• Reduced base health (300->200) as they're outperforming all other aerials, and are using the same health as the regular B2 droid.
• Reduced end damage on wristblaster (25->24).

B2 Super Battle Droid

• Reduced end damage on wristblaster (25->24).

Commando Droid

• Reduced E-5 near damage (42->30) since the sword should be the main weapon for close range.

Death Trooper

• Reduced damage (56->50 | 35->24).

Rebel & Imperial Rocket Troopers

• Increased near damage output (40->45).

Wookiee Warrior

• Slight increase to end damage (20->23).

Ewok Hunter

• Increased damage output from the wisties pouch (5 per second to 10 per second).

Ovissian Gunner

• Increased near damage (24->25).

DL-18

• Reduced heat per bullet (0.08->0.05).

Cycler Rifle

• Damage increase (65->75).
• Resolved an issue where the Cycler Rifle would have a high accuracy when not zooming while crouched.

Vanguard Slug

• Made the slug more accurate when zooming (Dispersion Angle 1->0).

ENFORCER

• Improved VFX and fixed an issue where the effects of the Thermal Imploder would not be visible when not looking directly at the grenade.

INFILTRATOR

• Fixed an issue where Infiltrator Reinforcements could potentially get stuck in a crouch animation and jump around.

ISB AGENT

• Made visual improvements to the ISB Agent's helmet.

HEAVY

• Fixed visual issues with the male Zabrak appearance.
• Fixed an issue that blocks zoom on other weapons, such as the MPL-57, the Ion Torpedo or Iden's Pulse Cannon, while the TL-50 Secondary Fire is in cooldown.
• The Heavy's Sentry ability will not be granting Explosive damage reduction anymore. The BODYGUARD Star Card has been redesigned to give normal damage reduction while you are at critical health (below 30%).

SPECIALIST

• Added option for a female Zabrak appearance for Rebel and Resistance Specialist-class soldiers.

OFFICER

• Fixed an issue where the Officer's own Flash Grenade could flash the Officer through a wall.
• Fixed an issue where an Officer's Infantry Blaster Turret would keep being repaired, even after the only Officer standing next to it was defeated.

CAPHEX SPY

• Fixed an issue where the Caphex Spy would receive damage by using the Truncheon Attack ability while sprinting against environmental assets.
• Fixed an issue where the Spy's Orbital Strike UI messaging would remain active on screen after the ability ended.
• Fixes an issue where the Orbital Strike UI messaging would only show on one player, if multiple players were inside the radius when it was triggered.
• Fixed an issue where the Spy's baton spinning sound was out of sync with the animation.

CLONE COMMANDO

• Fixed an issue where Battle Focus would allow the Clone Commando to regain health, even when damaging the objective.
• Fixed a visual issue where the Clone Commando's weapon sight attachment would occasionally show up misplaced during the Commando's dodge animation.

COMMANDO DROID

• Fixed an issue where the Commando Droid's animation would break after using the Smoke Screen ability.

EWOK HUNTER

• Fixed an issue where the Ewok Hunter's arrows would remain on defeated enemies for too long.
• Fixed an issue where the Ewok Hunter's "Hunter's Instincts" ability would not work on Arcade AI.
• Fixed an issue where the arrow shooting sound would be heard, even when no arrows were shot, if the player is spamming the attack button while aiming with the bow.

AT-RT

• Fixed an issue where the Reinforced Hull Star Card would not have any effect on the AT-RT.

AT-ST

• Fixed an issue that would cause the nametag of the player using the AT-ST to show up at the bottom of the vehicle.

SITH TROOPER

• Fixed an issue with the audio of the Sith Trooper's melee swings losing functionality after the first swing in a chain of melee attacks.

FIRST ORDER JET TROOPER

• Fixed an issue where the First Order Jet Trooper could evade without limitations.
• Fixed a visual issue on the backpack interior of the First Order Jet Trooper.
• The First Order Jet Trooper and Boba Fett now have jetpack VFX when ragdoll landing after having been pushed from a certain height.

