Mar 28, 2023

Mar. 29, 2023 - MAX rebalance, New Abilities, Server Perf

PlanetSide 2 - Mithril

All PC servers will be offline for the following update on Wednesday, March 29, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CET). The downtime for this update is expected to last up to 3 hours.
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Server Performance Improvements

In this update, we've made significant performance optimizations to NPCs that can be "interacted with" by the player. These interactable NPCs include terminals, vehicles, generators, conduits, and certain mission objectives – basically any NPC that requires you to press a button to ask it to do something. Previously these NPCs would query interaction requirements on any character in range, even ones that aren't intending to use them. This change is especially important when it comes to CTF conduits, which were also checking for line of sight (another costly check) at sometimes long distances. We still have areas to investigate further when it comes to the creation of characters on a zone, but these NPC changes address one of the major areas of focus we outlined in an earlier update.

A Very Serious April

This year, April Fools is cancelled. We're still bringing back previous years holiday items, but we're not happy about it. You'll find last year's Jester's Bundle, The Schnoz (which gives an EXTRA 20% bonus experience while worn,) and the new Gone Fishing Bundle in the Depot through Apr. 09.

In accordance with this very serious holiday, we're also issuing DOUBLE EXPERIENCE for ALL PLAYERS through Apr. 03.

Gone Fishing Bundle - 1499 DBC

Gone Fishing Profile Banner (All Factions)
Tacklebox Drop Pod (All Factions)
Fishing Hat (VS, NC, TR, NSO)

The new Fishing Hat and Tacklebox Drop Pod. Fishing system sold separately.

Faction-Specific Class Abilities

In this update, each faction receives one new class ability! In most cases, these are abilities that were available as prototypes during previous Campaigns, with balance adjustments and cleanup where needed.

Hermes Cloaking (VS Infiltrator only)
Provides a speed-enhancing cloak with added fall resistance to help you maneuver around the battlefield.

Rank 1: Cloak lasts for 6.5 seconds, increases sprint speed by 20%, and recharges in 13 seconds.
Rank 2: Cloak lasts for 7 seconds, increases sprint speed by 20%, and recharges in 12.5 seconds.
Rank 3: Cloak lasts for 7.5 seconds, increases sprint speed by 20%, and recharges in 12 seconds.
Rank 4: Cloak lasts for 8 seconds, increases sprint speed by 20%, and recharges in 11.5 seconds.
Rank 5: Cloak lasts for 8.5 seconds, increases sprint speed by 25%, and recharges in 11 seconds.

Demeter Veil (NC Heavy Assault only)
While active, the Demeter Veil reduces incoming damage to you and nearby allies for up to 6 seconds, but doesn't target allied MAX or Heavy Assaults.

Rank 1: Reduces damage by 25% for up to 6 seconds. Protects allies within 5 meters and regenerates to full over 14 seconds.
Rank 2: Reduces damage by 25% for up to 6 seconds. Protects allies within 5 meters and regenerates to full over 13 seconds.
Rank 3: Reduces damage by 25% for up to 6 seconds. Protects allies within 5 meters and regenerates to full over 12 seconds.
Rank 4: Reduces damage by 25% for up to 6 seconds. Protects allies within 5 meters and regenerates to full over 11 seconds.
Rank 5: Reduces damage by 25% for up to 6 seconds. Protects allies within 6 meters and regenerates to full over 10 seconds.

Triage Pulse (TR Combat Medic only)
A pulse of healing nanites washes over nearby allies, causing them to regenerate health over time, and immediately restoring health for critically injured allies.

Rank 1: Allies within 6 meters heal 60 health per second for 5 seconds. Allies below 100 health are healed for 100 health immediately. 25 second cooldown.
Rank 2: Allies within 6 meters heal 60 health per second for 5 seconds. Allies below 100 health are healed for 125 health immediately. 25 second cooldown.
Rank 3: Allies within 6 meters heal 60 health per second for 5 seconds. Allies below 150 health are healed for 125 health immediately. 25 second cooldown.
Rank 4: Allies within 6 meters heal 60 health per second for 5 seconds. Allies below 150 health are healed for 150 health immediately. 25 second cooldown.
Rank 5: Allies within 6 meters heal 60 health per second for 5 seconds. Allies below 200 health are healed for 150 health immediately. 25 second cooldown.

