[2019] PC Game Update - April 24, 2019 (A New Soldier)

PC servers will be taken offline on Thursday, April 25th, 2019 at 7:00AM PT for maintenance. Downtime is expected to last up to 3 hours. Performance, performance, performance Over the game's lifetime, there has been no pain point discussed more often than that of performance. You've seen us attacking this problem from different angles throughout the past year (and the years before that!,) and while we've made significant strides with optimizing much of our underlying infrastructure, there wasn't much left for us to improve upon without some major overhauls first. Our continued quest for improvement has brought us here, after months of work and a coordinated effort from multiple departments throughout the company, we're pleased to announce that DX11 has arrived in PlanetSide 2. To top it all off, the updates give us better tools to diagnose and address performance concerns in the future. Players on all types of compatible hardware should be receiving notable performance increases due in no small part to this update, but others as well. Numerous third party software used by the game and our own internal Forgelight engine have been updated, and we've also restructured the way that assets are packed and encrypted. This results in not only a more performant game, but also smaller file sizes, and more security from cheaters. So celebrate, Auraxians, you've earned it. Nanite Systems Operatives have entered the battlefield Built to function in the harshest weather conditions and most demanding combat roles, our new Nanite Systems Operatives are here to serve. Players now have the ability to create a robotic character on a new, fourth faction, the Nanite Systems Operatives (or NSO.) In light of this addition, we've also granted another free character slot to all players.

• NSO characters are available to players with active All Access memberships only.
• Each time an Operative moves to a new continent, they will be assigned to fight for whichever faction currently has the lowest population.
• This faction will not be re-assigned until the player travels to a new continent.
• Operative characters use Nanite Systems weaponry only, and have their own special Directive lines available for completion.
• NSO characters do not have equivalents for faction-specific items, so use caution when purchasing bundles that offer items for multiple factions.
• A MAX unit, main battle tank, and empire specific fighters are currently missing from the NSO arsenal, and we will be exploring their implementation at a later date.
• NSO characters can reside in outfits (even while contracted for opposing teams,) and can join and lead squads for whichever faction they're currently fighting for.
• If an NSO character leaves a continent and is contracted to fight for a new team, they will be removed from their active squad.
• For the time being, NSO characters will be unable to access Tutorial and Koltyr.
• Beyond that, NSO characters operate similarly to a character from any other empire.
• They have the same health pools, movement speeds, hitboxes and animations, and they die and respawn just like any other soldier.

The design of this system had a few targets.

• Firstly, we wanted a way to address population balance without having to rely on a faction queue, which (while effective) isn't a fun way for players to spend their evening if they want to play with their friends on a particular faction.
• Secondly, we wanted a way to celebrate and reward our players who have active memberships, and there is no more prominent way to flaunt your support of the game than piloting a combat-ready robotic soldier.
• Lastly, we wanted to invigorate some of the PlanetSide 2 lore. The release of NS Operatives is the true beginning of a larger story arc surrounding Nanite Systems, and some hero characters you may (or may not have) heard of just yet.

We hope you enjoy these new soldiers, and the havoc they will certainly wreak upon the battlefields of Auraxis. Ready to Re-enlist? Welcome back soldiers! Double experience FOR ALL will be starting on April 28th and running through Sunday, May 5th. We'll also be hosting a MEMBERS ONLY quadruple experience day on April 28th! In celebration of this massive update, we've also constructed some new bundles, sales, and a special release calendar for the next four weeks. Week 1 - Apr. 29 through May 5 40% off Camouflage Re-enlistment Bundle Alpha - 499 DBC cost - 3693 DBC value

• MGR-S1 Gladius (NC SMG)
• MG-S1 Jackal (TR SMG)
• VE-S Canis (VS SMG)
• Angular Camo (NC/TR/VS Camo)
• Squad Experience Boost 7-Day

Week 2 - May 6 through May 12 40% off Vehicle Cosmetics Re-enlistment Bundle Bravo - 999 DBC cost - 5389 DBC value

• Pillager (TR Flash Weapon)
• Starfall (VS Flash Weapon)
• Buzzard (NC Flash Weapon)
• NS-50 Gorgon (Left and Right hand MAX machine guns, for VS/NC/TR)
• M202 Wyrm (Wing-mounted Heavy Machine Gun for Reaver, Mosquito, and Scythe)
• Interference Profile Banner (VS/NC/TR/NSO)
• Squad Experience Boost 7-Day

Week 3 - May 13 through May 19 40% off Infantry Cosmetics Re-enlistment Bundle Charlie - 1999 DBC cost - 9985 DBC value

