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)!

Nanite Systems is finally ready to unveil its line of remote-infantry combat units, called Nanite Systems Operatives, which are now available for use by each faction on a contractual basis. These combat units are manned by qualified Nanite Systems staff members who have gone through rigorous training and vetting. Staff members operate these units remotely out of the numerous Nanite Systems facilities located throughout and in-orbit over Auraxis. The robotic proxies are operated in shifts, and all Nanite Systems personnel work humane schedules.





Each time an Operative enters a new zone or continent, they will be put on assignment for the faction with the lowest population - these contracts always go out to the empire that has lost the most soldiers, helping to ensure that their populations will be more balanced in battle.

Due to their distinct training regimen and proprietary alignment with Nanite Systems, Operatives are only capable of using NS (common pool) weapons and vehicles. Any empire-specific weapons and vehicles will be off limits to unlock and equip. However, Operatives will be able to jump into empire-specific gunner vehicles that are pulled by soldiers of the faction that they are working for.

Operatives do have the ability to create and exist in an outfit with other soldiers, but remember - NS contracts come first for these units, so other members of the outfit could end up being on opposite sides of the war.

Please keep in mind that an All Access Membership is required to create a new Operative unit, and to continue employment under Nanite Systems. If membership lapses, a Nanite Systems Operative will be inaccessible until the membership is renewed.

 https://youtu.be/Y0ZlJX7n3cA

We hope you enjoy your new partnership with Nanite Systems!

Following the release of the New Soldier game update, we're giving back to our soldiers in the battlefields.

PC players, step up your gear game with a shiny new weapon to fight for or fend off the new Nanite Systems Operatives that have breached the battlefield.

Redeem the promo code NSOPS2019 to unlock the NSX Tengu for all of your characters, no matter what faction (Nanite Systems Operatives included, of course) they fight for. This code can be redeemed here by logging into your Daybreak account.

The rewards don't stop there - this weekend, from 12:01AM PT on Sunday, April 28th, 2019 to 11:59PM PT on Sunday, May 5th, 2019, ALL players on ALL platforms can enjoy Double XP! And don't forget - this Friday through Sunday, is the All Access Members' monthly double XP weekend... which means that on Sunday, April 28th, members will have a special day to earn the coveted Quadruple XP!

Hustle out and take advantage of the exciting weekend ahead! 


 

*Promo code only available for PlanetSide 2 on PC. These items will be made available on PS4 in the future. 

In celebration of this massive update, we've constructed some valuable new Re-enlistment Bundles and sales for returning soldiers. These bundles will be available at one per week over the next 4 weeks. Sales will also occur over the next 4 weeks, so if you've had your eye on something in the Depot this will be the perfect time to get a deal on it! Read on for all of the Depot details:

 

Week 1 - April 29th through May 5th



Re-enlistment Bundle Alpha - 499 DBC

• 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

 40% off Camo

 

Week 2 - May 6th through May 12th



Re-enlistment Bundle Bravo - 999 DBC

• 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

40% off Vehicle Cosmetics

 

Week 3 - May 13th through May 19th



Re-enlistment Bundle Charlie - 1999 DBC

• 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

40% off Infantry Cosmetics

 

Week 4 - May 20th through May 26th



Re-enlistment Bundle Delta - 3999 DBC

• 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-G (MBT/Harasser)
• Hornet-G (Scythe/Mosquito/Reaver)
• Astral Camo
• Anomaly Background
• 9x Deluxe Implant Packs
• 1x One-Month Heroic Boost

 40% off Vehicle Weapons

 

We hope these deals help you gear up for the battles ahead. See you on Auraxis!

Hey there folks,

 

As you probably know, the PlanetSide 2 team has been working very hard for quite some time on a sizeable game update. We’ve got good news – tomorrow, the New Soldier Game Update will finally be going live.

The most significant part of this update is the change to PlanetSide 2’s renderer, which has been upgraded from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11. It also includes the new Nanite Systems Operatives faction, and a new alert focused on delivering cortium to rocket launch sites which will allow you to win access to the Wasp air vehicle for your faction in a future update. We’ve wrapped all of this up with a number of other improvements that you can read about in the patch notes, which will be available later on.

We announced our port to DirectX 11 on our 6th Anniversary. At the time, we were testing an early build and performance tests looked promising. It’s been a long road since then, but our full integration is complete! DX11 will significantly boost FPS performance on modern hardware and will give us a path for further optimization in the future. This is not a visual or gameplay update, so everything should look and play the same as it always has – just with better performance.

Nanite Systems Operatives will also arrive. For the first time ever, a new faction is being added to PlanetSide 2! These robotic mercenaries will fight alongside the lowest populated empire in any zone. This means you won’t have to wait to join the action on an active continent as long as it’s not completely full. For now, the NS Operatives system will only be available to members (we don’t want to see PlanetSide 2 turn into RobotSide overnight).

