PC Early Access is now available on EA App!
Hello Holotable Heroes, Today marks a big day on the holotable in STAR WARS™: Galaxy of Heroes as we open up Early Access on EA App for PC to all players! We wanted to extend a big thank you to those who joined us during the Closed Beta and shared their feedback to make the galaxy a better place to engage in battles with some of our favorite Star Wars™ heroes! To those of you who have shown interest in joining the PC Client, now is your time! We look forward to more of you experiencing the PC Client and can’t wait to hear what you think. Thanks for being on this journey with us! Enjoy this trailer, and see you on the holotables. TRAILER - STAR WARS™: Galaxy of Heroes Dev Team
Battlefield Briefing: Welcome to 2042
Update - September 3: We wanted to give you a heads up on a change we've made to Falck based on findings from our Technical Playtest last month. A big finding was that Falck's S21 Syrette Pistol was causing a significant enough imbalance in gameplay to warrant making some changes. Previously we shared that Falck's Gadget would Revive, and Heal at Range., but going forward the gadget will simply Heal at Range, and not Revive. REPORT FOR BRIEFING Get ready for the next generation of all-out warfare! You’ve learned a lot about Battlefield 2042 over the past few days, through our Reveal Trailer, Gameplay Trailer (which is still just Pre-Alpha footage, by the way) and via our website. We’ll have plenty more to discuss in the months ahead, but first it’s time to recap everything we’ve talked about so far. Battlefield is bigger than ever. Using the power of new generation consoles and latest PC hardware each match will feature up to 128 players on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation® 5 and PC. On Xbox One, and PlayStation® 4, maps and modes will be optimized for a 64-player experience. Three Distinct Multiplayer Experiences Within Battlefield 2042’s All-Out Warfare experience, fan-favorites Conquest and Breakthrough once again make their return. In Conquest, two teams fight to control various points on the map in order to reduce the enemy’s strength to nothing. Breakthrough pits a team of attackers against defenders, with attackers having to capture all sectors on the map to overcome the defenders and win. Conquest is bigger than ever, with multiple Sectors (each Sector containing several control points) ensuring battles are constantly happening all over the map during a match Using Battlefield 2042’s increased map scale, Conquest matches will now contain multiple smaller areas, called Sectors. Each of these Sectors consist of a grouping of control points, filling out each map with even more battles happening concurrently during a match. Expanded vehicle and traversal options have also been added into the mix to make navigating these large spaces fully streamlined. Also new is the introduction of AI Soldiers (Artificial Intelligence) to the series. As a multiplayer-only experience, it’s important for us to let you play Battlefield 2042 when and how you want. Here is what that looks like in the All-Out Warfare experience of Conquest and Breakthrough: Multiplayer – AI soldiers are used for server-filling capabilities, ensuring your matches remain full, no matter your location. Co-Op – Allows you to play together with friends, against AI soldiers. Solo – If you wish to perfect your skills for multiplayer, you can even play alone against AI soldiers. And lastly, a reminder on the two other distinct multiplayer experiences coming to Battlefield 2042. One is being built by our team in LA, which we’ll show you at EA Play Live on July 22nd. And finally, Battlefield 2042 will introduce Hazard Zone, a brand new Battlefield game mode we’re excited to talk more about later this year. Set in the near future, the world has changed. Both the United States and Russia are once again on the brink of war as nations struggle over resources. As entire countries collapse, people find themselves with no nation to call home. These nomads are known as the Non-Patriated (“No-Pats”), a diverse group of people who have bound together in various clusters across the globe in order to survive the new turbulent world. In Battlefield 2042, you’ll play as Non-Patriated soldiers with unique skills who’ve taken up arms to secure dwindling world resources such as food, water and energy. They are known as Specialists, tasked with trafficking intel and supplies, and carrying out military missions that serve No-Pat geopolitical interests. Each of these unique Specialists have their own specialty and trait that you can use to give yourself the advantage in combat. Specialists mark a change from the Loadouts of previous Battlefield games. Every Specialist now has a Specialty and Trait that ties into their class of either Assault, Engineer, Recon, or Support. These Specialties and Traits are unique to their respective Specialist, which for your Loadout means you can now fully customize it to your liking: Primary Weapon Equipment (items anyone can use such as a Medical Crate or Supply Crate) Secondary Weapon Throwable (such as Frag or Incendiary Grenade) Class type will no longer restrict what weapons, equipment or throwable you can equip, offering you more flexibility than ever before in the series when it comes to Loadouts. You can also save these custom Loadouts, and select them for any Specialist you’d like to play with. Similar to personalizing your Loadout, you will also be able to customize the appearance of your Specialist. You’ll have the freedom to choose how you’d like to stand out on the Battlefield. There will be plenty of customization options available to ensure your Specialist doesn’t look the same as other players, and you can expect more details on customization at a later time. "With Specialists, we're excited to offer our players more flexibility than ever before when it comes to customizing their loadouts and adapting to situations on the battlefield," says Daniel Berlin, Design Director on Battlefield 2042. Battlefield 2042’s maps are filled with countless tactical positions for you to use to dominate the battlefield. Just be ready to move at a moment’s notice since storms, powerful weapons, and other dynamic events can tip the scales of war. At launch, you’ll be able to play as 10 unique Specialists. We’ve selected four of them to give you a closer look: Webster MacKay Lone-wolf survivalist MacKay is all about traversal. His Grappling Hook allows him to maneuver around the map more freely, while his Specialist trait (Nimble) prevents a movement penalty when aiming down sights or ziplining. Wikus ‘Casper’ van Daele Technologically savvy and a practitioner of subterfuge, Wikus’ abilities and specialty equipment make him a huge resource to any team. His OV-P Recon Drone can designate targets for lock-on weapons, spot nearby enemies, and detonate EMP blasts. Wikus’ trait (Movement Sensor) alerts him about approaching enemies, both when on the ground or piloting his recon drone. This makes him an absolute master of situational awareness. Maria Falck The true medic of the group, Maria’s S21 Syrette Pistol fires a syringe that can heal or revive friendlies at range and with increased speed, or damage foes. Her Combat Surgeon trait sets her apart from other Specialists by allowing her to revive fallen allies back to full health. Pyotr “Boris” Guskovsky A necessity for any squad, Pyotr’s engineering skills allow him to place a SG-36 Sentry Gun to defend locations, while his Sentry Operator trait makes his Sentry Gun even more efficient in combat when he’s standing near it. Additionally, any enemy the Sentry Gun locks onto will be spotted for Pyotr. But that’s just a taste of Battlefield 2042’s roster of capable characters! We’ll have more Specialists to show you in the months to come. Alongside the increase in players, the spaces of these sandboxes are also growing, allowing for more vehicles and battles to be spread out across the entire map. With unprecedented scale and choices in gameplay, each map is specifically designed to provide a unique experience that directly impacts strategy for you and your squad. Battlefields have multiple distinct combat areas housed in a single playspace and this extra space means more variety and more meaningful vehicle gameplay. In Breakaway, you’ll be taking the fight to the ice with hovercrafts, helicopters, and more. Here’s a quick look at Breakaway, which is set on Antarctica. Tread carefully on this dynamic map, where oil extraction has turned the freezing area to a strategic hot spot. Take advantage of destructible fuel tanks and silos that create debris fields and permanent fires when destroyed. At launch, Battlefield 2042 will have seven maps for the All-Out Warfare experience. You can find out more about them by heading to our map overview. Battlefield has built its name on being a chaotic sandbox where you are encouraged to use the massive arsenal of weapons, vehicles and abilities at your disposal on a battleground rife with strategic opportunity and player freedom. Battlefield 2042 brings a host of new enhancements to the series. In Breakaway, you’ll be taking the fight to the ice with hovercrafts, helicopters, and more. Massive events, such as tornadoes capable of whipping Specialists across the map and exploding space rockets, will impact the map before you. Altering safe spaces and forcing you to adapt to the ever-changing battlefield with your gadgets and even use such powerful forces of destruction to put pressure on the enemy. "The enhancement afforded by the new generation of console technology has allowed us to make the world of Battlefield bigger than ever before,” says Daniel Berlin, Design Director. “Dynamic events will constantly encourage players to adapt to situations and create those Battlefield moments we've come to know and love from the franchise." Weapons and Attachments To succeed on the battlefield, every Specialist will need to utilize their entire arsenal, from powerful weapons to useful gadgets and a wide array of vehicles. Battlefield 2042 brings a new level of player agency to Battlefield, giving you access to the weapon modifications and tools you need at any given moment in a match. No matter where you’re at in-round, you can equip your weapons in real-time with modifications that the situation calls for via the Plus Menu. You will be able to wield assault rifles, SMGs, LMGs, DMRs, shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols and explosive ordnance. Weapons are no longer restricted by loadouts, with every Specialist capable of wielding any weapon. Depending on the weapon used, you have up to four categories for customization: Scopes/sights Muzzles/barrels Ammo types/magazines Underbarrel attachments Gadgets While every Specialist has their own unique specialty, like Mackay and his trusty Grappling Hook, classic Battlefield items will be accessible to every Specialist including the C5 Explosive, Anti-Tank Mine, and Frag Grenade. But a Battlefield game wouldn't be complete without some new hardware. We’d like to introduce you to Ranger, an agile and mechanized companion that can be called in to faithfully follow you into combat. Here’s a quick look at Ranger rushing across Kaleidoscope. Vehicles Vehicular gameplay remains an essential part of the Battlefield experience. And with Battlefield 2042, you will have access to vehicles such as jets, hovercrafts, tanks, troop carriers, armored cars, and the long-awaited return of helicopters. Also new to Battlefield 2042 is the vehicle call-in system, which allows you to airdrop vehicles to wherever you are on the map, instead of spawning into them. This system will allow you more freedom than ever before when it comes to navigating Battlefield’s massive spaces and terrain in search of a tactical advantage. We’re also going back to Battlefield’s roots where you once again can find vehicles on the battlefield, instead of solely activating them from the deploy screen. In Battlefield 2042, you’ll be able to call in any vehicle to where you are on the map, giving you more mobility power than ever. We’re taking a new approach to live service with not only a commitment to new content, but a goal of enhancing the Battlefield experience through Seasons that will continue to build the world of Battlefield 2042. “In Battlefield 2042 we’ll continue our commitment to keep the community together during the live service,” says Ryan McArthur, Senior Producer on Battlefield 2042. “In our first year, we plan to deliver four seasons, each evolving the sandbox, while delivering its own Battle Pass, Specialist, and more great content that you’ve come to expect from a Battlefield game.” We’ll be evolving our world and expanding on the fiction through Seasons, each one lasting for about three months. Every Season will come with a new free and paid-for Battle Pass, delivering new content to chase after. This also means everyone can progress towards earning all content that impacts direct gameplay such as Specialists, through natural play. In our first year of live service, we will deliver four Seasons, with four Battle Passes, four new Specialists, along with more fresh content. In The Next Briefing… And that’s all for today. Battlefield 2042 marks the start of a new journey for Battlefield and all-out warfare, and we’re excited to give you more updates and reveals in the coming weeks and months. We’re also looking forward to seeing you at EA Play Live on July 22nd, where we’ll talk more about the experience being built by our team in LA. Stay safe, No-Pats. END OF BRIEFING REFERENCE TO A PARTICULAR MAKE, MODEL, MANUFACTURER, AND/OR VERSION OF WEAPON, GEAR OR VEHICLE IS FOR HISTORICAL ACCURACY ONLY AND DOES NOT INDICATE ANY SPONSORSHIP OR ENDORSEMENT OF ANY TRADEMARK OWNER If you'd like to discuss your thoughts and comments with us, please join us here.Battlefield Briefing: Answering Your Reveal Questions