• MGR-L1 Promise (NC LMG)
• MG-L1 Watchman (TR LMG)
• VE-H Maw (VS LMG)
• Saron HRB (VS Magrider/Harasser)
• Enforcer (NC Vanguard/Harasser)
• Vulcan (TR Prowler/Harasser)
• Darkstar MAX armor (VS)
• Havoc MAX armor (TR)
• Sigma MAX armor (NC)
• Scanline Ambush Camo
• Gridsmoke Profile Banner
• Squad Experience Boost 7-Day

Week 4 - May 20 through May 26 40% off Vehicle Weapons Re-enlistment Bundle Delta - 3999 DBC cost - 36264 DBC value

• Centuri Armor Set (VS infantry armor, all classes)
• Crimson Armor Set (TR infantry armor, all classes)
• Lambda Armor Set (NC infantry armor, all classes)
• Halberd-H SE (Harasser)
• Halberd SE (Magrider/Vanguard/Prowler)
• Astral Camo (VS/NC/TR/NSO)
• Anomaly Background
• 9x Deluxe Implant Packs
• 1x One-Month Heroic Boost

Continent States Players should no longer receive blank alert reward notification boxes. Warpgates once again block projectiles being fired from outside them. When a faction locks a continent, their victory anthem will play. Refine and Refuel - Continent Event

• The Refine and Refuel event has been added to the pool for all continents.
• At the start of the event, two Refineries will spawn toward the center of the map, and there will always be two available on the map at all times.
• Players are tasked with harvesting Cortium and depositing it into one of the refineries.
• When a Refinery is full, it will blast off into orbit, and a new one will spawn at another location.
• The faction who has refined the most Cortium will earn a 20% nanite discount on Sunderer and ANT spawns at the end of the event.
• In a later update, we'll be unlocking a special, variant vehicle upon victory, but there is still some polish we'd like to do before releasing that into the wild.

Unstable Warpgates

• Unstable Warpgates no longer use the alert system to stabilize itself, it instead happens immediately once the triggers are met.
• When a new continent opens, it will remain in an unstable state, checking the population every 2 minutes.
• Stability states now have three tiers: unstable single-lane (as it was prior to this update,) unstable double lane (new to this update,) and fully stabilized.
• These changes should ensure continents with adequate populations are quickly stabilized to help move players around the map, along with the Spawn System Revamp below, and Join Combat changes coming at a later date.

Spawn System Revamp We have made large revisions to the spawn system that will help filter players into more enjoyable fights, discourage overpopulation as it moves from base to base, as well as allow for more freedom to move around the map. Prior to this update, the spawn system was too restrictive, and didn't point players in any particular direction. Veteran players would often resort to hopping from spawn point to spawn point in order to reach fights they wanted to participate in. At the same time, players were discouraged from leaving their current lane, which contributed heavily to the formation of "zergs" that then move down an abandoned lattice lane unopposed. This experience was detrimental to new players and veterans alike. The revised spawn rules now work on a priority system, with ideal spawn locations appearing first, and additional spawn locations appearing after a longer wait period, effectively throttling how quickly players can redeploy around the map, while still giving them the option to do so. Priority 1 Spawn Locations - Default spawn timer

• Warpgate
• Last spawnpoint you used.
• Spawn Beacons.
• Squad-spawnable vehicles.
• Other spawn points within your current region if that region is not overpopulated.
• Allied regions adjacent to an enemy region with less than 12 players at it.

Priority 2 Spawn Locations- 15 second wait time.

• Spawn locations in your current region if your region is overpopulated.
• Allied regions with adjacent enemy territory with less than 96 players, and aren't cut off from the lattice.
• Outfit-owned regions that are not overpopulated, and aren't cut off from the lattice.

Priority 3 Spawn Locations - 30 second wait time.

• Allied regions without enemy adjacency and aren't cut off from the lattice.

These changes give players the ability to jump to low populated regions to start moving down lanes with less occupancy; prohibits players from redeploying directly into overpopulated regions from outside them; and slows down the respawn time in overpopulated regions when your last-used spawn point is destroyed. We have a lot of flexibility with this system to either loosen up or clamp down harder on the ruleset, and will undoubtedly make adjustments as it continues to shake out. UI Changes

• The login and character create screens have been updated with a fresh new look.
• You can now choose your vehicle's loadout when spawning a vehicle from the map screen.
• Characters and equipment viewed in UI windows have received a lighting pass for a better, more true-to-gameplay look.
• Players can now adjust the color and transparency of no-deploy zones and orbital strike map effects in the interface tab of the general settings.
• When a character logs in for the first time, they will be automatically placed into an open squad. Players battle rank 15 and lower will prioritize placement into open Mentor Squads. This functionality can be opted out of in the General settings.
• Leadership and Objectives directive lines are now nested under the Strategic directive tree.

