Jun 9, 2021

[Stories] Guiding star: Rain will wash the traces away (Part 4)

Crossout - XO_Team

You can read the previous part here.

The Wasteland met Foxy with an unusual phenomenon — dark gray sky and heavy rain. Sand and dirt in large lumps stuck to the wheels of her armoured car, causing it to often slip and slow down. Out of helplessness, the girl often hit the dashboard, afraid of losing time and missing something important in her investigation. One of the rear wheels was so badly covered in dirt that it doubled in size and became very slippery. Trying to cross a small hill, the armoured vehicle stopped in place. The wheels rolled underneath and did not move the car forward. Being even angrier, Foxy hit the iron again and let out a quiet cry. The girl abruptly shut down the engine and lowered her face on the steering wheel, tossing her injured hand on something resembling a glove compartment.

— I need to calm down. How am I going to deal with all this if the first little difficulties piss me off?

A moment later, the girl felt a cool and damp little nose touching the back of her palm, followed by a tiny, rough tongue. The pain and doubts immediately began to subside.

— Thanks, Bunny — Foxy said to her rat, sniffing her nose and not lifting her head.

When the scout’s hand stopped hurting, she stroked the animal, running a few strokes over its still coat. Then the girl finally came to her senses and looked around.

— You don’t think I’m going to let us all down, do you? — the girl smiled at the pet.

The rain no longer drummed on the roof, but only occasionally reminded of itself, with rare drops rolling on the windows. The dark views from the window did not inspire the girl’s optimism, but the fire of the desire to find Lloyd and get revenge was still smoldering in her heart. By activating the optical sight module and looking into the glasses, Foxy examined the surroundings. Usually, the yellow sand was now brown mud, and the rocks darkened due to the rain and the gloomy sky. It seemed that the entire environment merged into a single lump of dirt, in which there was nothing for an eye to cling to. However, Foxy’s sniper instinct didn’t allow her to take her eyes off the sight until everything around her had been investigated.

Behind another small hill, the girl saw almost a piece of metal that almost didn’t stand out in the overall picture. Frowning her eyebrows, she left the cabin and inspected the chassis of the car. In a moment, the seriousness on her face changed to hope. Taking a crowbar with a red handle from the trunk, the girl cleaned wheels of wet sand, returned to the cabin and started the armoured car. The faithful pet jumped on her shoulder. The wheels rolled with even more force, picking up dirt again, but the blue-eyed scout no longer gave vent to her emotions and was able to overcome the rebellious hill. Now the goal was tangible.

— Bunny, stay inside — said Foxy to her hand rat and stepped out of the cabin near a pile of iron that used to be an armoured car.

The distorted remains had melted holes around its edges, and the cabin was deformed so that it was impossible to get inside or see the contents. The girl pulled out the radio and continued walking around the remains.

— Nest, this is bird — said the scout quietly, straightening her red hair and exhaling a cloud of steam.

— Foxy, I asked you to change the callsigns.

— I have some important news, Ivy. East of the Valley, I found a wrecked armoured car. It’s got horrible holes in it with what looks like melted edges.

— They rarely use energy weapons here. Did anyone survive?

— Judging by the damage, no. The cabin doesn’t look familiar to me — it looks like “Trucker”, but at the same time it reminds me more of a... Train car? There’s also a rather strange module of an unknown purpose. I’ve never seen anything like it. But I think that I’ve seen most of these parts before.

— Right now, we don’t have enough people to send them to look into these remains.

Without interrupting the air, Foxy continued the inspection and only now saw traces of yellow and black paint under the mud on the armoured car.

— Ivy... There’s a bomb drawing on the door.

—Scavengers?! Their armoured vehicles are very solid.

— I don’t understand who would need to destroy a vehicle like that. Especially someone who has energy weapons.

— They could fight with anyone, Foxy. Judging by your coordinates, there’s a Scavenger base nearby — right next to the Ship Graveyard. Actually, me and SCAR AB had some business to discuss.

— I’ll check on him, but then I’ll need to slightly deviate from the northeast course.

— Now it’s your first clue, — Ivy said, trying to make her friend feel optimistic. — Be careful.

— I always am — Foxy smiled — talk to you later.

The scout hid her walkie-talkie and tried to examine the car’s tread mark, hoping to understand where it came from. But it was impossible because of the rain that has passed recently. Then the girl returned to her car, her furry pet sitting on the hood. Foxy took it in her arms, put it on her shoulder and returned to the Scavenger’s car to examine it once again. Gradually, her face grew more gloomy.

