Permanent access. Limited features. A whole lot of fun!

We previously announced that we were finally introducing the long awaited Free Mode to the players of Atlas Reactor. We’re excited to announce that it’s here!

Is it a demo? Is it a trial? Is it a “Free 2 Play” game now? All good questions, and this is why we wanted to give you the information again – this time with some key points that show you just how unique and generous Free Mode is. We’ve provided you with an easy to read matrix of what you get from Free Mode and what you get from the purchasing the Full Game.



A few more specifics to be aware of:
– Free Mode participants can only open one Loot Matrix every 36 hours.
– Free Mode participants will have their own randomized set of 6 Freelancers to use that changes every week.
– Free Mode players and Game owners will all play in the same queues, with the exception of Ranked matches.


The best part of Free Mode is that you can get access to every single cosmetic item just by playing! If you purchase the game you will be able to purchase loot matrices on top of the ones you earn per season level, which will accelerate your collection of all the cosmetics.

We want to thank you all for the terrific feedback you’ve offered us in Beta. The launch of Free Mode accompanies the Revised Player Progression, which will make obtaining rewards even clearer and more fun than it is today.

If you’ve got questions about any of these change, please swing by the forums and start a discussion!

– The Atlas Reactor Team

When we announced our buy-to-play business model for Atlas Reactor, we promised there would always be ways to check out the game out for free. Since then we’ve been working hard to deliver on that promise.

We want the game to be as accessible as it can be to as many people as possible, and we want it to be generous to its supporters. As a competitive game, the play needs to be 100% fair for everyone.

After a lot of planning and work, we’re happy to announce the upcoming delivery of Free Mode in Atlas Reactor.

HERE’S HOW FREE MODE WORKS

You can play the game for free, using Freelancers from the weekly free rotation. This rotation is unique per player. As you play you’ll earn reward caches, in which hundreds of cosmetic banners, icons, emotes, titles, skins, styles, taunts, and more can be found. There will be a limit on how frequently Free Mode players can open a cache.

One simple purchase unlocks all the Freelancers for all time, removes the cache-opening limitation, enables custom and ranked games, and allows entry in future tournaments. This is the B2P part of the model, and is the core of how you can support Atlas Reactor and its team!

Free Mode (in progress)



WHAT’S NEXT?

Free Mode goes live August 9, and will be available on Steam. We’ll see you there!

We want to thank you all for the terrific feedback you’ve offered us in Beta. The launch of Free Mode accompanies Revised Player Progression, which will make obtaining rewards even clearer and more fun than it is today.

~The Atlas Reactor Team

Free Mode Goes Live: https://www.atlasreactorgame.com/en/2016/08/free-mode-is-live/

As it stands, there are a lot of different rewards in Atlas Reactor, attached to a lot of different progression systems. Account, freelancer, and season levels, daily contracts and chapter content, crafting, the Trust War -- there’s a lot to earn!

After a ton of games and mountain of feedback from you, a couple of things have become clear: First, all that complexity makes things difficult to understand in a way that doesn’t add fun. Second, Atlas Reactor is a B2P game, but having such a comprehensive store of cosmetic goods doesn’t make it feel that way.

So thanks to your feedback and suggestions, we are making some exciting improvements to player progression in Atlas Reactor.


THE STORE SECTION WILL BE REMOVED

The items currently in the store will now be obtainable through gameplay! The Store section of the UI will be replaced with the Collection, where you can track progress across your account and freelancers. Credits will also be going away (more on that below).


The Collection


LEVELS AND LOOT

We received a lot of feedback that the way we were giving out loot in Atlas Reactor still felt “free to play.” We hear you! As a result, the following changes are intended to make progression feel more rewarding and more fun to interact with.

We’re simplifying Loot Matrices in a big way.
There will be one primary Loot Matrix, which you receive each time you gain a season level. A Loot Matrix now contains 3 items, which can be anything currently in the game (except promotional items.), including the premium skins that used to be in the store!

Any time you’d like more Loot Matrices than you earn naturally, you can buy them directly.