On June 9 we revealed Battlefield 2042, and gave you an extensive look at All-Out Warfare, one of the game’s three core experiences. Your reactions to our unveiling have been memorable for the entire Battlefield team, and we look forward to sharing even more with you in the near future. We’ve since read your feedback and sat down with Daniel Berlin, Senior Design Director for Battlefield™2042 to answer your questions. In this post, you can expect to learn more about the following topics: A closer look at Specialists, Maps, Vehicles and AI Soldiers Why we’re moving the Technical Playtest to later this summer How we’re building cross-play and cross-progression functionality for Battlefield 2042 And as a bonus, we added an interview about how the much beloved penguins of the map Breakaway came to life. Let’s jump in! In Battlefield 2042 you will step into the boots of Specialists, an all-new type of playable soldier for the franchise. Inspired by the traditional Battlefield Classes, Specialists will be equipped with their own unique Specialist Trait and Specialty, and will have fully customizable Loadouts. At launch there will be a total of 10 Specialists. So far, we’ve shown you 4 of them: Boris, Casper, Falck and Mackay. You can expect further details on the remaining 6 later this year. How do Specialties and Traits work? The Specialty and Trait of each Specialist is unique to them, and can’t be changed. So as an example, we’ve noticed your excitement for a certain Specialist using a Wingsuit to navigate around the battlefield. That Wingsuit is their specific Specialty and cannot be used by any other Specialist. As for Traits, let’s take a closer look at Falck, equipped with the Combat Surgeon Trait. Combat Surgeon allows Falck to revive allies to full health. This gives her an advantage over players using Squad Revive, which we’re bringing back to Battlefield 2042. Squad Revive takes longer and does not bring players back to full health. How do customized Loadouts work? Class no longer restricts which weapons you can bring onto the Battlefield thanks to a fully customizable Loadout. As a Specialist, you’ll be able to customize the following: Primary Weapon Equipment (items anyone can use such as a Medical Crate or Supply Crate) Secondary Weapon Throwable (such as Frag or Incendiary Grenade) Here is what a customized Loadout could look like: Primary Weapon: M5A3 (Assault Rifle) Equipment: Supply Crate Secondary Weapon: G57 (Sidearm) Throwable: Frag Grenade As with all Specialists, Mackay’s Specialty and Trait are unique to him and cannot be changed as part of his Loadout: Specialty: Grappling Hook Trait: Nimble Will all players have RPG’s / SRAWs / SMAWs? All Specialists now have the ability to fully customize their Loadout, which means you have to make a choice about your focus on the battlefield. For example, you could opt for a Carl Gustaf M5, which is a unguided rocket launcher effective against vehicles at mid range. Or would you instead like an anti-air approach via the FIM-33 AA Missile? Choosing a more explosive approach for your Equipment slot would mean you won't be able to carry a Medical Crate, or a Supply Crate, and thus leaves you without health or ammo replenishing options. So choose wisely. Whenever we introduce a feature such as Loadouts, we also think about balancing the individual mechanical elements, such as missile ease of use, or range and effectiveness against vehicles or infantry. We then also introduce counters and scenarios, such as against rocket launchers, where you may have been better off picking something else. Battlefield is all about player choice and freedom to play however you want, and your decisions are vital to your squad and ultimately, team's success. Can Squads use any combination of Specialists? In Battlefield 2042, a Squad will consist of a maximum of 4 players. In Conquest and Breakthrough, squads can contain more than one unique Specialist. How can you differentiate between Specialists on your own and enemy team? The series icons highlighting your team (blue) and squad (green) will make their return and also help you differentiate between a friendly combatant and an enemy. There are also other options and systems we’re still testing that will assist you in distinguishing enemy players on the field. One last note on customization: There will be plenty of options available to you in the form of skins, which can alter your appearance and allow you to choose how you’d like your Specialist to stand out on the battlefield. The same two Specialists can look vastly different when wearing different skins. Is Ranger a Trait or Specialty? We can confirm Ranger is neither a Specialty nor Trait and won’t be unique to any Specialist. Instead, everybody has the opportunity to call-in them when in need of support. However, when you make that choice, you are choosing Ranger over other options available within the call-in system. There is of course also a limitation on the amount of Rangers available at any given time. Once safely on the ground, Ranger will follow and protect you and even put your life above their own! You’ll also be able to issue orders such as scouting a location, having them return to you and follow you. If a situation becomes dire, you can also command Ranger to self-destruct. This gives you several new interesting tactical options, such as do you send Ranger into the line of fire, or maybe as a decoy in order to flank the enemy? Your choices are critical, as Ranger is a light unit designed for anti-infantry combat but can easily be knocked out by enemy fire, explosives or EMP. And yes, before you ask, you can place a C5 Explosive on Ranger and send them into an enemy squad… We’ve shared that you can expect 7 new maps at launch for the All-Out Warfare experience of Battlefield 2042 (be sure to check out our dedicated Maps section if you need a refresher on each individual map). In terms of gameplay opportunities and land mass, this is the biggest and boldest Battlefield we have ever built. So what does that mean for you? Here’s a rundown of some of the most popular questions about maps you’ve asked. How does Clustering and Sectors optimize gameplay in Conquest? For Conquest we’ve made two distinct gameplay changes for Battlefield 2042 that will optimize larger-scale battles while preserving the classic essence of the experience: The first is called Clustering. We’ve introduced this to create deliberate areas of activity and capture areas for players to engage with. We’ve also added Sectors, which changes how players gain control of an area. In order to successfully capture the Sector, teams must seize and maintain control over all flags within a Sector, otherwise it will be treated as a neutral and contested area. Here’s an example of more fluid and targeted combat in a Conquest match. You are attacking a Sector and you capture the first flag. Previously, you and your squad would immediately be on the move towards another flag. But due to the Conquest changes in Battlefield 2042 you’ve now established a foothold in the Sector and can spawn and confront the enemy to take further flags. This creates a higher intensity fight for the full Sector. Only when the full Sector has fallen do you make the decision on where to go next. This reduces the back and forth running between flags and puts focus on the Sector itself. And lastly, different game modes will use different areas of our large maps. For example, when playing Conquest you’ll fight on certain areas of the map that aren’t available in Breakthrough and vice versa. This is one of the strengths of our massive play-spaces where different game modes bring more variety of experiences. Optimizations and differences between the 64 and 128-player experiences On Xbox One and PlayStation®4 you will have access to the same gameplay features that we’ve announced for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation®5. Weapons, Vehicles, Specialists and Gadgets all remain the same no matter what generation of console you’re playing on. Dynamic Weather events such as tornadoes, or Environmental Hazards like EMP storms will also be experienced by all players. Our intention is to ensure that nothing detracts from the overall experience of playing Battlefield 2042. The main differences between console generations is that we’ve made adjustments to the playable area on the maps to ensure a fluid play experience for Xbox One and PlayStation® 4 consoles. Can you fight on every floor of skyscrapers? You will not be able to play on every level of a skyscraper. But you can expect lobby and rooftop combat, which can be accessed via elevators and ziplines. As fighting on all levels of a skyscraper would be an entire map of its own, this prevents detracting from the rest of the map. How does increased map size impact limits such as going out of bounds? We have taken onboard feedback from past titles where the airspace is considered to be too cramped and expanded upon this to allow for more dogfighting scenarios. With the improvements made towards map scale, you can expect to be running or driving much longer before you hit an out of bounds warning. Will there be more maps? At reveal we talked about the 7 maps for our All-Out Warfare experience, and the addition of further maps through our live service. But that’s not all we have to share about maps! Be sure to tune in to EA Play Live on July 22 as we dive into the experience created by our Ripple Effect team (formerly known as DICE LA). We’re highly excited about this one! Vehicles are more easily available and more squad focused than ever before. We looked at how we can both balance out the scales between vehicle and infantry-play and create an anchor point for conflict. Earlier we mentioned the importance of balancing your Loadout (having a Medical Crate or Ammo Crate vs explosive ordinance for your Equipment slot). As infantry this boils down to how you engage with a vehicle, how you help others to do so more effectively, or how you stop the enemy from destroying too many of your team's tanks. When in a vehicle, the situation is about providing recon for your gunner, triggering defenses or even knowing when to hit the gas and boost off to freedom. How does the vehicle call-in system work? While you can still spawn directly into vehicles from the Deploy screen, one other important change we’ve made to accommodate the increased map scale is to make it possible for you to call-in vehicles when and where you need them. The vehicle call-in system can be accessed via a tablet interface and is available to all players, no matter which Specialist you are playing. There’s some further things to keep in mind: Use of the call-in system is dependent on map, mode and will have a specific budget assigned to each team. You still spawn into Air vehicles such as Aircrafts and Helicopters from the Deploy screen. Once you’ve called-in a vehicle, you will incur a cooldown so everyone has a fair chance to call-in support. Do the Factions have their own vehicles? Yes, the iconic vehicles you’ve come to know and love will still be faction-specific. The No-Pats taskforce that you follow in Battlefield 2042 will team up with either Russia or the US depending on the location in the world. This means that you will get to utilize either the iconic Russian or US hardware as you go into battle. As an example for Tanks, Russia will get to play with the T28 versus the M1A5 on the US side. You can also still expect to encounter vehicles that anyone can play with, such as the MD540 Nightbird Helicopter, or the EBAA Wildcat Heavy Ground vehicle. Will there be naval vehicles and sea warfare? You can expect to see naval oriented vehicles such as the LCAA Hovercraft, however there isn’t a focus on naval specific warfare right now. We’ve seen your comments about how excited you are about naval warfare, so stay in touch with us about what you’d like to see in the future! So far we’ve told you about the three distinct experiences where we’re introducing AI Soldiers, and how you can play with them: Multiplayer – AI soldiers are used for server-filling capabilities, making it easier for you to matchmake when you want to play. Players always have priority over AI when playing multiplayer. Co-Op – Allows you to play together with friends, against AI soldiers. Solo – If you wish to perfect your skills for multiplayer, you can even play alone against AI soldiers. If you’re new to Battlefield, AI soldiers are a great option to learn the mechanics of Battlefield 2042 at your own pace without the pressure and competition that comes with multiplayer. So how will AI Soldiers actually play on the Battlefield? AI Soldiers are intended to play the game like how you would play it yourself. However they are not designed to be Specialists and cannot use Traits and Specialties. You will see them undergoing certain tasks such as using the vehicle call-in system and engaging with vehicles, or capturing objectives. Whilst they can’t use the Wingsuit, they do have the intelligence to decide between engaging with you via enemy fire, flanking, throwing grenades or even reviving a downed squad mate. Can you completely opt-out of using AI Soldiers? In the All-Out Warfare set of experiences of Conquest and Breakthrough, AI Soldiers are used to backfill servers and you cannot opt-out of playing with them. However, there is a cap to how many of them you can encounter in a multiplayer match. In general, you will not experience more AI soldiers than players unless the match is still filling-up, or almost empty. Players will always have matchmaking priority over AI. As an example: if there are 120 players out of 128 players currently playing in a server, 8 AI Soldiers will join the match to help even out the teams. Should a player leave, another AI Soldier will temporarily replace them until a new player joins the game. We’re providing them as a helpful option to ensure you won’t have trouble matchmaking and can fully enjoy the all-out warfare chaos you can expect from a Battlefield match. Since AI Soldiers can be used in Solo mode, does that mean I can play offline? Battlefield 2042 is a multiplayer-only experience. So while you can play Solo against AI Soldiers if you’d like to practice, it will be in an online setting. One of your most frequently asked questions is about cross-play. We can confirm it’s a function we’re looking to build and test for Battlefield 2042. To accommodate that, we’ve made the decision to move the Technical Playtest to later this summer so we’ll have the opportunity to test the cross-play functionality. This means a few thousand participants will join us to help us test some of our new features and functionality that we’re building from the ground up for Battlefield 2042. Do keep in mind that the Technical Playtest is purposefully