With this massive update, we've re-tuned many weapons, added more than 800 weapon attachments, revisited aspects of vehicle and infantry balance, and added new equipment that will expand your combat capabilities. Brace yourself for some very, very long patch notes.



When NSO went free to play (and received a revamped arsenal, new vehicles, and the ability to permanently align with a home faction,) in summer of last year, we mentioned allowing existing NSO outfits to migrate their members to a home faction, instead of having to disband and reform the outfit. This functionality has finally arrived, and the handful of legacy NSO outfits that are still holding on can properly migrate to a separate faction. NSO players without active memberships will remain in Freelancer status (functionality fixed in this update,) and will not be booted from their existing Outfit if membership lapses. Leaders of legacy NSO Outfits can now permanently align their Outfit to a home faction by speaking to Emerson on Sanctuary. This is a one-time transaction that will cause all the current members in our Outfit to move to the selected faction. Members who are online will need to relog (or re-zone into Sanctuary) for their home faction to be updated proper.



In celebration of the Arsenal Update, FL-34 and SPRK-33 got some new digs on Sanctuary. You can visit them in the same spot they've been holding down, but now with a totally new look. Additionally...

• All Black Market weapons are now purchasable with Daybreak Cash, as an alternative to the normal A7 currency costs.
  
• A new "Black Market" directive can be found in the Specialty directive tree. Progress through this tree by showing your expertise with Black Market weapons.
  
• New to the Black Market: SPRK-33's Stomper - This heavily modified Thumper fires anti-vehicle sabot rounds capable of shredding enemy armor over moderate distances.

The new Black Market directive, with new banner and Punisher variant rewards.


Tactical mine options have been added to each faction to add more defensive layers during point defense.


Flashbang Mine (VS only)

• Vanu Sovereignty Infiltrators and Engineers now have access to the new Flashbang Mine.
  
• Flashbang Mines blind enemies within 12m when triggered.

EMP Mine (NC only)

• New Conglomerate Infiltrators and Engineers now have access to the new EMP Mine.
  
• EMP Mines deplete shields and scramble the HUD of infantry within 12m, as well as destroy or disable deployables caught in the blast.

Concussion Mine (TR only)

• Terran Republic Infiltrators and Engineers now have access to the new Concussion Mine.
  
• Concussion Mines slow and disorient enemies within 12m when triggered.

Havoc Mine (NSO only)

• NSO Infiltrators and Engineers now have access to the new Havoc Mine.
  
• Havoc Mines prevent repairs of mechanical targets within a 12m radius when triggered.
  
• These mines only trigger when vehicles or MAX units come within range (or are destroyed.)

Cleansing Grenade (Combat Medic only)

• Combat Medics now have access to the new Cleansing Grenade.
  
• Cleansing Grenades detonate on impact, removing most status effects and healing 100hp/sec. for 3sec.

Havoc Grenade (Heavy Assault only)

• Heavy Assault now have access to the new Havoc Grenade.
  
• Havoc Grenades detonate on impact in an 8m radius, preventing repairs for 6sec.

Timed EMP (Infiltrator only)

• Infiltrators now have access to the new Timed EMP grenade.
  
• Timed EMPs detonate after 3 seconds in a 10m radius, depleting shields and scrambling the HUD.

Impulse Grenade (Light Assault only)

• Light Assault now have access to the new Impulse Grenade.
  
• Impulse Grenades detonate on impact in a 5m radius, knocking back enemies or yourself.
  
• When used on enemies, the knockback is less extreme than when used to propel yourself.

General

• A new HUD grenade warning indicator has been added for offensive tactical grenades like Flash and Concussion Grenades.
  
• Detonation visuals for EMP, Flash, and Concussion Grenades have been updated.
  
• Targets who are Flashed or Concussed now display small debuff visuals.

Concussion Grenade

• Effective radius from 12m to 10m.

Flash/Quick-Det Flash Grenade

• Effective radius from 12m to 10m.

EMP Grenade

• Effective radius from 15m to 10m. (Dev Note: You should still have no problem hitting spawn beacons.)

Nanite Healing Grenade

• Renamed to Nano-Regen Grenade.
  
• Healing over time from 150hp/sec. to 175hp/sec.

New empire-specific "Basilisk" (jack-of-all-trades) top gun options have made their way to the game. These new weapons have statistical variations that set them apart from the common pool Basilisk, and will be available on multiple vehicles. The Prowler, Vanguard, and Magrider will receive these new weapons as a part of the default equipment, and the Sunderer, ANT, and Harasser will be capable of unlocking them as an option.


N30 Trawler (New Conglomerate)
The Trawler is a slow firing, 30mm heavy machine gun that dishes out heavy damage over short distances.



M18 Palisade (Terran Republic)
The M18 Palisade increases rate of fire over the first second, unleashing a barrage of machine gun rounds from its large magazine.



V42 Pariah (Vanu Sovereignty)
The Pariah is a stable, rapid fire plasma platform that offers consistent high-caliber damage over even long-range engagements.




General

• Tank shell tracers have received new visuals.

Reload Speed Certification Lines

• The reload speed certification lines for main cannons, noseguns, ESF wing mounts, Liberator bellyguns, and Flash weapons have been standardized at 5/7/8.5/9.5/10% reload speed.
  
• The reload speed certification lines for top guns, air vehicle non-nosegun (and non-bellygun) weapons have been standardized at 10/14/17/19/20% reload speed.
  
• Weapons with no magazine size option are an exception to the above, and remain at the 10% reload speed cap (Halberd and Gatekeeper, as examples.)

Dev Note: In many, but not all cases, this is a buff to the reload speed cert line, with bigger gains at lower levels to increase accessibility to newer players.

Chimera
The changes here help compensate for the Chimera being a larger target, and give the non-Satyr main cannons more presence on the battlefield.


General

• Chimera Health from 5000 to 5500

CT-135 (Chimera Main Cannon)

• Direct damage from 550 to 600
  
• Reload speed from 2.5sec. to 2.25sec.

