[I]This damn airship.
You shut down the AA defenses. We got the thing out. Everything was peachy.
But the CDA? They’re not ****ing around. They threw down mobile SAM missiles quick-smart, and lit it right up.
The airship’s on a crash-course to the docks, and we’re plotting a ‘rescue’ mission.
If what we want is still intact, we need it more than ever.
Keep your comms open.[/I]
Our new map, Dockyard, will be releasing in May. To get you ready, you have one month to collect four Limited Edition Dockyard-themed Trinkets.
Earn ‘Vectors’, a limited time currency, by playing in matches, and use them to unlock Limited Edition Trinkets in the Fire in the Skies Shop.
You’ll also get 50% more Vectors when you play in Ranked mode, along with 1.5x the Credit earn rate.
When the event ends on May 2, your remaining Vectors will be converted into Credits at a rate of 1:1.
Lifesaver - 300 Vectors
The common lifesaver, found liberally scattered around the dockyard.
Wrecking Ball - 1000 Vectors
A rusty crane stands stoically in the docks, waiting for another round of wrecking.
Blueboat - 3500 Vectors
Leisure boating around London. Ah, those were the days.
Airship
Once you have the three previous Trinkets, you’ll automatically unlock the Airship Trinket!
This spiralling CDA airship is in the center of a fierce intelligence war. Sources say that an undercover Jackal operative infiltrated London’s Millennium Dome and piloted it out of the arena. With the CDA shooting it out of the sky to prevent its escape, Jackal are desperate to retrieve what’s aboard.
Kills you make with the Airship Trinket equipped are highlighted in the obituaries for all players.
The Fire in the Skies event will take place on the following dates:
- [li] London (GMT, UTC): 11:00, Tuesday, April 4th - 11:00, Tuesday, May 2nd[/li][li] Los Angeles (PDT): 4:00 AM, Tuesday, April 4th - 4:00 AM, Tuesday, May 2nd[/li][li] Sydney (AEDT): 9:00 PM, Tuesday, April 4th - 9:00 PM, Tuesday, May 2nd
Custom Crosshairs
You’ve been asking for these, so we’ve delivered. The Crosshair options in the game have been drastically overhauled, with several new options including:
- [li] Multiple static and dynamic crosshairs to choose from[/li][li] Colour and opacity sliders for both the static and dynamic crosshairs[/li][li] Adding a pixel-border to your static crosshair [/li][li] The ability to use your own custom static crosshair image[/li][li] The choice of displaying a static crosshair when sighted/scoped or not
If you want to use your own custom static crosshair image, you’ll need to place a 32x32 PNG file named CustomCrosshair.png in your \Documents\My Games\UnrealEngine3\ShooterGame\CustomCrosshair folder.
Balance
Thunder
With the return of Ranked, the blinding nature of Thunder has become a bigger concern for many players. While we agree that changes need to be made, we want to avoiding going too far and ending up with the under-powered Thunder we’ve had in the past. With that in mind, we’ve decided to tone down the impact of getting caught in a Concussion Grenade, with the following changes:
- [li] Reduced maximum full-blind Flash time by 20% to 2.0s (from 2.5s)[/li][li] Reduced maximum full-stun Concussion time by ~15% to 3.0s (from 3.5s)[/li][list][li] Meaning players will start regaining their vision/movement earlier and be able to fight back sooner[/ul][/li][li] Increased Cooldown by ~13% to 17s (from 15s)[/li][ul][li] Makes this the same as Fragger and slightly less spammy
Stoker
To give players more of a reason to pick Stoker over the likes of Skyhammer or Kira we’ve reduced the cooldown of his Molotov Grenade and increased the overall damage, while making it feel more consistent as well.
- [li] Reduced Molotov Grenade cooldown to 35s (from 40s)[/li][li] Increased the damage the outer flames do by ~30% to 27 per tick (from 21)
Other Changes
User Interface
- [li] Added a video popup on game launch when there’s a new Dev or Update Video[/li][list][li] If you’d like to turn these off, find the ‘Enable weekly dev update popups’ checkbox at the bottom of the News menu, and uncheck it
Bug Fixes
- [li] Fixed bug where Fletcher’s Sticky Bombs would sometimes not explode if thrown rapidly[/li][list][li] This is a temporary fix; the weapon switching system needs to be significantly reworked to get to the root of this and other issues
Known Issues
- Kills made with the Airship Trinket equipped should be highlighted in the obituaries. Until we include this functionality in a future update, teabag 'em instead