Small breakdown of the next update

[Claygolem]

From the Test Server Patch Notes

I'll include some quick screenshots and testing from the test server after I post the patch notes.

Tactical Slot and Merit Assets
We have added a new loadout slot to all players. This slot now houses Merit Reward deployables, and in the future may house other limited, tactical equipment.

Tactical Slot deployables will now be able to be restocked from the loadout screen after purchasing an initial schematic from the Outfit Quartermaster on Sanctuary.

Tactical Slot Deployables
Flash XS-1 is now located in the Tactical Slot.
Caltrop has been added as a Merit Reward item. These deployables are for outdoor use only, and can be placed to help slow the movement of incoming vehicles. (Known Issue: Currently, allied vehicles cannot pass through these, but will be fixed in the following PTS update later tonight or tomorrow.)
Hardlight Canopy has been added as a Merit Reward item. Provides small, circular cover to protect infantry against airborne assaults.
Auxiliary Spitfire has been added as a Merit Reward item. Places a single-use Spitfire Turret that mimics the functionality of the Engineer version.
Cortium Bomb has been added as a Merit Reward item. Deploys a large explosive device that deals high damage over a wide area, particularly to construction objects. This bomb can be defused.

Outfit Resources
Outfits now require a minimum participation score (combined between members) of 3000 before receiving base capture resource rewards.
Outfits who capture the base now receive their first tick of resources over time immediately.

World Map
Multiple instances of the same zone will now associate a number with each one. For example: Sanctuary 1, and Sanctuary 2.
The targeting reticle when selecting Sanctuary on the World Map is less obstructive now.

Koltyr
The island of Koltyr has now become an instanced playspace that will become available under certain conditions.
During times of high server population, Koltyr will become available to accommodate the population overflow.
Likewise, during times of very low server population, Koltyr will become available to provide a more focused playspace.
Capturing 66% territory on Koltyr will trigger a 30-minute Meltdown alert, after which the continent will lock.
Unlike Meltdown events on full continents, Koltyr does not provide rewards on completion, but will increased experience gain by 25% for the duration of the event.
War Assets are not available for use on Koltyr.
(On Test Server, multiple instances of this zone will be spun up at very low population counts.)

Sanctuary
Various visual improvements and art cleanup.
Warpgate Terminals have been added to the lower levels of Sanctuary.
The Join Combat prompt no longer appears in Sanctuary.


Outfit Armory
Outfits now have access to the "Bastion" permission type, and all Bastion-related components now use this permission instead of Expedition permissions.
Overclocking assets can no longer be done by players who do not posses the correct permissions.


War Assets
We've made our first round of adjustments to War Assets to make them more accessible to Outfits, and adjusted pricing based on their relative desirability in-game:

Steel Rain
When Steel Rain is activated, a swirling maelstrom now appears above the location, visually indicating the drop zone.
Polystellarite cost from 5 to 0.
Synthium cost from 50 to 25.



This is what the Tranquility looks like in game.



And this is the description of the Tranquility.



Here's from the testing I did, together with LeadedKarma

 - On the test server I could equip the Tranquility on all character classes, not just infiltrator. I don't know if this is intended, but if it is, that is a difference from the Vandal.

 - The Tranquility causes a slowdown effect that felt very close to 50% reduced movement speed, for 2 seconds.

 - The slow isn't affected by Battle Hardened, you still get the same slow.

 - When you're slowed, you have a very visible green tint effect on you that looks similar to when you're being healed by a medic.

Initially, it doesn't sound like an impressive weapon, but it might have some niche uses when you think about it. One immediate thing I thought about is when you're doing point holds, and enemies are peaking around a doorway or out from cover to fire some shots at you before going back behind cover. A single shot from the Tranquility can slow them down significantly, making it much harder for them to get behind cover. The other use might be if you have an opening (like a gap between two buildings) where enemies are constantly running between, but are doing so too fast for your guys to kill 'em. The Tranquility can slow those enemies down a tad, so you might kill some.

Generally, it's a niche weapon.