CT-150 Cyclops (Chimera Main Cannon)

• Direct damage from 800 to 900

HCG-20 (Chimera Forward Turret)

• Projectile velocity from 550 to 650
  
• Max damage range from 10m to 50m
  
• Min damage range from 100m to 250m
  
• Min damage from 167 to 143
  
• Refire rate from 150ms to 171ms
  
• Now has an Extended Magazine certification line.

Dev Note: Since the Chimera already had a unique "Basilisk" weapon, it's received some adjustments to set it apart. These weapons are now unlockable on the Harasser/ANT/Sunderer as well.


Valkyrie
Changes below help move the Valkyrie a bit further away from piñata territory by increasing its overall movement capabilities and its anti-vehicle effectiveness with non-VLG weaponry.


General

• Increased forward speed by roughly 25kph.
  
• Increased downward thrust speed.
  
• Increased forward and rise acceleration.
  
• Increased braking capabilities.
  
• Tank shell resist from -65 to -80

Wyvern

• Damage resist type from 28 (Armor Piercing Chaingun) to 4 (Heavy Machine Gun)
  
• Minimum damage from 143 to 150
  
• Minimum damage range from 100m to 200m
  
• Reserve ammunition from 300 to 480

Pelter Rocket Pods

• Reload speed from 3.5sec. to 2.25sec.
  
• Direct damage from 125 to 145
  
• Reserve ammunition from 100 to 200

Hellion G20

• Magazine size from 60 to 90
  
• Reserve ammunition from 450 to 720

Sunderer

• Deploy Shield now uses hex shield visuals to show when it's active.
  
• Basilisk (top guns) refire rate from 171ms to 150ms

Dev Note: The refire changes revert a long-standing adjustment that left Sunderer Basilisks less powerful than vehicles with only a single top gun. Reverting this renews the possibility of battle bus tactics.


ANT

• Added Deliverer Module as a defensive slot option.
  
• Deliverer Module passively dispenses ammunition to nearby vehicles, and acts as a global spawn point while deployed. Additionally, The Deliverer Module allows Squad Members to spawn directly into the vehicle.

Galaxy

• Added the Lodestar Module as as defensive slot option.
  
• Lodestar module now allows the Galaxy to deploy into a global spawn point, with a defensive shield layer and attached equipment terminals.

Nanoweave Armor (Suit Slot)

• Rank 1 Nanoweave now reduces Sniper Rifle (resist type 20) damage received by 20%, instead of Small Arms (resist type 2).
  
• No longer reduces movement speed.

Dev Note: As part of the ongoing experiments with Nanoweave, we're pulling off the movement speed reduction and moving the resistances of sniper rifles into their own category that can be contested by this armor. Sniper Rifles traditionally have a low skill floor for the bodyshot damage they put out (yet feel bad when they're not given enough bodyshot damage, Daimyo being a good example.) Pushing more of the focus subtly toward headshots through this method is something we'd like to explore.

Adrenaline Shield (Heavy Assault Ability)

• Reduced the energy return on kill from 31/35/38/41/44% to 15/18/21/23/25%.

Dev Note: Returning a couple hundred effective health after winning a firefight has more value than we were balancing against with previous numbers, the changes here reduce the effectiveness of Adrenaline Shield to make more room for alternatives.

Nano-Armor Cloaking (Infiltrator Ability)

• Removed the 100 extra shield provided by Nano-Armor Cloaking.
  
• The damage reduction from Nano-Armor Cloak is now 35% at all ranks, instead of just the last one.

Dev Note: Removing the extra 100 shield helps create more consistency surrounding weapons that should be able to one-shot an infiltrator (the Commissioner with a headshot, for example,) while ensuring, similar to Resist Shield, that the ability is active to receive benefits.

Symbiote (Implant)

• Healing provided by Symbiote's activation from 50 to 125.
  
• Added visual FX when healing is triggered.
  
• Damage taken while already at full health no longer triggers the healing effect, and thus the cooldown.

Dev Note: This bug above effectively broke the implant in the majority of situations you'd find yourself needing it to trigger, and we've increased the health return to a more noticeable amount as well.

Experimental Stims

• Now passively allows you to equip 1 additional stim (Restoration Kit, Medical Kit, or Infradine) on top of its previous benefits.

Broad Weapon Changes
This update includes many sweeping changes that will broadly impact the balance of certain weapon archetypes. The areas below will be broken down into groups to make it easier to digest.

Directive Weapons

• Enabled attachment customization on all applicable directive reward weapons.
  
• Directive weapons can now be used with the Advanced Specialization Program.

Dev Note: The changes above allow for customization of the weapons you've spent hundreds of hours working toward, and also factor into the subsequent balance adjustments that are made in each faction's weapon balance sections further down.

Sniper Rifles

• Anti-infantry sniper rifles now use a separate Sniper Rifle resistance (type 20).
  
• Being struck by a sniper rifle now has more prominent audio.

Dev Note: The damage values for this new resistance are equivalent to small arms. This change will allow us to do is modify the bodyshot damage output from Nanoweave, as mentioned above.

Power Knives

• Activated knife damage from 1050 to 900

Dev Note: Power knives consistently kill with two shots to the body or one shot to the head. This change is meant to dampen the effectiveness of specific setups, and give players more time to react to the burst of damage when the user can't land a headshot.


Sidearms

• Most sidearms now have their ADS CoF bloom set to half of their hipfire CoF bloom. Weapons impacted by this are noted further down.

Dev Note: This is a subtle change that technically extends effective range, but won't be noticeable in most cases. More realistically, this change is closer to housekeeping.


Select Fire Modes

• Select fire modes that aren't an important part of the weapon's capabilities have been removed.

Dev Note: There are many weapons in the game that don't make use of their select-fire functionality, and realistically, it wouldn't make sense to try to tune all of that extra baggage to be useful. Removing the burst/semi-auto modes on weapons that don't lean on them will help streamline the weapon quality overall. Examples of weapons that make good use of alternate firemodes are the TRAP-M1, SABR-13, TS2 Inquisitor, LA3 Desperado, Phaseshift VX-S, etc.


Shotguns

• Starting CoF for all shotguns is now 0.15 in all non-jumping/sprinting/falling movement states.
  