not intended to be the full experience you will see in the Open Beta, or at launch. It is a development-led environment with only a subset of features, focused on technical performance. How can I join the Technical Playtest? No need to contact us, we’ll contact you! The Technical Playtest will be in a closed environment and under strict NDA. Only a small group of participants will be able to join. If Playtesting is something that interests you, then we recommend you update your EA Playtesting profile. Registering for EA Playtesting will not guarantee you access to this, or other Playtests. Testing cross-play during the Technical Playtest We’ll test a subset of cross-play functionality during the Technical Playtest. This means during this test, PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation® 5 consoles will be able to test playing together. Cross-play in Battlefield 2042 beyond the Technical Playtest We are still building cross-play functionality, and the first opportunity for us to test it with a wider, invite-only group will be within the Technical Playtest. Right now, we’d like to give you an understanding of what we’re looking to achieve as final functionality beyond the Technical Playtest, so here is an overview of what you can expect that to look like: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation®5 system (PC and console can opt-out from playing together) Xbox One and PlayStation®4 systems Cross-progression and cross-commerce Alongside cross-play we’re also building cross-progression and cross-commerce for Battlefield 2042, which will be shared across all platforms and travel with you wherever you go. For example, your unlocked progress and purchases in your PlayStation® copy of the game will carry over onto the Xbox or PC version, and vice versa*. One of our favorite reveal reactions is the surprising popularity of a new set of waddling friends first seen for only a brief moment in the Reveal Trailer. It was definitely love at first sight between you and the penguins in the new Battlefield 2042 map, Breakaway! We’ve since followed your fan art, memes and further penguin related discussion with much enjoyment. We felt this was a perfect moment to recap and sit down with the person who brought these lovely penguins to life. Meet Joel Zakrisson! Can you tell our penguin fans more about your role at DICE? Hi! I’m Joel Zakrisson, a 3D artist at DICE and I’m mainly focusing on environments. We have both level artists and 3D artists here at DICE, so the 3D artists are doing most of the hard surface art, like anything that’s man-made on the map such as the oil rig on Breakaway. The level artists make most of the nature assets, such as rocks and trees as well as the placing of props and sculpting the terrain. How did you get into this role? I first decided I wanted to make games when I was 14 and built Little Big Planet 2 maps in my spare time. I then did a game design orientation program in high school, but was torn between art, design and programming. After testing out each field I ultimately landed on art because of the creative aspect, and 3D in particular since it would give me a better chance to work on the AAA games that I'm a fan of, such as Battlefield. After that I went to university, finished some art projects and published them online. They got quite a bit of attention with even companies like Rockstar contacting me, which was crazy! But I really wanted to work at DICE, so I ended up talking to DICE’s Head of Art about open positions, and that’s how I managed to get in! Can you give us an example of something else you worked on for a map? On Breakaway we have an oil rig for instance, so I’m creating that one. Like building it from scratch, composing it and building the systems that we use to construct it. The building blocks, and the entirety of it pretty much. I’m managing most of the 3D art on the map, which includes an oil port with architecture such as small living quarters for the workers who work there. As well as a research station up on the glacier. Oh, and I also made the huge mountain base you can see in the beginning of the Reveal Trailer. So, let’s talk about how the penguins of Breakaway came to life? When I first started on Breakaway I thought... we’re on Antarctica, I just have to do this! I love adding these little things that add more soul to the game. While resource extraction is still at the core of the map, adding these little fellows and adding more life to the environment was a no brainer for me. Adding something like penguins to the map isn’t easy, though. Once I was done with the models, I handed it over to the VFX artist Tobias Ahlgren, who did the animation and implemented their behaviour in game. In the end, it’s worth it and I love that myself and the team can add personal touches. We hope you get to see our passion when you play! What has your overall reaction been to all the penguin hype? While I’ve added Easter Eggs to games before which received attention through Reddit etc, nothing blew up like the penguins. That was a total surprise to me! So I feel a bit overwhelmed I guess? I love it. I love all of the tweets, and all of the fan art that I’m even getting, that’s just crazy. I love it all. It’s really fun to interact with the community. Anything you’d like to say to the community? So what I’d like to say to the entire community… I hope that you like the penguins and will have fun seeing them when you’re playing Battlefield 2042. It really means a lot to me. We’d love to thank Joel for being here with us today. We’re looking forward to you seeing the penguins in their full glory when Battlefield 2042 launches later this year! Up next… We know there are more questions that you would love us to answer right now. We’ve read them, and we want to thank you for staying in touch with us. We’re still only at the start of our journey unveiling Battlefield 2042 to you, and still hard at work to finalize the exciting features you can expect to see at launch. We’ll check back in with you once we have more details to share with you. At EA Play Live on July 22 we’ll show the next feature we’re ready to talk about and we’re looking forward to seeing you there! Be sure to visit our EA Play Live website to learn more about the upcoming event where we unveil the brand new mode that the Ripple Effect team in LA has been working on! *CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS APPLY. SEE https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-2042/disclaimers FOR DETAILS. REFERENCE TO A PARTICULAR MAKE, MODEL, MANUFACTURER, AND/OR VERSION OF WEAPON, GEAR OR VEHICLE IS FOR HISTORICAL ACCURACY ONLY AND DOES NOT INDICATE ANY SPONSORSHIP OR ENDORSEMENT OF ANY TRADEMARK OWNER.F1® 24 - Community-Raised Issues (Last Update: February 7)
Hey racers, Thank you for your support of F1® 24. Following the game's release, the development team will continue to work hard at making tweaks to the game based on the feedback you provide. What's this post all about? This post will be used to inform you on issues that the F1® 24 team are actively investigating or working on that have been raised by members of the F1® 24 community. How do I report a bug or issue? Before starting a new subject in EA Answers, please check to see if we're already tracking your issue in the list below. If you're not seeing the issue listed below, please visit the F1® 24 Technical Issues and Bug Reports boards to see if someone else has already raised it. If you're still not seeing your issue, please report it using the template that displays when starting a new topic in F1® 24 Technical Issues and Bug Reports. Please also attach any relevant files that you think would help the team verify your issue such as screenshots, videos, or hardware configuration files. More information on how to report a bug can be found by clicking here. For account-related issues please reach out to us via EA Help. How do I know what the status of an issue is? There are four categories that issues will be assigned to. Those are as follows: 🚧 INVESTIGATING 🚧 A significant number of people have reported this issue occurring. The development team is currently investigating the issue to understand how, or if, this can be resolved. ⏳ AWAITING PATCH ⏳ A fix/adjustment has been made and will be issued in a future patch. ✅ RESOLVED ✅ This issue has been resolved in the game version listed beside the issue. Please ensure you have updated your game to the latest version. ✋ CLOSED ✋ If marked as such: the issue can't be verified by the development team (therefore unable to resolve), is no longer being reported as an issue, or, is working as intended. Additional context about these particular issues may be linked alongside them. Items marked 🆕 have been recently updated/moved this week (since Monday). Items marked 📸 were originally flagged by an EA Creator Network member. 🆕🛠️ Latest Patch: v1.17 - Released Feb 3 - Includes: Export session results on PC - Click for Patch Notes 🛠️ Top Posts on Answers HQ The following posts received the most unique visitors and/or 'Me Too' reactions over the past seven days. If an EA community representative has responded, this will be linked. F1® 24 - Share Your Thoughts Discussion throughout the thread will continue to be monitored. Please ensure responses align with the Answers HQ guidelines. F1® 24 - Patch 1.14 Discussion Thread Discussion following each patch will continue to be monitored. Please ensure responses align with the Answers HQ guidelines. Patch 1.12 has just downloaded? Patch 1.12 was exclusive to PlayStation 5 in preparation for support for updated Sony system software. There were no other changes. Ferrari Engine Sound Bugged | Click for latest EA reply A change was made alongside the Season 3 updated to adjust the Ferrari engine sound to bring it closer to the real-world audio, therefore this change is as intended. Constant AI DRS train | Click for latest EA reply Following the v1.5 update, an improvement to how the AI battle on-track with one another including how they deploy ERS, has been made. Furthermore, v1.7 saw some additional improvements to slipstream and DRS values. We will continue to monitor discussion on this subject. Driver #1 Unavailable (Driver Career) | Click for latest EA reply This issue is being investigated by the development team. F1®️ 24 PC and Wheel Troubleshooting Guide Should you have any issues with F1®️ 24 on PC or with setting up a wheel, check out this post for some commonly reported (and resolved!) topics. 🚧 INVESTIGATING 🚧 A significant number of people have reported this issue occurring. The development team is currently investigating the issue to understand how, or if, this can be resolved. AI - Possible additional work AI ERS/DRS trains Career - Inability to use #1 driver number after winning the Driver's Championship Multiplayer - Inconsistent host advantage on lights-out ⏳ AWAITING PATCH ⏳ A fix/adjustment has been made and will be issued in a future patch. Items marked as 🆕 in here may have previously been in the Investigating section. 🆕 Photo Mode - Changing shutter speed causes problems with rendering the shot ✅ RESOLVED ✅ This issue has been resolved in the game version listed beside the issue. Please ensure you have updated your game to the latest version. 🆕 v1.17 - Customisation - Driver numbers unavailable on Grove Classic and Hethel Classic liveries v1.16 - Issues when Anti-Aliasing and Dynamic Resolution options are enabled (PC Only) v1.15 - Graphics - Excessive smoke from other drivers when locking up v1.14 - Audio - Joshua Dürksen being skipped on the grid running order v1.14 - UDP - "Retry Practice Programme" causes UDP data to become corrupt v1.11 - F2 - F2 2023 calendar being used in Grand Prix instead of 2024 v1.11 - 📸 Gameplay - ERS deploy doubled for the player v1.11 - 📸 Tracks - Auto recovery, Safety Car and Track Acclimatisation bugs on Interlagos v1.10 - AI - AI pace seemingly inconsistent between qualifying and race v1.10 - F1 World - Team Member mod effects do not last the whole duration v1.8 - 📸 Gameplay - Incorrect penalties for 'Illegal Blocking' v1.8 - Gameplay - Flickering ERS bar v1.8 - 📸 Multiplayer - DSQ on Formation Lap resulting in DSQ after race start v1.8 - Stability - Game freeze after contract renewal in Two-player Career v1.8 - Tracks - Mismatch between actual Pit Lane speed limit and signs placed beside the Pit Lane (Jeddah) v1.7 - Stability - Game occasionally crashing after completing an FP3 session in MyTeam v1.7 - Leaderboards - Reset leaderboards following the v1.6 patch v1.7 - Additional adjustments to Slipstream and DRS values to help overtaking and reduce AI trains v1.6 - Gameplay - 10 second time penalty served in 5-6 seconds v1.6 - Handling - Adjustments to Medium Traction Control setting v1.6 - Handling - Additional smaller handling improvements v1.6 - Stability - Game crashing on boot due to GFX issue v1.6 - Stability - Game crash when returning to mid-session save v1.6 - Stability - Game crashing when trying to access replays in Theatre mode (PC) v1.6 - Tracks - Kerbs and sausage kerbs more obvious, unsettling the car more when driven over v1.5 - AI - Excessively-long AI ERS trains v1.5 - AI - Excessively-long AI DRS trains v1.5 - Career - Two-player Career mode becoming unresponsive in menus v1.5 - Gameplay - Unable to open radio comms v1.5 - Input Devices - Logitech G923 FFB not working correctly unless turning off and on (Xbox Series) v1.5 - Multiplayer - Unusual collisions during some Multiplayer races v1.5 - MyTeam - MyTeam unable to proceed after ~1.5 Seasons v1.5 - MyTeam - PS5 players potentially getting a "customisation item removed" error after applying sponsor logos to their MyTeam livery v1.5 - Stability - Game occasionally soft-locking at the beginning of a race session (Multiplayer) v1.5 - Tracks - Invisible bump at Turn 13 (Spain) v1.5 - 📸 UI - Haas and Ferrari using the same colour on timing board and mini-map v1.5 - UI - Customisations to on-screen display (OSD) aren't being saved v1.4 - Career - Drivers incorrectly or unfairly losing Pace rating if they don't set Fastest Lap v1.4 - Career - Weather desync occurring in Two-Player Career v1.4 - Gameplay - Wet weather tyre compounds unavailable/incorrect in certain conditions v1.4 - Gameplay - ERS suddenly stops deploying, due to an ERS reliability fault not being communicated to the player. v1.4 - Gameplay - Wet tyres not available in wet conditions, when the player uses the Casual race style v1.4 - Gameplay - All cars starting on slick tyres in wet conditions v1.3 - 📸 Career - Pace stat increasing incorrectly v1.3 - 📸 Career - Focus stat rolling back to '99' incorrectly v1.3 - Career - Lack of AI-triggered mistakes/DNFs/yellow flags in Career mode v1.3 - Gameplay - Adjustments to Vehicle Handling v1.3 - Gameplay - Marginal increase in speed when partially driving on the grass ✋ CLOSED ✋ If marked as such: the issue can't be verified by the development team (therefore unable to resolve), is no longer being reported as an issue, or, is working as intended. Additional context about these particular issues may be linked alongside them. Tracks - Potential ongoing issues with invisible bump at Turn 13 (Spain), Turn 1 (Bahrain), Turns 14-15 (Miami), and Turn 15 (Silverstone). Unusual collision behaviour with kerb at exit of Turn 13 (China) Improvements to these areas won't be made for F1 24. These issues will be investigated for our future titles. 