Next up, the Infradine. This one I don't see getting any use. You put it in your utility slot (you can have up to 4 of them at once). When you use it, you get Infravision for 20 seconds, similar to a night vision scope. This item sucks. It takes up a utility slot (never popular), for a weird 20 second buff that gives an effect similar to a night vision scope. I can't see what you'd want with this item. You already have night vision scopes. You already have the Infravision implant. The utility slot is way too useful on all classes to give up for something so niche. Oh, and it costs 3 A7 for each restock (which admittedly isn't a big deal once you've gotten all the A7 stuff).

Next up, the new Merit items. Now THESE seem interesting.

You basically have a new Tactical slot on your infantry loadout.



On this new slot, you can put any of the new Tactical items that can be unlocked in the Sanctuary. Just go to the Merit vendor to unlock them.



They include

- Caltrop

This is a small deployable barrier that can block enemy vehicles. In the latest patch, it was updated so it doesn't block friendly vehicles. When used it looks like this.







You can carry and deploy up to 4 caltrops at once. Each one costs 15 merits to restock. An outfit rank of 1 is required to unlock them, so they're pretty much available to all.

They can only be deployed outside, but they can be deployed in no-deploy zones, as long as it's outside.

They're a great way to stop enemy vehicles (especially harassers) that are plowing down players around a friendly sunderer.

They're NOT a way to stop enemy sunderers from getting through gates however. Gate Shield Diffuser also makes a vehicle immune to caltrops, so you can't put them down along the inside of a friendly gate to stop GSD sunderers from passing through.

 - Hardlight Canopy

This is essentially a miniature Skyshield module that lets you put up a bit of protection from enemy air (and potentially enemies shooting down on you from buildings).



The little generator is fairly vulnerable, but the shield itself is quite durable. I think this will be extremely valuable when on rooftops, to avoid getting farmed as easily by enemy air (although it is quite open underneath, so it's by no means foolproof protection).

I didn't have a chance to actually test it on the test server, as it requires both merits and outfit rank to get.. Great. Putting stuff on test server you can't test...

 - Auxiliary Spitfire

Essentially a spitfire in your tactical slow, similar to how Engineers can get Hardlight Barriers in their utility slot. Still needs to be tested if you can use it alongside a normal spitfire and if you can carry it on non-engineer classes.

 - Flash

The Flash that can be purchased with Merits now gets moved to the Tactical Slot. Might be decent for quickly getting a squad from one base to the next, since only half of the squad needs these equipped (Flash is a two-man vehicle).

 - Cortium Bomb

This is the real fun one, although I didn't get to test it either.



Basically it's a small time bomb with a 20 second fuse. It can only be placed outside. When the timer is down, the bomb explodes and does heavy damage to constructions. This might be a real nasty addition in Outfit Wars situations if you quickly want to take down enemy bases or modules.

[Wolkenwand]

Mega like !

[LeadedKarma]

thank you very much clay!

i think infradine is meant to counter smoke..

[TheTry]

That or to use it in tandem with smoke...

[StrikingSpliff]

Sounds like the developers have been busy. These sound like some good improvements especially like the caltrop and hardlight canopy

[Fallengud]

The caltrops also can take 1-2 shots before getting destroyed so tank players can have some extra cover behind them

[SnowKrabby]

Sounds like the developers have been busy. These sound like some good improvements especially like the caltrop and hardlight canopy

not only that but they also did the extra work of making an entirely new equip slot instead of placing in an old one.

[Claygolem]

I think the new slot is what I like most about this, most people have a really hard time taking in new things in their old slots. When I saw that Infradine was utility slot, I immediately gave up on it. I need that slot. Yes, I know it's for smoke.. but.. ehhh.. Med kits? I think taking damage is a lot more frequent than having smoke thrown. And if smoke is thrown that often, you want nightvision scope, not a consumable.

[Ansic]

Caltrops Vs Magrider? Can they go over with some wiggling?

[Fallengud]

I hope it will be buged and the caltrops destroy the magriders flying over them

[SnowKrabby]

from what i saw is that a the space below a magrider is smaller than the height of the caltrops

[StrikingSpliff]

its back up and you will have 5000 a7 at the moment i suggest logging in and spending it.