Outfit Wars is a tournament structure for competitive Outfits in PlanetSide 2. Outfits from every Empire and server region have the opportunity to opt-in to a seasonal Qualification cycle, before squaring off in epic battles on the Battle Islands of Desolation or Nexus. Outfits compete in Qualifiers and Playoffs, with the top outfits from each region earning the right to represent their Empire in the Championship.
Matches begin with a 20-minute deployment period for each Outfit to get organized beneath a protective shield near their command center or warpgate. After deployment ends, an Alert will kick in to determine the fate of the match.
The objective for each Outfit is to capture and control critical territories on Desolation or Nexus. The only way to earn points is to capture and hold these territories, which will require exceptional coordination, skillful teamwork, and decisive tactics, with two other formidable Outfits warring over the same ground! The first Outfit to accumulate the point pool (or the Outfit with the highest score at the end of the alert) will have won the match on behalf of their Empire.
Participating Outfits will have their armory of War Assets available (with the exception of the Bastion Fleet Carrier and Colossus Heavy Tank), and can continue to craft Assets during the match. Each command center (warpgate) on Desolation is fitted with a Cortium Silo housing 75,000 Cortium, along with pre-installed vehicle and air pads capable of spawning all standard vehicles. The Construction System can be used across all of Desolation, and Cortium nodes can be found scattered throughout. However, resources are scarce (you do not use nanites to pull vehicles, and Cortium is limited) so spend wisely! Construction is currently disabled on Nexus during Outfit Wars, though ANTs can still be pulled.
Each Outfit is limited to 48 members. Victorious Outfits from each match (3 Outfits from each server region - 15 total) will earn a completed Bastion Fleet Carrier for their Outfit. As a “thank you” for your platoon's hard work, the winning team members will also be granted a special title to commemorate their valorous trials in Outfit Wars! Statues for the top 3 Outfits on each server will also be visible in that server's Sanctuary.
Unspoken Code of Conduct[]
In Alpha Preseason 3, during a Qualifier match on Connery, two participating outfits willingly and knowingly teamed up against the third outfit, resulting in a 2v1. Wrel was quick to release a statement, saying that activities like this are considered "griefing" per Daybreak Games' PlanetSide 2 Code of Conduct:
“While there is to be a certain amount of focused fire and tense alliances expected in a 1v1v1 format, ... we also expect each faction to be playing to win. It goes contrary to the spirit of tournament format, and the game in general, when teams outright refuse to fight one another.” — Michael "Wrel" Henderson, Lead Developer (2017–present) and co-producer (2021–present) for PlanetSide 2
As a result, he spoke of possible punishments for outfits engaging in such behavior, including but not limited to:
Penalties to placement or scoring values in the current Outfit War.
Disqualification of the Outfit or its members in the active season with no rewards.
The inability to enlist in future Outfit Wars.
Suspensions or banning the accounts of Outfit Leaders or its members, which includes from the main game.
The Alpha Preseason 1 finals were held Saturday, April 11, 2020, between 45 Outfit finalists.
Each server featured 3 Outfit Wars matches (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) between the top-3 qualifying Outfits from each Empire within the region. Matches aired throughout the day on twitch.tv/planetside2, via hosted a squad of PS2 community streamers equipped with spectate tools (See casters).
Alpha Preseason 2[]
Alpha Preseason 2 of Outfit Wars finals were held on May 16, 2020, at 8:00 PM, 8:30 PM, and 9:00 PM server time for the gold, silver, and bronze leagues of each server, respectively. The qualification phase was different from Alpha Preseason 1 in that they took place the weekend before finals from Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11, from 2:00 PM server time through 10:00 PM server time each day.
Alpha Preseason 3[]
Alpha Preseason 3 of Outfit Wars was originally scheduled to take place sometime after the June 2020 game update.[2] However, after the first two alpha preseasons, it was announced that the entire system would be overhauled. On November 20, 2020, Wrel announced that the final preseason of Outfit Wars will take place in early 2021 as an official Season 1 was in the works. On January 28, 2021, the mechanics of Alpha Preseason 3 of Outfit Wars were put on the PTS for testing.[3]
The new mechanics of Outfit Wars consist of four phases: Enlistment, Qualifiers, Playoffs, and Championship. All outfits that enlisted would participate in weekly battles on Desolation in during the Qualifiers; the top six outfits from the Qualifiers would participate in weekly Playoff matches; and, the top three outfits from each empire in the Playoffs would participate in the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Championship matches.[4] The championship matches were held on March 27, 2021, starting at 8:00 PM server time, except on SolTech, which started at 9:00 PM server time.[5]
Nexus Season 1[]
The first official season of Outfit Wars was announced in November 2021 during the PlanetSide 2 anniversary developer livestream. It was announced that the battle island Nexus would be used in a new 1v1 format for the season. The rules and schedule were released in July 2022. Enlistment begins August 3, 2022. When the Qualifiers begin, enlisted outfits will immediately be assigned their upcoming match day and times. Matches will take place once per week on a Friday or Saturday at 8:00 PM or 8:30 PM server time. After four rounds of Qualifiers, the top eight outfits will make their way into the Playoffs. The first-round Playoff winners will then move into the final Playoffs matchup to determine who will match up against one another in the Championships. When the final Playoffs match is complete, their scores will determine the Gold/Silver and Bronze/Fourth place matchups. Placement in this last match determines the final winners in the Outfit Wars season. Championship games will take place exclusively on Saturday, with the Bronze/Fourth place battle starting at 12:00 PM server time and the Silver/Gold matchup at 12:30 PM server time.
At the end of each match cycle, outfits will be sorted into their next matchups based on who has the strongest win/loss record. When ties in win/loss record exist, Bracket Points determine who has the better overall standing. The point pool for this season is 500 points. Also, for the first time in PlanetSide 2 history, outfits from the same Empire may fight one another whenever the matches line up that way.[6]
Results[]
The tables below only show the outfits who participated in the Championship matches and do not reflect the total number of outfits that participated in that season's Outfit War.
Gold
[YLBT] YLB Hero Army
[MUvs] MUone
[HHzs] HH WAR LEGION1
Silver
Bronze