• Pellet spread values while aiming and firing from the hip have been standardized using the wider hipfire values.
  
• Cone of fire now blooms per shot by 0.3 from the hip, and 0.15 while aiming.

Dev Note: The above changes aim to reduce the inconsistency and frustration of using these weapons, which was mainly caused by cone of fire spread stacked on top of the pellet spread. These changes are important when the new attachments and updated attachments come into play.


More than 800 new weapon attachments have been added, allowing for much more customizability. Those changes and additions can be found here, in quite possibly the most anxiety inducing way imaginable: https://imgur.com/a/zBKaoBw

Slug Ammunition
Slug ammo now comes in 3 flavors with different damage ranges with independent hipfire cone of fire values. It's intended for semi-auto shotguns to be the most desirable to use with slug ammo, where others have steeper tradeoffs.

• 650-500 damage, pump shotguns.
  
• 600-400 damage, semi-auto shotguns.
  
• 475-300 damage, auto-shotguns.

Underbarrels

• Shortened the firemode switch timer for underbarrels from 0.8sec. to 0.4sec.
  
• Weapon equip time penalty for having an underbarrel equipped has been standardized at 0.25sec.
  
• (The above changes do not affect integrated underbarrels, like the one on the Punisher.)

Dev Note: The changes here are meant to reduce some of the clunkiness of Underbarrels in general.

Compensator

• Increased Compensator's vertical recoil reduction from 15% to 30%.
  
• Decreased Compensator's hipfire cone of fire penalty from 20% to 15%.

Dev Note: Compensators tend to be used less as players learn to control vertical recoil. These changes push the attachment closer to relevance for more setups and skill levels.

Forward Grips

• Advanced Forward Grips have all been converted to Forward Grips.
  
• The equip time penalty for these grips have been standardized to 0.15sec. across all weapons.

Dev Note: Advanced Forward Grips were previously given to weapons who already had top-tier horizontal recoil models, and the benefits of a grip far outweigh the drawbacks.

Laser Sights

• Advanced Laser Sights have all been converted to Laser Sights.

Dev Note: Like above, Advanced Laser Sights were typically given out to weapons that already had top-tier hipfire cone of fire, only furthering balance discrepancies. Unlike most attachments, laser sights don't have a real drawback beyond opportunity cost.

Comfort Grip

• Penalty now increases vertical recoil by 20%, instead of increasing hipfire cone of fire by this amount.
  
• Most Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, and Scout Rifles now use Comfort Grips, instead of Forward Grips.

Dev Note: Traditional Forward Grips offered no functional benefits to slow firing semi-auto weapons, so swapping them for Comfort Grips (which reduce the equip and unequip time of a weapon,) can be interpreted as a buff in almost all cases.

Mobile Prediction Laser

• An MPL now reduces vertical and horizontal recoil by 60% when fired from the hip, instead of reducing hipfire pellet spread.

Dev Note: With the changes to cone of fire for shotguns, all shotgun laser sights have been converted to MPLs so that the attachment remains a relevant option for certain setups.

Disruptor Ammunition

• Now reduces total per-shot damage by 20% at all ranges, and strips maximum shield energy on hit, instead of a flat value.
  
• The amount of shield and energy stripped varies from weapon to weapon, this is unchanged.

Dev Note: Overall this results in a buff to any weapon using Disruptor Ammunition, and further increases its effectiveness against enemies with higher-than-typical shield pools.




Heavy Barrel

• Reduces cone of fire bloom by 20% while aiming down sights.
  
• Reduces aim down sights movement speed by 20%.

Short Barrel

• Reduces cone of fire bloom by 40% when firing from the hip.
  
• Increases vertical recoil by 20% while aiming down sights.

Angled Forward Grip

• Reduces first shot recoil by 60%.
  
• Increases overall horizontal recoil by 10%.

Flechette Ammunition

• Triples maximum and minimum damage falloff ranges, but reduces the number of pellets fired (weapon dependent.)

KCAP Ammunition (Terran Republic only)

• Reduces headshot damage by 50%.
  
• Increases legshot damage by 20% and removes the legshot damage penalty.

Dev Note: The accessibility of bonus damage through legshots might be too powerful, so we might move a different direction based on feedback.


Manticore Ammunition (Vanu Sovereignty only)

• Reduces infantry movement speed by 20% for 2 seconds on impact, reduces projectile velocity while equipped by 40%.

Cerberus Ammunition (Vanu Sovereignty only)

• Causes the weapon to fire a 3-pellet spread horizontally from the hip, and vertically while ADS.

Equinox VE2 (VS Assault Rifle)

• Hipfire Cone of Fire reduced by 0.25 in most movement states.
  
• Movement speed while aiming from 0.5x to 0.75x.

Dev Note: These changes carve a niche for the Equinox as a more mobile weapons platform, in addition to the wide attachment variety.


CME (VS Assault Rifle)

• Recoil angle from 17/18 to 0
  
• Horizontal recoil from 0.22 to 0.18
  
• Horizontal recoil tolerance from 0.5 to 0.2

Dev Note: Removed much of the random deviation from this accuracy-focused weapon, elevating it to one of the most accurate assault rifles in the game.


Equinox VE2 Burst (VS Assault Rifle)

• Renamed to Pulsar Burst.

Dev Note: The Equinox VE2 Burst is actually a burst-variant of the Pulsar VS1. Changing the naming convention to resolve this literally unplayable bug.


VX29 Polaris (VS LMG)

• Maximum ADS CoF to 1.2 in most states.

Dev Note: Major buff that moves this support LMG in the direction of the Naginata and Promise while aiming down sights, without being quite as accurate as either.


VA39 Spectre (VS Sniper Rifle)

• Hipfire CoF bloom from 0.8 to 0.6
  
• ADS starting CoF while moving from 0.55 to 0.25
  
• Max damage from 400 to 450
  
• Min damage from 260 to 280

Dev Note: These changes make the progression from scout rifle to semi-auto sniper a bit more apparent as semi-auto snipers in general are made more useful.


