July 16, 2020 Update

PC servers will come down tomorrow, Thursday July 16, 2020, at 6am PT (3pm CEST), for the game update below. Downtime is expected to last up to two hours.



Summer Fun
We're bringing Summer back in the form of an updated directive line that will run from now through August 16. Players will also be able to find two event items in their loadouts during the event.
 * Soldier Soaker - A sidearm designed to combat the Indar heat, the Soldier Soaker was an inconvenient, yet familiar way to cool off soldiers in need.
 * Water Balloon - These water balloons approved for both recreational and combat use will harm enemies and douse fires.

Directives

 * Beat the Heat - Score kills with a Summer Holiday Weapon.
 * Beachhead - Kill enemy vehicles while in a vehicle yourself.
 * Tour Guide - While piloting a vehicle, earn progress when your passengers kill enemies.
 * Summer Support - Earn Summer Support ribbons by resupplying or repairing vehicles while in a vehicle.
 * Crashing Waves - Earn kills as a MAX unit or against MAX units.
 * King of the Castle - Earn experience by taking and defending control points.


 * Tier 1 Reward
 * 100 Certs
 * Tier 2 Reward
 * 100 ISO-4
 * 1x Basic Implant Pack
 * Tier 3 Reward
 * 500 A7
 * Artesque Weapon Camo - It's certainly... different?
 * Tier 4 Reward
 * "Surfer" Title - Returning from last year for those who missed it.
 * Firestorm Implant - A new implant that slightly increases rate of fire after killing an enemy.

Empire Strength
We've removed the ability for Bastions to generate Empire Strength, as players don't seem to need the additional motivation to bring Bastions into combat areas. This change also addresses an issue where the Power Projection meter could get stuck when a continent would re-open. To bridge the gap, and add more strategic targets, we've added three bases on each continent (in additional to normal territory gain and facility captures) that will contribute additional Empire Score.

Indar

 * Lowland Trading Post, Berjess Overlook, and Sunken Relay Station are now worth 10 Empire Strength.
 * The Crown is now worth 20 Empire Strength, down from 25.

Amerish

 * Cobalt Geological Outpost, Solus Nature Annex, and Moss Ravine are now worth 10 Empire Strength.
 * The Ascent is now worth 20 Empire Strength, down from 25.

Esamir

 * Tapp Waystation, Untapped Reservoir, and BL-4 Recovery Point are now worth 10 Empire Strength.

Hossin

 * Iron Quay, SRP Hydroponics Inc., and VEX BioLogics are now worth 10 Empire Strength.

Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions

 * Optimized performance and bandwidth usage of War Assets and Bastion Fleet Carrier. Please report any noteworthy changes in behavior with these features.
 * TR Prowler's Rampart Projector defense slot now correctly provides the intended 10/15/17.5/20% armor bonus when rank is increased, instead of being bugged at 10% for all ranks.
 * NC Reaver's Fire Suppression's cooldowns now correctly match its tooltips at 55/50/47/45 seconds, instead of 60/55/50/45 seconds.
 * NC Skyshield damages enemy vehicles that pass through it again.
 * Halloween weapons, like The Slasher, no longer earn Hallow Ribbons outside of the Halloween event.

Moving Forward
Hey there, been a little bit. We're still marching toward our upcoming Missions/Campaign release which many of you noticed in-game (and out of game!) teasers for already. The team gets a kick out of watching the community's excitement and speculation. We've seen guesses ranging anywhere from "not even close" to "nailed it" on practically every tid-bit we've released so far, and when it comes time to do the next Livestream (no date to announce yet,) we'll illuminate what all will be going into the next update a bit more. Until then, keep cool and enjoy the Soldier Soakers. -Wrel, Lead Designer