📸 Audio - Incorrect Ferrari engine sound A change was made alongside the Season 3 updated to adjust the Ferrari engine sound to bring it closer to the real-world audio, therefore this change is as intended. Multiplayer - Equal team performance setting not applying correctly in some scenarios Please see the following post relating to Equal Performance in F1 24: here. Replays - Replay audio doesn't always match on-screen visuals As with the real-world broadcast, there will be instances where car audio doesn't always match the on-screen action 100%. This year's integration is the first to offer more authentic replay sound with improvements planned to be made in future years. Stability - Game crashes when running BitDefender If running BitDefender, adding F124.exe or EAAntiCheatLauncher.exe as exceptions can avoid certain game crashes. More info can be found here and here. Input Devices - Thrustmaster TX wheel not being recognised (PC) By adding an exception in BitDefender for F124.exe, this problem is solved. More info can be found here. 📸 Audio - F1 'Theme Song' is being copyright-claimed on YouTube Claims of the F1 Theme Song (Brian Tyler) will no longer be copyright-claimed on YouTube by Tunecore. Input Devices - Logitech devices causing a game crash By updating the G-HUB software, crashes related to Logitech devices are no longer happening. More info can be found here. Stability - Anti-cheat executable is missing (Steam) This issue has been resolved. If you are still experiencing this problem, please reboot Steam, verify game files, and update F1®️ 24. Game boots in Chinese language by default (EA App) This issue has been resolved. If you are still experiencing this problem please reinstall the game. 🔧 PATCH NOTES 🔧 The following information includes details of the patches that have been released for F1®️ 24. For itemised patch information, please check the attached link. Version 1.3 - Out June 7 Version 1.4 - Out June 12 Version 1.5 - Out June 24 Version 1.6 - Out July 8 Version 1.7 - Out July 22 Version 1.8 - Out August 19 Version 1.10 - Out September 19 Version 1.11 - Out October 14 Version 1.13 (PlayStation Only) - Out November 4 Version 1.14 - Out Week November 11 Version 1.15 (Hot Fix) - Out November 21 Version 1.16 - Out December 9 🆕 Version 1.17 - Out February 3 Please consider the following: This is not an exhaustive list of everything the development team are working on. Just because an issue is not listed above does not necessarily mean it's been ignored. If an issue is added to ⏳ AWAITING PATCH ⏳ this does not mean it will be addressed in the next patch but will be included in an upcoming patch. We hope you continue to enjoy F1® 24!Kit Reveal: I love Marrok and Roll
UNIT NAME: Marrok ALIGNMENT: Dark Side CATEGORIES: Support, Inquisitorius, Mercenary, Unaligned Force User ------ Key Attributes: Mercenary and Inquisitorius Support character, designed to work with both squads (with a heavy emphasis on Mercenary). The Omicron greatly helps Inquisitors beat the Third Sister shard mission in the Rise of the Empire Territory Battle. They are the Final piece of the kernel for the Baylan Skoll Mercenary squad. Marrok benefits from more stacks of Soldier of Fortune in multiple ways such as his Special inflicting Ability Block, reducing enemy Offense when attacking out of turn, or applying additional stacks of Purge and Expose on all enemies. Inspiration: Marrok, as seen in Ahsoka, was a mysterious and interesting figure who worked with Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati for the Great Mothers to liberate Grand Admiral Thrawn. While the look of the character is based on his appearance on the Ahsoka show, his abilities will also synergize with Inquisitors. We only ever see him fight in the Ahsoka-timeframe so animations and ability names will be inspired from that appearance. We all loved the Marrok’s spinning lightsaber move in the show, so made sure to give the character some love by including it in the kit. Strategy Tips: Marrok is part of Baylan Skill’s Mercenary squad which relies on gaining stacks of Soldier of Fortune. With his unique ability, Marrok enables his mercenary allies to apply Purge on enemies and he himself gains stacks of Soldier of Fortune on return. Since he also interacts with Purge on enemies, he can be a valuable part of an Inquisitorius squad as well. If Marrok consumes max stacks of Purge using Desperate Getaway the cooldown is reset, so prioritizing the right target is vital FAQ: How do I acquire Marrok? Marrok’s Marquee event begins on October 3rd at 11am Pacific in-game. Which characters are required for the Marrok event? Shin Hati will be required to enter into the Marrok event from tier 2 onwards. She can be at any investment for Tiers 1 through 6. Both characters need to be Relic 5 for the final tier. Is Marrok required for GL Ahsoka? Nope Is Marrok required for Baylan Skoll? Yep (Relic 7) How does Marrok fit in the Inquisitorius squad? Marrok’s ability to dispel debuffs on Inquisitorius ally on consuming Purge is a very helpful ability that happens quite frequently. From the Marrok Designer: CG_Guardian: Designing Marrok was very interesting and exciting. From his first appearance in the show, I was very intrigued by him because of his mysterious design. The way he spins his lightsaber, the way he duels with Ahsoka and the way he disappears with green smoke when defeated; all of them were very cool and interesting. One of the fun challenges in designing Marrok was how to make him fit with both Inquisitors and Mercenary squads. We wanted Marrok to have benefits based on Purge as well as the new status effect - Soldier of Fortune. Since his primary team is supposed to be the Mercenaries, we ultimately decided to bring Purge in the Mercenary squad. Although Purge is not directly advantageous to some of the other Mercenary allies, applying Purge on enemies gives Soldier of Fortune stacks to Marrok and that gives out benefits to the squad. Q/A Link: Click me ------ ABILITIES: BASIC: Spinning Slash Final Text: Deal Special damage to the target enemy. If the enemy had a stack of Purge, inflict Tenacity Down for 1 turn. If it's Marrok's turn, all Mercenary allies gain Defense Up for 1 turn, otherwise inflict 3 stacks of Purge on the target enemy. SPECIAL 1: Desperate Getaway (Cooldown 4) Final Text: Deal Special damage to all enemies and deal an additional instance of damage to the target enemy. Expose target enemy for 1 turn. If Marrok has 20 or more stacks of Soldier of Fortune, inflict Ability Block on all enemies with Purge for 1 turn. Consume all stacks of Purge on the target enemy. If 6 stacks were consumed this way, reset this ability's cooldown. For each stack of Purge consumed, grant Advantage to a random Mercenary ally who doesn't have it for 2 turns. UNIQUE 1: Masked Hunter (Zeta, Omicron) Final Text: At the start of battle, Marrok gains 30% Max Health and Max Protection, and 50% Potency. At the start of his turn, Marrok inflicts Defense Down for 1 turn on a random enemy with Purge, which can't be evaded or resisted. Whenever another Mercenary ally uses a Special ability, Marrok will assist. Whenever Marrok scores a critical hit, all Mercenary allies gain 5% Offense (stacking, max 100%) until the end of the encounter. Whenever an enemy resists a debuff from a Mercenary ally, all Mercenary allies gain 10% Turn Meter. Whenever another Mercenary ally uses an ability on their turn, inflict a stack of Purge on the target enemy which can't be resisted. Whenever a Mercenary ally reaches 20% Health for the first time, they gain Damage Immunity for 1 turn. While Marrok has 20 or more stacks of Soldier of Fortune, whenever he attacks out of turn, reduce the Offense of the target enemy by 20% until the end of their next turn. If Marrok has 40 or more stacks of Soldier of Fortune, whenever he attacks out of turn, apply additional 3 stacks of Purge on all enemies and using Desperate Getaway will Expose all enemies for 2 turns. While in Territory Battles: At the start of battle, Marrok gains 2 stacks of Soldier of Fortune for each enemy. If Marrok is present, enemies can't be revived. All Inquisitorious allies are immune to percent based Health damage. While an enemy has Purge, they can't recover Health and Protection, and Inquisitorious allies attacks deal additional True damage. UNIQUE 2: Soldier of Fortune - Marrok Final Text: At the start of battle, Marrok gains 1 stack of Soldier of Fortune per Jedi or Light Side Unaligned Force User enemy. At the start of each Mercenary ally's turn, they gain 2% Defense Penetration for each stack of Soldier of Fortune they have until the end of their turn. Marrok gains a stack of Soldier of Fortune for each stack of Purge inflicted by another Mercenary ally. Marrok loses 3 stacks of Soldier of Fortune whenever he uses Desperate Getaway. Every time a Mercenary ally gains a stack of Soldier of Fortune, they recover 5% Health and Protection. UNIQUE 3: Patience Final Text: At the start of battle, if all allies (minimum 3) are Inquisitorius, this character gains 20% Max Health, Max Protection, and Potency. Dispel debuffs from a random Inquisitorius ally whenever a stack of Purge is consumed or dispelled by any Inquisitorius ally. Whenever an enemy damages this character with an attack while attacking out of turn, that enemy gains a stack of Purge (max 6), which can't be evaded or resisted. Whenever Purge is consumed or dispelled on an enemy, this character gains 3% Turn Meter.Kit Reveal: Big Punishing One
UNIT NAME: Punishing One ALIGNMENT: Dark Side CATEGORIES: Dark Side, Attacker, Bounty Hunter, Scoundrel ------ Key Attributes: Out of turn attacks make Punishing One deadlier, faster Steals Stealth from enemies that try to avoid combat Can inflict Deathmark on a target Inspiration: The Punishing One is Dengar’s ship, first seen in the Expanded Universe The ship has no holding cells for prisoners, meaning that Dengar would bring violent ends to his bounty targets for easier transport. We represented this with his Wanted: Dead’s ability to inflict Deathmark on his targets. Strategy Tips: Utilize the appropriate allies to set up maximum damage potential Look for the pertinent Bounty Hunter debuffs to get more instances of damage Being deployed with all Bounty Hunter allies provides several passive benefits Ships have reinforcement priority orders, but when those are tied (like Xanadu and IG-2000) it will go by order placed FAQ: How do I unlock Punishing One? You can unlock Punishing One starting on Thursday 10/17 What is different about a ship marquee event? You will need to be Level 60 and own a Capital ship is required Does the TIE Defender count as an Imperial TIE Fighter for the Unique? Yes Q/A Link ------ ABILITIES: BASIC: Quad Laser Cannon Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. Deal an additional instance of damage for each of the following: Target enemy is Breached Target enemy is Marked Target enemy is Target Locked SPECIAL 1: Disruptive Combo (CD=3) Final Text: Deal Physical damage to all enemies and dispel all buffs on them. Target other Bounty Hunter ally gains Potency Up for 1 turn and is called to assist. Ally Bounty Hunter Tanks Taunt for 1 turn and Light Side enemies lose 50 Speed for 1 turn, which can't be evaded or resisted. SPECIAL 2: Wanted: Dead (CD=9) Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and inflict the target enemy with Deathmark which can't be copied, dispelled, or resisted for 2 turns. Inflict Breach on all enemies for 1 turn, which can't be resisted. Punishing One recovers 100% Health. This ability can't be evaded and starts on cooldown. UNIQUE 1: JumpMaster 5000 Final Text: At the start of battle or when reinforced, Punishing One gains 3 Speed per Bounty Hunter ally and 6 Speed per Light Side enemy (including Capital ships). Whenever Punishing One is called to assist by a Bounty Hunter ally, if the enemy had Buff Immunity or Marked, Stun them for 1 turn, which can't be resisted. Whenever an enemy attacks out of turn, reduce the cooldown of Wanted: Dead by 1 (tripled if the enemy is Light Side). Whenever an enemy attacks Punishing One out of turn, it recovers 10% Health and Protection. At the start of battle, if Punishing One is deployed and all allies are Bounty Hunters (excluding the Capital Ship): Enemy Imperial TIE Fighter ships lose 200% Critical Chance and Evasion for the rest of the encounter The ally Empire Capital Ship gains 5 Speed Ally Bounty Hunter Attackers gain 100% bonus Protection for 1 turn Punishing One dispels all debuffs on itself and ignores Taunt on its first turn At the start of the enemy Capital Ship's turn, all enemies lose 100% Critical Damage until the end of the turn. Whenever an enemy gains Stealth, dispel it, inflict Breach on themselves for 1 turn, which can't be resisted, and Punishing One Stealths for 1 turn. While Punishing One is active, Breached enemies have -25% Health and Protection recovery. Enemies with Deathmark can't recover Health and Protection, and whenever an enemy with Deathmark is defeated, ally Bounty Hunters gain 100% Defense for 1 turn and recover 100% Protection. Reinforcement- Skip Tracer Final Text: Enter Battle: Punishing One gains Defense Penetration Up for 2 turns. Target enemy is inflicted with Buff Immunity for 1 turn, which can't be evaded or resisted.