Repair Drone (NSO Engineer only)
NSO Engineers have the option to replace their turret with a loyal drone that will repair nearby mechanical targets. Enemies can destroy this drone.

Rank 1: Repairs 40 health per second to mechanical targets within 10 meters. 45 second cooldown on deployment.
Rank 2: Repairs 43 health per second to mechanical targets within 10 meters. 45 second cooldown on deployment.
Rank 3: Repairs 46 health per second to mechanical targets within 10 meters. 45 second cooldown on deployment.
Rank 4: Repairs 49 health per second to mechanical targets within 10 meters. 45 second cooldown on deployment.
Rank 5: Repairs 52 health per second to mechanical targets within 10 meters. 45 second cooldown on deployment.

Each faction has received new class abilities. There's probably a VS Infiltrator in this shot somewhere.

MAX Adjustments

The updates to MAX units below are, as a whole, meant to reduce the lethality and longevity of this equipment on the battlefield.

MAX units can no longer be revived
This is a major change that we'll be keeping a close eye on. Please continue to share thoughts and feedback after this change makes it into the wild.

Other MAX Adjustments

Ordnance Armor now properly reduces damage from Infantry Lock-ons (type 68) by 20%. This was previously 0% for Infantry Lock-ons and 40% for Infantry Rocket Launchers (resist type 34.)
MAX nanite cost from 450 to 350, now in parity with the Defector.
Headshot multiplier for most MAX weapons reduced from 2x to 1.5x
MAX units can no longer equip the Safeguard or Phylactery implants.
Defector's Time Bomb no longer kills the user, and instead inflicts high self-damage and momentary slow upon detonation.
Added new "Fallout Hardening" defensive slot that reduces incoming Orbital Strike damage by 11/14/17/22% and Burning damage by 50/60/70/75/80%.

NC-specific MAX Adjustments
Aegis Shield (NC MAX Ability)

While the shield is active, energy now drains at a rate of 40 per second.
Energy recharge rate from 150 per second to 80 per second.

Dev Note: These changes reduce the overall uptime of the Aegis Shield, and force more conscious management of the energy resource.

NCM1 Scattercannon

From 5x pellets at 130@8m - 50@20m
To 5x pellets at 100@8m - 50@20m
Refire rate from 460ms to 500ms

AF-34 Mattock

From 3x pellets at 112@15m - 92@50m
To 3x pellets at 112@15m - 84@40m

AF-41 Hacksaw

From 5x pellets at 75@8m - 50@15m
To 5x pellets at 75@5m - 40@15m

AF-23 Grinder

From 10x pellets at 50@8m - 35@20m
To 8x pellets at 50@8m - 35@20m

Vehicle Adjustments

Nimitz Reactor (NC Vanguard Defensive Slot)

A depleted shield no longer has a longer shield recharge time than the one caused by the normal damage delay, and is instead standardized at 6 seconds upon receiving any damage.
Shield health regenerated per second from 100 at all ranks to 100/150/175/200 at ranks 1-4.
Activating Forward Vanguard Shield, Fire Suppression, or Smoke Screen will restore 500 shield health immediately.

Dev Note: The changes here are meant to make Nimitz Reactor a more viable defensive slot option.

Perihelion (VS Lightning/Magrider Main Cannon)

Charge time is no longer infinite, and can now be held for up to 5 seconds before automatically firing.
This weapon still reaches a Stage 2 charge at 1 second, and a Stage 3 charge at 3 seconds.

JGX-12 (NC Vanguard Main Cannon)

Direct damage from 650 to 600.
Blast damage damage from 450 to 400.

JGX-11 (NC Lightning Main Cannon)

Direct damage from 700 to 500.
Indirect damage from 250 to 350.
Reload speed from 3.75sec. to 4sec.

Dev Note: The intention behind these changes are to bring the overall damage output further in line with the Vanguard and Lightning's AP cannons, while retaining the alpha damage advantage these weapons exemplify.

