May 10th 2019 - PTS Update

The PTS server was updated this morning with the following changes.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Speculative fix for being able to drive invisible body-vehicles that made you run like Sonic.
• Particle effects should no longer flicker during player movement.
• Tank Mines should now trigger when run over.
• Event vehicle terminals no longer appear at the Warpgates on Indar.
• Auto-squad now only joins players into open squads, instead of forming fresh squads when no open squads exist. Dev Note: This helps prevent players from churning in and out of orphaned squads, or forming squads without leaders intentionally opening them.
• Auto-squad no longer tries to join a squad when the player is already in a squad.
• Auto-squad no longer tries to find squads in VR training zones.
• V-sync setting is now retains your selection in the options menu (and UserOptions.ini)
• Fixed an issue where vehicles wouldn't interpret shadows correctly.
• Faction specific "Interference" profile banners no longer appear for players of the incorrect faction.
• NSO characters no longer unlock loadout slot tabs at battle rank 5 and 15, and instead have them unlocked by default.
• NSO characters on the scoreboard should now show the appropriate team colors.
• NSO characters now receive alert and event rewards of the team they were on.
• NSO characters can now pull Routers from a Routing Spire.
• G40-F Ranger for NSO characters now fires projectiles.
• The Galaxy's Pelters are purchasable once again.
• Exceptional II directive progress with the Tengu-P now requires the correct medals at each tier.
• Fixed an issue where the Yellowjacket Mining Laser couldn't be used as a siege weapon.
• Opening the Map while interacting with a Warpgate Terminal will no longer overlap UI elements.
• The loadout screen should no longer create a ghost overlay over an active gameplay window.
• Removed the "Maximum Pressure" ghost ability effect from the Tab screen's buff section.
• Fixed missing Aerial Anomaly particle effects.
• Fixed missing Pillager particle effects on low.

Spawn System
Many changes have been made to this system, but for the most part it should just work better. We will continue to refine the system as we surface more issues through Live play.

Misc.

• You can no longer spawn into disabled regions.
• You can now squad deploy even if your squad leader is dead.
• Squad deploy now uses the leader's location to determine spawn points, instead of the squad's overall location.
• Removed the 5 second respawn timer discount on Quick Deploy.
• Spawn points on cooldown are rendered invisible until they become available.
• You can now deploy into squad vehicles at any distance.
• You can now deploy into squad vehicles that are in enemy territory.
• You can now deploy into Sunderers in valid regions at any distance.
• Reinforcements Needed has been disabled for the time being, we will bring this feature back when it doesn't conflict with the current spawn system.
• Satellite spawn points inside BioLabs now act as spawn points, and not just teleporters, though you can still use the teleporters at satellite bases to reach the BioLab spawn rooms.
• You can now deploy into Sunderers in valid regions at any distance (you should not be able to deploy into Sunderers that are behind enemy lines and have no adjacent territory, unless it was your last spawn point, or you're in a squad with the owner of the Sunderer.)
• Satellite spawn points inside BioLabs now act as spawn points, and not just teleporters, though you can still use the teleporters at satellite bases to reach the BioLab spawn rooms.

Priority 1 Spawns

• You can now spawn into enemy-adjacent regions with less than 24 players (instead of less than 12 players.)
• You can now spawn into capturable (enemy) regions with less than 24 players. Dev Note: This allows players to spawn into offensive regions across the map to spin up new fights.
• Known issue: Your last spawn location should be a spawn point regardless of which region it's in, but currently is only available as priority 1 if it's in the same region you died in. We'll remedy this in a future update.

Priority 2 Spawns

• Baseline respawn time increased by 5 seconds.
• Now includes spawn beacons. Dev Note: This means players will be able to spawn onto any spawn beacon, and are only subjected to a 15 second cooldown. This is a major buff for spawn beacons, and somewhat devalues squad spawnable vehicles, so we'll continue to tune this change as necessary.
• Now includes Elysium Spawn Tube and Router, for the purposes of spawn times.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing Priority 2 spawn locations from FOLLOWING THE RULES.