Battlefield Briefing: The World of 2042
Battlefield™ 2042 is the next generation of the series’ exciting sandbox gameplay, containing three distinct multiplayer experiences. We’ve spoken about All-Out Warfare, and Battlefield Portal already, and we’re still to reveal Battlefield Hazard Zone, an all-new, high-stakes, squad-based game-type for the Battlefield franchise that we can’t wait to tell you about. But before we get to that, we’re going to be talking about the narrative of Battlefield 2042 and how we’re telling the story of that world. Multiplayer is the core of Battlefield, however, we’ll also be telling a compelling narrative through a new lens for the series. The World of 2042 will play a vital role in how we tell the story, and it's one we plan on unraveling over time. You'll learn more about the world through the eyes of the Specialists that you play as. Each one has their own story that connects them to our ongoing narrative, and to the world itself. Discoveries you make in the game will also expand upon the narrative, while stories that exist outside of the game itself will aid you in piecing together the pieces that make up the World of 2042. The world of Battlefield 2042 is chaos. Resources are dwindling as violent climate change takes hold and the United States and Russia are on the verge of war. As entire countries collapse, people find themselves with no nation to call home. These nomads are known as the Non-Patriated (“No-Pats”), a diverse group of people who have bound together in clusters across the globe in order to survive the turbulent new world. In Battlefield 2042, you’ll play as Non-Patriated soldiers with unique skills who’ve taken up arms. They are known as Specialists, tasked with carrying out military operations. In-game, each of these unique Specialists have their own specialty and trait that you can use to give yourself the advantage in combat. The World of 2042 has been ravaged by unpredictable and volatile weather. The city of Doha (AKA the map Hourglass) knows this all too well. Each map in Battlefield 2042 has its own story. For Hourglass, we wanted to tell the story of a city that’s not only been ravaged by sand but one where life has ground to a halt. Extreme conditions have become part of daily life for the citizens of Doha and you’ll see these highlighted throughout the map on advertisements informing citizens what they should do in the event of a storm. Lining the streets are signs detailing evacuation procedures. You’ll notice cars that have been left behind, in the process of being claimed by the sand their inhabitants were once trying to escape. Now they lie still, providing you with potential cover from enemy fire. Throughout your journey across the World of 2042, you may notice signs and logos on buildings and vehicles. Some of the organizations and businesses we’ve created for the world will be present in multiple maps. Within Hourglass you may notice logos of Synseco, an agricultural company based out of Egypt, featuring heavily on Renewal. What are the reasons for Synseco’s presence in Hourglass? Only time will tell. Other organizations you will encounter include Daesong Electronic and Four Sec, a private security company whose growth increased rapidly as the world plunged into turmoil. Some are quick to point out that they have the backing of numerous wealthy private investors, while American media outlets would likely call out their close ties to Russia. These are just a few of the fictional organizations that you will encounter in the World of 2042, with many being specific to various maps and geographical locations. As you make your way through Battlefield 2042’s maps, you may hear broadcasts from the America United News Network or you might hear the same story from the Russians’ point of view. Each of these voices aims to give you something to reflect upon and will help to give context to the events that are unfolding within the world we’re creating. Definitely keep an ear out... With Battlefield 2042, we’re dedicated to building an engaging world for you to experience. All of these in-game elements will help push our story forward, playing a part in building the puzzle that is the World of 2042. Look beyond the boundaries of the game, and you will find even more of those puzzle pieces. You know what the No-Pats are, but just who are they? How did they come to be? Why and how do they fight? This past week we published The Journey of the No-Pats, a multi-chapter narrative piece written by journalist Kayvan Bechir about his experiences while traveling with the No-Pats (as well as several Specialists) while the world’s nations fall to scarce resources, greed, and violent climate change. Alongside answering questions about the No-Pats’ fight for survival and how they operate, this piece takes readers on a journey through a series of locations across Battlefield 2042. Why is Doha drowning in sand? Bechir lays out the hard facts of the city’s failure to fend off desertification and the suffering of its people: bankruptcy, famine, and political strife, all culminating in a cataclysmic sandstorm assaulting an unprepared metropolis at the same time you’re waging war in the city streets. If you want to know more about what Doha and other locations you’ll be fighting across in Battlefield 2042, be sure to read The Journey of the No-Pats. At the conclusion of The Journey of the No-Pats, we released an original cinematic piece called Exodus that explored the final chapter of the story in greater detail and reintroduced an old friend. Battlefield™ 4’s Kimble “Irish” Graves returns in 2042 as one of the prominent leaders of the multi-factioned No-Pats and as a playable Specialist. Michael K. Williams, the original actor for Irish in Battlefield 4, has also returned to help bring the character to life once more. In Battlefield 2042, Irish finds himself at a crossroads with the mysterious Oz, another leader amongst the No-Pats. Irish wishes to tend to his people and keep them out of wars fought by the superpowers of the world. Oz stokes the flames of war, believing that the old world must burn for the new one to be born. Irish, as the leader of one of the groups of No-Pats, gives commands and expects them to be followed without question. He’s a man who’s been hardened by great loss who chooses to pay his respect to the fallen by using his skills to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. Class: Engineer Specialty: Fortification System Trait: Veteran As an Engineer, Irish is a great asset to any team. His specialty is the Fortification System, which allows him to place two separate items into the world – the DCS Deployable Cover and APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel. DCS Deployable cover You can place the cover on nearly any flat surface, creating a small protective barrier that allows your allies to see out through its bulletproof glass. This barrier can protect you and allies from incoming fire until its health pool is depleted. As Irish, you can place multiple covers on a map. Need to revive someone? Protect yourself against a sniper attack in the open? Hold the capture point for just a few more precious seconds? Using multiple covers, you can create your own small outposts to help you buy time. Obtaining some medical and ammo crates and teaming up with Boris and his SG-36 Sentry Gun will allow you to build your own castle-like fort. APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel The APS-36 is a rocket’s worst nightmare. Once placed into the world on nearly any flat surface, it eliminates incoming explosive projectiles within proximity (grenades, rockets, etc), turning a once deadly weapon into a puff of smoke. Placing the APS-36 next to a vehicle will give it automatic protection from incoming missiles while placing it behind cover can force the enemy to reposition in their attack. But beware: an EMP or savvy hack attack can put the system out of action. Veteran Irish’s Veteran trait allows him to dig in and stay alive. He will always spawn with a small amount of body armor that can be replenished whenever he collects dropped ammo packs from defeated foes. To celebrate the return of Irish, we are excited to announce that as an added incentive in pre-ordering Battlefield 2042, you will receive his exclusive Battle Hardened legendary skin. The Battle Hardened skin showcases the outfit he wears in the short film Exodus! In Battlefield 2042, we’ll be telling you stories in a new way for the franchise. We decided to sit down with the Narrative team at DICE to recap (and go a little bit more in-depth) into the World of 2042 and how we’ll be telling its story over time. Grab a drink, sit back and without any further ado - it’s over to the Narrative Team! Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role at DICE? Justin Langley: Hello! My name is Justin Langley, I’m a Narrative Designer at DICE. I help develop the narrative for characters and game modes. Michael Hartin: Hi, like Justin, I’m also a Narrative Designer on Battlefield 2042 working on world-building elements. I focus on the physical world - that starts with the maps, but also goes into details like in-game organisations and media outlets. If it’s a map (say for example, a city) then I’m also responsible for what advertisements, and other world building elements, that are displayed there and what they can tell you about that location. Eric Holmes: Hi, I’m Eric Holmes, World Director on the game. I get to work with talented people like Justin, Michael Ben, and the rest of our team, and what we try to do as a group is contextualize everything in-game. So our work is ultimately about establishing and answering questions like Where are we? and What’s going on? And we’re also helping the Battlefield 2042 team at large do what they do. We work together as a narrative team, but we also have to function as a kind of network to the rest of the development team as well. In a lot of ways, narrative is something that helps tie all the different aspects together through context. Ben Walke: I’m a producer and I work closely with Eric, Justin, Mike and the rest of the Narrative team. In terms of what I do: I help solve problems, work on priorities and do my best to ensure we are always hitting the quality targets we set ourselves. There’s also a lot of wrangling and acting as a shepherd at times. In short, I try to make sure that the team has everything they need to deliver on the fantastic work they do. How did you start writing the narrative for Battlefield 2042? Langley: We started with the central theme of adaptation in the face of crisis. Knowing that we wanted it to be in the future it had to feel realistic and grounded, which is why we ended up in 2042.. Once a timeframe was chosen we began to look at the state of the world today. We started looking for things which seemed interesting to us and began to expand upon them. Always asking ourselves, where would that thing be in 10, 15, 20 years time? Once we hit that point, we then started diving into the ideas of certain kinds of events,if they continued, how would that change the world? We explored different avenues of how we wanted to approach that and what kind of things we wanted to do. What we found is that one event in the world, it’s a crisis; you only see it on the news for a few weeks. But when it’s multiple events happening all at once, everything becomes chaotic. It’s that chaos which creates a fun sandbox to play in, and pull from. It gave us a lot of opportunities to make the World of 2042 feel like it was changing — maybe for the better or in some cases, for the worse. One thing that is interesting to us is how one event can seem completely different when filtered through three entirely different perspectives. In the game we have Specialists, and they all come from varying backgrounds. Although they’re all aware of these events, some have different perspectives, and some of those perspectives might differ and there might be some conversation about that in the game as well. I think it’s important you get a lot of different voices on the ideas of these cataclysmic events because it’s so easy to get locked into a singular, superficial perspective. One of these things we’re trying to show here is that a broad spectrum of people are affected by the events in-game. And particularly with the No-Pats and the No-Pat Task Force you’ll be playing as, it’s about bringing those perspectives together and kind of unifying them to do something about it. And I think that’s a powerful message. Hartin: One of the interesting challenges was to go with the idea that the in-game outlets don’t have to tell the truth. There’s obviously a conflict between the United States and Russia but neither side has to tell you the truth about it. If they want you to align with their point of view, they’re definitely going to hide things that they don’t want you to know about. So there’s texture there that I find interesting. Holmes: I think we’re in a world right now where the media has never been more confusing in a global sense. Our sense of reality is diminished and there’s a cacophony of voices, and people finding their own truth. I think the real kind of genius of Michael’s work is that it lets you be in a vivid version of this game world. You can subscribe to different perspectives while you’re sharing a reality with other players because you’re on the ground seeing what’s happening. Langley: Exactly. That’s the most exciting part to me because you’ll hear these outlets talking about something and you’ll be able to look around, see what’s going on and say, “that’s not what’s happening at all.” But that’s the perspective they’re giving the general public, who isn’t there as an eyewitness like the player, which is a good allegory for a lot of military conflicts in the real world. That element just gives this a sort of touchstone of reality. Hartin: For example, we have the perspectives of the Americans, the perspective of the Russians, and then we also have a conspiracy outlet that has their own sort of fun perspective on everything. It’s a really different and fun way of storytelling since it’s all built into the level; you’ll find the narrative if you want to find it. If you’re less inclined to do that, you’ll just shoot the enemy team and move on. We tried to build the story in a discoverable sense. So, if you’re walking around the map… maybe keep your eyes and ears on alert for some visual and audio cues. What goes into building out the lore of a location and infusing it into the map? Langley: That can be determined by what kind of map it is and how big it is. If you’re doing something in a dense city, you really have to start