Inside the Loot Matrix


You can use ISO to unlock items in the Collection directly. As of this coming patch, ISO will be obtainable only from Loot Matrices. Duplicate items received from a Loot Matrix will automatically convert to ISO. Playing matches and completing contracts will award experience now, which will allow you to earn Loot Matrices faster.

Freelancer Levels are now infinite, and the rewards have been changed. You will receive 5 mod tokens at lancer levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. At levels 5, 10, and every 10 levels thereafter, you will be given a Freelancer-specific Loot Matrix, which will drop an item associated with that Freelancer. In effect, it’s a targeted version of the primary Loot Matrix.

Expert and Master style pre-requisites still exist on some of the skins you can receive from a Loot Matrix. You can equip expert skins after achieving Freelancer Level 10, and Master Skins at Freelancer Level 20.

We are removing crafting and the inventory. Items will be collected/recycled automatically. Crafting was fun, but added a significant amount of unnecessary complexity at this point in the game’s development.

Account Levels have been removed. Players will now have immediate access to the Season. Some of you might have concerns about onboarding, and this will be addressed in future patches.


PREPARING FOR PROGRESSION

Spend your ISO and crafting materials ASAP. Once Revised Progression goes live, all crafting materials and banked ISO will be lost, but anything bought or crafted already won’t be.

We’re removing credits from the game. If you currently have credits, they will be honored and converted into the new ISO at an equivalent rate so that you can still unlock what you want directly. This is also what will happen after the final wipe before launch, when credits would be reset (+10% from the Level 1 Community Reward).

Once the Revised Player Progression goes live, the bonus from the Level 1 Community Reward will behave differently – after the final wipe, players will receive a number of Loot Matrices equal to the number they purchased, +10% (rounded up).


IT’S YOUR MOVE!

Now you can play the game, and earn skins, taunts, emojis, vfx, and more just by playing! And hey, if there’s something you really want and luck doesn’t drop it in your lap, you can use your ISO to unlock it directly.

Revised Player Progression goes live on August 9, and will accompany the introduction of Free Mode.

~The Atlas Reactor Team

Introducing the Trust Wars - Beta!

It's time to choose a side: Omni Trust, EvoS, or Warbotics! At the start of the Beta test of this event every player will be given a banner background and emblem for each of these trusts.





Players adorned with the EvoS banner background that win matches will gain influence for their trust. With enough influence your trust's rewards will be unlocked!



You'll get more and more rare banner backgrounds and access to Loot Matrices that contain Trust Styles for every single freelancer.



The Trust Wars is only in Beta right now, and it will be changing in the near future. We're looking forward to all the playtesting and feedback we get from you all!

Good luck lancers. Choose wisely!

For all the latest Atlas Reactor news make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and come discuss the state of the game in our Forums. Join in with the Community Missions and help everyone earn more cool stuff!

It’s time to ESPORTS!

You may not have been following the community run Prep Phase League (PPL) for the past month or so, but you should have been! It’s been on quite the journey and it’s finally finishing up it’s first season with a bang: a $1000 prize pool tournament!

The top 6 teams have been seeded into the bracketed matches that will take place July 30th-31st. You can watch it all on http://twitch.tv/PrepPhase and be sure to follow them on twitter, @PrepPhase, for updates and news.

Schedule:

July 30th (Saturday)
o A: Just Shoot ‘Em vs White Heart – 12:00 PDT
o B: Outplayed vs Cookie Cutters – 14:00 PDT

July 31st (Sunday)
o C: Trash vs winners of A – 10:00 PDT (Semi Finals)
o D: #GuyLogic vs winners of B – 12:00 PDT (Semi Finals)
o Winners of C vs winners of D – 14:00 PDT (Finals)
o Losers of C vs losers of D – 16:00 PDT (3rd 4th place)

Team Record
24/0 – Trash (Buy into the second round)
16/8 – #GuyLogic (Buy into the second round)
13/9 – Outplayed
11/7 – Just Shoot ‘Em
7/9 – White Heart
7/13 – Cookie Cutters

While it’s obvious that Team Trash is the front runner in this competition, this tournament, and it’s prizes, could go to anyone! The first place team will win $600. Second place wins $300, and third place snags $100. The teams are excited and have promised to bring their A-game!

