Update 1.3/Underground

Update 1.3 / Underground - Special Report





Trailer




PS4 Deployment of 1.3

The goal is to deploy the PS4 next week on Tuesday

EDIT: PS4 deployment has been pushed to August 2nd.

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Comments about Patch Notes

They basically went through the patch notes with a few interesting comments:

• To lower the RNG factor, they added fixed mod-slots
  
• You won´t be able to get more mod slots than listed in the new items.
  
• Mod-Slots have been removed from the recalibration system.
  
• Heroic Difficulty Drop 229 / 268 GS items, so even player that don´t have Underground will get the old sets with the highest Gear Score
  
• Chests in the Dark Zone now also drop better items and not just 163
  

Check out the full patch notes here: Link

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Tanktitians

They also commented on the Tanktitians meta that is currently dominating PvP and how the new Gear Score increase impacts that meta:

• The hard damage cap for Sticky Bomb is still 250k – that will not be increased
  
• With the new Gear Sets and the higher Gear Score, the Toughness will increase, so it will be more difficult to kill players with one shot of the Sticky Bomb
  
• But they will keep an eye on it.
  

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Weapon Talent Recalibration



This is a new and very often requested feature that allows you to recalibrate 1 Weapon Talent of your gun.

• One Talent of the weapon can be recalibrated
  
• You need high end crafting material to craft Weapon Kits (they can also be looted)
  
• You can´t have the same talent twice (will be excluded in the roll)
  
• You can always go back to the Talents you had before, you won´t lose them)
  
• You can recalibrate max 6 times
  
• Works on all weapons new on old
  

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Expansion of the Base of Operations


Terminal



Underground is also bringing a completely new area to the Base of Operations called The Terminal. It will have very similar capabilities that currently exist such as a crafting table, stash, matchmaking hub, High Value Targets NPCs, and vendors. In addition, it will be a social space similar to safe houses and you will be able to fast travel directly to it!


Underground – Can be accessed through the Terminal


Paul Rhodes has also been hard at work expanding our capabilities by building a Tactical Operations Center. In The Terminal there will be an entrance to the Underground area that will take you on an elevator ride down to the Tactical Operations Center. All the technology, infrastructure, and logistics that will assist us in the Underground is located here. This is where new vendors, Underground Operation Panel, and NPCs can be found.

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Underground Update

This is the new paid DLC that is only deployed to the Season Pass owners:


The Fight is never the same


It is the goal of Underground to give players new content that stays fresh and is different every time you play it. Each time you start an Operation, the details and the layout progression will be randomly generated and depending on the faction you are fighting, the objectives and the story of the Operation, you will encounter a different Operation.


Operation Parameters

Not only the layout of the Operation is generated, there are also a lot more layers that should make each run unique:

• Random Enemies
  
  
  • Each time you start a mission, one of the four enemy factions (Rioters, Cleaners, Rikers, LMBs) will be selected as your opponent.
    
  
  
• Random Objectives
  
  
  • Each Operation has a randomly selected Objectives that can range from killing an enemy boss, to save JTF soldiers or just get GPS coordinates (these are just examples).
    
  • Sometimes there is even a time-limit that forces you to push on.
    
  
  
• Random Hazards
  As you are exploring the tunnels of Underground you can encounter multiple hazards:
  
  
  • Traps
    You can encounter the already known traps – such as Mines or Napalm bombs - but now you can also encounter Skill Jammers. The Skill Jammers – as the name suggests – prevent you from using any skills as long as you are in the area of effect. The Jammers will announce themselves with a sound that resembles a heartbeat.
    
  • Environmental
    Some areas can have can have smoke, fire or electricity hazards that can damage or kill you. But there is a counter for each hazard. Electricity for example can be deactivated with buttons on the walls. (you can also run through it)
    
  
  
• New Mechanics
  
  
  • Zone Alarms - The enemies can activate an alarm with a button on the wall. As long as this alarm is active, new enemies will spawn. You can deactivate this alarm by interacting with the alarm button or just shooting it from the distance.
    
  
  

1-4 Players

While Incursions are balanced for a 4 player group, Underground can be played solo or in a group. This allows all players to take on this new challenge and get the new equipment and weapons.


Operation start and configuration


When you start a new Operation you can select multiple options that will define your experience in the Operation. All these options need to be unlocked by leveling up the Underground Rank.

• Difficulty
  
  
  • You can select four difficulties. Normal, Hard, Challenge and Heroic. While normal difficulty requires a low gear-score that equals the level you have with a few equipped purples, the higher difficulties require very good equipment to even attempt.
    
  
  
• Phases
  
  
  • Each Operation can have 1-3 Phases that can be selected and basically define the lengths of the Operation.
    
  
  
• Directives
  
  
  • When you start an Operation, you can select 0-5 Directives, that have a small or a very high impact on the Operation. While some directives just hide the minimap, others will constantly damage you.
    
  • You can select zero, just a few or all of them to make the mission more or less difficult.
    
  
  

No respawn / No Checkpoints

Underground has no checkpoints and there are no respawns. So, when you have a wipe, the Operation is over and you have to restart again. But that is the high risk / high reward system.