— Something very strange is going on here, Bunny. If it had been the Ravagers, they wouldn’t destroy an armoured car like that, and there would’ve been a madman with a wiped memory hanging around.

Foxy ran her hand along the edge of one of the holes on the vehicle’s hull.

— I’ve already seen similar melted holes on the armoured vehicles — when the metal freezes as if it had been turned into water. It’s very similar to the weapons that are created and used by Lloyd.

The girl with the pet returned to her transport, and, having taken out the map, she calculated the way towards the Scavenger base. Usually the road wouldn’t take much time, but the weather made its adjustments. The thunder rumbled, and the rain in the Valley poured with even greater force.

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels:

Jun 7, 2021

[Announcement]New features of certain engines and new legendary parts production

Crossout - XO_Team

Hello!

Today we would like to share, which perks of the engines will be changed, how exactly they are going to be changed as well as clarify information on the production of legendary parts from the next season.

We remind you that all the new features described in the news are not final and may be changed before they are introduced into the game or may not make it into the game at all.

Perks of engines

As we mentioned earlier, with the next update it is planned to change the perks of certain engines. We’d like to note that this will not affect all epic engines: “Cheetah” and “Golden eagle” will preserve their perks unchanged. How will “Hot red”, “Colossus” and “Oppressor” change?

Hot red

A new perk of this engine will make your armoured vehicle on wheels as mobile as possible: as long as the engine is not destroyed, the reverse speed of your vehicle will be 60% of its normal speed.

Colossus

The updated “Colossus” will definitely appeal to all fans of durable and reliable cars! Its new perk will increase the durability of all chassis mounted on the armoured vehicle by 20%.

Oppressor

The mechanics of the new perk for this engine will remain the same and will depend on your speed. But its effect will definitely appeal to all rotary weapons enthusiasts: at the speed of 80 km/h, the speed of weapons rotation will be increased by 100%.

Production of legendary parts of the new season

Previously, we announced that new legendary parts from the next season will only be available for production while the season is active. But this does not mean that the recipes for the production of these parts will be lost forever, and access to them will never be opened again.

We plan to return access to the production of these parts as a part of in-game events. This can be implemented, for example, through rewards for participating in an event. One thing is certain: in the future you will be able to get access to the production of these parts after the season ends. Also, if you haven’t had time to participate in the past seasons, the recipes of the selected parts from those seasons may also appear as rewards.

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels:

Jun 3, 2021

[Developer blog] New information about the upcoming season (part 3)

Crossout - XO_Team

Hello, survivors!

We continue to share the newest information on the upcoming new season.

You can familiarize yourself with the second part of the blog about the new season here.

Today we are going to discuss a couple of new parts and important information on changes in the production of parts of legendary rarity from this season.

We remind you that all the new features described in the “Developer blog” are not final and may be changed before they are introduced into the game or may not make it into the game at all. This applies not only to information about possible unique features of new parts, but also to the appearance of the parts themselves.

Epic weapon reload booster

This device is a direct continuation of the “special” booster from the previous blog. The difference is only in its size and effectiveness: the “epic” rarity already hints that the weapons will reload even faster with it.

Light epic wheel

Earlier, some of the players asked us: when will the light epic wheel appear in the game? Now it’s time to introduce it!

The wheel is lighter in weight than the already familiar “Bigfoot” and “Hermit”, but its durability is also significantly lower.

But the most interesting thing is its perk. As you already know, the game has enough parts, whose perks give the maximum bonuses after reaching a certain speed. So, the perk of the new wheel will reduce the speed requirements for activating bonuses in such parts.

Suppose you have a “Nidhogg” shotgun. Its park achieves maximum efficiency at a speed of 80 km/h. And with these wheels you can achieve the same effect at a speed of, say, 50 km/h (the exact value is given as an example only).

And how much the requirements will be reduced will depend on the amount of such wheels among all other chassis installed on your vehicle.

What was the part from the cover of the previous devblog?

Most of you guessed correctly: it is a structural part / new bumper. Though, it is worth saying that ideas and assumptions about “a plow with a built-in weapon” looked really curious.

Changes in the production of legendary parts from the new season

We would like to note once again that the change described below applies only to the parts of the legendary rarity and only from the future season. The parts that are already in the game will not be affected.