If you’re new to Atlas Reactor, but still want to watch these competitive matches, check out the New Player Guide!

Good luck to all the teams participating! Save those catalysts and time-banks…
You’re going to need them!

The players have spoken, and they say MORE! The Closed Beta Free Event started on July 8th and was supposed to go until the 17th, but because of how much fun players are having, we figured we’d keep it open for a while longer. If you haven’t signed up for the Closed Beta, make sure you do so now!



If you’re a Founder, you’ll get 3 bonus GG Boosts each day you log in during the event, so you can pair those progression bonuses with the Party bonus that you get from playing with friends. Spread the word and enjoy the game together!

Enjoy the extended Free Event! Get out there and tell your friends about Atlas Reactor! Make sure to have them check out this New Player Guide!

Blackburn will tactically sow the seeds of destruction among the enemy team.

Basic Gameplay


Blackburn’s primary, Equalizer, is made to be versatile for every situation; You can put down one target or chip away with the AoE setting. When you’re stuck behind a wall, just have Blackburn toss over his Proteus Grenade. Enemies are rarely out of reach for him. In the case you find yourself out of range, pop your Adrenal Stim to help you pick up your step and dole out the damage. It’s also a free action, so always be ready to see him with Might! He’s an experienced soldier that knows to keep his back to the wall. His Blitz always puts him next to cover and lays down suppressing fire during the blast phase. You can’t just be worried about Blackburn on the ground, because he’s got some pretty hefty backup flying in the skies above. He can call down strafing fire that’ll wreck all enemy’s silly enough to make the mistake of lining up for him.



Blackburn’s tactical prowess makes him hard to play against, but there are ways to counterplay his positioning. He’s only able to dash to cover, which makes his destinations somewhat predictable. Plan your shots accordingly, and definitely punish him after he’s Blitzed. Grouping against Blackburn is basically a death sentence because his toolkit provides plenty of ways to punish cuddle puddles. Keeping him off the battlefield as much as possible is another way to ensure he isn’t constantly dishing out the damage. Learning when and how to focus him down may just mean you get to live to see another round!



Abilities

Equalizer
Attacks either a single target with high damage or a group of enemies with lower damage based on targeting.

Proteus Grenade
Throws a grenade dealing area of effect damage. It can go over walls, and even be modded to heal.

Adrenal Stim
Inject yourself with a free action stim that grants haste and might until the end of the turn.

Blitz
Dash to cover and then choose a direction to set up overwatch, damaging enemies in a cone during blast phase.

Scorched Earth
Call in an air strike to deal massive damage to enemies in a line.

Advanced Tactics

When playing as Blackburn:

• Use the “wide fire” mode on Equalizer to cover locations your enemies may dash to.
  
• Keep a wall between you and your target on the turn Proteus Grenade is available. You can deal damage while potentially not taking any.
  
• Stay near cover as much as possible when you move so that you can dash into an advantageous position with Blitz.
  
• Blitz is a dash ability that fires in blast. Use it to evade enemies’ dash abilities and then damage them in return.
  
• Blackburn works well with characters who reveal: Blitz, Proteus Grenade, and Scorched Earth can easily finish off targets that escape around walls.

Coming up against Blackburn:

• Scorched Earth hits all his targets in a line across the entire battlefield.
• Avoid grouping up when Blackburn is at full energy.
  
• Blackburn’s dash is on a five turn cooldown and he can only move a short distance. Focus him down after he uses Blitz.
  
• Blackburn is stronger when he’s next to cover. Try to push or pull him out of covered areas while fighting him.
  
• Just because Blackburn is behind a wall don’t assume you are safe. Many of his attacks have ways to circumvent barriers.

Don’t miss this chance to try Atlas Reactor for free… for a whole week!

We’re opening up access to our Closed Beta for a week! Grab your friends and get them into the game. Show off your favorite skins, styles, and taunts while you teach these new lancers how to outwit and outlive in Atlas Reactor. Or conquer them relentlessly – hey, they’re your friends!