ESF Infantry Lock-on Resistances

ESF Infantry Lock-on resist (type 68) from -130 to -100. (Note: The Scythe was errantly at -150 resist, instead of the intended -130 prior to this update.)
Dervish Infantry Lock-on resist (typ 68) from -125 to -60.

Dev Note: This pushes ESF into two lock-ons to burning, instead of two shots to kill; and the Dervish can now receive three hits before burning, instead of two.

M14 Banshee (TR Mosquito Nosegun)

Extended Magazine size from 6/9/12/15 to 2/4/6/8 rounds.
Maximum blast damage from 150 to 100.

M30 Mustang AH (NC Reaver Nosegun)

Reduced Extended Magazine skill line ranks from 4 to 2. This skill line has been refunded due to the reduction in ranks and will need to be repurchased.
Maximum blast damage from 100 to 60.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

Fixed an issue with the Ancient Psykinetic Blade looking "bunched up" under certain conditions.
Fixed an issue preventing the Platoon Color picker from appearing when the dropdown is selected.
Fixed a pixel-wide separation of tiling textures that would appear at certain mip levels.
The first character on a new account can no longer skip the tutorial.
Health and shield numerics has been defaulted on for new installations.
Disruptor Ammunition's effect is no longer cloned on a weapon it is not equipped on, if you have it equipped on different weapon in the loadout.
While on the redeploy screen, spawn option updates no longer close the remote vehicle spawn window.

Mar 7, 2023

Mar. 08, 2023 - St. Patrick's Day Update

PlanetSide 2 - Blaster

All PC servers will be offline for the following update on Wednesday, March 8, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CET). The downtime for this update is expected to last up to 3 hours.
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Server Performance Progress

Work continues on resolving the server performance issues taking place during high-population hours, and even more so on Amerish. There are two main culprits we're investigating at the moment, the first is a character's "creation" in the zone, and the second has to do with NPCs running unnecessary checks in large areas.

For the first issue, we've noticed an unexpected amount of time being devoted to creating a character on a zone. In this case, "creating a character" refers to the act of a player warping to a zone for the first time (not the act of creating a character at the character create screen.) During our last telemetry capture, this was happening a little more than once per second as there tends to be a trickle of players into active combat zones during high-pop hours.

The second issue is that certain NPCs seem to be sweeping for nearby players over large areas, to determine whether certain interactions are valid. CTF NPCs in particular are among those we're looking into. Given that Amerish has the most CTF bases, and tends to be a popular continent in general, this could point to why performance seems to be worse there. This isn't confirmed just yet, but we're adding additional Telemetry instrumentation to this update to allow us to acquire more granular information in future captures.

TL;DR – Server performance continues to be a work-in-progress, and we have a few leads that we're actively looking into.

St. Patrick's Day 2023

From Mar. 07 through Mar. 19, the Wyrdwood Bundle, Green Fortune Bundle, Gold Lover's Bundle, and more St. Patrick's Day items return to the Depot, alongside the new offerings below!

New to the Depot
Jackpot Bundle - 2999 DBC
This bundle contains Jackpot weapons from previous years all in one place.

NS "Jackpot" Decimator (Common Pool Rocket Launcher)
NS-44 "Jackpot" Commissioner (Common Pool Sidearm)
"Jackpot" Cerberus (VS Sidearm)
TX2 "Jackpot" Emperor (TR Sidearm)
LA3 "Jackpot" Desperado (NC Sidearm)

St. Patrick's Day Bundle 2023 - 3999 DBC
Be the luckiest soldier on the field with this new LMG-laden bundle.

