PTS Update! - 6/24

The PTS server will be coming down shortly for an update. Lots of additions/changes. Please give us feedback, as a lot of them will be going live in our next Game Update.

Rocklet Rifle

The Rocklet Rifle has been added as a new Light Assault tool item.

§ It uses a unique "dual ammo" system and can be fired accurately from the hip, even in flight.

§ The secondary ammo type is accessed by holding Aim Down Sights and then firing the weapon.

§ The Rocklet Rifle come standard with Armor Piercing and Flak rocklets, and new rocklet types may be unlocked.

Rocklet types currently available are...

§ AP/Flash: This Rocklet is armed with variable Armor Piercing and Flashbang capabilities. Flashbangs blind nearby infantry for a short period.

§ Flak/Flash: This Rocklet is armed with variable Flak anti-air and Flashbang capabilities. Flashbangs blind nearby infantry for a short period.

§ Sparrow/Flak - NC only: The NC's Sparrow anti-vehicle munitions are laser-guided from the hip; this rocklet type is also equipped with Flak anti-air capabilities.

§ CRAG/Flak - TR only: The TR's Close Range Anti-Ground munitions are chain-fired anti-vehicle explosives which scatter over a small area; this Rocklet also has access to secondary Flak anti-air capabilities.

§ Starfall/Flak - VS only: Twin-firing VS Starfall munitions deal considerable damage to enemy vehicles; this Rocklet is also armed with Flak anti-air capabilities.

New Player Adjustments
In an effort to reduce the gear barrier associated with the new player experience, many improvements have been made to default loadouts, weapon balance adjustments, and better ability power scaling.

· Starter weapons

o Non-sniper starting primaries now have access to a free 1x reflex sight.

o Starter carbines (TRAC-5, Mercenary, Solstice) now have a laser sight unlocked and equipped by default.

o Starter assault rifles (T1 Cycler, Gauss Rifle, and Pulsar) now have a forward grip unlocked and equipped by default.

o Starter LMGs (T9 CARV, Gauss SAW, and Orion) now have a forward grip unlocked and equipped by default.

o Starter Shotguns (Barrage, Mauler, Thanatos) now have Ext. Magazines unlocked and equipped by default.

· Semi-Auto Sniper Rifles

o Iron Sights Recoil Recovery Rate from 6 to 10

o New “Ballistics Computer” rail attachment has been added to the 99SV, Gauss SPR, and Spectre, and will eliminate scope-sway while equipped.

o Ballistics Computer is unlocked and equipped by default on 99SV and Spectre.

· Misc. Adjustments

o Scope sway has been removed for all non-sniper rifle 6x optics

· Chameleon Module (Infiltrator suit only)

o Suppresses the shield shimmer upon taking damage while cloaked.

· Flight Suit (Light Assault suit only)

o Increases the fuel capacity of jump jets by 10/13/16/20%.

· Field Dressing (Combat Medic suit only)

o Increases the recharge rate of Nano-Regen Device by 20%.

· Auxiliary Shield (Utility slot item)

o Passively increases shield health by 50 when equipped.

· Triage (Combat Medic)

o Rank 1 of this ability has been granted by default.

o Heal over time from 2/4/7/10/14 health per second to 10/15/20/25/30 health per second.

· Nano-Regen Device (Combat Medic)

o Ability scaling has been adjusted; lower-ranks of this ability will now be more effective.

o Energy capacity standardized for all ranks.

o Cert line now increases recharge rate by 8/11/14/17/20%, max rank benefits unchanged.

· Jump Jets (Light Assault)

o Renamed Skirmisher Jump Jets

o Ability scaling has been adjusted; lower-ranks of this ability will now be more effective.

o Cert line now increases fuel and recharge rates by 8/11/14/17/20%, max rank benefits unchanged.

· Drifter Jump Jets (Light Assault)

o Recharge rate standardized for all ranks.

o Rank 1 flight time from 7 sec. to 15 sec.

o Now increases total flight time by 0/3/7/11/15 seconds.

o Slightly reduced sink caused by lateral movement.

· Nano-Armor Cloak (Infiltrator)

o No longer suppresses shield shimmer when damage is taken while cloaked (effect has been moved to Chameleon Module suit slot.)

o Now passively increases shield health by 100 in all states.

· Starter Loadouts

o Various reconfigurations were made, and one max-rank suit slot has been given to each class.

o Removed BR8 unlock for Infantry Suit slots on PS4.

o Removed BR9 unlock for Infantry Utility slots on PS4.

