AFE: Season 4 Deep Dive!

Welcome to Season 4: Prestige!

This is the final update for our Year One Roadmap and what a journey it’s been. Season 1 saw us launch our first new class kit, the Phalanx, and now we are introducing crossplay, a new game mode, major system changes and more all packed into a single season. But before we get into all that, we’d just like to sincerely say thank you for playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite. This has been a major passion project for so many of us on the team. Just like you, we love the Alien franchise and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a rich universe.

We invited some of our team’s most diehard Alien fans to break down these monumental updates. Cold Iron Studios CEO and Head of Studio Craig Zinkievich, Lead Systems & Combat Designer Chris Matz, Lead Content Designer Kris DeMeza, and Systems Designer Tony Marasco are ready to walk you through the new additions and share some insights into the development process.

Welcome to Crossplay

Crossplay is here! We’ve been working on this long-requested feature for quite some time now and were eager to get it out and into your hands. To speak to that, we’ll pass it over to Craig:

"It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since the launch of AFE. Today we’re bringing our Year One Roadmap to a close with the launch of Season 4. It feels like just yesterday we were releasing the game and waiting to see how all of you would react to it. We’ve listened to your feedback and the team at Cold Iron has worked hard to fix issues, add new features, and create additional content for AFE. We’re proud of the shape it’s in today, and Season 4 is a huge part of that. I’m especially excited about crossplay! That’s one feature we’ve heard you loud and clear on and we’ve been working hard to get it in the game. We’re looking forward to seeing you all enjoy the new content and playing together across all platforms!"

- Craig Zinkievich

Crossplay on AFE means that players on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation will all be able to play with friends and match together, including Quickplay. If you’re inviting a friend over to your fireteam, then all you need to do is:

• In your in-game menu, go to Team > Crossplay > Add Crossplay Friends.

Rank up with Prestige

The Prestige system is for Marines looking to go beyond the call of duty. If you’ve already reached the level 20 cap on your favorite Class Kits and need an excuse to bring them back into the field, look no further.

After you reach level 20 with a Class Kit, you will start to earn experience toward Prestige ranks, starting at Rank 1 and going all the way up to Rank 100. Leveling up will progressively require more experience in certain thresholds, but the rewards get more exciting as well.

All Prestige rewards are purely cosmetic, so you’re not missing out on any end game abilities, but we do want to give the most dedicated marines enough bling to fuel their bragging rights. Every 10 ranks you unlock new rewards, including:

• Outfits & Head Accessories
• New Nameplates
• Weapon Colors (Animated and Standard) & Decals

Note: Experience toward Prestige ranks will only start to go up after the Season 4: Prestige update goes live in the game.

Protect Every Front With Restock Turrets

We’re excited to bring horde mode fans a new challenge with Restock Turrets. Having fixed turrets all around might lead you to think this new mode is a walk in the park, but hordes of Xenomorphs come from every direction this time around, and ammo is in limited supply.

"Unlike the original Horde Mode where you rely on what you’ve brought with you, in Restock Turrets the Colonial Marines have already set up a defensive perimeter of turrets near the pinnacle of Likasi Tower. Turret ammo drops as you progress, and there’s not a lot to go around, so you’ll need to make strategic decisions on which areas to support. The Xenomorphs come from all angles, too, so you have to keep on your toes! I like to keep some turret ammo in reserve during the earlier waves so that later, when the pressure’s on, the turrets have my back."

- Kris DeMeza

There’s also a new set of rewards that you can unlock in this mode, affording you some additional bragging rights as well as a few new tricks. You unlock rewards every 10 waves you survive, getting the option to keep going all the way up to 50 waves. Rewards unlock based on difficulty, with higher difficulties allowing you to unlock the rewards from both that level and the levels below it.

Standard Difficulty:

• Holotab Sight - Small Optic: Accuracy (+25%). Effect: +3% Handling and Effective Range on Hit for 3 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Compound Optic - Medium Optic: Range (+25%), Zoom (+10%). Effect: +5% Aim Assist on Hit. This effect stacks 5 times, and resets on Reload.
• Magnified Reflex Sight - Large Optic: Handling (+30%), Zoom (+10%). Effect: +5% Aim Assist on Hit for 5 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Kinetic Enhancement Harness - Armature: Max Ammo (+40%). Effect: +15% Melee Damage on Hit for 5 seconds. This effect stacks 4 times.

Intense Difficulty:

• Multiport Compensator - Small Muzzle: Range (+25%), Weak Point Damage (+10%). Effect: +7% Handling on Hit for 3 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Assault Brake - Medium Muzzle: Fire Rate (+25%). Effect: +10% Accuracy and +30% Stability while standing still.
• Extended Field Brake - Large Muzzle: Range (+25%), Handling (+15%). Effect: +20% Weak Point damage for 5 seconds after landing a Weak Point Hit. This effect does not stack, and removes itself after landing a follow-up shot.
• Hollow Points - Small Magazine: Handling (+20%), Magazine Capacity (+15%). Effect: 25% chance on Hit to cause enemies to bleed for additional damage over 8 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 15 seconds.
• Composite Spring Magazine - Medium Magazine: Fire Rate (+25%). Effect: +7% Stability on Hit. This effect stacks 5 times, and resets on Reload.
• STAP Magazine - Large Magazine: Stability (+20%), Magazine Capacity (+15%). Effect: +5% Reload Speed on Hit for 5 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Composite Assembly - Tubular Magazine: Fire Rate (+20%). Effect: +8% Handling on Hit for 3 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Auto-Loader - Internal Magazine: Handling (+30%). Effect: Kills have a 50% chance to auto-reload 15% of the current magazine.
• Dual Rail Booster - Barrel: Stability (+35%). Effect: +5% Damage to Armored targets on Hit for 3 seconds. This effect stacks 5 times.
• Emote - Chest Pound
• Emote - Oh Snap
• Emote - What the?