digging for all those little road signs and shops. Everything in a city tells a story. Hartin: Yeah, exactly. The cities are some of the hardest ones. For example, on Hourglass you have the stadium, which has advertisements for events that never happened due to the city’s evacuation, like a soccer tournament coming up, a band performing, and so on. You need that to create a sense of immersion and reality. Walke: It’s definitely a task you don’t finish in one go either. We can’t say “Okay, we start today and within three months we’ve done it all.” A lot of the work continues to evolve over the production timeline of the map. Langley: And when it comes to sculpting characters and their backstories, we want to make sure these characters fit into the wider narrative but also in the minute-to-minute story. Michael and I take the elements and work together to make sure there’s some cross-pollination occurring. The end result is one where characters of the world don’t feel like they’re from a completely different world than the one they’re going to be fighting in. They belong here. It’s a lot of fun. How do you go about building new characters? Langley: Once we have a character design to work with, the next step is to ensure that the character fits into the world. We'll take a look at the timeline of events that we’ve put together and see if there are any natural points that pair up nicely with the new character. Some of these events are the ones you’ll see in-game, others you might not, while some might appear later in the game’s life. Our timeline is a narrative roadmap that we utilise to ensure that things fit authentically. We then start to consider the other characters we already have in the game. It’s also important that not only does any new character fit within the world, but they also need to have a good dynamic with our existing characters. Everyone is different in the world and we want to make sure we represent that aspect with different perspectives and personalities. Some people are aggressive, some people are friendly. Some are optimistic, others pessimistic. We want to create this broad range of characters that can play with one another in a dynamic way. Once these pieces start coming together we then begin to work at a more granular level on the character. What kind of personality do they have? We’ll start diving into their background, their histories, the country they’re from, their age. It ends up being a long time in spreadsheets and documents trying to map everything together. It’s important for us that none of our characters end up feeling like a stereotype. If anything, we try to break that stereotype where we can. We’re just trying to make the strongest character possible, and then presenting that in an interesting way. Walke: As an example, going back to the reactions from players first learning about the Specialist, Navin Rao. Seeing the validation from players from India or with an Indian background letting us know we’ve done this character justice and we’re not just leaning on stereotypes. It validates getting these characters right, and the importance of it. What are you most excited about for players to experience in this world? Langley: One of the things I think is the most fun is that because this takes place in a fictional future, I’m excited to see players explore that idea of What If and that they get to experience that. It was really fun to create that kind of fantasy for them to play in. I really hope they look at the map and wonder about the story behind it, the reality behind it. That What If factor is something I love to invoke in our players. Hartin: There are seven locations at launch but it’s a massive world that we’re in, with possibilities in every single location. My hope is that we capture our players’ imagination and they say “What’s happening at X or Y?” Because obviously we’ve thought a ton about what’s happening inside the world but I’d love to see more requests like “show us what’s happening at this location” and then having the chance to do that is what I’m most excited about. Holmes: It’s about creating a world with possibilities that you haven’t seen before. We have a blank page. We still want to have all the same value of previous Battlefield games: immersion and believability, but as a part of answering what we want on that page, we can surprise people in a new way. This world, this setting, what we’ve got going on in 2042 with our environments and characters lets us do things you haven’t seen before. And that’s exciting. Walke: For me, it’s going to be really exciting to see how players start to pull all our interconnected threads together as they play the game. I’ve always thought the best stories, and at least the best worlds are those that leave a little hidden behind the curtain. I like that we’re not coming out and saying everything. You’re not going to load up the website and see a full wiki breakdown of the world, although I’m confident someone out there in the community is already working on this. As a narrative team, is there anything you’d like to say to the community? Walke: CT When? Or would that be BB When? In all seriousness though, we’ve seen the reactions within the community so far and the entire team has been blown away by them. Launch is getting ever closer and we can’t wait to step onto the battlefield with you all. From a narrative point of view, we’re incredibly excited to be telling the story of our world in 2042, the setting, characters and everything in between, we hope you enjoy it. That’s all for today. These past weeks we’ve given you a closer look into the World of 2042 with Journey of the No-Pats and the Exodus Short Film. The story will continue unfolding as we head into Battlefield 2042’s release and live service, and we can’t wait to see your reactions to the world we’ve built for you. Stay safe, No-Pats. REFERENCE TO A PARTICULAR MAKE, MODEL, MANUFACTURER, AND/OR VERSION OF WEAPON, GEAR OR VEHICLE IS FOR HISTORICAL ACCURACY ONLY AND DOES NOT INDICATE ANY SPONSORSHIP OR ENDORSEMENT OF ANY TRADEMARK OWNERCommunity Update - Eras, Episodes and Marquees Oh My
Hello there Holotable Heroes! We're excited to announce a massive update coming to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which will enhance your gaming experience by streamlining older processes that have been around for our 9-year tenure. We expect these changes will make your sessions more enjoyable and rewarding! One major change is our revamped quest system, making quests easier to track and complete. We will also implement the Episode Track, a new reward track with Free and Paid tiers to reward you along your journey, as well as a loyalty program for those who interact with our webstore. Most importantly, we will be creating a clearer schedule for you to follow in your SWGOH journey, to allow you to plan your sessions better. In addition to the above, we will discuss a highly requested Quality of Life update to make many events SIMMABLE which will be coming in a near future update (soonTM)! Plus one more QoL surprise. So let's get into it! As a reminder, while this is still in development, anything is subject to change, including visuals and things visible on said visuals So why are we making these adjustments 9 years into development? That’s a great question which partially answers itself: Our game is 9 years old with a lot of systems, some older than others, and our game needs to adjust to ensure the experience reflects the love and passion we put into it. This means we need to make some hard decisions, look at the game as a whole, and figure out what needs to be reworked, moved around, or removed altogether. As we go through the rest of the update notes below, you’ll start to see our process and how we went about the adjustments. To get where we are today took months of hard work and dedication from many disciplines inside Capital Games and we are extremely happy with where we landed. We consider the experience delivered with our next update to be a great foundation for the future of the game, making it more enjoyable every time you open up Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. “Throughout this process, or journey we should say, we prioritized what makes Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes compelling for many types of players while simultaneously smoothing out portions of our game that we felt would have the most impact on a player’s day to day experience. Our main focus was to make sure we kept all our groups of players top of mind with every decision we made. One group in particular we wanted to focus on with these changes was our Free to Play players and how they will interact with the new Episode and Quests systems. This approach guided us to create experiences and opportunities that allow many types of players to be able to enjoy the latest Star Wars experiences.” Chris Stott / “CG_SBCrumb” Lead Producer for this Title Update Improved Scheduling One of the largest changes you will see is with our content cadence, which will be moving to a more defined 12-week release schedule. If you’re anything like MeatheadMilitia, you probably would love an image to better showcase what this schedule looks like, so here you have it: a Meathead-special piece of art. We intend to announce all of each Episode’s content just before that Episode starts, so you can better follow the story we are telling, and so we can showcase the characters who will be joining us as part of that story. We want you to see your intended end goal as well as what to expect along the way. What is an Era? What is an Episode? An Era is a period of time in which released characters and events are themed around a specific story being told. Eras last just under 3 months, or to be more specific: exactly 12 weeks. Each Era is broken up into 3 Episodes, each lasting exactly 4 weeks, or 28 days. An Episode’s content arc is thematic to the specific unit or units acquired during the Episode. There will always be a new Marquee unit released to start each Episode, with most Episodes containing a second Marquee released midway through the Episode. At the end of each Era we intend to provide a new Event or Journey-Guide-level unit to pursue using all of the units you’ve worked to acquire through the Era. Over the course of a calendar year, you can expect 12 Episodes contained within 4 Eras, plus an additional 13th Episode each year during our normal time off in the Holiday season. Holiday Episodes are an exception regarding Marquee releases, as they will not contain new Marquee characters. Launch Era: The Era of Apprentices So after laying all of this out, this is where I deliver the news that the first Era begins one week from today, on November 19th, 2024, and will play out slightly differently than what’s described above. This squad will be based on the events of Season 3 of the Bad Batch Disney+ Series, and includes a couple of characters that make use of the new Mercenary tag. We can’t wait to announce more details in the new year! Episode 1 of the Era of Apprentices begins at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on November 19 and, as planned, features 2 new Marquee Characters. The first, (drumroll please,) is Huyang, the lightsaber architect and storyteller droid who was Ahsoka’s companion on the show. The second, arriving two weeks later, is none other than General Syndulla, Ahsoka’s longtime friend, close ally, and a General in the New Republic! Episode 2 of the Era acts as the Holiday Episode for 2024 and does not include any Marquees, but is included in the Era since the release of Galactic Legend Ahsoka Tano lands during Episode 2, to wrap up the Era’s theme. The First Full Era: The Era of the Cavalry Our first full, 3-Episode Era begins on January 14, 2025, and clever players may already be able to deduce the theme based on the title. This Era will contain 5 new Marquee Characters to create a new Bad Batch squad! This squad will be based on the events of Season 3 of the Disney+ Series, and includes a couple of characters that make use of the new Mercenary tag. We can’t wait to announce more details in the new year! Where do Conquest characters and Galactic Legends fit into this schedule? Conquest characters will continue to be released at their current cadence, but are not tied to an Era. While occasionally a Conquest character will line up with an Era’s theme, they often will not. This lets us continue to release powerful one-off characters without being limited to our planned themes. The relationship of Galactic Legends is still being worked on, but we definitely will not limit participation in an Episode around owning a GL. While GL Ahsoka will release during Episode 2 of the Era of Apprentices, having her unlocked is not a requirement to enjoy any other part of the Episode. What is happening to Daily Activities? The upcoming adjustment to the Daily Activities portion of your SWGOH adventure is one of my favorite changes in this update. For starters, they are now called Daily Quests. Additionally, you’ll only need to complete 7 quick and efficient Daily Quests each day to collect your Daily Quest Reward. Individual Daily Quests are one source of Episode Points (EP), that progress you along the Episode Track for each Episode. More on this in a minute. Below are the quests that you will see each day when you are at Player Level 85. Players below Level 85 will have a different selection of Daily Quests to complete each day as they level up. Daily Quests Use 600 Energy, Cantina Energy, Mod Energy, or Ship Energy Purchase 3 Shipments Finish a Galactic War battle Finish 2 Challenges Finish 1 Fleet Challenge Open 1 Data Pack in the Store Complete 1 Squad Arena or Fleet Arena battle Spoiler Alert: See that first quest to spend all those different types of Energy? You probably recognize that 600 is the total spent Energy or Cantina Energy required to earn all of your daily Guild Raid Tickets. Well, now Mod and Ship Energy also contribute to earning Tickets, making it easier to help out your guild and focus on nodes you care about, and easier for your Guild Officers who don’t have to chase you down to earn those dang Tickets. And by the way, that Energy change goes live TODAY!!!! So you can enjoy earning those tickets faster, before the release of this Feature Update. This change is intended to guide players of all levels, and reduce the amount of focus required for this part of your daily gameplay, so you can dedicate more time and resources to the fun stuff and your personal goals. What are the Episode Track and Episode Pass? Once a player hits level 85, they unlock the Episode Track and can start earning additional rewards on the Track by