Jun 21, 2022

PlanetSide 2 - dsosa

Hey there, folks. We've got a boatload of content releasing this summer, and we'd like to share some of what you'll see in our newest update: Surf and Storm.

All Aboard the Corsair

The flagship of our Surf and Storm update starts with the Corsair assault craft, the first proper naval vessel added to PlanetSide 2.

This squad-spawnable patrol boat is the faster, sleeker, waterborne counterpart to the Sunderer, with a heavy focus on the necessary logistics to move players around Oshur's island chain quickly.

A seasoned navigator can cruise around with two gunners, and up to 5 additional passengers.

Weapons on the Corsair are similar to other Nanite Systems common-pool vehicles, and includes the M20 Basilisk, M60 Bulldog, and Dingo ML-6, and Empire-Specific Basilisk alternatives, to start.

That said, passengers aren't just there to ferry back and forth – Each of the five passenger seats has access to the all-new Catapult System, which allows passengers to launch themselves like a cannonball in the direction of their choosing. With a little aim (and a built-in safe landing feature,) you'll be able to land right where the action is taking place, ready to do some damage.

Development Insight: Instead of using an amphibious or hovercraft design, we've developed the Corsair to work exclusively as a water-bound vessel for a few reasons. The first is that we've never had a naval vehicle in the game, and branching into this subset of warfare has a unique appeal to certain players -- similar to how air, armor, and construction all have their own very distinct followings. The second is that we have a goal of building on our engine and technology with each update, and wanting to improve our water tech was good impetus to create this unique vehicle. Third is that the catapult system was a feature meant to allow for more freedom of movement on Oshur, and if we were to attach it to a vehicle that could free-roam other continents, it could easily break many of the bases in the game. Water is limited, and placed with intent, so it's a useful design constraint that allows us to determine how much influence we want this feature to have over a map.

Oshur and Under

Whether it's the ability to play cat and mouse with lock-on missiles, drive safely off of a cliff or bridge to escape your pursuers, or as a flanking route for some of the more congested areas in the map, it's clear that water has added some novelty to Oshur's gameplay for many players. However, aside from a fleeting dip beyond the shoreline, there's very little reason to immerse yourself in that environment.

With the Surf and Storm, we'll be giving you more reasons to fight beneath the waves.

Players will now be able to fight over underwater objectives, and can now make use of many infantry weapons underwater. The majority of these underwater playspaces will center around "Seaposts," which have been revisited and increased in number throughout the map. Each seapost now has a spawn room and a smaller footprint overall – you can pull the Corsair and other amphibious vehicles from the attached seadock, as well as air vehicles as usual. These new bases give you a staging ground to launch assaults on other bases, and adds some much-needed flexibility to Oshur's lattice network.

The function of seaposts, from a lore perspective, is that they've been placed over areas of interest on Oshur, be it coral reefs, wreckages, caves, or research outposts. Each of the underwater areas they're monitoring now has a single control point, with enough cover to encourage legitimate battles around these areas.

Development Insight: For the initial pass on underwater weapons, we've enabled most non-vehicle weapons that deal small arms (resist type 2) damage to fire underwater. Mines, C4, and a handful of other deployables are available, as well as medical applicators, ammo packages, and recon devices. MAX suits can also fire underwater with their anti-infantry weapons, though repair tools cannot be used underwater.

Between these limitations, underwater combat spaces become a mostly infantry-centric combat space where angle of attack, self-sustain, and maneuverability have the most impact in the moment to moment, instead of who has the bigger gun or force multiplier.

With the update, we'll also be introducing a hand-held underwater mobility device that is equipped in the tactical slot, and is available for certification points (the first time we've done this.) This device helps allay some concerns over the slower paced movement in underwater environments, provides more angle of attack options, and will help you get back to that vehicle you accidentally ejected from on the water's surface.

Outfit Wars Re-returns

The next season(s) of Outfit Wars are finally upon us, with a new 1v1 format!

For those who missed the chaos last year, Outfit Wars is a tournament-style event where Outfits enter an arena to fight their way up the leaderboards. The winners for the season unlock some bragging rights, cosmetics, and a special statue on display in Sanctuary.

In addition to fighting your cross-faction counterparts, you'll now be able to fight Outfits from your own faction for the first time! Unlike previous events, the Nanite Systems Operatives faction will finally be able to throw their mechanical hat into the ring as well.

The official start date of the next Outfit Wars is still to be announced, but we'll share more information as we get closer to the release of Surf and Storm.