· Infiltrator

o LONG RANGE SNIPER

§ Primary: Default Sniper Rifle

§ Suit: Chameleon Module

§ Tool: Recon Detect Device

§ Ability: Hunter Cloak

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

o SPEC-OPS HACKER

§ Primary: Default Sniper Rifle (disabled via Stalker Cloak)

§ Suit: Chameleon Module

§ Tool: Motion Spotter

§ Ability: Stalker Cloak

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

· Light Assault

o ROOFTOP SKIRMISHER

§ Primary: Default Carbine

§ Suit: Advanced Shield Capacitor

§ Tool: Rocklet Rifle

§ Ability: Skirmisher Jump Jets

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

o CLOSE-RANGE AMBUSHER

§ Primary: Default Shotgun

§ Suit: Ammunition Belt

§ Tool: Rocklet Rifle

§ Ability: Skirmisher Jump Jets

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

· Combat Medic

o MID-RANGE SUPPORT

§ Primary: Default Assault Rifle

§ Suit: Surgeon’s Kit

§ Tool: Medical Applicator

§ Ability: Nano-Regen Device

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

o CLOSE-RANGE DEFENDER

§ Primary: Default Shotgun

§ Suit: Nanoweave Armor

§ Tool: Medical Applicator

§ Ability: Nano-Regen Device

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

· Engineer

o REPAIR & RESUPPLY

§ Primary: Default Carbine

§ Suit: Flak Armor

§ Tool: Nano-Armor Kit

§ Ability: AI MANA Turret

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

o CLOSE-RANGE DEFENDER

§ Primary: Default Shotgun

§ Suit: Advanced Shield Capacitor

§ Tool: Nano-Armor Kit

§ Ability: AI MANA Turret

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

· Heavy Assault

o FRONT-LINE FIGHTER

§ Primary: Default LMG

§ Suit: Nanoweave Armor

§ Ability: NMG

§ Tool: Default Dumbfire

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

o ANTI-VEHICLE

§ Primary: Default LMG

§ Suit: Munitions Pouch

§ Ability: NMG

§ Tool: Default Dumbfire

§ Utility: Auxiliary Shield

· Vehicle Weapons

o All 1.25x zooms unlocked and equipped by default

New ANT Mining Laser: WLT-Howler

· The Howler is a new primary mining laser for the ANT which can quickly extract Cortium from smaller nodes, but will overheat during prolonged use.

New Construction Schematics

· Vehicle Ramp: A constructible multipurpose vehicle ramp

· Infantry Tower: Hardened tower structure with interior

· Lumifiber Rampart Walls: cosmetic wall variant

· Towerless Spear Turret: This turret is shorter than the constructible phalanx towers, allowing it to be placed in areas where it is less exposed.

· Reinforcements Module: Allows deployed Sunderers within range of it to be a potential continent wide reinforcements needed spawn point; your faction population in the area must still meet the reinforcement needed requirements.

· Faction Banner: Cosmetic banner that displays your faction logo

Grenade Adjustments

· Grenade tooltips have been updated with more detailed information.

· Flash Grenade

o Fuse timer reverted to 3 seconds.

o Now increases enemy’s minimum cone of fire by 30% for 4 seconds.

· EMP Grenade

o No longer removes ability energy, except from cloaked Infiltrators.

o Cost from 25 nanites to 75 nanites.

· Nanite Healing Grenade

o Healing per second from 100 to 150.

New Grenades

· Weighted Frag Grenade

o All Classes

o A "heavier" version of the standard Frag Grenade which deals the same amount of damage, but bounces less, for more accurate throws.

· Quick-Det Flash Grenade

o Light Assault

o 1.5 second fuse timer.

o Shorter duration Flash Grenade effect, no cone of fire impairment.

Misc New Stuff
· Some construction item types have been grouped up to share a common max placement pool. For the moment, these include:

• • AV turrets
  • rampart walls

· Some items have moved into different categories on the ANT terminal to try and maintain some better organization

· A bunch of new player studio items

· Renamed Rusty Bent Glaive to Johari Cove

(continued in next post)

Bug Fixes
Fix for long standing Tank Mine rendering issues (hopefully)
·Flagged Crimson October Armor Decal for use as an Outfit decal
·Fixed an issue where players inside of constructed turrets would not hear the correct impact audio when their turret is hit.
·Fixed NC Spear Anti-Vehicle Phalanx Tower having incorrect red crosshair.
·Fixed NC Aspis Anti-Air Phalanx Tower having incorrect icon in the kill screen.
·Fixed an issue where the ANT scout radar would function if the ANT was not occupied.
·Fixed a bug causing ANT favorite loadouts to not display correctly.
·Fixed a bug causing the harasser headlight housing to light up instead of the actual lights
·Outpost minimap icons should appear around the spawn room at NS Material Storage again
·Tracers and audio should now display/play properly all the time when the constructed AI turrets are firing
·Adjusted tooltips for various weapon attachments.
·ANT terminal should now properly display the cortium icon for item costs

• Fixed AI mines doing damage through walls
• MAX units now equip Enhanced Targeting implant by default

Holy ****. DBG put out the flamethrower to hunt those bugs. Some of this stuff (bugs) is so old you'd think that these changelogs are an april fools joke from the reddit mods ;D

Good Job guys !

