Greetings, Operatives. Prepare yourselves for the second episode of First Assault’s content updates. This week Operatives will engage the enemy in our brand new Demolition Mode map – Geofront. We’re also introducing the new MG: MG36-A machine gun, plus new skins for weapons and Paz. Review the patch notes below.

Geofront – Demolition

For fans of the series, this map appears in the second season of Stand Alone Complex. An interesting addition to this map are the secret ventilators and cover spots for extra stealth. We’re interested to see how our Operatives strategize their tactical play, especially because there are so many options for routes.





MG: MG36-A - This machine gun can carry up to 100 rounds of ammo. It’s ability to fire without stopping makes up for its low accuracy.



AK47: ARCTIC - Put your enemies on ice with this Arctic skin for the AK47.

MP5K-S3: GRASSHOPPER - Put a spring in your step with this bright green skin.


PAZ: DESERT TEAM - Paz’s new skin is suitable for riot work or guerilla warfare.

• Increased stats for 44MG Pistol. Accuracy [33 -> 46] / Stability [21 -> 23]
  
• Crosshairs gather about 50% faster after being spread out.

• Increased GP & EXP gain rate
  
• Updated Daily Reward drop rates

• Added update notice window
  
• Party member’s nickname and their mini-map icon now appear bright green
  
• Added /w to the Whisper cheat key (Currently only supports /r)
  
• Players now get a message in their inbox when a GP/EXP boost expires

• Fixed text cutting off in certain languages
  
• Localization text fixes
  
• Fixed display issues with the Dual and Drum magazines
  
• Fixed an issue with Tachikoma damage registering incorrectly with pistols

Greetings, Operatives. This is Jung Eik Choi, here again with our second Q&A featuring Maven. We’re really happy our Operatives are enjoying First Assault, and we appreciate all of the feedback during the Early Access phase.

We’re also very excited about adding new Operatives to Section 9, the latest being Maven, an original character created by our development team.



Where does the name Maven come from? Does it have a special meaning? -- Trivi
The name itself doesn’t have a special meaning, it was chosen because our team liked it best. At first we considered Origa, after the Russian singer who sang the soundtrack for the original anime, however, we ultimately preferred Maven.

What’s the inspiration & thoughts that went behind creating Maven?-- SanKantsu
While designing a new skill, we were thinking of gameplay that manipulates the enemies’ sight. We wanted to add a new operative with a skill that manipulates the enemies’ sight, as we thought it would add a new level to gameplay and complement the existing skills available. From there, we designed Maven’s look and character to suit her skill.

What went in the design and creation process to create her for the game? -- zKZ3R0
As a team we sit down and brainstorm the background details of the Operative. Based on the background of the Operative, we begin to flesh out the design through concept art. Working closely with the creators of the anime, we discuss the concept and receive approval. The new Operative is then designed in 3D modeling, which eventually is added to the game.



How did Maven get on Section 9's radar? How was she recruited? What is her service record? -- Blacksun388
Maven was originally a soldier in the military, and her combat skills come close to that of Motoko. This caught Aramaki’s attention and he decided to recruit her to Section 9.

Will you add more outfit options for Maven and the other characters?-- Zeithri
We are currently designing more outfits for all of the Operatives. We hope to reveal these as soon as possible.

Is the Cyberwall supposed to stop Batou rockets? Does Ishikawa's sentry laser show through when it's behind the wall?-- Atoms
The barrier was designed to only distort the enemies’ sight and hide the user and their allies. Therefore, the barrier can’t block projectiles such as bullets, rockets and grenades. Also, lasers will penetrate through the barrier.

Operatives,

We have been made aware that there is currently a bug with the newly released Public Security Pack which is preventing some users for receiving their in-game items. We are working on a fix but will be disabling the pack in the meantime.

Don’t worry if you purchased the pack and encountered this error. Simply send us a ticket here: https://support-firstassault.nexon.net/hc/en-us/requests/new

And once we verify your purchase we will gift you all the in-game items which did not get correctly distributed.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

The First Assault Team

New to our Steam DLC line-up with over $25 of in-game content! Augment your experience with the new Batou and Saito Skins as well as an Operative License to unlock your favorite operative.

Purchase The Public Security Pack during the Steam Lunar New Year Sale and you will also be granted free access to play First Assault and 25% OFF on the purchase price on Steam.



Public Security Early Access Pack contents:
- 1 bonus character unlock coupon
- Batou: Fireteam skin
- Saito: Stalker skin

We’re happy to announce that First Assault now features Steam Trading Cards!