Phantom VA23 (VS Sniper Rifle)

• ADS starting CoF while moving from 0.55 to 0.25
  
• ADS CoF bloom from 0.8 to 0.2
  
• Max damage range from 8m to 15m
  
• Min damage from 260 to 280

Nyx VX31 (VS Scout Rifle)

• ADS CoF bloom from 0.3 to 0.1

Eidolon VE33 (VS Scout Rifle)

• Long reload from 3.4sec. to 2.6sec.
  
• Short reload from 2.5sec. to 2.0sec.
  
• Underbarrel ammo restock cooldown from 5sec. to 2.5sec.

Parallax VX3 (VS Sniper Rifle)

• Short reload from 4.72sec. to 3.86sec.
  
• Long reload from 6.575sec. to 5sec.

Solstice SF (VS Carbine)

• Renamed to: Prominence VE4
  
• Hipfire minimum cone of fire values reduced by 0.25 across the board.

Orion VS54 (VS LMG)

• ADS CoF bloom from 0.04 to 0.05

Beamer VS3 (VS Sidearm)

• CoF bloom while ADS from 0.12 to 0.06

Cerberus (VS Sidearm)

• Hipfire CoF bloom from 0.18 to 0.16
  
• ADS CoF bloom from 0.18 to 0.08

Manticore SX40 (VS Sidearm)

• ADS CoF bloom from 0.14 to 0.07

Spiker (VS Sidearm)

• Hipfire CoF bloom from 0.15 to 0.12
  
• ADS CoF bloom from 0.1 to 0.06

We've moved to a new formula for VS' heat-based weapons that are based on a non-heat based weapon. Adding a heat mechanic to a weapon now (in most cases) reduces the magazine size by 20% of the base weapon, heat recovery delay is now based on damage per magazine, heat bleed-off is based on a percentage of the long-reload of a weapon, and overheat penalties are now equivalent to the base weapon's long reload speed.

Additionally, reloading these weapons only makes use of their overheat penalties, instead of short and long reload times, and isn't affected by reload speed modifiers through implants or suit slots. This is a bug we caught too late into development to correct, and will need to be amended in a later update. Lastly, the changes below are very strict and will likely need tuning. We can take these weapons in a couple of different directions, but will need to observe Live conditions before choosing which path to take.


Betelgeuse 54-A (VS LMG)

• Aim down sights CoF bloom from 0.04 to 0.05
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat from 50 to 40.
  
• Overheat penalty from 3.28sec. to 3.444sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay from 0.5sec. to 0.572sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovery from 10 rounds per second to 9.28 rounds per second.

Dev Note: This weapon mostly receives usability nerfs, but has been indirectly brought in line with cross-faction alternatives through attachment selection.


Darkstar (VS Assault Rifle)

• Now has access to the Underbarrel Cure Grenade Launcher by default.
  
• Can now engage a manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat from 30 to 24.
  
• Overheat penalty from 1.75sec. to 2.2sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay from 0.5sec. to 0.343sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovery from 17.1 rounds per second to 8.74 rounds per second.

Dev Note: This weapon's innate forward grip benefits can be stacked with an attachable forward grip as an option.


Eclipse VE3A (VS Carbine)

• Now has access to the Underbarrel Impulse Grenade Launcher by default.
  
• Can now engage a manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat from 30 to 24.
  
• Overheat penalty from 1.65sec. to 2.28sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay from 0.5sec. to 0.343sec.
  
• Reduced max-damage range from 15m to 10m.
  
• Heat ammo recovery from 17.55 rounds per second to 8.42 rounds per second.

Dev Note: The new integrated Impulse Underbarrel will allow Light Assaults to propel themselves around the battlefield with ease, and can be swapped out for a variety of other rail attachment options. Kept the integrated laser sight in exchange for a hit to projectile velocity.


The Immortal (VS Sidearm)

• Is now a heat-based weapon with manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat 14.
  
• Overheat penalty set to 1.75sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay set to 0.233sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovers 6.4 rounds per second.
  
• Removed integrated Suppressor.

Dev Note: Aside from the heat mechanic changes, this weapon receives innate Soft Point Ammo to further its maximum damage range.


Revenant (VS Scout Rifle)

• Is now a heat-based weapon with manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat 16.
  
• Overheat penalty set to 2.6sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay set to 0.35sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovers 3.76 rounds per second.

Dev Note: Attachment options here are expanded to include Manticore Ammunition.


Parsec VX3-A (VS Sniper Rifle)

• Is now a heat-based weapon with manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat 4.
  
• Overheat penalty set to 5.575sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay set to 1.83sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovers 0.9 rounds per second.
  
• Max damage from 750@10m to 700@10m
  
• Min damage from 400@325m to 450@325m

Dev Note: Minimum damage is increased to further the one-shot kill range, on top of the heat mechanic addition.

Chaos (VS Shotgun)

• Is now a heat-based weapon with manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat 6.
  
• Overheat penalty set to 3.22sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay 0.36sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovers 1.49 rounds per second.

Dev Note: No changes here beyond the heat mechanic and sweeping shotgun changes.


Skorpios (VS SMG)

• Is now a heat-based weapon with manual reload.
  
• Consecutive shots before overheat set to 20.
  
• Overheat penalty set to 1.74sec.
  
• Heat recovery delay set to 0.28sec.
  
• Heat ammo recovers 5.72 rounds per second.

Dev Note: Removed the long-range integrated attachments for this weapon in exchange for a built-in Vented Power Core.



Jackhammer (NC Heavy Weapon)

• Hipfire and ADS cone of fire standardized to 0.15 in most movement states.
  
• Burst-fire mode no longer has hidden damage falloff over range.
  
• Laser Sight converted to MPL.

Dev Note: Considerable buff to the Jackhammer's ability to reliably output damage, and carries over some of the sweeping shotgun changes were needed.


NC6S Gauss SAW S (NC LMG)

• Max damage from 167@10m to 200@10m
  
• Min damage from 125@75m to 167@85m
  
• Refire rate from 104ms to 126ms
  
• Hipfire walk/stand/move starting CoF values increased by 0.25 (on par with the NC6 Gauss SAW.)
  