Infantry NSX Amaterasu (NS Melee)

• Quick melee and wielded melee damage from 350 to 450
• Wielded ranged damage from 200@1m - 143@50m to 450@2m - 143@50m
• Wielded ranged damage resistance type from small arms to melee
• Wielded scope sway has been removed, and minor per-shot recoil has been added
• Amaterasu will now always fire its blade while wielded

Dev Note: We've made this weapon more competitive with other knife options, and reduced some of the annoyances related to its use. NSX Naginata (NS LMG)

• Vertical recoil min from 0.6 to 0.4
• Vertical recoil max from 0.8 to 0.6

Dev Note: The adjustment to vertical recoil here increases accuracy of both first shot and sustained fire, and makes the recoil easier to compensate for. NSX Tengu (NS SMG)

• Hybrid Laser attachment's hipfire pellet spread and cone of fire buff from 20% to 33%.
• Magazine size from 20 to 22
• Ammunition capacity from 140 to 176

Dev Note: These changes aim to make the Tengu more useable out of the box, and bring the Hybrid Laser attachment into more a more competitive position versus Extended Magazines. VE-C Horizon (VS Carbine)

• Max damage per pellet from 50 to 56
• Max damage with capsulate ammunition from 75 to 84
• No longer earns the wrong kill ribbons.

Dev Note: Horizon has enough drawbacks that we don't feel we need to keep it on the lower, more reserved damage tier. MG-C1 Kindred (TR Carbine)

• No longer earns the wrong kill ribbons.

Hardlight Barrier (Engineer deployable)

• This item has received a new look.

Player Studio New items, created by your fellow community members, are now available for purchase in the Depot. Black Ops infantry armor sets and helmets by Doku are now available in the Depot. These armor sets come bundled together with each faction sold separately. The helmets are common pool available to all empires, and come in two styles. Valkyrie Panopticon, Crop Duster, and Venomous plating and c*ckpit cosmetics by TrckyDcky are now available in the Depot. Reaver Chimera plating and c*ckpit by EbonNebula is now available in the Depot. Flash Nitro Tanks by Svertov, is now available in the Depot. Sunderer Sentinel and Buffalo hoods by Lobstrex are now available in the Depot. Flash Spartan Rat exterior by Fuzzbuket is now available in the Depot. Mk.23 Light Assault Armor by Fuzzbuket is now available in the Depot. Sunderer Raider hood and bumper by Giz are now available in the Depot. Misc. Fixes, Changes, and Additions

• Added Pixenal's "Reflection" loading screen submission to the rotation. (https://www.planetside2.com/news/ps2-6th-anniversary-loading-screen-contest-winners-2018)
• Added FelixTheLion's "TR Scout Mission" loading screen submission to the rotation. (https://www.planetside2.com/news/ps2-6th-anniversary-loading-screen-contest-winners-2018)
• Added Isonami's "Waiting For Orders" loading screen submission to the rotation. (https://www.planetside2.com/news/ps2-6th-anniversary-loading-screen-contest-winners-2018)
• Arbiter Armor should no longer have broken skinning during certain animations.
• Elysium Spawn Tube now shows the owner's name in the redeploy screen window.
• EverQuest 20th anniversary shinies no longer spawn, also, the tree is gone. RIP tree.
• Nightshade's firemodes now correctly state Quick Melee/Melee in the loadout screen UI.
• Amerish Fieldplate now applies the default camo to female VS character models.
• Auxiliary Shield no longer shows a 3d model overlaid by an icon in the loadout screen.
• Auxiliary Shield 3d representation changed in the loadout screen.
• Speculative fix for an exploit related to reload speeds under certain circumstances.
• NC semi-auto and automatic shotguns no longer inherit the player's armor camo on the loadout screen UI.
• Ectoblaster now counts toward generic sidearm directives.
• Carapace users should now hear hit audio when taking damage.
• TX1-FB Repeater should no longer have access to single-fire mode.
• Players in a loading screen should no longer appear until their loading screen is dropped.
• Fixed an issue where damage to a vehicle you previously owned, after pulling a new vehicle, would add grief points to your character.
• The first time a character loads into a zone after logging in, they should be resupplied. This fixes a handful of first-load issues indirectly.
• T7-P Mini-Chaingun should no longer unequip itself.
• VE-H Maw's reload coolant particle effects should no longer appear randomly for remote clients.
• 1.75x scope on the LB00 can now be purchased with certs.
• Special cosmetic laser sights should now show the correct percentage reduction in cone of fire in their tooltip.
• WinterGaming's decal can now be purchased for 1 cert in the Depot.
• Bibi decal can meow be used for outfits.
• Fixed a skinning issue on Light Stripe tires.