PlanetSide 2 News

Today was a banner day for PlanetSide 2, as we achieved one of our big goals of 2019: bringing the New Soldier update, with DX11 integration, Nanite Systems Operatives, and more, to our PS4 community (you can check out the update highlights here)

While this is a major step towards parity for our console community, we wanted to be sure PC players weren't left out of the celebration! So beginning today, we're running a Double experience FOR ALL event on PC and console through next Thursday, August 15! In addition, Double XP for members will continue through end of day on Saturday, August 17, with a special members only QUAD XP day on Sunday, August 18!

RE-ENLISTMENT BUNDLES



Along with our Double XP event, we're also bringing back Re-enlistment Bundles for a limited time! Bundles will be available in the Depot for the next month within the following windows:

Week 1 - August 12 through August 18 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 - August 19 through August 25 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 - August 26 through September 1 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 - September 2 through September 8 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

See you back on the battlefield, soldier!

All PC Live servers will be coming down at 2PM PDT today for an estimated 3-hour server maintenance.

PS2 will be patching all Live servers at 2PM PDT today, so what better time to jump on Test for a surprise event! While Live servers are down, we will be hosting a PlanetSide 2 Test Server (PTS) community playtest to try out the new and improved Aerial Anomalies event!

Read on for full patch notes on both the PTS event and PC live server update occurring at 2PM PDT today, August 2, 2019:

PTS EVENT NOTES



High Priority Fixes

• Tank Mines and C4 now correctly despawn when detonated, and we've made additional changes that should clean up NPCs more quickly and efficiently.
  
• Maximum Pressure continent event now correctly grants rewards to all participants.
  

Continent Events
WE WILL BE HOSTING THE FIRST PLAYTEST OF THE NEW AERIAL ANOMALIES EVENT AT 2PM PT TODAY ON THE PLANETSIDE 2 TEST SERVER.

Aerial Anomalies

• This event has been restructured to encourage more active participation and offer more tactical depth.
  
• In this new version of Aerial Anomalies, Data Buoys will appear in the center of the map, and Anomalies themselves will coat vehicles in a mysterious residue called Tempest.
  
• Players must deliver Tempest from Anomalies to the nearby Data Buoys in order to score points.
  
• Galaxies can carry up to 1000 Tempest.
  
• Liberator can carry up to 500 Tempest.
  
• Valkyrie can carry up to 500 Tempest.
  
• Empire Specific Fighters can carry up to 100 Tempest.
  
• Spotted vehicles carrying Tempest display a special icon that changes based on how much Tempest has been gathered.
  
• If you kill a target carrying Tempest, all of the resources are lost.
  
• The team with the most Tempest gathered wins the event.
  
• In a later update, we'll be adding experience for depositing Tempest, and be messaging Buoy locations better.
  

Vehicles

• Nimitz Reactor (Vanguard Defensive Slot)
  
• Replaces 1000 Vanguard health in exchange for a quick-recharging shield layer of the same value.
  
• Recharges 100 shield health per second at all ranks.
  
• Rank 1: Recharge delay of 6 seconds when damage is received, and 15 seconds when shield is broken.
  
• Rank 2: Recharge delay of 6 seconds when damage is received, and 12 seconds when shield is broken.
  
• Rank 3: Recharge delay of 6 seconds when damage is received, and 11 seconds when shield is broken.
  
• Rank 4: Recharge delay of 6 seconds when damage is received, and 10 seconds when shield is broken.
  

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Mentor Rating currency decay reduced to 12 per 24 hours, down from 24 per 24 hours. Rating lost at login is now capped at 100.
  
• Mentor Rating per ribbon earned increased from 1 to 3.
  
• Continent rotation has been randomized on server startup.
  
• Warpgate rotation has been randomized on server startup.
  
• Alerts and continent events will now end prior to a server restart.
  
• NSO Valkyrie VLG no longer has a 1.5 second reload time, instead of the intended 2 seconds while unscoped.
  
• Animation fix for NS-45 Pilot magazine reload.
  
• Animation fix for the charging handle on NSX Tanto's long reload.
  
• Animation fix for NSX Tengu's reload port while firing.
  
• Standard Cockpit Glass now unlocks for NSO characters.
  
• Summer Support Ribbon earn rates are now in line with that of a standard Repair Ribbon.
  
• Flaming Skull Helmets, and other helmets using particle effects now attach those particles correctly.
  
• Solid Walls are now properly repaired by the Repair Module.
  
• Personal Shields have been given new visual FX. This is still a work in progress.
  