Nexus Battle Island

The return of Outfit Wars will take place on the frigid battle island of Nexus, a 9-base map that will accommodate one platoon of players from each participating team. Jagged cliffs, frigid forests, and glacial canyons await participants.

This year's format will take place as a head to head battle for territory control, where the first faction to Warpgate the other, or the faction with the most points at match-end, will claim victory.

Beyond the Horizon

We've been able to hit all of our goals so far for this year's roadmap, and we're being especially careful not to cause any cascading issues that would prevent us from hitting end-of-year objectives. That said, the first feature that might end up landing later could be the squad changes we've outlined, and how early Surf and Storm hits will also be dependent on how well the public testing goes.

Speaking of which, late this Friday we plan to release the Corsair, underwater combat, and Oshur changes to the Public Test Server in a work-in-progress state. We'll then be running two playtests this weekend, one Saturday the 25th at 4pm PT, and another on Sunday the 26th at 11am PT. We'll reiterate this information when we're a bit closer, and look forward to having you all test out the new content.

I hope everyone is excited for what's hitting with this summer's update(s) and I look forward to seeing you all there for testing.

-Wrel, Lead Designer

Jun 14, 2022

June 15, 2022 - Gifts of Summer (PC Update)

PlanetSide 2 - dsosa

All PC servers will come down for the following changes on Wednesday, June 15, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CEST). Downtime for this update is expected to last up to 3 hours.
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Splashdown in 3, 2, 1...

Summer events have landed on Auraxis. This year we'll be offering loads of double experience all through the summer, special items, and new directives!

Double Experience Schedule

Bask in the Auraxis sun and rack up that Double Experience all summer long!

June 17, 18, 19 - Double Experience FOR ALL
July 8, 9, 10 - Double Experience FOR ALL
August 5, 6, 7 - Double Experience FOR ALL

Daybreak All-Access Member's Double XP Schedule*

June 24, 25, 26 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS
July 29, 30, 31 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS
August 26, 27, 28 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS

*Interested in being a member? Click to learn more!

New Directives!

Summer Directives

This year we'll be running three, separate Summer Directives for two weeks at a time. The Summer 2022 - Beach Head directive begins right when the update goes Live, and will be available through June 29.

The first weekend of each Summer Directive will yield Double Experience for ALL! Catch the wave this June 17, 18, and 19!

Summertime Arsenal

This summer you'll have access to a variety of water-fueled weaponry.

Equip the Soldier Soaker sidearm (available by default) as a secondary option and hose down your opponents.

Water Balloons are available in the grenade slot for 1 Certification Point.

The hard-hitting Mega Soldier Soaker will drench your enemies with rapid-fire splash damage, and is available for unlock for 1000 Certs. Additional faction-specific variants are available in the Depot for 499 DBC.

These weapons are available for use during the summer event only.

Sales and Equipment on Sale!

Infantry Weapon Sale!

This Father's Day weekend, enjoy 40% off of Infantry Weapons! Available June 17, 18, and 19.

Amphibious Vehicle Cosmetics bundle - 1999 DBC

Break some waves with new amphibious vehicle cosmetics, and the Dive! vehicle horn, which plays different sounds above and below the water!

Returning Items

Mega Soldier Soakers, Heatwave Weapons, and various summer-themed equipment can be found once again under the Summer Depot banner.

Gifting

Have you ever wanted to send a shiny new weapon or cosmetic to that friend you painstakingly coaxed into fighting a perpetual war on Auraxis with you? So have we!

As of this update, you now have the ability to send a Gift to anyone on your friends list by selecting the "Gift" button found on most items and bundles in the Depot.

The recipient of your gift can find the item(s) in their notification screen, alongside an optional note.

This is a long-requested community feature, and we're happy to finally be able to bring it to you all.

Aerial Anomalies Return

For a limited time, the Aerial Anomalies event returns to Auraxis!

Once per continent, an Aerial Anomaly event will kick off, spawning "anomalies" periodically around the map, and removing the nanite cost on aircraft.

Rush to collect the "Tempest" provided by these Anomalies, and return to your faction's buoy to deposit it!

Bastion Fleet Carriers also act as drop-off locations for this event, so be sure to use them to change the tides of battle.

Lattice Adjustments

The following changes were made in the last update, but missed from the patch notes. These adjustments make Biolabs more of a bulwark on the lattice, and the Esamir changes allow for more map maneuverability from the southwestern Warpgate.