In the new season, you will still be able to open recipes for the production of new parts, regardless of whether you have purchased a battle pass or play without it. The main difference will be that you will be able to craft new parts of legendary rarity only while the new season is active.

This means that until the season is over, you can craft as many new parts of legendary rarity as you like. But when it is completed, the recipes for the production of these parts will become unavailable. Already crafted parts can be bought or sold on the market without any problem — this will remain unchanged.

We would like to note that unlocked recipes for “special” and “epic” rarity parts will always be available, even after the end of the season.

So feel free to craft more new legendary parts “in advance”. In the future, you will most likely be able to sell them on the in-game market and earn additional profit!

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels:

Jun 1, 2021

[Stories] Guiding star: Touching the underside (Part 3)

Crossout - XO_Team

You may check out the second part here.

The turret of the combat-deady grenade launcher turned towards the rusty armoured car. The shells broke out its black barrels with a predatory whistle, and a few seconds later there was an explosion — a tsunami of fire and shrapnel swept across the deserted range. After glancing at the flying tire, Seeker Ochre listened to a rumbling echo. There was no need to worry that the noise would attract someone’s attention — the Nomads chose the most remote places to test their weapons.

— It’s been a long time since I saw you working, Jeff. What do we have here? Rate of fire, running caliber, perfect handling at medium range… Have you really reached the top of your craftsmanship?

Ochre approached the figure wrapped in a faded robe. The chief gunsmith of the Nomads was already standing on the proving ground next to the experimental target. He concentrated on studying the gaps in a half-destroyed hull, assessing the firepower of the development.

— Not for me to judge— Jeff didn’t react to the question right away. — The device is not ready yet. I’ll make it lightweight, reliable and quick to manufacture. And I will send such weapons to all the wandering Sanctuaries. Then the Lunatics will stop bothering us, I hope.

Ochre looked back at Jeff’s development — a double-barrelled grenade launcher patiently waited for the master’s hand in position.

— What do you mean? Did you run into any of the gangs?

— There was one... incident, — Jeff muttered. — The truth is that the Nomads have become more vulnerable against the uninitiated. All we want is to preserve the peace of the disappeared world, and sometimes it makes us forget about the danger.

Ochre curiously listened to the gunsmith. Very few managed to learn anything specific about the way of thinking, the worldview, and especially about the fears of Nomads. Apparently, Jeff decided to make an exception for the Seeker, but instead of gratitude, she suddenly felt anxious.

— How bad is it?

— The Lunatics are not our main problem — the gunsmith shook his head. In the end, their pathetic life is just a short leap from hatred to oblivion. That day we repelled the attack, forcing them to turn around. Much worse is what turned out later.

Jeff turned his face covered by a gruesome leather mask, toward the Seеker. It washed the human traits away: from beneath the folds of the shabby turban, it looked like a glance of a dried-up millennia-old lizard. An eye with a thorn was visible through the crack of the mask — he stared at Ochre without blinking.

— I’ve known you a long time, child of the Fallen Star. And I understand what your mission means for everyone who survived Crossout. I think you should be prepared for the upcoming events. Come with me.

Following Jeff, the Seeker headed for a complex of nearby buildings. Apparently, it used to be the range’s control centre, and now the Nomads have stayed in its empty walls. Inside, Ochre slowed her pace: the barred windows barely provided any light, and the equally sullen corridors were twisting ahead. Nomads with shapeless shadows slid over them, as if not noticing the guest.

When the door of the former control room appeared ahead, Ochre’s eyes already got used to the darkness. Having barely crossed the threshold, the Seeker saw the square workbench of another weapon — it looked naked without the crowning barrel on top. There were two craftsmen working on the shutter mechanism.

— This is the first prototype,— Jeff nodded, intercepting Ochre’s gaze. — We never liked to spill blood. But there is nothing more important than our purpose, and we will protect the ruins of civilization from the encroachments of the fools until the very end. The new weapon will serve us well. But it’s not why I brought you here.

Having passed the tables with piles of blueprints, Ochre found herself in the center of a hall. Here, under the bright lights from the lamps, separated from other things and tools, laid the fragments of a strange design.

— Do you know whose drone it is? — Jeff asked.

Ochre shrugged, studying the remnants of the device.

— We took it down a couple hours before the Lunatics’ attack. No one would have remembered this incident if one of us hadn’t gone missing. He didn’t die of visceral anger, didn’t hide in the Wasteland, but perished right in the thick of the battle.

