Incoming TransmissionIt’s time for another Community Transmission and we’re here to talk about the Squad Update. It releases tomorrow (September 25th), so on with the details.Squad SystemThe new Squad System will allow you to re-join your friends, allies, and the action much quicker than before. If you’re already playing with a group of friends, you will be placed together into a squad. If you join a game on your own, you will be placed into a random squad.When you are defeated, you will have the ability to toggle through a spectator camera. This camera will be focused on one of your squad members and you’ll then have the ability to spawn directly onto them. Want to spawn on a different squad member? Simply toggle through the spectator camera until you find the squad member of your choosing.The new squad system also grants you the ability to play 2v2 Private Matches of Hero Showdown.We went more in-depth on the Squad System in its own dedicated Community Transmission, you can find that here.91st Mobile Reconnaissance CorpsThe 91st Recon Cops were a regiment of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Lead by commander CC-8826, or Neyo, the 91st were involved in many battles across the Clone Wars.104th “Wolf Pack” BattalionThe Wolfpack was a battalion that active throughout the Clone Wars and known for numerous military operations. On one such encounter, they engaged on a night assault on one of the last remaining outposts of General Grievous.The 104th Battalion can be identified by the iconic Wolf logo that identifies the squad, and the dark blue markings upon their armour.You can read more about some changes we’re making to the Clone Trooper Appearances by click here.Ping Site ChangesWe have added a new default setting to the ping site option. When you have this selected, the game will attempt to match you to any of the ping sites that you have the best ping to. In the real world, this means that if you are located in Europe and have a good ping to both Frankfurt [FRA] and Dublin [DUB], you could be matched to either one, meaning you should find games a lot quicker.These changes will start to arrive alongside the September update and further updates will be made in the months after, as we continue to tweak and improve the matchmaking system.MatchmakingEnd of Round (EOR) matchmaking is a feature you will have noticed before. It’s something that has been turned on and tested at intermittent periods over the last few months.The two key benefits to the end of round matchmaking will be:Mixing players up more often. As a result of this it’s less likely that you will find yourself stuck in a poorly balanced game for more than a few rounds.We’re changing the matchmaking behaviour so it favours filling up existing servers, as opposed to starting new ones. This means that you should join servers that are trending towards being full, as opposed to joining an empty one.We go into more detail on the Matchmaking within its own Community Transmission, which you can find here.Release NotesNEW CONTENTFEATURESAdded ability to get into squads and spawn on squad members on Galactic Assault and StrikeImproved screen flow for quicker spawning in all modes where Squad Spawn is not presentQUALITY OF LIFEMore dynamic change of characters shown on the Home and Career screens, due to implementation of backend ability to change those in a live environmentImplemented various stability fixes for the End of Round (EOR) MatchmakingImproved the way the game client looks for an online game, by adding an automated Default option for the best Ping site, as well as simplifying the choice of sites in the menu.HERO CHANGESLEIA ORGANAFixed an issue where Leia's Alternate Fire ability could damage a player piloting the AT-STVEHICLE CHANGESU-WINGFixed an issue where the "Repair" ability would not properly activateLANDO’S MILLENNIUM FALCONFixed an issue where the Tactical Jammer ability would have no effect on Lando's Millennium FalconCLASSES & SPECIAL UNITS CHANGESOFFICERFixed an issue that would prevent the Disruption ability to trigger in sync with the animationHEAVYRemoved the ability of Ion Turrets to lock and fire on troopers, as requested by the communityReduced the damage done by the Ion Torpedo for better balancingGENERAL IMPROVEMENTSFixed an issue where the Resourceful Star Card wouldn't correctly lower the ability cooldown when used.GAME MODE CHANGESGALACTIC ASSAULTImplemented backend timers that allow tweaking of the objective duration on Galactic Assault in a live environmentHERO STARFIGHTERSAdded animations to further enhance the look and feel of the game mode's widgetSTRIKEFixed a spelling issue in one of the objective textsMAP CHANGESJAKKUFixed an issue where heroes could hide or get stuck behind metal barriers on JakkuENDORFixed an issue that would leave players stuck between tree and mountain assetsTAKODANAFixed an issue where the chicken near the East Turbolaser would not be fleeing from the playerGENERAL CHANGESAdded Ewok Hunt and Extraction-based challenges to the list of Daily ChallengesRemoved Hero Showdown-based challenges "Perfect Together" and "Vader and Kylo", based on player feedback that they are too hard to achieve in an online environmentFixed an issue where Iden's character and description text would be missing from the Campaign's spawn and customization screenFixed an issue where players would not be able to change their Clone Trooper appearances during the pre-round screens on games taking place on Kashyyyk and KaminoAdded additional UI effects when unlocking an Emote, Victory Pose or Appearance from the menuIncreased the maximum numbers of players in a group to 20, and the maximum number of players who can play together to 8Fixed an issue where the button to get more Crystals would not show up in the Emotes and Victory Poses screensAdjusted the "Saviour Kill" stat, so that it tracks relevant kills from the whole team and not just the squad membersThis update will automatically disable CrossFire functionality for players with AMD Graphics Cards running on Windows 8 / 8.1, due to lack of support for multi-GPU with the specified operating system and GPU vendor.KNOWN ISSUESSquad members that are inside certain land vehicles (Armor, Artillery, Speeder, Tauntaun, Mountable Turrets) are not correctly shown as being inside vehicles on the Squad Spawn screen. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.Selecting to spawn on squad members who are inside land vehicles will temporarily disable access to the “Choose Character” screen. The issue gets resolved once players choose to spawn in the Default location. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.The spawn screen UI will, in rare cases, remain on during gameplay on Strike, or Galactic Assault. The issue gets resolved once players choose to respawn. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.The cooldown timer of the Shock Grenade ability would not be affected by the Resourceful Star Card. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.Punch It, BB-8