• Hipfire crouchwalk starting CoF increased by 0.5 (on par with the NC6 Gauss SAW.)
  
• ADS walk/stand starting CoF from 0.03 to 0.00 (on par with the NC6 Gauss SAW.)
  
• Projectile velocity from 630 to 580
  
• Hipfire CoF bloom from 0.12 to 0.14
  
• ADS CoF bloom from 0.06 to 0.07

Dev Note: With there being as many flavors of 167 damage model weapons in the NC arsenal as there are, these changes provide a second 200 damage model option for LMGs. The Gauss SAW S mainly takes a small hit to refire rate and mag size for a faster reload and slightly more controllability.


EM1 (NC LMG)

• Maximum ADS CoF to 1.2 in most states.

Dev Note: Major buff that moves this support LMG in the direction of the Naginata and Promise while aiming down sights, without being quite as accurate as either.


Gauss Compact Burst (NC Carbine)

• Renamed AF-20 Rogue.

Dev Note: Gauss Compact Burst is actually a variant of the standard "Mercenary" carbine, and this naming convention fixes that.


Gauss Compact S (NC Carbine)

• Renamed NC2 Gauss Compact.

Dev Note: Similar thread here, the Gauss Compact S was a variant of the Mercenary, but without the "Select Fire" attributes, it's been renamed to something more fitting its nature.


MGR-C1 Charger (NC Carbine)

• When "uncharged" this weapon no longer drops to a 143 damage model, and instead scales back rate of fire.
  
• Refire rate when uncharged from 92ms to 100ms

Dev Note: This is a significant buff to the weapon, as a 600rpm model (100ms refire) is near top-tier for the 167 damage category. This change also does away with shots to kill discrepancies that can be tied to bouncing between two damage models.


NC9 A-TROSS (NC Assault Rifle)

• Refire rate from 128ms to 126ms

Dev Note: Small adjustment pushes the refire rate to 5% slower than the Reaper DMR, instead of the 7%ish it was at before.


Gauss Rifle S (NC Assault Rifle)

• Short reload from 2.1sec. to 1.85sec.
  
• Long reload from 2.8sec. to 2.5sec.

Dev Note: Small change to give the S variant more visible benefits when compared to the standard Gauss Rifle.


AF-8 Railjack (NC Sniper Rifle)

• Projectiles now pierce through infantry targets, with no limit.

Dev Note: This is long overdue, given the theming of the weapon.
....

https://www.planetside2.com/patch-notes/arsenal-update-patch-notes
Join the conversation on the Steam discussion board!
Be sure to Like Us on Facebook and Follow Us on Twitter!

All Access Members can enjoy a Double XP weekend starting March 25th through March 27th!

Interested in being a member?
Learn more about Daybreak All Access Membership {LINK REMOVED}here.

Check the latest news on the upcoming Aresenal Update here!

Want to learn what's next for PlanetSide 2? Check our 2022 Roadmap {LINK REMOVED}here!

Follow us on Twitter and Like our Facebook page for more news!

Hey there, folks. We've been working on the Arsenal Update, a heavily gameplay-focused update that expands customization options for infantry weapons, uplifts some of the less-used faction weapons, and touches a fair amount of game balance on the infantry and vehicle side at the same time. There's a lot to go through, and you won't see all the details until the patch notes hit later this week, but we'll break down some of the larger beats in this dev note.

New Angled Forward Grips, for all factions.

Let's talk about where the majority of work has gone in for this update: attachments. At the time of writing this, we've added 829 new attachments between 241 weapons with more in progress. You'll see a handful of new mainstays, like an Angled Forward Grip that heavily reduces first shot recoil, or a Heavy Barrel that reduces cone of fire bloom while aiming down sights, and there have been plenty of adjustments to existing attachments as well. Compensators, for example, were made more powerful, and attachments that didn't affect weapons much were swapped with something different (Forward Grips on Sniper Rifles, for example.) You'll also be seeing more weapons with extended magazines, barrel, and ammo options, and directive weapons will now all be able to equip attachments as well. Speaking of which...


We're taking a pass at directive weapons again to make them something you want to play with. Now that directive weapons will be capable of equipping attachments, some of the "baked in" attachment benefits and detriments will be going away, especially the ones that tried to push a weapon outside of the roles it would otherwise excel in (directive SMGs with built-in HVA and forward grips, are a good example of this.) Some weapons will expand on faction flavor, (for example: TR's Havoc shotgun will go fully automatic,) while others will emphasize class strengths (carbines will have new underbarrel Impulse Launchers.) Not every weapon will be quirky, but they will all be more worthwhile additions to your current weapon lineup. Lastly, directive weapons will be able to be used alongside A.S.P. benefits that give you access to weapons from another class, or be put into another loadout slot.


FL-34 and SPRK-33 have some new digs in the Sanctuary.


With the Arsenal Update, we'll be making some noteworthy balance changes in the realm of infantry and vehicles, and will be iterating on previous experiments. For example, some of the less-used weapons will receive additional tuning beyond the attachment changes; Nanoweave's small arms resistance will be moved to a sniper rifle resistance, and the movement speed penalty will be removed; Adrenaline Shield's energy recovery will be reeled in a bit; Nano-Armor Cloak loses its passive 100 shield benefit; Power Knives move to a two-bodyshot kill; shotguns are overhauled to become more consistent to use. In the realm of vehicles, the Chimera will gain some added health and main cannon damage, while the Valkyrie will gain some speed, damage output, and ammo capacity for most of its weapons. None of this is final, but it will be a part of what goes with our first test build, which we'll talk about later.


New top guns will be defaulted to each empire's main battle tank (with the exception of NSO,) and Sunderers, Harassers, and ANTs will have access to these new weapons as optional unlocks. I'm referring to these weapons as "Basilisks" in that each weapon fits the "jack of all trades" mentality that the common pool Basilisk uses as an introduction to the game. However, each of these weapons have unique statistics, along with audio and visuals. Chimera's forward guns will receive slight stat adjustments as well, to differentiate it from the common pool Basilisk. All of this is an attempt to push our faction flavor a little bit further whenever we can, and create more opportunities for new art.