Extreme Difficulty:

• Weapon Decal - You Always Know

Insane Difficulty:

• Weapon Color - Meteoric Iron

New Challenge Card Features & Introducing The Fabrication Reprocessor

No mission plays the same way twice when challenge cards are in the mix and everyone has their favorites. But what do you do with all those extra cards that you don’t want to use? That’s where the Fabrication Reprocessor comes into play. This new device allows you to reroll your unwanted cards for new ones!

Input any three challenge cards you no longer want into the Fabrication Reprocessor and reroll them to get a different challenge card back. It’s that simple!
The rarity of the input cards determines the rarity of the output. So if you input only blue rare cards, you’re guaranteed to get a different rare card back.
If the input cards are of varying rarities, then the output chances will depend on which rarities you’re using. You can’t get a purple exotic card if you only use rare and uncommon cards.

While some players prefer to play with really challenging cards to increase the game’s difficulty, others like cards that either make the game easier or grant them enticing rewards. The goal of the Reprocessor is to let players recycle cards they weren’t planning on using in order to get cards they potentially would enjoy more.

"Another thing that we always wanted was to allow challenge cards in other game modes, such as Horde and Point Defense. We’re excited to bring this feature to the game and it’s been a blast trying out various cards in these different gameplay environments! However, not all cards are compatible with every mode. Some cards will be restricted to Campaign missions only. That said, my personal favorite new combination is the High-Threat Environment challenge card in Horde Mode as it speeds up combat and feels very rewarding when you’re playing well!"

- Tony Marasco

New Rewards To Set Your Sights On

Of course, with new content comes new unlockable rewards. Many of this season’s rewards are unlocked via the new Restock Turrets mode, including all the new Attachments and a handful of hard-to-get cosmetics. We also expanded our collection of challenge cards, have a look:

Challenge Cards

• High-Threat Environment – Uncommon: 1.5x Credits – Players and Enemies deal 50% more damage.
• Out of Shape – Uncommon: 1.5x Experience – Dodge-rolling once consumes all your Stamina.
• Quality Over Quantity – Uncommon: 1.5x Experience – Xenomorph Runners, Synth Enforcers, and Pathogen Poppers spawn in reduced numbers, but are stronger.
• Brink of Death – Uncommon: 1.5x Credits – If downed, you revive with only 1 Health.
• Expendable Crew – Rare: 1.5x Experience & 1.5x Credits – A random weapon, a random Kit Ability, and Consumables are disabled.
• I Can’t Miss! – Rare: No Bonus Rewards – Aim Assist for all weapons is increased by 50%.
• Bad Feeling About This Op – Epic: 3x Experience – Enemies move faster and hit harder. They are much more difficult to Stumble and Stuns only last half as long.
• Draw Three – Epic: No Bonus Rewards – Three Challenge Cards are granted upon Mission Completion.
• Maybe We Got ’Em Demoralized – Epic: No Bonus Rewards – Powerful enemies are considerably weaker.

Note: Challenge Cards are available as randomized mission rewards, Tactical Opportunity rewards, or available for purchase with Requisition Credits from SSgt Park’s Armory in a randomized Challenge Card Pack.

Exploring The New Additions To The Armory

Drop in on SSgt Park and have a look at what’s new in the Armory. You’ll find the Seegson Cap and Mask – Surgical Head Accessories, the Alpine Trapper and Carrot Cake Weapon Colors, the Fires Regulation Cornbread and ICC Decals, and the Shadow Boxing and Pose – Low Carry Emotes.

"The addition of four new guns is the most noticeable update to the armory. This time around, we’re bringing new toys from all 3 of our weapons manufacturers, so everyone can support their own favorite corporate overl… err… law-abiding business entity.

Whenever we make new guns, our goal is to try to find new twists on our existing gameplay - more fun ways to exterminate Xenomorphs, synths, and what have you. In some cases, this means entirely new feels for weapons - like the P. 649 HEL. In other cases it means pushing at the edges of what it means to fit within one of our Gun Archetypes - such as an Automatic Sniper or a Burst Shotgun. "

- Chris Matz

All four of these new weapons are available for purchase from SSgt Park’s Armory for Requisition Credits.

• CQW - M51 Breaching Scattergun: Early uses of the M51 were as both a breaching weapon and as a suppression device that could incapacitate large crowds where the wielder was under close threat. The double-shot burst results in wide coverage but minimal accuracy beyond very close range.
• Hand Gun - DKT-59 Misha: The Misha, or "Little Bear," is modeled after the Medved and follows the same principles of devastating short range stopping power with frequent reloading.
• Heavy - P.649 HEL: Only recently released by Weyland-Yutani’s experimental branch, the Project 649 High-Energy Laser is a fully weaponized variable-charge energy weapon. Highly accurate at long range, it brings a new form of combat to the standard Heavy Weapons Platform of the UACM.
• Rifle - SVAT-92 Sokol: One of the only fully automatic Sniper Rifles to be approved for military service, the Sokol is effective at dealing with multiple threats from a distance. While it lacks the single target stopping power of traditional sniper rifles, it can also act as a medium-range Battle Rifle in a pinch.

FRONTIER FREELANCER PACK

Over 20 items including Class Kit skins, Emotes, Decals and more!

Stay protected on the frontier of the Outer Rim with Weyland-Yutani’s APEsuit Mk.3, or go with the more casual look and slide into a pair of Seegson Maintenance overalls. This content and so much more is free for Deluxe Edition owners and is available as DLC for Standard Edition.