[2019] December 18, 2019 - Spark and Snow (PS4 Update)

PS4 servers will be taken offline on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 11:00am PT for maintenance. Downtime is expected to last up to 3 hours. "NS has a pretty tight grip on the operation of their combat units, but I've come up with a way to hijack their disassembly sub-routine and get it to send false information. The window is small, but if we inject a virus at the moment the unit is taken offline, it won't get torn apart by the nano-machines when it goes down. After that, we'll need to recover any leftover husks from the battlefield." - Reconstructed chat log from an abandoned guerrilla outpost. Nanite Systems Operatives We've been working on giving NSO some noteworthy traits that make them fun as a stand-alone faction, while also patching the current holes in their arsenal. Below you'll find a new weapon, class, and vehicle. We plan to continue to iterate on the new vehicle and infantry class, so these units should be considered prototypes until their "full release." SR-200 - New Sniper Rifle NSO characters can now find the SR-200 bolt-action sniper rifle in the Depot for 1000 Certs or 699 DBC. A Fully Loaded bundle is also available for 899 DBC. The SR-200 embodies the long-distance stopping power of a traditional bolt-action, while retaining versatility through balanced reload speed and attachment variety. Javelin - New Vehicle NSO characters now have access to the Javelin light transport and reconnaissance unit. Maglev technology allows the Javelin to hover along the ground and easily traverse difficult terrain. An open rumble seat allows for one additional passenger, and while it is not innately equipped with weaponry, it has access to a variety of defensive and utility options. This vehicle is in a prototype state, and will see significant iteration as time passes. Defector - New Infantry Class NSO characters now have access to the Defector infantry class. The Defector acts as a "MAX unit" with the same implied restrictions (long revive time, healed by repairs, cannot enter certain vehicles.) While more agile than a typical MAX unit, it also has less resistance to damage. A grenade launcher primary weapon can dispatch infantry and vehicles alike, and makes use of heat technology that constantly nano-prints new explosives to throw. It has access to two Utilities, the first turns the unit into a walking time-bomb, and the second creates a bubble shield that protects nearby allies. This unit is in a prototype state, and will see significant iteration as time passes. Winter Event Auraximas is back, and it's colder than ever. Snowman show their frosty faces, BioLabs have frozen within and without, and a new Directive is all lined up for those cool enough to complete it. The Auraximas winter event lasts from Dec. 18, 2019 through Jan. 5, 2020. New Winter Directive We've added another Seasonal Directive line with new rewards! (And Cold Heart has gotten a buff, as noted in the Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions notes.)

• Tier 1 Reward - 250 Certs, Holiday Hat
• Tier 2 Reward - 500 ISO-4
• Tier 3 Reward - Merry Mess Camo
• Tier 4 Reward - Cold Heart Implant, "Abominable" Title

Snowmen Abound Snowmen (and Stonemen) now appear on the battlefields of Indar, Esamir, Hossin, and Amerish! These snowmen grant bonus experience, so be sure to spare some bullets for these festive foes. If you've been especially nice this year, you may also happen upon the elusive Golden Snowman that will reward you with a shiny gold hood ornament and a ton of bonus experience! Additionally, all players can now find deployable Snowman Soldiers in the Utility slot of their infantry classes. Snowman Soldiers can act as makeshift cover, and also contributes to Directive progress by soaking damage. BioLabs receive a seasonal makeover. Power fluctuations have been wreaking havoc on the BioLab control apparatus. Be sure to dress warm. Auraximas Calendar Every day in December brings a limited-time item to the marketplace, and a swath of holiday items is now available throughout the holiday! Be sure to check the Depot billboard for more information! A.S.P. Respec You can now purchase an A.S.P. Respec Token in the Depot under the Boosts and Utilities category. Purchasing this token will refund any A.S.P. points you have already spent. Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Platoons can once again enable squad recruitment outside of Alpha squad.
• Various bug fixes related to the World Map screen.
• Improved the World Map screen to showcase lock states better and made other visual improvements.
• Players should no longer be able to clip beneath the ground while crouching rhythmically.
• Adjusted description for NSX Amaterasu.
• Improved visuals on shield impact and shield depletion particle effects.
• Fixed a typo in the Cold Heart description that stated it reduced cooling by 30%, when it was functionally 20%.
• Cold Heart now also passively applies its 20% cooldown speed to heat-based tools, like the Engineer's Repair Tool, at all times.
• NSX, Mayhem, Exceptional, and Bounty directives have all been moved to a new "Specialty" directive tree.
• Exceptional II now uses the same completion numbers per tier as Exceptional I (2/3/4/5) and has been reduced from the 5/5/6/6 implemented in the November update.
• NS and NS-A Commando melee weapons now properly track weapon medals.
• NSO Flash ATV now has access to the Mineguard cert line.
• Flash ATV's fall damage resistance has been increased.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to spawn beneath the floor of buildings. We are still investigating edge cases, but this bug should be reduced with the update.

Looking Ahead Merry Auraximas, soldiers. This update brings some much-needed attention to the NSO faction, fixes some long-standing bugs (features?), enables respeccing your A.S.P. skills, and turns on the holiday event. When we initially launched NSO as a faction, it did exactly what we intended for it to do: help balance populations, add value to membership, and splash some new colors on an otherwise blue, red, and purple world. We did, however, know that this system needed to be cultivated past the honeymoon phase in order for it to continue helping the game, and we certainly let it flounder for too long. With this update, NSO has new equipment that not only shores up portions of its arsenal, but does so by providing faction uniqueness that the community has been asking for. The design mentality we're taking into the NSO faction is to focus on its mercenary-for-hire nature. NSO infantry should be on the same playing field as other factions in terms of one-on-one effectiveness, while their special units and vehicles should rely on teamwork to reach their full effectiveness. The Defector and its two abilities are great examples of lending power to your allies by sacrificing yourself, either to clear choke points or soak bullets so that your teammates can move safely forward. When we look toward building out this faction in the future, we will be keeping this mentality in mind. In January, the majority of our resources will remain focused on the big Q1 update we have planned, but we'll be making time to pepper in bug fixes and polish as we've been doing the past couple of months, not only with NSO, but with some of the more pressing issues that have been noted in the forums here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?forums/bug-reports.104/ Toward the end of this week I'll be drafting up another Dev Letter to recap some of what we've talked about here, address where we're going with PlanetSide 2 as a whole, and, fingers crossed, sneak some work-in-progress teases in there before we make a more official announcement about the Q1 update. - Wrel, Lead Designer