@DYSPROssiumThank you! May the force be with you! :eahigh_file:HEAVYReduced the damage done by the Ion Torpedo for better balancing"Oh, 2nd nerf for the ION torpedo?" -> I checked the stats. -> Nothing has changed.Hmm, I missed something perhaps. 🤨

@ggibb65 Hello there!:eahigh_file:Thank you for the information. My friend told me that too. So it seems that EA people nerfed the ION torpedo again.(Though the damage itself was not changed in my file, it is 100(Base Damage) + 120(Blast Damage). Probably the damage coefficient was changed... oops, I cannot see that.🤒)I thought after the August patch, 1st-nerfed version of the ION torpedo was well balanced. But they didn't. Very interesting.

@EA_Ataashi- Hi, just some food for thought.The nerfing of the ion turret i.e. stopped targeting troopers, was made apparently because of popular demand. I would suggest this needs to be reversed. I have noticed in most games this turret has become less a weapon of choice for the heavy trooper and is non existent in some games and when used is an easy target for troopers to take out. When the group play system was introduced, it became very easy to get caught in a crossfire situation particularly when spawning with other troopers. The turret was an effective defensive weapon giving a player time to fight his way out of a difficult situation (it could watch his back). It was never really a killer as it took several hits before it eliminated a target and gave players time to evade it's missile or to destroy it. If you want to be fair, then you should do the same with the Officer's turret which is far more damaging to troopers. Wouldn't that create an outcry!!!

As of this update a fresh problem or something not mentioned in the update. Playing GA on tattoine and what do I see but 3 lightside heroes in stage two. I didn't see anything saying that these changes were being implemented so I'm left to assume that some clever cheating pr*cks have already figured out how to exploit a bug in the new system. Yay and that was the very first game I played, I'm sure this will get better.Also now seen this on Kasshyyyk GA again defending lightside 3 heroes in phase 2. Can someone at EA please confirm if this a bug or intentional.

@Sati_Sati - the ion torpedo has definitely been nerfed. 3 won't take down an AT_ST unless it is already damaged. On Hoth 2/3 torpedoes used to take down most starfighters. Now 2 will only take down an Airspeeder, 3 will take down Starfighters if you can get a quick enough lock or they have some damage. On Tatooine, undamaged Speeders now take 2 where before 1 was enough.

Forum Discussion

DYSPROssium

Hero (Retired)

7 years ago

Community Transmission - Squad System Update & Release Notes

Incoming Transmission

It’s time for another Community Transmission and we’re here to talk about the Squad Update. It releases tomorrow (September 25th), so on with the details.

Squad System
The new Squad System will allow you to re-join your friends, allies, and the action much quicker than before. If you’re already playing with a group of friends, you will be placed together into a squad. If you join a game on your own, you will be placed into a random squad.

When you are defeated, you will have the ability to toggle through a spectator camera. This camera will be focused on one of your squad members and you’ll then have the ability to spawn directly onto them. Want to spawn on a different squad member? Simply toggle through the spectator camera until you find the squad member of your choosing.

The new squad system also grants you the ability to play 2v2 Private Matches of Hero Showdown.

We went more in-depth on the Squad System in its own dedicated Community Transmission, you can find that here.

91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps
The 91st Recon Cops were a regiment of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Lead by commander CC-8826, or Neyo, the 91st were involved in many battles across the Clone Wars.

104th “Wolf Pack” Battalion
The Wolfpack was a battalion that active throughout the Clone Wars and known for numerous military operations. On one such encounter, they engaged on a night assault on one of the last remaining outposts of General Grievous.
The 104th Battalion can be identified by the iconic Wolf logo that identifies the squad, and the dark blue markings upon their armour.

You can read more about some changes we’re making to the Clone Trooper Appearances by click here.

