Join Combat

 is a mechanic that allows players to immediately spawn into hot zones, without needing to redeploy or otherwise find their own way.

When used, Join Combat starts a ten second countdown, and will choose a facility that the system believes is an active and balanced fight. An interface element will appear displaying the chosen facility and the ten second countdown above the center of the user's screen.

To use Join Combat, press the Toggle Join Combat Timer key ( by default) or click the Join Combat button on the Map.

Mechanics
According to the May 30, 2019 Update, the Join Combat system uses the following priorities when choosing a fight to send players.


 * It prioritises active fights that have a relatively balanced population on both sides.
 * It will then focus only active fights, where populations may not be ideally balanced.
 * If there are no suitable active fights, it will send the player to an enemy facility that they can capture, even if no players are present.

The spawn system was overhauled in the January 26, 2022 Update, however, so these priorities may be outdated.

Within the facility itself, Join Combat seems to prefer to drop players onto existing friendly spawn locations, although will try to remain close to the relevant area of the facility if there are no spawns within a reasonable distance. Join Combat will always place the player into a Drop Pod.

History

 * June 3, 2016 Hotfix
 * The Instant Action functionality has been revamped to allow player construction bases and open-field fights to be valid destinations if they meet the criteria.
 * December 22, 2016 Hotfix
 * Renamed Instant Action to Join Combat.
 * November 20, 2017 Update
 * Friendly fire no longer cancels Redeploy, but will still cancel Join Combat.
 * January 4, 2018 Hotfix
 * Join Combat should no longer take you into cut off territory.
 * February 8, 2018 Update
 * A Join Combat prompt will appear for idle players below BR20, encouraging them to join the fight.
 * August 15, 2018 Update (Fanning the Fire-teams)
 * We've reduced the distance the center of a combat area will search for a valid spawn location nearby.
 * This change will reduce the amount of available instant action locations, but it will also be less likely to drop you into spawn locations that aren't very close to fights.
 * In short, better quality by sacrificing quantity. We'll be able to adjust this setting (or revert these changes) on Live without downtime, if need be.
 * May 30, 2019 Update
 * This system has been restructured, and should no longer fail to send players off when the countdown completes.
 * Join Combat now works on a priority system when deciding where to send players.
 * First, it looks for ideal populations and balanced fights.
 * If none exist, it will simply look for balanced fights.
 * If none of those exist either, it will send the player to attack an enemy frontline base, even if that base is empty.
 * In addition, the system will now attempt to throw players into a Drop Pod at every opportunity.
 * Restructuring Join Combat in this way allows us to deliver players to an ideal PlanetSide experience first, wherever they're available.
 * We then focus on intensifying balanced fights that currently exist, while helping generate new fights along the frontlines. These changes work hand in hand with the spawn system revamp mentioned below.
 * June 6, 2019 Update
 * Players using Join Combat to travel to a new continent (like in the event that they are leaving a locked continent) will now spawn at the Warpgate, instead of being dropped from orbit without a drop pod. Eventually we'll want to resolve the issue with characters not being mounted correctly, but this is an interim solution until then.
 * June 20, 2019 Hotfix
 * Join Combat changes from the last update were partially reverted, and will now only use Drop Pods as a backup spawn method.
 * March 25, 2020 Update
 * Fixed an issue that would prevent Join Combat from functioning.
 * April 15, 2020 Update (Tactical Improvements)
 * The Join Combat prompt no longer appears in Sanctuary.
 * October 1, 2020 Update (The Shattered Warpgate)
 * Made adjustments to Join Combat in an attempt to target more balanced fights.
 * September 15, 2021 Update (A New Player Experience)
 * Using Join Combat will place you in a Drop Pod.
 * November 17, 2021 Update (The Nine-Year Anniversary of PlanetSide 2)
 * The world map table in the upstairs Warpgate room should now allow players to Join Combat when used outside of the tutorial missions.

Trivia

 * The mechanic was previously was known as Instant Action, which gave its name to the late community-run Instant Action Podcast.
 * This podcast's name is also referenced in the name of the NS-357 IA, the 'IA' standing for 'Instant Action'.