The new M18 Palisade on a Terran Republic Sunderer.


Along with the new vehicle weapons, we're also introducing some infantry deployables. Empire-specific mines (Concussion/EMP/Flash/Havoc,) and class-specific grenades (Cleansing/Havoc/Timed EMP/Impulse,) will make their way into the mix. The ANT will get a new "Deliverer Module," allowing it to become a spawn point wherever it can deploy (which is not in no-construction zones,) and provide vehicle ammunition in an area. The Galaxy will be offered the Lodestar Module as well, providing a deploy shield, and the ability to spawn in allies like the campaign's Prototype Lodestar currently has access to. Lastly, there's a new Black Market directive tree, so you can put all those Black Market weapons to good use. You'll see at least a couple of new Black Market weapons making their way to the store as well, and you will be able to purchase them with Daybreak Cash in addition to the A7 currency.


This weekend we plan to get our first build to the Public Test Server, and will follow it up with another build the following week. The expectation between the first and second build is that there will still be a lot of cleanup and polish to take place, but much of the functionality in the update will be available to start getting eyes on with the first build. We will not be conducting wide-scale playtests for this particular update, as the changes are a bit too nuanced to pull focused feedback, but we encourage everyone to jump on and report their findings via forums or Reddit. Patch notes will be posted late Thursday or early Friday in full and... it's a lot.


I hope this dev letter helps lend some insight on some of what we're currently working toward, and what you will be seeing and testing here very soon.

Thanks all.

-Wrel, Lead Designer

Sale ends 3/27

Stand your ground with the new Wyrdwood Caubeen and Wyrdwood Shillelagh!

(Available for all factions!) Here's what the bundle has to offer:
- Title: Druid
- Wyrdwood Outfit Decal
- Wyrdwood Caubeen (Helmet - All Factions)
- Wyrdwood Shillelagh (Melee Weapon)


(Wyrdwood Caubeen Helmet shown above)

Sale ends 3/27

You won't need to find the end of a rainbow to hit the jackpot, just add this stylish new NS-44 Commissioner to your arsenal!

This is what the 2022 St. Patrick's Day Bundle has in store for you:


Lucky Banner Profile Banner
NS-44 "Jackpot" Commissioner
Shamrock Contrails
Green Afterburner
Danny Boy Horn


(NS-44 "Jackpot" Commissioner shown above.)


(Clover Camo, Shamrock Contrails and Green Afterburner effects shown above.)

The St. Patrick's Day update also brings bug fixes included the much requested deployable construction objects fix and more! Check the full patch notes here.

Want to know what's next? Check out our 2022 Roadmap here!



We look forward to hearing from you! Leave a comment in the Discussion board and be sure to Like our Facebook page and Follow Us on Twitter for more news!

See you next time, soldier!

All PC servers will be offline for the following update, Mar. 09, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CET). Downtime is expected to last up to five hours due to backend maintenance.
--

Across the verdant fields of Amerish, the distant sound of uilleann pipes draw nearer as St. Patrick's Day approaches. This year, a variety of new weapons and cosmetics are available for our fortunate soldiers.
Starting March 11, previous St. Patrick's Day offerings will be made available along with the new items shown below!


This "Lucky Banner" can be found in the 2022 St. Patrick's Day bundle!


New this year!
Tap into tradition with the Wyrdwood Bundle. Caubeens are available for all factions, and the Wyrdwood Shillelagh contributes to the Exceptional V directive.

• Title: Druid
  
• Wyrdwood Outfit Decal
  
• Wyrdwood Caubeen (Helmet - All Factions)
  
• Wyrdwood Shillelagh (Melee Weapon)

Pictured: Wyrdwood Caubeen, Wyrdwood Decal, Clover Camo, and NS-44 "Jackpot" Commissioner. Classy robot sold separately.

This massive St. Patrick's Day Bundle contains loads of vehicle cosmetics, a profile banner, and a stylish new Commissioner that contributes to Exceptional V directive progress.

• Lucky Banner Profile Banner
  
• NS-44 "Jackpot" Commissioner

Shamrock Contrails

• Dervish
  
• Galaxy
  
• Liberator
  
• Mosquito
  
• Reaver
  
• Scythe
  
• Valkyrie

Green Afterburner

• Dervish
  
• Liberator
  
• Mosquito
  
• Reaver
  
• Scythe

Danny Boy Horn

• ANT
  
• Chimera
  
• Dervish
  
• Flash
  
• Galaxy
  
• Harasser
  
• Javelin
  
• Liberator
  
• Lightning
  
• Magrider
  
• Mosquito
  
• Prowler
  
• Reaver
  
• Scythe
  
• Sunderer
  
• Valkyrie
  
• Vanguard

Pictured: A mosquito in Clover Camo, with Shamrock Contrails and Green Afterburner effects. Make your enemies green with envy.

• The Ukraine flag decal can now be found in the Depot for 1 cert.
  
• Fixed issues with some construction objects and smaller deployables not being placeable due to invalid line of sight checks or location checks.
  
• Clicking on squad spawn locations that are still on spawn cooldown no longer allows you to bypass the timer.
  
• X/Y/Z axis particle effects will no longer occasionally appear beneath players' feet.
  
• Fixed an issue with NSO reload animations not playing correctly for certain weapon types.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could shoot through gaps in geo at Interlinks and Emerald Arboretum on Oshur.
  
• Fixed an issue with certain rocks on Oshur preventing weapons from using ammo or dealing damage.
  
• Reduced the height of a lip on the upper portion of the Trident so players would be able to jump over it.
  
• Removed an invisible gravity pad at SolTech Charging Station on Amerish.
  
• Jumpjets in use underwater should no longer be heard by players outside of water.
  
• The NE-11 PML now has underwater audio.
  
• Underwater rifles now all have distinct audio.
  
• You can now see submerged forcefields and lumifiber underwater.