Ping Site Changes
We have added a new default setting to the ping site option. When you have this selected, the game will attempt to match you to any of the ping sites that you have the best ping to. In the real world, this means that if you are located in Europe and have a good ping to both Frankfurt [FRA] and Dublin [DUB], you could be matched to either one, meaning you should find games a lot quicker.

These changes will start to arrive alongside the September update and further updates will be made in the months after, as we continue to tweak and improve the matchmaking system.

Matchmaking
End of Round (EOR) matchmaking is a feature you will have noticed before. It’s something that has been turned on and tested at intermittent periods over the last few months.

The two key benefits to the end of round matchmaking will be:

Mixing players up more often. As a result of this it’s less likely that you will find yourself stuck in a poorly balanced game for more than a few rounds.
We’re changing the matchmaking behaviour so it favours filling up existing servers, as opposed to starting new ones. This means that you should join servers that are trending towards being full, as opposed to joining an empty one.

We go into more detail on the Matchmaking within its own Community Transmission, which you can find here.

Release Notes

NEW CONTENT
FEATURES

Added ability to get into squads and spawn on squad members on Galactic Assault and Strike
Improved screen flow for quicker spawning in all modes where Squad Spawn is not present

QUALITY OF LIFE

More dynamic change of characters shown on the Home and Career screens, due to implementation of backend ability to change those in a live environment
Implemented various stability fixes for the End of Round (EOR) Matchmaking
Improved the way the game client looks for an online game, by adding an automated Default option for the best Ping site, as well as simplifying the choice of sites in the menu.

HERO CHANGES

LEIA ORGANA

Fixed an issue where Leia's Alternate Fire ability could damage a player piloting the AT-ST

VEHICLE CHANGES

U-WING

Fixed an issue where the "Repair" ability would not properly activate

LANDO’S MILLENNIUM FALCON

Fixed an issue where the Tactical Jammer ability would have no effect on Lando's Millennium Falcon

CLASSES & SPECIAL UNITS CHANGES

OFFICER

Fixed an issue that would prevent the Disruption ability to trigger in sync with the animation

HEAVY

Removed the ability of Ion Turrets to lock and fire on troopers, as requested by the community
Reduced the damage done by the Ion Torpedo for better balancing

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS
Fixed an issue where the Resourceful Star Card wouldn't correctly lower the ability cooldown when used.

GAME MODE CHANGES

GALACTIC ASSAULT

Implemented backend timers that allow tweaking of the objective duration on Galactic Assault in a live environment

HERO STARFIGHTERS

Added animations to further enhance the look and feel of the game mode's widget

STRIKE

Fixed a spelling issue in one of the objective texts

MAP CHANGES

JAKKU

Fixed an issue where heroes could hide or get stuck behind metal barriers on Jakku

ENDOR

Fixed an issue that would leave players stuck between tree and mountain assets

TAKODANA

Fixed an issue where the chicken near the East Turbolaser would not be fleeing from the player

GENERAL CHANGES

Added Ewok Hunt and Extraction-based challenges to the list of Daily Challenges
Removed Hero Showdown-based challenges "Perfect Together" and "Vader and Kylo", based on player feedback that they are too hard to achieve in an online environment
Fixed an issue where Iden's character and description text would be missing from the Campaign's spawn and customization screen
Fixed an issue where players would not be able to change their Clone Trooper appearances during the pre-round screens on games taking place on Kashyyyk and Kamino
Added additional UI effects when unlocking an Emote, Victory Pose or Appearance from the menu
Increased the maximum numbers of players in a group to 20, and the maximum number of players who can play together to 8
Fixed an issue where the button to get more Crystals would not show up in the Emotes and Victory Poses screens
Adjusted the "Saviour Kill" stat, so that it tracks relevant kills from the whole team and not just the squad members
This update will automatically disable CrossFire functionality for players with AMD Graphics Cards running on Windows 8 / 8.1, due to lack of support for multi-GPU with the specified operating system and GPU vendor.

KNOWN ISSUES

Squad members that are inside certain land vehicles (Armor, Artillery, Speeder, Tauntaun, Mountable Turrets) are not correctly shown as being inside vehicles on the Squad Spawn screen. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.
Selecting to spawn on squad members who are inside land vehicles will temporarily disable access to the “Choose Character” screen. The issue gets resolved once players choose to spawn in the Default location. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.
The spawn screen UI will, in rare cases, remain on during gameplay on Strike, or Galactic Assault. The issue gets resolved once players choose to respawn. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.
The cooldown timer of the Shock Grenade ability would not be affected by the Resourceful Star Card. The fix has been identified and will be implemented in the next update.