The team is very proud of this update and we never would have gotten this far without the continued support of our players – we couldn’t ask for a better community than the one that remains dedicated to Auraxis. We will be working to promote this update, and with all of the changes we expect there to be a good amount of new and returning players coming into the game... which means that means we need the PS2 community to come together more than ever.

PlanetSide 2 can be a challenging game to get ramped up on. Revamping the new player tutorials is the team’s next focus, but there is no better introduction to PlanetSide 2 than the helping hand of an experienced player. One of the small changes we’ve made will automatically place low BR players into Mentor squads when they log into the game. We’d love to see seasoned players start Mentor squads and be ambassadors to new players. Show them where the fights are, what to spend their first certs on, and how to drop in behind enemy lines from a high-flying Galaxy.

We'll be keeping track of who runs great Mentor squads and creates upbeat, informative, and positive experiences for new players. We plan on reaching out to some of these all-stars for community spotlight features. And don’t just try to pad up your Mentor squad hours – this isn't what we’ll be looking for!

That about covers it for now. We hope you are all as excited as we are for tomorrow's massive update! Looking ahead, in addition to the upgraded tutorials we mentioned, we have a lot of other exciting plans including the new Oshur continent. I’m sure we’ll have some tweaks and bug fixes to make in the wake of this update, but it feels great to cast our eyes down the calendar to the amazing future for PlanetSide 2 we’re moving towards.

 

Thanks again, and we're looking forward to seeing you all on the battlefield.

- Nick Silva
Producer, PlanetSide 2

Join us on Friday, April 12th, 2019 at 2 PM PT on the Public Test Server to help us test and gather feedback on both DX-11 and the NS Operatives System! This large-scale playtest will help the team collect important telemetry about the new systems being put in place and help us catch new bugs and issues that might surface at a large scale.




During the playtest, we're headed RobotSide - we want to see a ton of Nanite Systems Operatives robots swarming the battlefield in an epic clash of automaton warfare!



All participants who join up on the PTS for the playtest will unlock a brand new reward for their account - Raijin Ninja Stars. If you can find the time to help us test, you'll be one of the first players to get your hands on this awesome new weapon. If your Friday is booked, be sure to keep an eye out for more community playtests in the near future so that you can earn your own Ninja Stars.



You can learn about the test server works and how to patch here. See you on the battlefield, soldier!

For our 6th Anniversary, we wanted to celebrate by giving players a chance to get their own artwork in-game! 

There were over two hundred incredible pieces of art entered into the contest, and the team was blown away by the amount of talent shown by the PlanetSide 2 community. It was a blast going through all of the entries, and it proved difficult to pick just a handful of winners... but the results are finally in.

While the winners will be featured below, you can check out all of the amazing entries here.


Best Action Scene Winner


"Reflection" by Pixenal
 

Best Lore Portrayal Winner


"TR Scout Mission" by FelixTheLion


Best Social Setting Winner


"Waiting for Orders" by Isonami

 

Runner-Ups


"Dogfight for Esamir" by ShasOwl



"Prayers" by Isonami



"Ambush" by Pureboy

 

"Indar Battleground" by FelixTheLion

 

"Victors" by Fuzzbukets

 

Thank you to everyone who submitted their work to the 6th Anniversary Loading Screen Contest - we're so excited to have 3 new pieces of art to show off in-game, and incredibly impressed by our talented community. If you want to see the rest of the entries, you can view them all here. We're already looking forward to the next contest, but until then, see you on Auraxis!

The coldest season of the year has arrived, bringing forth some chilling soldiers to the battlefields of Auraxis!



A faction of snowmen has sprung up across the planet, perfect for earning XP and getting in some target practice as you work towards wrapping up a victory for your empire. You'll also find a deployable Snowman Soldier in your infantry utility slot - deploy this snowman and it will do it's best to protect you from incoming threats.

You can also get your squad in the Auraximas spirit by picking up an assortment of festive hats and weapons in the Depot! You'll also find that C4 models will appear as presents and ammo boxes will look just like your favorite candy box, which makes opening up these presents a lot more fun.

And of course, there are presents that you can earn yourself by completing the holiday directives:

• Tier 1: Empire Specific Holiday Hat
• Tier 2: 20 Certs, Basic Implant Pack
• Tier 3: 100 Certs, Auraximas Banner
• Tier 4: "Grouchy" Title & "The Little Helper" Shotgun

Once unlocked, you'll be able to use these gifts even once the snow melts away.



On top of all the battlefield fun, don't forget that the 31 Days of Auraximas deal is happening in the Depot right now! Each day in December you'll be able to purchase a special item or get a great deal. For more details, check out that article here.

 

This event will be available in game throughout the holidays up until January 31st, 2019 at 11:59 PM PT, so santa-suit up, grab your snowman, and head out into the snow!