Amerish

Removed lattice link from Onatha North Gate to East Onatha Comm. Array.
Removed lattice link from Onatha North Gate to Onatha Southwest Gate.
Removed lattice link from Xelas North Gate to Xelas West Air Dock.
Removed lattice link from Xelas North Gate to Xelas South Bridge.
Removed lattice link from Xelas South Bridge to Xelas West Air Dock.

Hossin

Removed lattice link from Acan Southern Labs and East Acan Storage Depot.
Removed lattice link from Bitol Northern Outpost and Bitol Stockpile.
Removed lattice link from Zotz Agriculture Lab to Zotz Arboretum.

Indar

Removed lattice link from Saurva Overflow Depot to Saurva South Fortress.
Removed lattice link from Rashnu Watchtower to Rashnu Southern Pass.
Removed lattice link from Allatum Broadcast Hub to Allatum Research Lab.

Esamir

Added lattice link from Tapp Waystation to The Traverse.
Added lattice link from Frostfall Overlook to Terran BL-4 Crash Site.
Added lattice link from Spral Oasis to Jord Amp Station.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

HUD indicators now allow ally/enemy toggles for certain categories, and various bugs have been cleaned up.
Flak Attack and Skyfall on Auraxis missions now progress by dealing damage, instead of earning vehicle damage experience.
Added Soft Point Ammunition to the GD-22S.
Added Underbarrel Grenade and Smoke Launcher to the PSA-01 Diamondback.
Added Underbarrel Shotgun, Grenade, and Smoke Launcher to the AR-101.
The AE variant of the Artemis VX26 now has the attachments it was missing from the base weapon.
ANT's Deliverer Module no longer conflicts with Rival Combat Chassis.
ANT no longer displays two entries of the NS-A Horn.
Sniper Rifle resist type no longer damages Hardlight Barriers.
Fixed an issue where the Friendly Fire audio could spam suddenly on Oshur.
The radar dishes on Exodus Fleet Carriers no longer has missing textures.
Updated tooltip for Cortium Bombs.
Fixed LOD issues with the Reaver Dragonfly cosmetics.

Looking Forward

With the network performance issues that have been plaguing Connery past us, and the G15 errors few and far between, we can start talking about some of the fun summer updates we've got planned with a little more confidence. The gifting system going Live with this update is kind of a big deal in terms of a technological addition, and has been a requested feature for about as long as I can remember. Hopefully the folks who are looking to make use of it are a little happier with the addition. To look at what's coming down the pipe, the new water vehicle is just on the horizon, and Outfit Wars in a 1v1 capacity is getting pretty near as well. We'll talk about some of this in the next dev article, and share some insight into where we're headed. To the folks affected by the server troubles the past few months (and everyone else who had to hear about it,) thank you for bearing with us.

-Wrel, Lead Designer

Jun 13, 2022

Summer Fun in 2022!

PlanetSide 2 - dsosa

Time to soak in some Summer Fun with new summer directives, double experience weekends, amphibious vehicle cosmetics and a new item gifting system!

This year's Summer Fun event runs from June 15 - August 17. Check out the full details below!

Double Experience Schedule

Bask in the Auraxis sun and rack up that Double Experience all summer long!

June 17, 18, 19 - Double Experience FOR ALL
July 7, 9, 10 - Double Experience FOR ALL
August 5, 6, 7 - Double Experience FOR ALL

*Daybreak All-Access Member's Double XP Schedule

June 24, 25, 26 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS
July 29, 30, 31 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS
August 26, 27, 28 - Double Experience FOR MEMBERS

*Interested in being a member? Click to learn more!

Item Gifting

You will now be able to share the fun with your friends through item gifting! Depot items now have a "Gift" option that allows you purchase depot items for someone on your friend's list.

Summer Directives

Enjoy new rewards each month by completing Summer Directives. Check the schedule below!

June 15 - 29 - Summer Directive Part 1
July 6 - 20 - Summer Directive Part 2
August 3 - 17 - Summer Directive Part 3

All-new Amphibious Vehicle cosmetics!

Check out the new Summer Amphibious vehicle cosmetics! These fun cosmetics are available in the Amphibious Bundle located in the depot for a limited time!

Mega Soldier Soakers!

Splash your foes with the return of the Mega Soldier Soaker and Soldier Soaker sidearm. These cool weapons can only be used during the Summer event, ending August 17.

40% Off Infantry Weapons

Prepare for summer battles with discounted infantry weapons in the depot! This father's day weekend sale will run from June 17 - 19.

Stay cool this summer, soldier! See you planetside!