completing Quests. You progress along the Episode Track by earning Episode Points (EP) which are given as rewards from Daily Quests at level 85, as well as from the new Episode Quests and Character Quests. Additionally, earning feats in Galactic Challenges now rewards you with EP. In each Episode there is a Free Track and an Episode Pass track that is unlocked by purchasing the Episode Pass. Fear not: if you are a Free-to-Play player who completes all your Daily Quests and Episode quests, and engages in Galactic Challenges, you can expect to complete the Free Track by the end of the Episode. However, purchasing the Episode Pass will let you complete the track more quickly, earning more rewards such as Marquee character shards, Relic tier materials, Kyrotechs and ability materials such as Zetas and Omicrons. It also includes a repeatable Bonus Reward at the end of the Track that can be claimed as many times as you can unlock it before the Episode ends. Note that the Episode Pass will include shards for both Marquees to be released over the course of the episode. Initially, shards for the first Marquee will be available on the paid tier of the Episode Track, while shards for the second one will be a reward for completing one of the Pass-Exclusive Episode Quests that appear at the same time that the Marquee is released. The cost of the Episode Pass will be $20 (USD) and will provide a significant amount of value. The rewards inside the Free Track are about equivalent in value to earning 4 Tier-10 boxes, (a.k.a. red boxes) and 4 Tier-9 boxes from our previous Galactic Challenges. What is the Episode Shipment store? Similarly to the Raid Shipment tab, the Episode Shipment tab will allow you to choose the rewards you’d like to spend your Episode Currency on throughout the Episode, as you earn that currency on the Episode Track. At release, Episode Shipments will refresh once per week, on Tuesdays. The total value provided across shipments is far more than any player could spend in a single Episode, so there is plenty of flexibility to pursue the rewards that you would like. Notably, Episode Shipments contain Omicron Ability Materials, very inexpensive Mods (presented just as they are in Mods shipments,) and character shards for many characters at discounted value. Episode Quests Another source of Episode Points are Episode Quests. There are 28 Episode Quests in each Episode, one of which is revealed to players each day. These 28 quests are divided into 4 “Chapters” with 7 Episode Quests per Chapter. Completing 7 Episode Quests in a Chapter lets you claim a larger Chapter reward. Episode Quests are intended to be completed without significantly adjusting your normal gameplay behavior within SWGOH. There may be quests that require you to use a farmable character, but these quests are front-loaded in the Episode to allow time to get them if you do not already have them. Fortunately, our first Episode features quests that require various members of the original Phoenix Squad, which all players now have unlocked by the time they reach level 85. Another great feature is that Episode Quests remain available to complete through the entire Episode, which means if you miss any days, you can come in later and still complete Episode Quests to catch up. While we plan on some Episode Quests being time-sensitive around events, (e.g. “Attack 3 times in a Territory War,”) we fully expect all players to be able to participate in and complete each Chapter if they are playing consistently. For those who purchase the Episode Pass, there are additional quests in each Chapter that can be completed to help you progress down the Episode Track even faster (but are not required in order to reach the end of the Track). These quests also count towards the Chapter reward, so can be completed to make up gaps if a time-sensitive quest was missed. Character Quests This new type of quest is in support of the Marquees that get released during an Episode and will reward a player who participates in both the unlock and advancement of said Marquee Character in the 2 weeks after the Marquee’s release. Like Episode Quests, there are 28 Character Quests, divided into 4 parts of 7 quests each, and again, completing all 7 quests in one part grants a larger reward. Unlike Episode Quests, all 28 of these quests are revealed and available immediately when a Marquee is released. Character Quests are intended to be simple to complete, and are focused around using the new character in battle. In fact, just playing through the Marquee Event will complete many of them! However, claiming these quests requires the player to own a specific number of shards of the associated Marquee Character. Shards that have already been used to promote a character count towards these requirements, so don’t worry about using them! Completing Character Quests also earns Episode points to progress you down the Episode Track. These quests are intended to give a player a boost in their progress on the Track, but are not required to complete the Episode Track itself. TL;DR: The faster you progress a Marquee Character during their Episode release window, the quicker you'll unlock additional rewards. Journey Quests A few months ago we released a significant update to rewards earned from quests granted from levels 1 to 85. That was the start of work we are continuing with this Title Update, as we give these quests the official name of “Journey Quests” and present them in a more easily-digestible format. All Journey Quests now have only a single task, and going to the Journey Quests tab in the new Quests UI will allow you to see everything that quests are asking you to do much more easily than tapping through a list of identical quest-giver portraits. In general, we’ve reduced the amount of grind required for many of these quests, which now focus on investment and the introduction of players to new features as they advance to level 85 much more quickly than before. Prestigious… Achievements! So how do the existing Prestigious Quests fit into this new quest format? To put it bluntly: they don’t. As a result, Prestigious Quests have been converted into Prestigious Achievements, which appear in your list of achievements along with all of the others. Most of these new achievements focus only on investment goals, and the long, grindy tasks of old have been removed, making these much more achievable for many players. They still grant the same rewards that the quests did before, and many players will earn one or two immediately upon logging in after the release of this update! For example, the new Prestigious Bounty Hunter achievement now grants the Bounty Hunter title and requires completing the 7 other new Bounty Hunter achievements. Each of these new achievements corresponds to one of the 7 Bounty Hunters featured in the old Prestigious Quest, and requires only that the Bounty Hunter be upgraded to Gear XII. They also can be completed in any order! If you’ve already completed a step in a Prestigious Quest, you won’t see the associated new achievement listed, and if you have an active Prestigious Quest in your Quest Log when your game is updated, you will see a quest marked “Prestigious Quest: Legacy” in your new Journey Quests tab. This can still be completed, and you will still be able to earn the reward. Quality of Life Update: Simming Events! While working on Daily Quests and making sure that was a solid QoL improvement to your gameplay, we wanted to do more to improve the overall quality of your time spent in the game. We realize that some systems and events have been around for a long time, which take extra effort to get through, and may impact your ability to continue your normal farms. So with that, we will be introducing the ability to sim some events in the near future! We hope this helps to reduce your overall time in-game as well as let you focus that time on things more suited for the journey you are on. Events that will now be Simmable are: Galactic Legend Ultimate Journey Mythic Events (all tiers) i.e. Artist of War, Daring Droid, Pieces and Plans, Emperor’s Demise, Grand Master’s Training Smuggler’s Run I and II Galactic Bounties I and II Endor Escalation Ghosts of Dathomir Defense of Dathomir Contraband Cargo We will continue to look for more ways to help improve your gameplay and make sure your time and experience inside SWGOH is the best it can be. Wait, there’s another Quality of Life Update! With the release of the Huyang Marquee Event, you’ll see a brand new Marquee UI that will make it much easier to navigate and participate in Marquee Events. You’ll be able to see what the rewards of each tier are without needing to unlock the tier, and you’ll be able to quickly navigate to and from the Character Screen and Store for a more streamlined process of acquiring Shard Packs and promoting the character. I can’t believe it’s another Quality of Life Update! You may have noticed in some of the above screenshots that while Guild Activities have not changed, there is now an indicator right on the navigation tab that shows you how many Raid Tickets you’ve earned. No more digging through menus to know for sure how many you have! What’s happening to Galactic Challenges? Our biggest change to an existing system in the next update is the removal of “boxes” as rewards within Galactic Challenges. Rewards from the Galactic Challenge boxes have been moved to the Free Track of the Episode Track and inside the new Episode Shipment store. As mentioned above, completing the Free Track rewards the equivalent value of 4 Tier-10 boxes (a.k.a. Red Boxes) and 4 Tier-9 boxes. For the majority of players, they should see the same or more rewards as they received before. Galactic Challenge Feats are still a part of this system, but instead they provide you with Episode Points. These are rewarded immediately upon completing each feat, which means you will no longer need to wait for the GC to end to get the rewards you’ve earned. By earning these Episode Points and moving up your Episode Track, you will earn Episode Currency that you can spend on new Episode Shipments for items you need. Similarly to how you are able to choose your rewards with Raid currency, you will now be able to do that with your Episode Currency, giving more freedom to choose the items you need for your current goals. As for the Feats themselves, there are a few changes. At launch, the feat to beat each tier with no squad restriction will require the Episode Pass to collect it. (Beating the tier and then buying the Episode Pass will work, but you’ll need to complete any GC battle to “refresh” the data and trigger the Feat completion.) Another feat asks you to win the battle with the newest Marquee Character on your squad at a specific Star requirement. (They don’t have to survive!) This requirement escalates from 3 Stars in the early tiers to 7 Stars at the top tiers. For example, these are the feats for the first GC to arrive after the release of Episodes, on 11-20/24: Win the battle with a full team of Rebel Fighters Win after removing 400% Turn Meter from enemies Win the battle with an active Episode Pass Win the battle with a 3-star Huyang on your squad This is for tiers 1 and 2, escalating to a 7-star Huyang for tiers 9 and 10. This adjustment is intended to reduce the time required for players to participate in Galactic Challenges as well as reward players who are actively engaged with the newest Episode content. Don’t worry, the feats without Episode Pass or Marquee requirements don’t have to be maxed out in order to reach the end of the Episode Track by the end of the Episode, but completing more feats will accelerate progress on the Track and increase the potential for more Bonus Rewards at the end. One final change: because Galactic Challenges reward Episode Points directly, they now require the player to be Level 85 to participate. For players under Level 85, focus on your Journey Quests and you’ll get there in no time! Schedule Changes With the changes to Marquees and Galactic Challenges, the scheduling of these events is changing as well. Marquees are moving from Thursday to Tuesday to coincide with the start of their Episode. GCs will now begin on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with Tuesdays as the day when no GC is active. What is the Loyalty Program (Kessel Run)? With the above changes coming to SWGOH, we will also be introducing a Loyalty Program, which will be known as the Kessel Run. This feature will only be available for the Webstore at launch but we have every intention to bring the Loyalty program to the PC Version at a later date. In Kessel Run Events players complete objectives to earn Coaxium. As a player earns Coaxium they advance to new milestones, called Parsecs, where they earn new in-game rewards. Earning Coaxium can be done through free-to-play actions, but making purchases in the Webstore can earn even more. Closing We can’t wait for you to get your hands on our latest update in the coming week. Our goal with this Title Update was to put us on a path towards a more streamlined and transparent experience, particularly benefiting Free-to-Play players, while focusing on what makes Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes fun and appealing - collecting a roster of Star Wars characters and using them in exciting events to relive iconic Star Wars moments and create new ones. This is certainly not the end of this journey, we have many ideas for how we continue to shape the game to be engaging for years to come. Most importantly, we also want to hear from you on how it is going and will be looking forward to your feedback. Thank you all for reading. If you have any questions about what you’ve read above, please submit them HERE: https://forms.gle/sAEmGtVHA8NWuGFDAKit Reveal: Baylan Skoll