Different Difficulties / Requirements

Underground can be played in four difficulties (normal – heroic):

• Normal
  
• Hard
  
• Challenge
  
• Heroic
  

Operation Directives

As mentioned above, you can select 0-5 Directives that have a small or a huge impact. These are the Directives you can select and how they change the mission. To activate the different Directives in an Operation you need to reach a specific Underground Rank first. After that you can simply use the directive any time you want.

• Fog of War
  
  
  • Hides the Minimap
    
  
  
• Special Forces
  
  
  • Enemies have special ammo
    
  
  
• Waste not Want not
  
  
  • Enemies don´t drop ammo
    
  • When you reload with a half used magazine, you will lose the remaining bullets
    
  
  
• Mad Skills
  
  
  • When you use one skill, both are placed on cooldown. Additionally, using a Signature Skill will trigger the cooldown for everyone in the group.
    
  
  
• Sickness
  
  
  • You take constantly damage until only one health-segment is left.
    
  
  
• When you want to get you full health back again, you need to heal yourself or use a med-pack
  

Sealed Underground Caches

• Each time you level up an Underground Rank you unlock new options and you also get an Underground Cache
  
• The Underground Cache is not level / difficulty bound, it will just give you an item that fits your current Gear Score.
  

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New Incursion Dragon´s Nest


Story / Lore

With the Underground DLC we also get the new Incursion “Dragon´s Nest”. It is located in Hells Kitchen and – as the title suggest – your main opponents are the cleaners. They have been working on a new type of weapon, that - if deployed - would wreak havoc on the streets of Manhattan. Players have to breach the facility they are working in, fight their way through flames and smoke until they finally reach the Dragon’s nest.

The Story behind it is, that after the leader of the Cleaners was killed, four other very powerful Cleaners took over and called themselves The Four Horsemen. They started working on a horrific plan to stop the Green Poison once and for all.


This is the loot you get based on difficulty:

• Hard - 182
  
• Challenge - 204
  
• Heroic GS - 229
  

What is Dragon´s Nest about

• You will fight against cleaners
  
• The Incursion will have Checkpoints
  
• You will need Exotic Damage Resilience / Fire Resiliance (to survive the fire)
  
• The Engineers will spawn small cars that will follow you and detonate in a fire explosion. You can destroy them with your guns.
  
• First you have to fight your way into their compound
  
• The first big encounter is against the Four Horsemen in an area that provides only little protection from the flame throwers.
  
• The fight against the four cleaners is about half of the Incursion.
  
• The main boss will have new mechanics that also need coordination with your squad members
  
• You get more loot from this incursion than the other Incursions, simply because there are more bosses
  
• Challenging Difficulty will be out tomorrow, heroic will be released next week
  
• The main boss has been revealed as fire truck that spits fire
  

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Gear Sets




With the new update we also get new Gear Sets:



Alpha Bridge - For all players with the 1.3 update

You won´t be able to stack 2 Brutal talents, but you better find two SMGs/AR/Shotguns etc that complement themselves with their Weapon Talents.

• 2 Piece Bonus:
  +2 Medkit Capacity
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  +100% Health Regen
  
• 4 Piece Bonus:
  If your Primary and Secondary Weapon is of the same category, they both gain all of the unique active talents.
  

DeadEYE (Underground Exclusive)

When you don´t use the scope, you will lose the headshot bonus, but you still have the crit bonus. This set specifically works with Marksmen Rifles.

• 2 Piece Bonus: 
•  20% Marksman Rifle Critical Hit Damage
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  +40% Initial Bullet Stability
• 4 Piece Bonus:
  While not scoped critical hit chance on marksman Rifles is increased to 100%, but headshot damage bonus is removed.
  

FireCrest (Underground Exclusive)

Also procs when you use fire-grenades.

• 2 Piece Bonus:
  +3 Incendiary Bullets
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  +100 reload speed
  
• 4 Piece Bonus:
  Killing a burning enemy grants Incendiary Bullet for 10 seconds.
  

B.L.I.N.D. (Underground Exclusive)

• 2 Piece Bonus:
  20% Pulse Critical Hit Damage
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  100% Blind / Deaf resistance
  
• 4 Piece Bonus:
  Killing a target creates a Flashbang effect at that position.
  

Reclaimer (Underground Exclusive)

• The whole group gets Special Ammo and Consumable Bonus
  
• The consumables for the whole team are on cooldown
  
• 2 Piece Bonus:
  100% Support Station healing speed
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  50% longer Consumables Duration
  
• 4 Piece Bonus:
  Consumables and Special Ammo applies to the whole group and are not consumed on use.
  

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New/Old Gear Sets

As explained before, the 4-piece bonus is still the same, and you still get the Gear Set Talent when you have 4 items equipped. So you can still run the 4 piece set, but when you want the same stats than before, you need to equip 5 items.



Sentry’s Call

• 2 Piece Bonus:
  +10% Headshot Damage
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  +10% Damage to Elites
  
• 5 Piece Bonus:
  +20% Headshot Damage
  +10% Damage to Elites
  

Striker’s Battlegear

• 2 Piece Bonus:
  +10% Enemy Armor Damage
  
• 3 Piece Bonus:
  +20% Critical Hit Damage
  
• 5 Piece Bonus:
  +10% Enemy Armor Damage and +30% Critical Hit Damage