Experienced Steam users will already be aware of the benefits these cards bring, but if First Assault is your first game featuring collectible card trading, read on below for more information.


There are a couple of ways to earn First Assault Steam Trading Cards, which represent nine iconic characters from the game including the Major, Batou, Togusa and more.

You earn cards by simply playing the game as you normally do. The more time you play, you will be working towards earning another random free First Assault Steam Trading Card as a bonus. Typically you will only earn about half the number of in-game cards through playing which is where trading comes in! Operatives can barter with their friends to complete their sets or head over to the Steam Marketplace to trade with other players.

Steam Marketplace: http://steamcommunity.com/market/



There are special Foil versions of each card that are extra rare. If you collect all 9 Foil Cards, you can get the exclusive foil badge.


With all 9 First Assault Trading Cards collected, you will be able to craft a First Assault Steam badge to proudly display on your profile! These badges come with some Steam-specific perks, such as raising your profile level, unlocking backgrounds, and of course, the highly coveted chat emotes featuring each Section 9 Operative’s personal Cyberskill.



Every time you craft a First Assault badge from 9 cards, you’ll level up your badge.



Your operative training on Steam Trading Cards is now complete. Now dive into the action and augment your Steam experience!

We will be performing a scheduled maintenance on February 4, 2016 at 7:00 AM Pacific (10:00 AM Eastern, 4:00 PM CET). We anticipate the maintenance to last approximately 3 hours, concluding around 10:00 AM Pacific (1:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM CET).

Please note that the estimated length of time for each maintenance is subject to change without notification.

TIME:
Thursday, February 4, 2016

Pacific: 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Eastern: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
CET: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Changes and Updates:

- Fixed an issue where an S25-R weapon attachment was available when it shouldn’t have.
- Shader graphic optimizations.

Thank you for your patience during the update.

-The First Assault Team-

Greetings Operatives,

We will take the game service offline today from 4 PM - 6 PM Pacific (7 PM - 9 PM Eastern, 1 AM - 3 AM CET) to address server crashing issues.

Sincerely,
-The First Assault Team-

Greetings, Operatives! Thanks for providing your feedback during the Early Access phase of First Assault. In this patch update, we are implementing improvements to the game based off of popular requests we have received from the community. Please continue to leave suggestions on our forums for further improvements. 

Also, dive in-game and receive +30% GP after every match from JAN 28th to FEB 4th! Keep sharpening those skills and level up, Operatives!


BUG FIXES

Adjusted Enemy Hit Boxes –

• Differentiated hitboxes between all enemies.
• Size of the collision volume has been readjusted.
• Head and other parts were expanded to be bigger than before.
• Re-adjusted areas between real modeling and collision volumes.
• Two more areas, of hands and feet, were added.

As you can see from this image, the biggest adjustments to the hitboxes have been made to the head, hands and feet. The head, specifically, is an area where we received a lot of community feedback and we’ve made efforts to enlarge the size to better support player expectations when aiming down the sights. We’d love to hear continued feedback on these changes as we strive to make improvements throughout the game.

• Party system re-enabled
• Added user ping display on in-game scoreboard (TAB)  
• Added server and version display
• Adjusted respawn parameters and locations for most maps
• Fixed issue of being able to plant bombs in-between crevices
• Changed conditions for room searches
• Adjusted Dive Match starting conditions
• UI had been added that shows if an EXP or GP bonus is active
• Adjusted popup text for recruitment
• Corrected UI popups when equipping a character skin
• Added curse filter option to chat*
• Added keyboard location of keys in settings (i.e. L-Ctrl, L-Shift)
• Added description of Room Number search function
• Adjusted notifications when obtaining an Operative License
• Included an ending message for tutorials
• Added weapon manufacturer mark in the armory and customization screen

*Important: With the addition of the chat filter option, users' options (Option.ini) will be force changed to Default.

EVENTS

•          Added reward for Maven Welcome Event

We will be performing a scheduled maintenance on January 28, 2016 at 7:00 AM Pacific (10:00 AM Eastern, 4:00 PM CET). We anticipate the maintenance to last approximately 3 hours, concluding around 10:00 AM Pacific (1:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM CET).

Please note that the estimated length of time for each maintenance is subject to change without notification.

TIME:
Thursday, January 28, 2016

Pacific: 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Eastern: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
CET: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Thank you for your patience during the update.

-The First Assault Team-

Whether you are snowed in or not...

Accept your free gift before it expires on Monday the 25th!
Stay inside this weekend and enjoy 6 free EXP Bonus items.