You can use ANY Freelancer, so have fun finding your favorite one, or two, or more! We’ve recently released Celeste, The Rogue, and just before that, Dr.Finn, The ‘Eeler. Every win on each freelancer will get you closer to earning the new Beta Freelancer Emblems! Winning 30 games with 1,5, and 10 different freelancers will grant you these Beta Exclusive Emblems!

Every Founder gets 3 bonus GG Boosts each day they log in during the event, so you can pair those progression bonuses with the Party bonus that you get from playing with friends. Spread the word and enjoy the game together!



We’ve also revamped Seasons – our player progression system. Once you reach level 10 you gain access to Seasons. Every level you earn after level 10 gets you a Loot Matrix you can open for awesome swag – banners, emblems, alternate VFX, alternate taunts, even Season exclusive freelancer Styles – just by playing the game!



Join us for this Free Event, from July 8th until July 17th. Get out there and tell your friends about Atlas Reactor and this week long free event! Make sure to have them check out this New Player Guide!

Hey Lancers,It’s me, Muzzy, your friendly neighborhood Gremolitions chump. I’m here to talk about the wipe on the horizon!

I know, I know. You saw the word “wipe” and your separation anxiety is kicking in. Mine did too. Let’s all take a deep breath, knock back a can of Rask’s Brain Juice, put on our honorary game developer’s pants and look at what this means for the health of the game.

First of all, we are one patch closer to release! Were excited that we’re making progress. Secondly, this is a limited wipe. We’ve taken care to only reset areas that we need for testing, while leaving other area of progression untouched. We want to affect your experience as little as possible while also getting proper testing done. Wipes are essential for progressing the game experience. Devs need to know how a new feature functions from a fresh starting line, rather than in the middle of a race. We are, after all, in the wonderful world of Beta, where pay models change, lancers are OP, and we’ve had to swallow more bugs than a contestant on Fear Factor.

Important Notice: This is the last weekend to get the Freelancer Elo Beta Emblems! We will be introducing new Emblems to achieve in the next patch.


I’ll walk you through what’s going to be reset:
Season Progress

• Because of your extraordinary playtesting, we’ve learned a lot! With this wipe, we’ll apply the lessons we’ve learned and give players a more consistent and fluid Season progression in a way that solves some of the issues we’ve identified. We’ll also give players an additional chapter to unlock! We are very interested in your feedback on other changes to the Seasons system as well. We’ll be beginning at Chapter 1 again, to test progress, but you’ll notice the unlock on subsequent chapters will be accelerated.

Season Rewards

• It wouldn’t make much sense to wipe the Season progression without wiping the reason you progress! I’m going to miss a couple of the styles for my favorite lancers, and especially the emoticons. However, since the experience is being tweaked, I’m excited to earn, craft, and open those Loot Matrices again – it’s like Christmas every level!

Purchased Items

• All your credits will be restored and any items you had obtained directly or indirectly via those purchases will be wiped.

What we are NOT wiping:

• You will not lose your Freelancer levels.
  
• Any awards you’ve earned, like Elo Banners and that elusive “Killed By Dev” title will stick around. (And yes, these are just examples, not the full list. “Dev Killer”, “Catalyzer”, etc will also not be wiped)
  
• Non-Season player experience will not be wiped. You will still have level 10 which gives you access to Seasons. If you are not level 10 yet, you will maintain your current level.
  
• Both Freelancer Elo and Player Elo will not be wiped.

This partial wipe is no easy task. The Devs explained to me just how much easier it is to do a full wipe/reset rather than this partial one, but they’re willing to put in the extra work as a service to the players while still wiping the minimum needed to carry the forward-thinking vision that game development requires.


IMPORTANT: It’s Beta. This is not the last wipe.

We have some time before we launch and that time will be filled with tons of development and polish. Much as with Seasons, we will be introducing other features that will give us all the best experience if started with a clean slate.
Beta is about experiencing a game before it releases, growing with the community and the game. In order to do so, there are certain aspects of Alpha/Beta events that we have to set our expectations properly to deal with. Be prepared!

Because of all our dedicated players, we have already gained a massive amount of data and feedback to help us create a much better user experience. I thank you, the team thanks you, and all of the players that will ever play this game are indebted to you for the time, dedication and patience you’ve extended to us.

– The Atlas Reactor Team