Jeff became silent, but soon continued in a nonchalant tone. His voice, muffled by the mask, vibrated hoarsely.

— Poor brother had not lived to see the Ascension. But thanks to this machine, we know how his journey ended. The drone, of course, was damaged by the hit, but it could still be operated with the recording device. We’ve recovered the last few minutes. Do you want to take a look?

Jeff turned to the blinking panel and played the recording. A blurry image of a sand quarry flashed on the screen. The camera shaking in the wind captured the kevlar pods of the Nomads’ wandering “isle”. Despite the digital noise, the neon armoured car and a fighter located nearby were clearly visible.

— The vehicle of the eastern clan... The Syndicate, isn’t it? — Ochra squinted. – Were they following you? How did they figure out the route of the Sanctuary?

— My job is to keep the peace in the Wasteland and hide the underside of reality from prying eyes. Yours is to gather information about everyone living in the Valley. I thought you were going to tell me why the Syndicate knows our secret paths and how they dare to use us in their attempts to access the wisdom of the world.

Ochre waited silently.

— The Syndicate tortured one of us, — the gunsmith was indignant. — Our brother’s pain echoed in every Sanctuary. When we contacted the kidnappers and demanded his release, he was already dead. A nomad can’t be forced to part with his essence.

Jeff stepped back to the table and straightened out a large blueprint. Looking over his shoulder, Ochre distinguished the scheme of the frontal machine gun’s steel barrel box.

— The truth is, child of the Fallen Star, that the Syndicate is upsetting the delicate balance. It wishes to touch what is inaccessible to the mind of a human, — the gunsmith concluded. — Even the “Dawn's Children” didn’t go that far: they always kept the boundaries that we have outlined. The Syndicate is stubbornly invading the sacred territories. Teasing the true inhabitants of the Wasteland…

The last sentence sounded quiet, but firm.

— The Nomads will not allow another disaster.

— I also have something to show you, Jeff, — Ochra replied. — I’ve heard the Syndicate recruits mercenaries and sends them south. And I talked to those who participated in these raids. They described horrible things, and I had to go there myself before I believed them…

The Seеker wrapped herself tighter in the folds of a gray robe.

— What I found there is truly disturbing.

After the gloom of the corridors, the dim sun in the clouds seemed to burn out the retinas. Ochre led the gunsmith to a powerful armoured vehicle parked in the far corner of the range. The Seeker's car resembled a majestic land liner. The steel-lined ark clearly survived more than one journey through the lifeless desert.

Ochre opened the cargo bay doors hidden between the huge wheels. She pointed her hand at the burned out cabin.

— Just your normal tin can, right? If it weren’t for the distinctive oculars. This is a Ravager module, no doubt. But I’ve never seen them paired with hovers. Especially with such cunning weapons: check out how the manipulator works.

The Seеker was waiting for Jeff’s reaction.

— I didn’t have time to study the find. But, according to the mercenaries, even a single copy can be deadly to survivors. I have to admit: the Order has no data on the modernization of the Ravagers. Didn’t the Engineers deal with the lair on the Foothold?

— It’s time for survivors to stop pushing their fate, — the gunsmith cut off. — It’s no wonder they’re suffering hoping to change things. I guess you captured Lloyd’s toy… Another reckless fool who can’t accept the rules of the game!

The Seеker bitten her lip thoughtfully.

— Former member of the Dawn’s Children? What does he want?

— Lloyd’s been acting alone for a long time. We no longer do business with him — after he decided to pave his way into the heart of the Wasteland with our hands. Obviously, the hopeless idea does not leave him... Once we’ve retaken the borders from the Syndicate’s clutches, all that’s left to do is take care of the scientist and his creatures.

— But aren’t Looyd’s experimentations a bigger evil? — Ochre said in a distrustful way.

Jeff looked at the Seeker’s figure with a disapproving glance.

— Lloyd’s gonna have to face reality. The laws of matter can’t be changed by an ordinary man. Even Ulysses has no power over the wonders of the Wasteland — and he lived near the Mortuary from an early childhood.

The gunsmith raised his hooky finger up.

— Remember: anyone who tries to touch the underside must pay a decent price. In their desire to go the way of the Nomads and save what we have lost, they condemn themselves to misery. Soon the insane ones will pay for their foolishness. Believe me, child of the Fallen Star, you’ll see it.

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels: