Season 2: Weapon Mastery is now over and Battlefield 2042 is preparing to welcome the Season 3: Escalation on November 22nd. Among the novelties stand out a new Specialist, a new map, revisions of Manifesto and Drift, new equipment and the return to the Class system much requested by the community and expected for the second half of season 3.
DICE has not lost heart and has continued to update Battlefield 2042 after a launch below expectations: working on player feedback, season 3 promises to be the decisive step for the future of the shooter. Let's find out the contents that the development team presented during the Escalation presentation event.
What's new in Battlefield 2042
La new Spearhead map, set in the wildest lands of Sweden, approaches the Wreckage map in size. Among its key assets are two Nordvik manufacturing facilities containing technologically advanced components and weaponry. The area is surrounded by rough terrain and rock formations that increase coverage.
To move more easily and keep the skies at bay, the new one will be available armored car EMKV90-TOR also equipped with a railgun and a system to detect incoming attacks on the HUD. Its peculiarity is all in the two modalities that it can assume depending on the purpose.
A more mobile mode that allows him to move faster across territory for troop transport, or immediate cover using its turret fire, and a siege mode – Siege mode – to maximize damage. The vehicle is greatly slowed down, the suspension is lowered for more stability and can fire faster.
Among the loadouts of Season 3: Escalation, the throwing knife and new weapons add to an already very large arsenal: the Rorsch MK-4 Railgun uses electromagnetic forces to launch projectiles with incredible speed and also features multiple fire modes. It will be a powerful tool in the hands of those who know how to master its recharge times. The NVK-22, on the other hand, is a compact double-barreled semi-automatic "smart shotgun" with great destructive power.
The NVK-P125 is a semi-auto sidearm with a specially manufactured long barrel making it also ideal for engaging enemies at long ranges with high accuracy. To these weapons are added the Bad Company 8 XM2 light machine gun e the A-91 from Battlefield 3 through assignments. DICE promises that more weapons will arrive during the season as well.
DICE also presented the new Assault class specialist, the Egyptian Rasheed Zain. The security expert was involved in an accident that caused his legs to be amputated twice. Thanks to state-of-the-art prostheses, he is now able to move deftly in the field and has chosen to join the Dis-pat movement by joining the forces deployed in northern Sweden to make his contribution.
Zain is the specialist with the fastest health recharge in the fieldin fact, he is able to quickly and immediately recover his health after eliminating an enemy. His gadget is an XM370A Airburst Launcher to drive enemies out behind cover and expose them for a quick takedown. His kit didn't impress me, but his features make him, at least on paper, great for leading an assault and pushing the advance.
Major revisions with Season 3: Escalation
However, the reworks of the Manifesto and Deriva maps left me with more positive sensations, where you can see the great work that DICE is carrying out to correct the main problems that have afflicted the game. One year after launch, Battlefield 2042 is increasingly becoming the game it should have been.
Manifesto will be the first map to receive an update during Season 3: Escalation with a view to improve the flow of play through its spaces bringing the flags closer to the action. Bringing the flags of the HQs closer allows you to reach strategic points more quickly than in the past, reducing downtime. Covers, like the overhauled Kaleidoscope, Resurgence, and Orbital, have also been completely overhauled to offer more infantry support, and the map has been given a more war-torn look.
In the hilly sector, the number of structures has been reworked by destroying the radio station to focus more on the objective when attacking or defending the point, however, losing some cover. In the dock area the number of cranes has been reduced and overall it is visibility has also improved in the map thanks to the lighting and the removal of the superfluous that guarantees new paths to cross the areas.
Deriva, on the other hand, will arrive on the occasion of the second seasonal update and is the map that shows the most evident changes starting from revamped ice and snow shaders which now give a new look and feel to the map.
Again, one of the goals was to try to keep the player at the center of the action then the oil rig was brought closer to the foot of the glacier and new routes were designed for the assault. The oil rig has always been one of the hottest spots on the map and will become even more central to battles.
The position of the flags and their distribution has been revised, as have the seaworthiness aspects. The town and the refineries have undergone changes for to facilitate the circulation of the infantry. At the top of the glacier, new courses and two new flags have been designed, including a Condor shot down in an ice cave.
Class system
With the 3.2 update of Escalation, it will also be the turn of the review by specialists to welcome back a class system - as per tradition for Battlefield - where the different specialists will be grouped in well-defined roles. Each class will have specific equipment and gadgets, and the weapon proficiency system per class will be introduced.
Battlefield 2042 players are used to having no restrictions when it comes to their arsenal, so weapon proficiency rewards those who want to play according to the canons of a class without however imposing limits on all the others who prefer to play with other weapons. For example, scouts using sniper rifles will automatically be able to hold their breath longer while aiming.
Some specialists, given their peculiarities in the field, have been assigned to different classes: Irish upgrades to the Support class and Crawford becomes an Engineer. Irish will take Crawford's 'Escort Point' trait and English will receive a new trait closer to the Engineer role. The team also focused on improving communication between Rao and teammates, highlighting vulnerable targets, and redesigned Boris's turret priorities that it will target vehicles before locking onto soldiers.
Ali Kaporchali, producer of classes and gadgets at DICE, described the early design changes as “the beginning of the evolution of the class system”. Battlefield 2042 still has a lot of room for improvement and changes to the class system will continue throughout Season 4.
To try the new contents, you will have to wait for Season 3: Escalation, starting on November 22nd, which, in addition to the news described that can be obtained by playing, will also include a Battle Pass with a premium path to skins, VBFs, user card backgrounds, weapon charms, takedowns, and more.
From Season 3, Battlefield 2042 will also be available to players EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers (You can purchase an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription here). Anyone wishing to try the game even without a subscription will be able to do so in December during free trial periods that will be activated on all platforms:
- Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One: December 9 at 01:1am to December 8 at 59:5am
- PC (Steam): from 19:00 on December 1st to 19:00 on December 5th.
- PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4: 17 December at 00:16 to 17 December at 00:23
For more information on the free access periods, you can consult the official website. There seems to be no better time than Season 3: Escalation to get back to playing Battlefield 2042.