UNIT NAME: Baylan Skoll ALIGNMENT: Dark Side CATEGORIES: Tank, Leader, Mercenary, Unaligned Force User ------ Key Attributes: Insane Offense and Defense (GET THOSE STACKS) Throw back and get them stacks of Soldiers of Fortune (THE STACKS) He just be Taunting, Baylan Skoll will do everything in their power to keep that Taunt (STACKS HAPPEN HERE) Stacks on stacks on stacks on stacks Inspiration: Even though his on-screen presence is limited to only the Ahsoka series, we loved the gravitas and power Ray Stevenson brought to the role and thought him and the character he portrayed worthy of an Epic Confrontation Each of his ability names comes from a quote from the show Strategy Tips: Being a Mercenary Leader, Baylan Skoll can hand out stacks of Soldier of Fortune to Mercenary allies, including the existing characters who received the Mercenary tag retroactively. At the start of battle all Mercenaries receive a stack of Soldier of Fortune for each Mercenary ally they have, so a full Merc squad will see 5 additional stacks on every character. Additionally, whenever he Taunts, a random Mercenary Ally gets a stack of Soldier of Fortune. Finally, he doubles the amount of stacks that Mercenary allies receive FAQ: How do you acquire Baylan Skoll? Baylan Skoll is an Epic Confrontation character, with his event starting on 10/31 at 11a Pacific. His event will run for a limited time window and require you to have the following characters at Relic 7: Grand Admiral Thrawn, Great Mothers, Marrok, Morgan Elsbeth, and Shin Hati. Does he have an exclusive Datacron? YES! It will only be available during the FIRST RUN of his Epic Confrontation event. You can’t get it on any future runs of the event. See the newsletter in Baylan’s release for more information. Q/A Link: https://forms.gle/u5fJeoo9qqKxoddR6 ------ ABILITIES: Basic - That Was a Mistake Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. If it is Baylan Skoll's turn, he recovers 5% Health and Protection, and all Mercenary allies gain 5% Turn Meter and Tenacity Up for 1 turn. Otherwise, this attack deals 30% less damage and he Taunts for 1 turn. SPECIAL 1: One Must Destroy (CD: 3) Final Text: Dispel all debuffs on all Mercenary allies and deal Physical damage to target enemy three times, Stagger them, and inflict Defense Down and Offense Down for 2 turns. Baylan Skoll Taunts for 2 turns and all Mercenary allies gain Offense Up and Potency Up for 2 turns. SPECIAL 2: Power. Such as You've Never Dreamed - Zeta, Omicron (CD: 4) Final Text: Deal Physical damage to all enemies, dispel all buffs on them, and Stun them for 1 turn. Enemies who resist this Stun lose 50% Turn Meter instead, which can't be evaded or resisted. Whenever this ability is used, Baylan Skoll gains 5% Tenacity and, if he has more than 40 stacks of Soldier of Fortune, all Mercenary allies gain 20% Offense (stacking) for the rest of battle, these effects persists through defeat. While in Grand Arenas: Enemies who resist Stun from this ability, lose 100% Turn Meter instead , which can't be resisted. Inflict Armor Shred on all enemies until the end of battle. Whenever this ability is used, all Mercenary allies gain 10 Speed (stacking, max 100) until the end of battle, this effect persists through defeat. UNIQUE 1: Master and Apprentice (Zeta, Omicron) Final Text: If Shin Hati is an ally at the start of battle, Baylan gains 5 stacks of Soldier of Fortune. If Marrok is an ally at the start of battle, Baylan gains another 5 stacks of Soldier of Fortune. While Baylan is active, he, Marrok, and Shin gain 10% Critical Avoidance and 20% Evasion. Whenever an enemy evades Baylan's attack, he gains 2% Offense (stacking) for the rest of encounter, and all Mercenary allies recover 20% Health and Protection. At the start of his turn, Baylan recovers 3% Health and Protection and he gains the following effects depending on his stacks of Soldier of Fortune: 45+ Stacks: While Baylan is Taunting, he reflects 45% of the damage dealt to him, which can't defeat enemies 50+ Stacks: Whenever Baylan attacks an enemy inflicted with Purge, he also Exposes them for 1 turn 55+ Stacks: Whenever Baylan Stuns an enemy, he reduces their Speed by 10 (stacking, max 100) for the rest of battle While in Grand Arenas: At the start of his turn, Baylan gains the following additional effects depending on how many stacks of Soldier of Fortune he has: 45+ Stacks: Whenever Baylan is damaged while Taunting, he grants a random other Mercenary ally Speed Up for 1 turn if they didn't already have it 50+ Stacks: Whenever Baylan attacks an enemy inflicted with Purge, he also reduces their Tenacity by 20% (stacking, max 100%) until the end of battle 55+ Stacks: Whenever Baylan Stuns an enemy, he also increases their cooldowns by 1. UNIQUE 2: Soldier of Fortune Final Text: At the start of battle, Baylan Skoll gains 1 stack of Soldier of Fortune for each Relic Amplifier level he has. Whenever Baylan Skoll Taunts, a random Mercenary ally gains 1 stack of Soldier of Fortune, and if Baylan has more than 3 stacks, he loses 3 stacks of Soldier of Fortune. Whenever Baylan is damaged while Taunting, he gains 1 stack of Soldier of Fortune. At the start of their turns all Mercenary allies gain 5% Health Steal (Stacking) and 2% Defense (Stacking) for each stack of Soldier of Fortune they have until the start of next turn. Leader - It's All Inevitable (Zeta & Omicron) Final Text: At the start of battle, Baylan Skoll gains 30% Offense and all Mercenary allies gain 20% Tenacity, and 1 stack of Soldier of Fortune for each active Mercenary ally. Then, Mercenary allies double their current stacks of Soldier of Fortune. - Whenever a Mercenary ally gains a stack of Ransom, all Mercenary allies gain 1% Defense (stacking) until the end of encounter and recover 5% Health and Protection. - Whenever a Mercenary ally has Health Steal Up, they gain 25% Critical Damage and Protection Up (50%) until Health Steal Up expires. - Whenever a Mercenary ally is Dazed or Stunned, they dispel it and all Mercenary allies recover 25% Health and Protection. If there are no enemy Galactic Legends, whenever a Mercenary ally is inflicted with Fear: - All Mercenary allies gain 50% bonus Max Protection and Offense (stacking), until the end of encounter - Recover 50% Health and Protection - Deal True damage to all enemies, which can't be evaded or defeat them, Blind them for 1 turn, which can't be evaded or resisted, and inflict them with Healing Immunity for 1 turn, which can't be evaded, dispelled, or resisted Whenever a Mercenary ally assists or attacks out of turn, they gain 2 stacks of Soldier of Fortune. The first time each other Mercenary ally falls below 50% Health, Baylan Skoll Taunts for 2 turns, which can't be dispelled or prevented. While Taunting, Baylan has +50% Defense, +30% Tenacity and Retribution until Taunt expires. While in Grand Arenas: At the start of battle, Baylan Taunts for 2 turns. If there is a non-Galactic Legend Ahsoka enemy, Mercenary allies ignore Protection, are immune to critical hits and Healing Immunity, and they Expose all enemies and inflict them with Healing Immunity for 1 turn, which can't be evaded or resisted at the start of each of their turns. If there are no Galactic Legend enemies, whenever Baylan Taunts, he inflicts all enemies with Doubt for 1 turn. If Baylan is not Taunting, whenever an enemy takes a bonus turn they are inflicted with Healing Immunity for 3 turns, which can't be dispelled. Whenever an enemy gains Foresight, they dispel it and are inflicted with Buff Immunity for 2 turns instead. Whenever an enemy gains Inspire, reduce all enemy's Evasion by 50% (stacking) until the end of encounter, and all Mercenary allies gain 80% Defense (stacking) and 50% bonus Protection (stacking) until the end of encounter. Defeated enemies can't be revived and Mercenary allies can't be instantly defeatedBonus info: Baylan Skoll will not be required for GL Ahsoka. However, CT-7567 "Rex" at Relic 7 will be.[Winners Picked] Kit Reveal: Captain Enoch Knock, who's there?
UNIT NAME: Captain Enoch ALIGNMENT: Dark Side CATEGORIES: Support, Leader, Imperial Remnant ------ Key Attributes: Supporting Leader who works best alongside other Imperial Remnant characters Introduces the new Decay effect which improves the resilience of Imperial Remnant allies, but at a cost… Inspiration: Watching Ahsoka, we all knew Captain Enoch was going to be a brand new Imperial Remnant Leader the moment he hit the screen The name Last Command is an homage to the original Thrawn Trilogy novel by Timothy Zahn Die Well is what Enoch tells Sabine Wren before sending her out into the wilds of Peridea The original plan for Last Command was to have the hand-held Holo projector of Thrawn, but the art department said ‘hold my beer’ and gave us the amazing life-sized hologram instead. Strategy Tips: Enoch’s ability to reduce the likelihood of the enemy critting his team is heavily (though not exclusively) tied to his Unique, so if he is defeated these effects expire. Keep him safe! Speed is important so Enoch can sufficiently act throughout the battle, but also including Health Mods can be a viable way to keep him safe from incidental damage or focused assaults. FAQ: How do I acquire Captain Enoch? Marquee starting on 11a Pacific on August 15th. This uses the new Marquee structure. Is Captain Enoch required for GL Ahsoka? Yes! Captain Enoch is required at Relic 7 for Galactic Legend Ahsoka Tano. Her second batch of requirements will be added to the Journey Guide alongside this release. Does Decay only work on Night Trooper and Death Trooper (Peridea)? No. When Enoch is in the Leader slot, if all allies are Imperial Remnant and no other allies are Empire with the Leader tag, it works for any non-Droid Imperial Remnant character. Does Decay reduce my Max Health? No, each stack of Decay reduces the max amount of the character’s Health bar that can be recovered. So with one stack of Decay, that character can’t recover above 90%. At two stacks the limit is 80% and so on. When Enoch is fully maxed out, he gives a great deal of Critical Avoidance and also reduces his opponent’s critical chance by -450%, does this mean they can never be crit? No, it will be challenging for a character to bypass this amount of negative crit chance, but it can be overcome. What is the purpose of this line in Enoch’s Leader ability: “During his turn, whenever he uses Die Well, if an Imperial Remnant ally has less than 3 stacks of Decay and less than 50% Health, he deals True damage to them equal to 100% of their Max Health, which can't be evaded.” This allows Enoch to effectively force a qualifying ally to gain Decay in some situations. This helps Enoch control the battlefield and gives agency in decision making without having to fully rely on the opponent’s decisions. This damage does not crit, therefore it won’t accidentally cause Decay not to trigger. How does the on death damage for Enoch’s Omicron work? When an ally is defeated while Enoch’s Omicron is active, that ally deals True damage to all enemies based on the defeated character’s Max Health. Though this damage cannot defeat enemies, it does severely weaken them which allows your team to clean up the stragglers. We have affectionately nicknamed this effect “corpse explosion” internally. Why does Enoch remove so little Turn Meter from his opponents compared to some other characters? While the Turn Meter removal is always helpful for controlling the battle, its main usage here is helping trigger Blight’s damage effect. Blight primarily (currently) comes from Night Trooper and Death Trooper (Peridea). From the Captain Enoch Designer: CG_Mouse: It was exciting and challenging alike. We had an idea for a sort of “death knight” approach to Enoch, someone who synergizes deeply with the majiks of the Nightsisters of Peridea though he lacks those sorts of powers himself, and gives his fellow Imperial Remnant allies added resilience while under his command. Decay was inspired partially from Dungeons & Dragons, where to defeat a Zombie, you must critically hit them (or deal radiant damage, which is less applicable here inspirationally speaking) or they have an opportunity to rise again. On paper this was a simple pitch but it led to a lot of weird edge cases we had to account for and solve along the way. An additional challenge was in making Decay not feel too punishing and also unique to his character. There were some other technical hurdles during development, but ultimately we were able to maintain the original vision we had while still making the effects feel appropriate. Q/A Link : ------ ABILITIES: BASIC: Die Well Final Text: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and remove 5% of their Turn Meter. If the target has Blight, deal damage again. During Captain Enoch's turn if target enemy has Blight, Imperial Remnant allies gain Critical Damage Up for 1 turn and reduce the cooldown of Last Command by 1. SPECIAL 1: Last Command (CD: 3) Final Text: Dispel all debuffs on all Imperial Remnant allies and they gain Protection Up (60%) for 2 turns and 20% Turn Meter, and all enemies with Blight lose 5% Turn Meter. Allies with Decay gain Critical Avoidance Up for 2 turns. Call another random ally with Decay to assist, dealing 40% less damage. If all allies were Imperial Remnant at the start of battle, Attackers gain Advantage for 1 turn. UNIQUE 1: Ominous Sentinel (Zeta, Omicron) Final Text: Captain Enoch gains 75% Defense for each other active Imperial Remnant ally. Whenever an Imperial Remnant ally gains a stack of Decay, they inflict Blight on all enemies which can't be copied, dispelled, or evaded until the end of the encounter. Enemies (excluding Galactic Legends) have -450% Critical Chance. At the start of each Imperial Remnant ally's turn, dispel Advantage from all enemies and those enemies lose 25% Offense for 2 turns. While in Territory Battles: Imperial Remnant allies gain 150% Max Health. Whenever an Imperial Remnant ally is damaged by an enemy, other Imperial Remnant allies gain 5% Turn Meter. At the start of each encounter, Imperial Remnant allies gain Protection Up (200%) for 3 turns, which can't be dispelled. Whenever an Imperial Remnant ally is defeated, they deal True damage to all enemies equal to 30% of their Max Health, plus an additional 30% of their Max Health per their Relic Amplifier level. This damage can't defeat enemies and can't be evaded. LEADER: Arbiter of Decay (Zeta) Final Text: Imperial Remnant allies have +50% Critical Avoidance, +75% Potency, and +15 Speed. At the start of battle, if all allies are Imperial Remnant and no other allies are Empire with the Leader tag, whenever another non-Droid Imperial Remnant ally would be reduced to 1% Health from a non-critical hit, if they have less than 9 stacks of [c][ffff33]Decay[-][/c], they recover 100% of their Health and Protection and gain a stack of Decay (max: 9) until the end of battle which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented. Non-Droid Imperial Remnant allies are immune to Healing Immunity. During his turn, whenever he uses Die Well, if an Imperial Remnant ally has less than 3 stacks of Decay and less than 50% Health, he deals True damage to them equal to 100% of their Max Health, which can't be evaded. Allies with Decay have +50% Critical Avoidance and Tenacity and +150% Max Health. Whenever an Imperial Remnant ally gains a stack of Decay, they Taunt for 1 turn, and Imperial Remnant Tank allies Taunt for 1 turn. Decay: -10% Health limit per stack; can't Health Steal Post your best Knock Knock joke (and ally code) for a chance to win a MYSTERY PRIZE