Golden Closer Decal (Outfit Decal)
Golden Clover Camo (Common Pool Camo)
VE-H "Jackpot" Maw (VS LMG)
MGR-L1 "Jackpot" Promise (NC LMG)
MG-H1 "Jackpot" Watchman (TR LMG)
"Jackpot" XMG-155 (NSO LMG)

The Jackpot LMG lineup.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

AP30 Shredder gunfire audio now plays correctly while firing single shots, and no longer gets into a bad state when shooting in full audio after firing single shots.
Especially low render distance settings no longer cause a bright circular area to appear in the center of the screen.
Unusable mission reward notification no longer appears for players who had banked rewards prior to the overview screen changes.
Fixed an issue where map timers could appear stuck at 0:00.
Fixed an issue where the CTF base capture progress counter could get stuck in a low opacity state on the map screen.
Using the search bar in the depot now also gives you the option to search for items within a specific category.
While on the Voice and Chat screen, pressing the Enter key no longer opens the smaller chat box window.
Increased the range at which Mandibles will appear on the ANT when viewed from a distance.
Updated the low ammo warning sound on the AF-6 Shadow, HSR-1, Nyx VX31, Warden, GD Guardian, AMR-66, DMR-99, and Eidolon VE33.
NSO suppressed weapon audio volume and falloff should now be more consistent with other factions' suppressed weapons.
ADVX Mako sniper rifle no longer plays incorrect audio while suppressed.

Feb 7, 2023

Feb. 08, 2023 - Love Letter Update

PlanetSide 2 - Blaster

All PC servers will be offline for the following update on Wednesday, February 8, at 6:00am PT (3:00pm CET). The downtime for this update is expected to last up to 2 hours.
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Nvidia DLSS

You'll now have access to Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology through the Graphics Settings menu. DLSS uses AI to enhance framerate performance on DLSS-enabled Nvidia cards.
Learn more here: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/technologies/dlss/

AMD FSR

We've also integrated AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution into the game, accessible in the Graphics Settings menu. AMD FSR can improve framerates using cutting edge upscaling technology, and can be used on any graphics card PlanetSide 2 supports.
Learn more here: https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/fidelityfx-super-resolution

Anti-Cheat

In this update, we beef up anti-cheat measures in a new system that was introduced in January. We've plugged some holes and adjusted the tuning parameters of the system to catch and kick instigators more quickly. It should be noted that this is not a replacement for reporting poor behavior, and doing so via the in-game commands or cheater@planetside2.com helps a great deal.

Server Performance

With this update, we'll be releasing new "profiling zones" to the server, which will expose more performance information. These changes come with some additional network baggage, so we've made it easy to replace the zones with the old ones, if the performance impact becomes too costly. We shouldn't need the profiling zones to remain active for too long to get the information we need, which is the next step in further diagnosis of the ongoing server performance issues.

API Updates

Team member MangoBean has been hard at work cleaning up the Census API and providing more access to third-party developers. Missing collections from new items, new vehicles, continents and facilities, experience events related to CTF, new achievements, directive trees, and missing loadouts for NSO classes are some examples of information that's now surfaced. More experience events have also been added, allowing third party developers to track things like vehicle gunner kill assists and other shared vehicle experience.

Reflex/ACOG Rework

All reflex sights and ACOG (typically 3.4x to 4x optics) have been reworked to have consistent reticle sizing for any reticle of the same type. For example: All Red Dot reflex sights will have the same size dot as other Red Dot reflex sights, all Chevron reticle sights will have the same size as other Chevron reticle sights, etc.

Previously, all optics could vary in size based on the platform they were equipped upon. For example, one LMG's reticles could be larger than another LMG's reticles, and the most dramatic differences could often be seen between sidearms and primary weapons. That should no longer be the case.

Additionally, you now have the ability to change the color of reflex and ACOG reticles from the Settings menu, and you can even hide the reticle entirely!

Shown: An example of the reticle color tinting on a (traditionally blue) NC reticle.

Gender Change Token

Auraxians around the world can now change their character's gender by unlocking a token in the Depot.
Voice packs you own will automatically allow access to an "equivalent" voice pack on the gender you're swapping to.

Note: Some voice packs don't have one-for-one conversions across gender, and have instead been packaged alongside similar voice packs. Example: The "Tough" Female has been packaged with the "Gruff" Male voice. All voice packs have been repackaged in this way, and in many cases renamed.

Gender Change tokens will be available for 1 Cert through February and March, and increase to 1000 Certs beyond that.

Remote Vehicle Spawn

We've re-enabled the ability to deploy vehicles from the map remotely at any base that is not contested.

Dev Note: The spawn system changes toward the end of last year mostly achieved our design goals with the pacing of deployment, and we feel comfortable enough to return this feature to the game in the form stated above.