@Wrel Maxes next ;P ?

Can somebody explain to me why is the flashbang reverting back to 3 second? I admit that 1.5 seconds feels like too short, as it doesn't give enough time to bounce around. But it is still better than 3 seconds that kills my momentum. How about 2 seconds, can we try that?

love these changes , looking forward to looking at them in the PTS , i was really hoping the WLT howler could harvest enemy vehicles at close range for 10/10 bull ant rushes , i can dream.

lack of sway on 6x makes me moist.

you forgot to give the Phaseshift access to the "Ballistics Computer" - without it you would take away the only thing it has behaviorwise: being a COMPLETE Semi Auto AND Bolt-Action/ Charge Shot Sniper Rifle, albeit at the cost of having slightly inferior stats.

you cannot really give a new mechanic to Semi Auto Sniper Rifles and exclude the Phaseshift - when equipped with it and 6x Scope, it should have no scope sway and only start to scope sway if the trigger is held for charging up without the button for hold breath being hold.

so, i'd be seriously disappointed if you'd really go in the end with excluding from that attachment my beautiful Phaseshift, that i always use with 6x magnification to be able to use it better as like Battle Rifle too (especially as i'd use my Parallax if i wanna use it primarily for Bolt Action since the Phaseshift has so low 1 headshot kill range with the Charge Shot - that's the thing: i use Phaseshift because it is both at the same time after all!).

i'd be even ending up rather using the way less swag default VS Sniper (Spectre) for anything more than camping then, because the mechanic would be just too crucial to a Semi Auto Sniper Rifle for me! it would be a sad day... .

They are adding a new variant on the Flashbang with a shorter timer but less effectiveness, which is why they are increasing the timer, but the new flash has a timer of 1.5 seconds.

Changes seem very sound to me in general.
I just have reservations regarding the non-shimmer module/nano-armor cloak: this looks pretty much an overall nerf to nano-armor cloak in its current state, lost of shimmer is not worth the 100hp while it's already rather weak.
The shimmer module will mostly be a buff to the hunter cloakers, typically snipers, which i don't see needing that kind of thing, considering they're already mostly safe because of range.

While it's pretty logical to give a buff of similar nature (specific ability enhancing) to the LA or medics'one, that's definitely not one i'd go for.

oops, forget I said anything

Thats great news... very interesting changes in my eyes. I d say, thats another big step towards the right direction. Thanks

Nice.

Yeah, would be nice if they were brought back up to PS1 standards. Having to cater to the CoD "1v1 me bro!" mentality has hobbled PS2 for far too long.

So 6x Optics have no sway but 1x NS HS/NV do have????
What do you smoke?

For those who already own these, will there be any cert refunds?

I realy like all those changes. But haveing Auxiliary shield on everyone even Invil Light assault and Medic i feel is not so good, not maybe for consistency but for class deffinition. Especialy Infiltrator and Light assault shouldnt have access to this Utility, i think, as it would kinda go against the classes roll.

About ability scaling: Pleeeease take a look at recon detect device.

Since launch to present this has been the most detrimental noob-trap in game. Noobs not certing up the RDD as #1 priority. No other ability even comes CLOSE to begin so bad at first-versus-last rank as this ability. Please please adjust

Please give cert refunds to people who own the rank 5 suit slots, ESPECIALLY for flak and nanoweave. Those are both insanely expensive cert lines, and quit frankly, I think giving it away is a mistake. But going away form that line of thinking, you must give the full compensation to the players who put THOUSANDS of certs into those cert lines! (maybe with forward grips and all that new default stuff too?)
Other than that, I thought these were all nice, not sure about the EMP nade no longer draining abilities, it was the infil's only counter to heavies...

EMP needs to be able to drain the Heavy overshield at least. Otherwise EMP are less of an ambush weapon and heavies cn easily overpower the Infiltrators. The EMP takes the heavy shield(and infiltrators if the throw is bad) and has the raw 500 hp, first to kill survives. With the nerf to EMP there will be no usage of them except for infil hunting.

About Jump Jets: I feel that increase fuel for drifter seems redundant. My full certed drifter can go on top of the base banner tower while the icarus jump jets cannot in single jump.

Troll PR post?
13 bugs (the new MAX default is not a bug)
Only 8 of them could POSSIBLY be old
1/3 of them are low priority cosmetic

SOE/DBG have had bug fix lists 2-3X this size. I'm glad you're being positive - really I am. But can we stay within the realm of just slight exaggeration next time, like "Good job DBG on fixing maybe 5 important/semi-important bugs." Or is this really a public relations troll post?