PTS Update - 5/3

The PlanetSide 2 Public Test Server will be updated this evening with the following changes.

Alerts and Events
Charging Warpgates
Continents no longer require HIVEs to trigger a Meltdown alert, instead continents will now flow through several states on their way to becoming lockable.
At the moment, this system is not fully implemented, and may not trigger events as intended. Please bear with us as we continue building out this system.

The continent states are as follows.
Continent Unlocks
Regions are Unstable
Regions Stabilize
Warpgates enter "Charging" phase (~5 hours, during which “events” will fire periodically.)
Warpgates are fully charged and Meltdown can be triggered.
Continent Locks

During the charging state, events trigger at the following intervals...
30 minute mark - Event 1
120 minute mark - Event 2
210 minute mark - Event 3

At the moment, only facility capture events will appear in the rotation, and we will be introducing new events in the future. The reward sets for these alerts are temporary, as is the string text that’s displayed on the map dropdown after an event is completed. These events will later provide faction benefits for the duration of the continent play based on who won them.

Meltdown
Meltdown alerts have been converted to a winner-take-all territory alert. Like previously, the alert will be triggered by the first faction to hit 41% territory control, though the faction with the most territory at the end of the alert will lock the continent. Meltdown now lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes, instead of 45 minutes.

Misc.
Warpgates Stabilizing event now lasts 10 minutes, instead of 5.


Construction
HIVEs
HIVEs have been removed from the game, as they no longer serve a purpose.

Glaive IPC and The Flail
You can no longer pull targeting devices from the Glaive IPC and Flail when they have no nearby AI Turret Module.
Glaive IPC and Flail targeting darts now expire with an error message when placed incorrectly.
Equipping a Flail targeting device now shows no-construction zones while held.

Pain Spire, Routing Spire, and Router
Pain Spire has new art.
Routing Spire has new art (the floating terminal socket is a known issue.)
Router has new art, and will also show a minimap icon.
A single player may now place up to two Vehicle Gate Shield objects.
(Router is broken in this update, and will be fixed in the next.)

Vehicle Gate Shield, Sunderer Garage
Vehicle Gate Shield now prevents players from spawning other objects where the shield would normally go.
Vehicle Gate Shield no longer requires a Structure Shield Module to power the shield.
Sunderer Garage has been widened.

Rampart Walls, Bunker
Rampart Wall now has stairs in a half-moon toward the edges of the wall.
Added more depth to the Bunker so that pieces float above terrain less often.

Cortium Silo
When a Silo is lower than 500 Cortium, squadmates will be notified periodically.
Cortium Silos can no longer be locked from public use, however, a Cortium reserve of 10,000 has been added that only squad members (and the owner) have access to.

Misc.
Vehicles spawned from construction bases no longer have a Nanite Cost.
Splash damage no longer goes through Structure Shield shields.
Players should no longer be able to place construction objects in the ground, or in the air, or inside other construction objects.


Vehicles
Prowler (Terran Republic MBT)
Anchor Mode
Certs have been refunded.
As per the last update, Anchor Mode has been integrated into the vehicle and modified.

Barrage
Now uses a full four-rank certification line.
This ability now cools down over 60/50/47/45 seconds.
The certification cost per rank is 100/200/500/1000 (same as the old Anchored Mode.)

MR11 Gatekeeper (Prowler and Harasser)
Minimum velocity from 225 to 300 (Projectiles no longer accelerate to maximum velocity.)
Reload speed from 3000 to 3200
Damage from 85 to 100
Cone of Fire maximum (Harasser only) from 0.4 to 0.35
Dev Note: Bumping up the alpha damage and reload times quickens the weapon's time to kill against MBTs by about 2.5 seconds, while keeping Harasser time to kill the same (or better, if composite armor is equipped.) Removing the projectile acceleration should also make it easier to deliver a full payload over longer distances, and the cone of fire buff for the Harasser version should push its effective range a bit closer to the Prowler's. Overall the weapon will still have less effective range and reliability than a skillful Halberd user, but should have stronger hard benefits for its intended role now.


Player Studio
Steveo's VS Skyfall armor can now be found in the Depot.


Bug Fixes and Misc.

• Restoration Kits no longer stack with healing from the Medic’s Nano-Regen Device.
• Implants can now be filtered by owned and unowned in the loadout screen.
• Xenotech Labs and Berjess Overlook now have hex adjacency on the map.
• Padlocks should no longer appear over bases on the main map screen.
• C4 no longer uses the incorrect icon in the certification list.
• The alert timer now moves to center screen and increases in size at the 5 minute mark.
• NSX Tomoe now shows firing mode as "Auto" instead of "Semi-Auto".
• TS2 Inquisitor now shows firing mode as "2x Burst/Semi-Auto" instead of "Semi-Auto".
• “Hall of Mirrors” shield shader issue should now be addressed.
• Sealed a hole in terrain south of Arroyo Torre Station on Indar.
• Sealed a hole in the mountains near The Crown.
• Fixed some level geometry near B point at The Crown.
• Fixed exploitative geometry at Snowshear Watchtower on Esamir.
• Removed a fake control point at Eastern Substation.
• Destroyed some floating trees on Koltyr VR.
• HIVE efficiency has been removed from the map region display.
• Fixed a bug with the weapon loadout filter.
• Galaxy's Nanite Proximity Repair System once again heals properly.