Character Slot Increase

Increased the total number of character slots for Members by one, and increased the total number of purchasable slots by 2. This brings the total number of available character slots per account to 16.

NSO Faction Colors

All NSO-specific weapons and attachments now take on the accent colors of the faction they're associated with.

Example of the updated NSO weapon colors for a character aligned to the Terran Republic.

No-Deploy Zones

Sunderer to Sunderer no-deploy exclusion radius from 65m to 50m.
Tech Plants on Amerish and Hossin now use Indar's no-deploy zone placement, as this change was well-received during the Indar test run.
Warpgates now show no-deploy areas.
Colossus can no longer deploy in a no-deploy zone.

Capture Mechanics

Adjacent regions now only count as "contested" when a timer is active in that region, or in the case of a Conduit Outpost, when a flag has been captured.
Capture the Conduit Repos and Conduits can no longer be interacted with if you have no secure lattice link, and additional messaging now conveys as much to the player.

Dev Note: This solves an issue where a single player could control a single capture point in a four-point base, and prevent the capture of the next base in the lattice until someone redeploys to deal with them, and has the benefit of making it clear on the map when a base is actively contested or not.

Continent Benefits

Continent benefits have been removed for the time being. This includes Indar and Esamir's benefits, which have been non-operational for many years.

Dev Note: These benefits don't currently act as strong motivations to capture a continent, which defeats their intended purpose. We're disabling these benefits to tie up some loose threads in the current experience, but aren't opposed to bringing back map-persistent benefits in some form if there are good suggestions out there.

Mission System

The Overview screen has been removed, in line with the changes we've made to auto-claiming missions.
Additionally, the following new Missions have been added to the daily pool:

Concealed Chaos (Black Market) - Earn 500 experience while cloaked.
Clandestine Operative (Black Market) - Earn experience by gathering intel or sabotaging enemy facilities.
Conduit Control (Nanite Systems) - Capture a Conduit Facility.

Valentine's Day Event (Feb. 08 - Feb. 14)

The Depot has received a bundle containing a lovely new NSX Amaterasu variant, as well as the return of Valentine's Day offerings from previous years.

Sweet Nothings Bundle - 1499 DBC

Queen of Hearts (NSX Amaterasu variant)
Love Letter Decal (Usable as Outfit Decal)
Sugar Tile Camo (VS/NC/TR/NSO)

Love stings, when it stabs all the bad things.
New Directive - A new directive makes an appearance for the duration of the event, rewarding 2000 ISO-4 and the "Huggable" title upon completion.

New Missions - Matchmaker missions have made their way back to Auraxis. You can complete up to two of these missions per day, and earn extra progress through the event directive.

Balance Adjustments

Impulse Grenade (Light Assault Grenades)

Nanite cost from 50 to 25.

D7 Hummingbird (NSO Defector)

Improved lock-on acceleration and projectile turn rate.
Increased lifespan from 4sec. to 6sec.

Dev Note: The changes here make the Hummingbird more capable of chasing down aircraft who've strayed too close.

AR-ARX Maxwell (NSO Directive Assault Rifle)

Maximum damage range from 10m to 15m.
Minimum damage from 100 to 112.
Magazine size from 26 to 30.
Reserve Ammo from 208 to 210.

Dev Note: The damage bump helps alleviate the tradeoff penalty incurred by the higher rate of fire, and the Maxwell has received the AR-100's recent magazine size buff as well.

Disruptor Ammunition

This ammunition type has been standardized across most weapons.
Each weapon has 20% of its direct damage converted into the weapon's disruption effect.
A struck target's maximum shield and ability energy is reduced by 0.4% for every point of damage converted (this effect takes place after the initial bullet damage is dealt.)
In each case (aside from the Thumper, which remains unchanged,) this ammunition type has received a buff. Previously, most weapons provided a flat 10% drain of maximum shield and energy.
Strings related to this ammunition type now also better describe the actual effect, and references to unused legacy benefits have been removed.
Lastly, this ammunition type was providing only the passive drawbacks (and no benefits) for the following weapons: Tempest, NC9 A-Tross, GD Guardian, AF-6 Shadow. Congratulations to anyone who has been playing on hard mode since the Arsenal Update.