Punch It, BB-8

17 Replies

Sati_Sati
7 years ago
@Tinogiggedy
> Talking about ion torpedoes I get occasions where I try to take out a turret with an ion torpedoes and it locks on but the torpedo goes straight past the turret.
I have experienced the same thing. I surely locked on the AT-ST but the torpedo landed to the invulnerable AT-M6. After that, I found the ION torpedo tend to lose the target very easily. When I used the AT-ST, I stood near the AT-M6/AT-AT/turret etc. It worked well. But I suppose, it is hard to say "It is bug or not" for the EA people. Because it seems that it worked as specified even if it is not intended.
Fortunately, I saw the same topic in the bug report. I am looking forward to see the answer. 😉
Tinogiggedy
7 years ago
@Sati_Sati yeah that definitely happens the ion torpedoes lock onto the largest target. Usually with a bit of decent angling and tactical positioning you can get it to lock onto the smaller target. I'm talking about a turret nowhere near a larger target.You lock on where there is nothing else to lock on to. For example at the start of Naboo playing the darkside your turrets are protected by the MTT ion torpedoes will lock onto that but the lightside have nothing on that side. Some of clones place turrets at the start. I usually use my ion torpedoes from the off as the splash damage destroying those turrets at the start can sometimes take out an opponent or two. But very occasionally it happens that I lock onto the turrets but the ion torpedo goes straight past hitting absolutely nothing. I've had it happen on a few occasions on different maps. I'm wondering if this is a bug. It's not impossible that there is some ability that might prevent it exploding such as an officer diffuser. I'm not sure there has always been an officer present when it happens. I would like to see them make it so that the ion torpedoes don't lock onto the larger vehicles until after being hit with an ion disruptor especially after nerfing them so much.
ggibb65
Hero (Retired)
7 years ago
@Tinogiggedy - I have always used the ion torp and experienced the same issue in the same scenario as you mentioned. This has always happened at some point even before the latest update/nerfs. It mainly happens when your target turret is on a low flat section of ground and sometimes takes 3 torps before you get a hit. No one else has to be near the turret. I generally try to lock on the turret from above so that any ground effect is minimised. It is a pain especially if you only have 1 torp left.
MeagerYarl1039
7 years ago
I posted in August 2018 an message called Inconsistencies with Ion missles. I got zero feedback on it.😢 Since then ion missles have been weakened 3x. I used to call it the great equalizer and that it finally prevented atst and other vehicles from killing without end. Oh well. Its nice to hear someone else speaking about them🙂👍
MeagerYarl1039
ggibb65
Hero (Retired)
7 years ago
@EA_Ataashi- Hi, just some food for thought.
The nerfing of the ion turret i.e. stopped targeting troopers, was made apparently because of popular demand. I would suggest this needs to be reversed. I have noticed in most games this turret has become less a weapon of choice for the heavy trooper and is non existent in some games and when used is an easy target for troopers to take out. When the group play system was introduced, it became very easy to get caught in a crossfire situation particularly when spawning with other troopers. The turret was an effective defensive weapon giving a player time to fight his way out of a difficult situation (it could watch his back). It was never really a killer as it took several hits before it eliminated a target and gave players time to evade it's missile or to destroy it. If you want to be fair, then you should do the same with the Officer's turret which is far more damaging to troopers. Wouldn't that create an outcry!!!
raidernaphtali
7 years ago
@ggibb65 wrote:
@EA_Ataashi- Hi, just some food for thought.
The nerfing of the ion turret i.e. stopped targeting troopers, was made apparently because of popular demand. I would suggest this needs to be reversed. I have noticed in most games this turret has become less a weapon of choice for the heavy trooper and is non existent in some games and when used is an easy target for troopers to take out. When the group play system was introduced, it became very easy to get caught in a crossfire situation particularly when spawning with other troopers. The turret was an effective defensive weapon giving a player time to fight his way out of a difficult situation (it could watch his back). It was never really a killer as it took several hits before it eliminated a target and gave players time to evade it's missile or to destroy it. If you want to be fair, then you should do the same with the Officer's turret which is far more damaging to troopers. Wouldn't that create an outcry!!!
Agreed....they just wanted the ions turret's damage on infantry to be reduced, not turned off altogether. The infantry turret is still effective but has no where near the range of the ion turret whose primary targets is vehicles. So to open a match the ion turret 200 meters away was locating and hitting people...thats a balance problem, they fixed it by overkilling it.
Infantry turret is fine to me as its pretty well balanced but someone who uses it more may feel differently
ggibb65
Hero (Retired)
7 years ago
@raidernaphtali- hi
I very seldom play Officer so my usage of the infantry turret is limited. What I have noticed is that although it can be slow to lock on (range probably?), but once it does, it never lets go no matter how you try to avoid it. With the ion turrets better range, at least you can hear and see it coming giving players a chance to avoid. If there is a vehicle nearby, it will always target the vehicle. I didn't think the ion turret needed nerfing. Both sides had the option to use it.