Hey there. If it seems like this update is a bit light (outside of all these wicked dope cosmetics,) it's because we've been heads down working on a larger update that we'll be talking about in a Dev Letter next week. As a reminder of what we've got planned for this year (and when you're likely to see these features,) here's a link to the roadmap article: https://www.planetside2.com/news/roadmap-2022. All of that is still 100% on track at the moment, but you never know what the future holds... Except these updates. It holds all these updates. Here's a shot of the New Conglomerate's new empire-specific basilisk variant to placate that curious hunger.

All Access Members can enjoy a double XP weekend starting February 25th through February 27th!

Interested in being a member?
Learn more about Daybreak All Access Membership {LINK REMOVED}here.

Want to learn what's next for PlanetSide 2? Check our 2022 Roadmap {LINK REMOVED}here!

Follow us on Twitter and Like our Facebook page for more news!

Today through February 21st get the Patriot Camo, Triumph Flare Guns, and Patriot Flare Guns in the Depot!

A flare gun in hand with the patriot camo and you're all set for a weekend of fun!



Check the Depot today!

Today through February 21st purchase vehicle cosmetics at a discount.

Want to learn what's coming later this year in PlanetSide 2?

Get the latest scoop here!

Like us on Facebook. And follow us on Twitter!

Hey there, folks.

We'd like to offer up the main focal points for 2022 in roadmap form. It's rare that we share what we're working on this far out, so roadmap below is divided into a few sections where features and content will land this year. The proper release dates and true scope of each update will be shared as we get closer to those individual releases.

The roadmap is meant to act mainly as an overview, and we'll continue doing all the detail work you can expect from update to update in the background. For example: Oshur is going to continue to receive more love, shielded Sunderer garages will come to non-Oshur continents, bugs and general polish will continue to land every update, balance will continue to be tweaked throughout the year, etc., etc...

Much of 2022 will be focused on addressing long-standing requests from the community, refining the game's systems further, and polishing the game as a whole. Some of that you'll see in the roadmap, but much of the work is way too nuanced to go into a document like this. That said, we're going to continue being communicative about updates as we move through the year.


Oshur Release

Toward the end of January the Expedition: Oshur release landed, complete with a new continent, totally new water mechanics, bases, and playstyle dynamics. We'll continue to build out Oshur as time passes.

Infantry Arsenal Updates

We'd like to take a pass on weapon attachments in the game with the goal of expanding the customizability of infantry weapons across the board. Expect new attachment options, refinement of experimental attachments, and some improvement made to less-used infantry weapons. Directive weapons will be revisited to make them more fun and rewarding to use overall, as well as allow for attachment customization. You'll also see more Black Market weapon variants and a related directive line. Lastly, empire specific Mines and new class-based grenades will be added as well.

New Vehicle Weapons

Empire specific basilisk options are the first new vehicle weapons we'd like to implement this year. As "basilisk-style weaponry," they'll be focused on the jack-of-all-trades usefulness, with stats, visuals, and audio that all lean toward the traits you'd expect from each faction. Main Battle Tanks will receive these weapons by default, and Sunderers/ANT/Harassers will receive these weapons as unlockable options. Yay, empire flavor!

Misc. Improvements

We're long overdue on allowing the original NSO outfits align themselves to a faction, as was mentioned around the _Integration update last year, so we'd like to resolve that during the first few months this year. The Nav Menu is also getting some work done to modernize it, and bring it in line with the visuals of some of our newer screens. An in-game "codex" will also be added in the first portion of this year that will contain useful information about game mechanics, equipment, lore, all that good stuff.

Outfit Wars on NEXUS

We're bringing back Outfit Wars, and this time it's on Nexus. We learned a lot from how Outfit Wars played out in early 2021, including how strong the desire for this style of event is. The tech we're developing will allow for a 1v1 format, and much of what we did for the Integration update last year allows us to more readily allow two teams of the same faction to fight one another without issue. It also allows us to make use of a map that was teased in 2013, but never released to Live for public play. Nexus is a snow-themed continent with two Warpgates and three main lanes to battle through. This will be the new battleground for the first cycle of Outfit Wars later this year.

Water Combat Expansion

We'd like to expand on the water-based combat capabilities. Most traditional infantry weapons will be enabled for underwater use, mobility options will be added, and more reasons to fight underwater will be made available as well. We'll also be adding new aquatic warfare weapons to the mix as well.

First Naval Vehicle

The first legitimate naval vehicle will make its way into the game toward the middle of 2022, and will be a common pool option with its own weapon variety and associated directives. This vehicle will be mainly for Oshur, since there isn't much water elsewhere... but you never know.

Item Gifting

Purchasing gifts for other players has been a long-requested feature that will be making its way to the game this summer. Players will be able to make DBC purchases that can be gifted to anyone on their friends list.

Squad System Revisited

The squad system finder, squad abilities, and squads themselves could stand to have a usability pass and functionality cleanup. We'll also be pursuing the introduction of "Garrison Squads" which are temporary squads formed from loose players or squads of players in the same area, so if you're attacking or defending a base and don't have a squad of your own, you can opt to be plopped into a group in that area to increase cohesion. When the fight is over, or if you move to another area, you leave the squad with no strings attached, or you could choose to continue on with those players you were just grouped with.

War Asset Updates

After Escalation and the other Outfit-based updates in 2020, content for Outfits stagnated a bit, and didn't continue to grow the way we were initially hoping. In 2022, we're looking to expand upon War Assets and polish the existing call-ins, as well as revisit the way Outfit Resources are awarded. Merit and Loyalty as systems are going to be given a second look and streamlined, with the potential for new deployables here alongside those coming with the War Asset system.

Bastion Customization

Outfits will gain the ability to customize their Bastion Fleet Carriers' weapons, visuals, and functionality. Coinciding with these updates, we'll also be evaluating the Bastion's role in the game overall. We don't want it to (just) be a flying death machine, and would like it to factor into the overall meta gameplay of a continent.

Alliances and Contribution

This year we'd like Outfits to be capable of forming alliances of multiple outfits to increase the scale of cooperation across a continent, pool Outfit assets, and potentially extend into Outfit Wars later on down the line. In addition, knowing which Outfits or alliances are putting in the most effort on a continent, and where their specific strengths are is something we'd like to provide visibility into and possibly tie gameplay to. In general, we want to celebrate Outfits more, and acknowledge their efforts as much as we can.