Percent drains per shot for each weapon are listed below:

NC9 A-Tross drains 16% per shot.
MGR-A1 Vanquisher drains 16% per shot.
AF-6 Shadow drains 27% per shot.
The Executive drains 18% per shot.
Tempest drains 13% per shot.
GD Guardian drains 20% per shot.

New Depot Items

Fuzzbuket's NSO Defector helmet, "Trash Eater" is now available in the Depot.
Binaryc0der's NSO "Response" armors are now available for Light Assault, Heavy Assault, Medic, and Engineer. The existing Infiltrator Response armor has received some visual updates as well.

Fuzzbuket's "Trash Eater" helmet on the NSO Defector.

Big Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where camouflage could appear incorrect on remote clients. The days of seeing a Prowler caked in bright yellow, instead of glorious metallic pink, are gone.
Added automatic removal of "stale squads" that last longer than a few days. If you've seen a "squad leader" that doesn't actually exist (sometimes appearing as a dorito at some obscure place in the world with no body attached to it,) that's what we're referring to. We've seen instances of these stale squads staying for longer than 20 days, in some cases, and would previously be cleared organically when a server was restarted.
Sunderer and Galaxy now display their ammo and repair icons on the minimap once again. In addition, Deliverer ANTs now show an ammo icon, Lodestar Galaxies now show their deployed state, Lockon Jammer Galaxies show a unique icon, and Corsair resupply and proximity healing are now also shown as map icons.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

Removed the "Member Early Access" category from the Depot (it hasn't been updated since 2014ish) and the items therein have been made purchasable by all players.
Chat now displays a channel suggestion prompt in the text field, instead of an empty box.
Toggling the ignore incoming tells function now requires you to relog to take effect.
Clicking on an open character slot now begins the character creation phase, instead of waiting for you to press the Create Character button.
Updated text size and verbiage of the All Access Member popup.
Speculative fix for edge cases where you could be kicked from a squad/platoon, but still see their waypoints and chat communication.
Fixed an animation issue where player models would "pop" when a player enters their idle animation from a locomotion state.
Fixed an issue where Infravision would highlight yourself after exiting a vehicle.
Infravision implant's description now conveys that you cannot see cloaked targets.
Jackrabbit's reflex sight reticle no longer becomes invisible when the user cloaks.
Fixed an animation issue caused by crouching while reloading the NS-61 Emissary and variants.
Fixed rechamber animations for the ADVX//Mako, Ghost, Parallax, V10, and XM98.
The Year of the Tiger decal no longer tints Auraxium Armor color red when worn.
All Heavy Assault shields and Combat Medic abilities have been enabled for underwater use.
The "roots" of underwater seaweed should no longer sway with the rest of the foliage.
Anti-Aliasing is now available to players on Low graphics quality settings.
Added frame housing to the Endeavor reflex optics.
Updated messaging in the voice pack dropdown for unowned voice packs.
Receiving a headshot as an NSO character now uses the same audio as receiving a headshot on a non-NSO character, for consistency.
Fixed an issue with the Dive! horn not playing correct audio in first person while equipped on a ground vehicle on land.

Looking Forward

Work on the construction revamp is well underway as we develop the tech needed for updates to modules, clean up problems with existing assets, and develop new placeable objects, like the Command Center below. We've also taken feedback on the design into consideration and amended some points of execution, like the ANT's harvesting capabilities. Instead of chunking bits of cortium that then need to be scooped up, we'll stick with the existing mining lasers, and make some adjustments to the cortium veins to make them more interactive. The current design is to add spawning weakpoints that can accelerate harvesting or give additional resources when targeted. Concerns about the need to constantly replace modules have been heard as well, and we can easily increase how long basic modules stick around before needing to be replaced. It's still early days with the development of this update, and we'll share more as we get further along.
-Wrel, Lead Designer

Shown: The WORK IN PROGRESS Command Center construction placeable next to an Infantry Tower and ANT for scale. The Command Center has a multi-story combat interior, and is meant to be the capstone of a well-developed base.