• Fixed issues related to the impact effects when shooting targets with a shield layer.
  

PC HOTFIX NOTES (LIVE SERVERS)

High Priority Fixes

• Tank Mines and C4 now correctly despawn when detonated, and we've made additional changes that should clean up NPCs more quickly and efficiently.
  
• Maximum Pressure continent event now correctly grants rewards to all participants.
  

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Mentor Rating currency decay reduced to 12 per 24 hours, down from 24 per 24 hours. Rating lost at login is now capped at 100.
  
• Mentor Rating per ribbon earned increased from 1 to 3.
  
• NSO Valkyrie VLG no longer has a 1.5 second reload time, instead of the intended 2 seconds while unscoped.
  
• Animation fix for NS-45 Pilot magazine reload.
  
• Animation fix for the charging handle on NSX Tanto's long reload.
  
• Animation fix for NSX Tengu's reload port while firing.
  
• Standard Cockpit Glass now unlocks for NSO characters.
  
• Summer Support Ribbon earn rates are now in line with that of a standard Repair Ribbon.
  
• Flaming Skull Helmets, and other helmets using particle effects now attach those particles correctly.
  
• Solid Walls are now properly repaired by the Repair Module.
  

PC servers will be taken offline on Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 6:00am PT for maintenance. Downtime is expected to last up to 3 hours.

Mentor System Expansion
Mentor Squads were implemented late into last year, and around that time period we had discussed implementing a Mentor rating system, but ultimately decided not to commit to the work until we knew how players would make use of Mentor Squads in the first place.

Trying to craft a rating system of any kind can be difficult for a game with a sandbox focus, and is at risk to negative and exploitative behaviors. Knowing this, we wanted to devise a system that is light on gameplay rewards, and is instead geared specifically toward players who already engage in the right behaviors.

The expansion of the Mentor System isn't a substitute for tutorials, (which we're also focused on delivering later this year alongside other new player experience enhancements,) but the community has always been a big part of why new players choose to leave or stay.

Mentor Rating
We've introduced a new Mentor Rating system that recognizes veteran community members that have made it their goal to help new players. Mentor Rating is earned each time a Mentor Ribbon is awarded. Mentor Ribbons can now only be earned while leading a Mentor Squad when players beneath BR30 earn battle ranks. Mentor Rating decays over time, so a player's rating will need to be maintained.

Mentor Tiers
Mentor Rating is sorted into tiers for recognition. These tiers are shown when players are hosting Mentor squads in the squad finder.

Copper Tier: 0 - 499
Silver Tier: 500 - 699 - Players can now speak in Mentor chat.
Gold Tier: 700 - 899 - Gold Mentor Tier icon shows next to name in chat channels.
Auraxium Tier: 900 - 1000 - Auraxium Mentor Tier icon shows next to name in chat channels.

New Player chat channel
All players beneath battle rank 30 will have access to the New Player chat channel, where they can ask questions and receive answers from our most dedicated veterans.
Silver Tier and greater Mentors can also read and speak in this chat channel, and their name will be prefaced with the word "Mentor" for clarity.

Players can access the New Player chat channel by using one of the following commands:

• /new
  
• /newplayer
  
• /mentor
  

Be Here for the Right Reasons
We want the players who pursue Mentor Rating to be doing so for the right reason, and that is to help new players. PlanetSide 2 has a fairly violent learning curve, and the community is one of the most helpful resources new players have access to. Be respectful and helpful in these channels, as we won't be tolerating any malicious behavior, and this can have very real implications on your account.

Mentor Squad changes
A common request for Mentor Squads was to return map marking capabilities to better guide the squad, so we've re-enabled Map Smoke, Offensive, and Defensive map markers for players running Mentor Squads.

Mentors moving forward
In the future we'll be flagging trustworthy community members to speak in New Player channel regardless of Mentor rating. We've also started working on an outline highlight system that we'll be able to use to highlight mentor squadmates through walls (and potentially apply this tech elsewhere). It's likely we'll need to tune the Mentor Rating system once we see it out in the wild, so it shouldn't be a surprise if more changes come later on down the line.

Infantry
Ambusher Jump Jets (Light Assault Ability)

• Ambusher Jump Jets now ticks up energy over time, instead of recharging instantly.
  
• Implants and other equipment that effect energy restoration (and consumption) now also impact Ambusher Jump Jets in a similar manner to other abilities.
  

Flight Suit (Light Assault Suit)

• Cooldown reduction on Ambusher Jump Jets has been removed.
  
• Now increases the regeneration rate of Ambusher Jump Jet fuel by 10/15/17.5/20%.
  

Paratrooper (Implant)

• Now affects Ambusher Jump Jets at all ranks.
  
• Energy regeneration from 2/3/4/5% to 3/4/5.5/8% restoration.
  
• Rank 5 benefit changed to reduce fall damage for 6 seconds, instead of increases bottom armor.
  

Aerial Combatant (Implant)

• Rank 5 benefit no longer instantly recharges Ambusher Jump Jets.
  
• Aerial Combatant now restores the same maximum fuel to Ambusher Jump Jets as it does to other jump jet types, at all ranks.
  

Failsafe (Implant)

• Now works with Ambusher Jump Jets at all ranks.
  

Assimilate (Implant)

• Rank 5 bonus now restores Ambusher Jump Jet energy as well.
  

Heavyweight (Implant)

• Now plays a particle effect on activation.
  

Survivalist (Implant)

• No longer triggers when health drops below 40% and instead triggers when the player's shield is depleted.
  

Dev Note: This change increases the effectiveness of Survivalist on non-Carapace loadouts.
Assassin (Implant)

• This implant has been restructured, and the percent chance to trigger has been removed.
  
• Kills beyond 150/125/100/50m will remove spot checks on the player, and conceal them from spot attempts for 1 second.
  
• At rank 5, headshot kills will also trigger this ability, and targets you damage with any weapon will be spotted.
  

Gunslinger (Implant)

• Now activates when NSO characters kill other NSO characters.
  

Mending Field (Implant)

• Rank 5 benefit should now work with NSO characters.
  

Electrotech (Implant)

• Rank 5 benefit now despawns enemy non-turret deployables, instead of destroying them.
  

Advanced Shield Capacitor (Infantry Suit)

• NSO Combat Medic and Heavy Assault now have access to the Advanced Shield Capacitor suit slot.
  
• Advanced Shield Capacitor now reduces shield recharge delay by 1 second, in addition to its pre-existing benefit. (This benefit does not stack with Survivalist implant.)
  

Dev Note: This change should help bring ASC back into a more competitive place with certain loadouts.
NS-44L Showdown (Rare, Common Pool Sidearm)

• ADS movement speed multiplier from 0.25x to 0.5x
  

Dev Note: Minor change for feel while doing some cleaning of other elements relating to the aim down sights firemode.


High Priority Fixes

• Speculative fix for outfit applications crashing when being viewed.
  
• Speculative fix for missing daily login certifications for members.
  
• Maximum Pressure continent event should now trigger naturally.
  

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

• Speculative fix for valid spawn locations sometimes being hidden indefinitely.
  
• The NS Vandal no longer shakes violently when fired.
  
• Fixed an animation issue that would mount MAX weapons higher than intended in first person.
  
• Players exiting a Drop Pod should now render more quickly.
  
• Squad locking your vehicle should work once again.
  
• Fixed an issue where swapping weapons shortly after a reload would play the reload animation of the weapon you just swapped to.
  
• Hacking terminals and spitfires should now properly assign them to the hacking players' team.
  
• Skyshields no longer trigger on players of the same faction.
  
• Players should no longer look squished on the character select screen.
  
• When creating a new character, your last selected character's camo will no longer be shown.
  
• Fixed many, many, many, many interactions between NSO characters and other factions
  
• Fixed an overlapping ammunition indicator for weapons that don't use ammunition.
  
• Enabling and disabling Bloom in the UI now works.
  
• Cert Horn explosion now appears on low settings.
  
• Thumper's Disruptor ammunition will no longer duplicate its effect on multiple grouped targets.
  
• Ammunition Belt now properly provides additional ammunition to the Thumper.
  
• A "Craft Implants" button has been added to the Implants section of the loadout screen.
  
• NSO characters will no longer be damaged by allied Pain Spires.
  
• NSO characters now have a default horn on the Lightning.
  
• NSO Aircraft Synergy cert line now works correctly.
  
• NSO Light Assault Rocklet Rifle now updates its firing modes when special ammunition is applied.
  
• NSO Flail and Orbital Strike kills should now count toward Directives.
  
• NSO now have access to map smoke, offensive, and defensive indicators.
  

The sun is shining, the weather sweet, the promise of QUAD XP gets us moving our feet! It’s summertime in Auraxis, soldier, and with the new season comes an extravaganza of summer fun!

Kicking off Wednesday, June 26, and running through Saturday, August 31, celebrate your fight for freedom with the return of the Soldier Soaker pistol and Water Balloon grenades, both available throughout the event. Special Summer Directives (with new challenges!), the new NS-03 Thumper Heavy grenade launcher, and a special Independence Day QUAD XP event for ALL PLAYERS highlight the festivities!



Read on for the full details on everything going on in Auraxis this Summer!

NEW SUMMER EVENT (June 26 – August 31)

• Soldier Soaker returns: All Players gain access to a water-filled pistol sidearm that can be used for event completion, and will douse targets who are on fire
  
• Water Balloons return: All Players gain access to a water balloons that detonate in a big splash on contact, dousing targets who are on fire, and counting toward event completion
  

INDEPENDENCE DAY EVENT (July 4 – One Day Only)

• 4x Experience For ALL, available on July 4 only!
  
• Freedom Thrusters return: Light Assaults receive max rank Skirmisher Jump Jets with Independence Day flair for the duration of the event
  
• Patriot Camo returns: Faction specific Patriot camo returns (NSO getting a Patriot camo is tentative)
  
• Nomad-I Light Assault Armor returns (NC Light Assault Armor with Independence Day color scheme)
  

NEW SUMMER DIRECTIVE

• Beat the Heat: Score kills with a Summer Holiday Weapon
  
• Beachhead: Kill enemy vehicles while in a vehicle yourself
  
• King of the Castle: Earn experience by capturing or defending a control point
  
• Summer Support Ribbons: Earn summer support ribbons by resupplying or repairing friendly vehicles while in a vehicle yourself
  
• Crashing Waves: Earn MAX kills during the Maximum Pressure event
  
• Tour Guide: Earn gunner kills on enemies defending an Aerial Anomaly
  

DIRECTIVE REWARDS

• Tier 1 Reward: 1 Day 50% Experience Boost, 100 Certs
  
• Tier 2 Reward: 1x Basic Implant Pack, 100 ISO-4
  
• Tier 3 Reward: Cloud Cover Camo
  
• Tier 4 Reward: “Surfer” title, Indar Shoreline Banner
  

NEW HEAVY WEAPON (Releases June 26)

• The Thumper NS-03 Heavy Weapon joins the Common Pool for the Heavy Assault Class
  
• 6 round magazine grenade launcher with 3 ammunition types, Frag, Incendiary, and Disruptor
  
• At the same time, we’ll be adding a new directive to the Heavy Assault tree that asks players to get assist ribbons for the Heavy Assault class
  
• Check out our Developer Stream on Twitch for a preview!
  

ALERT CHANGES

• Refine and Refuel is removed from the alert rotation
  
• Gaining Ground is removed from the alert rotation
  
• Maximum Pressure is added to the alert rotation: Maximum Pressure is a new alert that asks players to get as many kills as possible, and makes MAX units free for the duration of the event
  

The war is far from over, so beat the heat while you still can, soldiers!

Today's game update has brought a significant amount of content to PlanetSide 2 including DX11 integration, the Nanite Systems Operatives faction, the Refine and Refuel Continent Event, and more! Read on for a rundown:




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.

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.

To top it all off, the updates give us better tools to diagnose and address performance concerns in the future.

So celebrate, Auraxians, you've earned it.

 

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).

• NSO characters are available to players with All Access Memberships
• 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.
• At launch, 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 different 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 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 are 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.

 

The Refine and Refuel event has been added to the events pool on all continents.

At the start of the event, two Refineries will spawn toward the center of the map. 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.

 

This system has been restructured, and should no longer fail to send players off when the countdown completes.

Join Combat now works on a priority system when deciding where to send players.

• First, it looks for ideal populations and balanced fights.
• If none exist, it will simply look for balanced fights.
• If none of those exist either, it will send the player to attack an enemy frontline base, even if that base is empty.

In addition, it now makes decisions on how to send players to fights.

• Initially, the system looks for hardspawns at the chosen location.
• If none exist, it will then look for soft spawns at the chosen location.
• If none of those exist either, it will send the player to that location in a drop pod.
• In the future, we'd also like to sort players into unlocked vehicles with open gunner seats.

Restructuring Join Combat in this way allows us to deliver players to an ideal PlanetSide experience first, wherever they're available. We then focus on intensifying balanced fights that currently exist, while helping generate new fights along the frontlines. These changes work hand in hand with the 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.

On top of all this, we've also made improvements to the game's UI, adjusted infantry, and more. Full patch notes that include all of today's changes are available here.
We'll see you on the battlefield, soldiers (and Operatives)!