December 7, 2017 Update (PS4 EU&US)

The Planetside 2 PS4 servers for both US and EU will be coming down at 6am (Pacific) / 14:00 (UTC) for a game update. Estimated downtime is 3 hours.

Auraximas
From now until Jan. 08, 2017, snowman will appear on the continents of Auraxis, holiday items will be in stock, and a new holiday directive will be available to pursue.

Snowman Soldier
In addition to finding snowman (and rare, golden snowman!) scattered throughout Auraxis, players will also find a deployable Snowman Soldier unlockable in their infantry utility slot. Deploy this snowman on the battlefield and watch as it dutifully protects you from incoming enemies.



Sleighbell Tire Trails
You’ll find new festive holiday tire trails for the Flash and Harasser in the Depot. These unlock for the entire account when purchased, and can be used across factions.

Holiday II Directive
This year’s Holiday directive has been revised to offer a new set of rewards, as well as some new goals to complete.


 * Golden Snow-Manslaughter - Progress this directive by finding and destroying the elusive golden snowman.
 * Seasons Beatings - Progress this directive by killing enemies while wearing a holiday hat.
 * Slay Ride - Progress this directive by running over enemies with a vehicle dressed in holiday cosmetics.
 * Auraximas Cheer - Progress this directive by reviving allies
 * Snowman Bodyguard - Progress this directive by deploying a snowman soldier, and killing enemies that damage it.

This year’s rewards include the following…
 * Tier 1: An Empire Holiday Hat
 * Tier 2: 20 Certs, and a Basic Implant Pack
 * Tier 3: 40 Certs, and a Holiday II Profile Banner
 * Tier 4: 100 Certs, Valkyrie Mint Lumifiber Trim, and the “Jolly” player title

31 Days of Auraximas Holiday Calendar
Each day of December offers a rare item or a deep discount. You can check out the Holiday Calendar below.
 * Stay tuned for PS4 Specific Sale Details on the 13th and 21st. (Yes, we know construction is not on PS4 yet.)

Empire Specific SMGs
New Empire Specific Weapons have entered the fray. These SMGs all have unique visual styles, audio, and empire flavorings. You can find these items in the Depot, as well as Fully Loaded Bundles that come with all of the attachments unlocked.

MGR-S1 Gladius – New Conglomerate SMG Originally designed for members of the ruthless Nomad mercenaries, this low rate of fire close quarters weapon harbors the elusive 200 damage model and high default damage per magazine.

MG-S1 Jackal – Terran Republic SMG Trident arsenal’s precision manufactured armaments are reserved for Terran Republic soldiers in the upper echelons of rank and experience. The Jackal carries a 30 round magazine with quick reloads and a hard hitting 167 damage model.

VE-S Canis – Vanu Sovereignty SMG This experimental close quarters weapon is the product of years of research and experimentation with Vanu artifacts. The Canis’ rate of fire starts slow, and increases over time, making use of a large magazine and 167 damage model.



The New Implant System has come to PS4
You will now be able to equip implants from the loadout screen and purchase packs of implants from the Depot. Breakdown your duplicate implants by hitting the Triangle button on the implant selection screen, this will grant you ISO4 currency that can be used upgrade your implants.

Note:
 * For accounts that purchased the Commander 5th Anniversary Bundle we will be running a grant on the characters that purchased the bundle sometime later today and you should receive those 9 Basic Implant Packs soon.

Meltdown Alerts come to PS4
Continent locking rules have been updated. Stricter rules on faction populations are now in effect, this should make fights feel more balanced. To lock a continent you need to activate a Meltdown Alert, to do that you need to control at least 43% of a continent. Once the alert is active you have to hold onto at least 33% of the continent for 45 minutes.

ISO4 rewards are handed out to all players that participated in the meltdown alert and will be based on how longer you participated. If your faction managed to activate and win the alert then the continent is locked and you receive a random reward from the loot table which has been rare and exclusive items.

Combined Arms Initiative come to PS4
Vehicle vs Vehicle, Infantry vs Vehicle, and Vehicle vs Infantry have all received a large balance pass. Please see releases notes here: September 26, 2017 Update.

There have been several PC patches where we iterated on this initial pass, we are leaving the exhaustive details out as they can be found in the PC patch section for anyone interested in the specifics (its really long).

We will continue to make adjustments to the balance as its not exactly where we want to it be.

Misc

 * Rocklet Rifle Ammo is now Select-able
 * Titles should now appear on the Death Screen