Empire-specific Main Cannons

Main Battle Tanks and Lightnings will gain empire-specific weaponry options. It's been a long time since these vehicles got some new toys to play with, despite being very popular and oft-used vehicles overall.

10-Year Anniversary of PlanetSide 2
Ten years is an incredible milestone for a live-service game, and we've got plans to do it big. Consider this one a bucket of AlrightThenKeepYourSecrets.gif for the time being.



--

There will undoubtedly be more packed into each update than the highlights convey, but hopefully the above is enough to whet your appetite for what's to follow in 2022.

Thanks folks.

-Wrel, Lead Designer

All PC servers will be offline for the following update, Feb. 09, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CET), downtime is expected to last up to two hours.
--

The eternal grind of the war machine may keep the vendors of Sanctuary single, but it won't stop them from treating themselves this Valentine's Day season.

Complete all 6 Matchmaker missions to gain access to Operation: Matchmaker, a scheme by FL-34 to earn some extra cash by running a matchmaking contest. And he's willing to cut you in if you, ya know, do pretty much all of the legwork.

• Matchmaker Missions: Up to two Matchmaker missions will appear in your list each day, providing progress in the Valentine's Day directive tree... as well as making someone feel loved and appreciated.
  
• Valentine's Day Directive: This special event has its own directive, rewarding the "Lovestruck" title on completion.
  
• Holiday Items: A lovely list of war implements and camouflage are making a return for this event, as well as some new items listed below!

New this year!
Seraphim HLX - Heavy Crossbow - 1499 DBC
Get this heavenly new heavy crossbow, complete with new audio and progress in the Exceptional V directive.


Lovestruck Bundle - 2999 DBC
Catch the Seraphim HLX, and loads of cosmetic goodies in this sweet new bundle.

• Seraphim HLX
  
• Heartless Outfit Decal
  
• Dark Chocolate Camo
  
• Mosquito Pink Afterburner FX
  
• Scythe Pink Afterburner FX
  
• Reaver Pink Afterburner FX
  
• Dervish Pink Afterburner FX
  
• Liberator Pink Afterburner FX
  
• Valkyrie Cupid Contrails
  
• Liberator Cupid Contrails
  
• Galaxy Cupid Contrails
  
• Mosquito Cupid Contrails
  
• Scythe Cupid Contrails
  
• Reaver Cupid Contrails
  
• Dervish Cupid Contrails

Shown: Pink Afterburner FX on the Liberator.

• You can no longer Flail within no-construction areas on Oshur.
  
• Increased Cortium respawn rate on Oshur by 50%.
  
• Oshur now has a Conquest Alert that triggers when the continent population is greater than 800.
  
• Connection territory to an enemy Flotilla will now award 34 Empire Strength on Oshur.
  
• Lockon weaponry can no longer target vehicles in water deeper than 20 meters.
  
• Vehicle gunners can no longer fire while underwater.
  
• Fixed an issue where seat swapping in a vehicle could prevent you from firing above water.
  
• Reavers no longer spin uncontrollably while underwater.
  
• Galaxy now feels more weighty while submerged, slightly slower overall, and doesn't roll as quickly.
  
• Valkyrie has received a large speed increase while submerged.
  
• ANT has received additional speed while floating.
  
• Using the Flash's Turbo no longer slows you down while floating.
  
• Added bollards to the bottom floor of all Oshur tower bases to prevent vehicles from being silly.
  
• Fixed an LoD issue on one of the large Oshur rocks that would cause it to disappear too quickly.
  
• Sunderer Gate Shields no longer disappear before ~700 meters.
  
• Trident Relays and Interlink Outposts now generate outfit resources.
  
• Updated the Trident Relay mission board objects to use better visuals.
  
• War table NPC can now be found at the Southwest Flotilla.
  
• Added underwater detonation FX for Flash/Concussion grenades.
  
• Heavy Crossbow no longer uses an explosive underwater impact effect unless it's using Fracture Bolts.

• Elysium Drill mission is now possible to complete on Oshur, and the NE-11 PML can now be used underwater.
  
• Guerilla Warfare mission no longer counts damage against inanimate objects.
  
• Guerilla Warfare mission now requires 3000 damage to enemies, instead of needing to inflict damage 30 times.
  
• Sunderer of Service and Galaxy of Service missions no longer require you to unlock attachments before making further mission progress.
  
• Daily missions that required you to acquire a vehicle before making further mission progress have had that step removed.
  
• Fixed an issue where waypoints leading you to different zones could appear as small green circular areas on the minimap, and not display a directive waypoint above the warpgate NPCs.

• There should no longer be a minimum of two continents unlocked at any time.
  
• Fixed various construction and deployable-related placement exploits.
  
• Routing Spires now show their possible placement area on the map and minimap.
  
• Remote clients can now see when other vehicles use their afterburners.
  
• Added a UI option to toggle the third person vehicle dot reticle.
  
• Fixed an empty chat line that could be created when a Mentor would speak in the chatbox.
  
• The Structure Shield Module construction item's activated effect now prevents damage from Cortium Bombs, Mauler Cannons, and other forms of damage that bypass armor.
  
• The WLT-Weaver has an updated description, and no longer plays machinegun audio when firing the weapon.
  
• UBP-1 Starfish now triggers sidearm-related implants and objectives.
  
• Fixed some pinched textures on the Tigerstrike Decimator.

Some quick thoughts here toward the end: Feedback regarding the recent spawn changes has shown some unnecessary frustration on the non-Oshur continents. We're going to take a look at the controls and see if we can make improvements for a future update. Some features (like Reinforcements Needed and Join Combat) aren't as helpful as we anticipated they'd be with these changes, and in general the movement around the map is a bit too restrictive on the continents that have lots of bases.

The worst case scenario is that we can revert back to the Spawn Priority system in place prior to Oshur's release, but we'd prefer not to do that as that system tends to create significant server performance bottlenecks with its existing implementation. We'll be sure to message out when we've got updates to share.

Thanks folks.
-Wrel, Lead Designer