FIRST ORDER FLAMETROOPER

• Added an alt fire for the Flame Trooper to give it a mid-range attack to make it viable in more combat situations and on more maps.
• Improved VFX for the First Order Flametrooper's Incendiary Grenade.

IMPERIAL ROCKET TROOPER

• Fixed a visual texture issue with the lighting of the underlay armor of the Imperial Rocket Trooper.

DROIDEKA

• Fixed an issue where Droideka could gain significant height when rolling off elevated surfaces.

WOOKIEE WARRIOR

• Wookiee Warrior's Fortify ability is now replaced with Charge Slam.

DEATH TROOPER

• Improved VFX for Death Trooper's Sonic Imploder ability.

AERIAL

• Improved VFX for Rocket Launcher smoke trails.

VEHICLES

• Updated the description of the Protected Critical Systems Star Card for accuracy.
• New description: "On vehicles with weak spots, the weak spot bonus damage amount is reduced. On smaller vehicles, this damage reduction applies to the entire vehicle."
• Fixed an issue where the Tactical Jammer Star Card would have no functionality when applied on the X-34 Landspeeder on Tatooine or Hoth.
• Fixed an issue where the Regenerative Subsystems Star Card would not restore the right amount of health per rarity level for Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer.
• Fixed an issue where the Speeder Systems Upgrade Star Card would have no effect on STAP and BARC-Speeder.

WEAPONS

• Updated the reward description for Crates containing weapon modifications.
• Fixed an issue where other players would not see the projectiles fired by an ally with a stationary weapon.

AI PLAYERS

• Class icons added to AI players in Supremacy and Instant Action.
• Reduced likelihood of the same AI Hero spawning consecutively, when playing Co-Op Missions or Instant Action.
• Fixed an issue where the AI versions of Han Solo and Leia would not show up in the proper planet-appropriate appearance on Yavin.

SQUAD SPAWN CHANGES

• Fixed an issue that would disable players from spawning on a squad member, if they were shooting away from the combat area.
• Fixed an issue where the Squad Spawn screen UI would not show if a player is in a vehicle or not.

GENERAL CHANGES/MISC

• Fixed an issue where a player who is invited to a group party, would not be able to join or be placed in a queue and would be prompted with an inaccurate message that the server is full instead.
• Fixed an issue where Co-Op Missions and Starfighter Assault-related audio would interrupt Continuous Music.
• Fixed an issue where the setting name for Kill Sound Effect would also appear as its description.
• Fixed issues in the Collection Screen to clarify whether cosmetic items can be unlocked through Milestones or can be obtained with the Celebration Edition.
• Removed the " Available in crates " message displayed under every Emote name.
• The Millenium Falcons in the Collection Screen are now represented by the same thumbnail to address a memory issue.
• Fixed issues that would cause the Play Now function to heavily prioritize Co-Op Missions.
• Fixed an issue where the UI would show that the player is queuing for all game modes, when searching for game mode in the Heroes vs Villain menu or the More menu.
• Updated matchmaking text when searching for a Strike/Extraction game.
• Fixed a typo in the Frontend menu description of Felucia.
• Fixed an issue where the loading icon would be misplaced in higher than 1080p resolutions.
• Fixed an issue that would cause UI messaging on defeated players to show up retroactively, once players turn it on after having it turned off first.
• Added new loading hints for Co-Op and recently released Reinforcements such as the Ewok Hunter and the ISB Agent.

KNOWN ISSUES

• Wrong announcers can be heard by the player when transitioning between round phases of any game mode, while using a Hero newly introduced to the era (ex. Darth Maul in Age of Rebellion).
• The appearances of AI-controlled Clone Troopers on the Republic Attack Cruiser on Instant Action and Co-Op - Missions are incorrectly set to Phase I.

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