Battlefield Briefing - Welcome to Season 2: Master of Arms
Here’s what to expect in Season 2: Master of Arms
Hey Folks -
Season 2: Master of Arms is now available for play across all platforms!
Ahead of the launch of Update 2.0 and the new Season, I sat down for a chat with Lead Game Designer Florian Le Bihan, and Game Design Director Feras Musmar. We’ll take you behind the scenes and talk you through the new content and changes.
If you missed our broadcast over on the Battlefield Twitch Channel, you can watch it back below:
What’s new in Season 2?
New Map: Stranded
This season, we head to Panama and a desert lake drained of water. Fight around and inside a beached container ship housing an illicit arms trading center.
We’ve built Stranded from the ground up to be a smaller level with a dedicated CQC (Close Quarters Combat) space. It’s split into three spaces: North and South spaces are more open, while the central space is where you can expect the CQC chaos to take place.
Let’s take a look at the different areas of the map:
Shooting Range [A]
Accessible to vehicles, this open area sustains multiple paths for tanks and vehicles to take control. Thanks to an ample supply of cover, infantry can purposefully move through the space, and around the flag to keep it contested while assaulting with guerrilla tactics. A flag to be played with mid, or long range weapons in your Loadouts.
Heliport [B]
An infantry flag that will see Vehicles hooning through, but struggle to engage with in this tighter playspace. Using the hill to the South, there's an opportunity to keep the enemy at arms length, or to surprise a distracted enemy when pushing the point.
STARG Ceres - Garage [C1]
Built for infantry close-quarters combat, this high cover area is loud with the sound of shotguns, and SMG firefights. With balconies at each end of the room, teams can expect hotly contested fights to try and take control. Squads should attack from above if they decide to take control of the deck of the ship and assault through the openable giant cargo hatch.
STARG Ceres - Showroom [C2]
The showpiece of Stranded, the Showroom is ripe with opportunity for throwables, and will keep you on your toes in this intense arena. Vehicles won’t find their way in here, so check your six and make sure you’re not flanked when holding this flag.
Scrap Depot [D]
With a flag centered inside a tower of containers, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into Noshahr Canals when battling here in Conquest, or closing out a round of Breakthrough. A high-cover infantry playspace that will have you spinning like a dog to watch for threats from behind.
Comms Tower [E]
Home to the tallest point on the map, it tasks you with getting in fast, and getting out alive. Control this flag, and you’ll have the fastest access from the skies to retake the top deck of the STARG Ceres, or quickly traverse to Scrap Depot, or Heliport.
The team is extremely excited to get Stranded into your hands. The interior of the ship has given us that classic close quarters meat grinder feeling during Playtests that we’ve seen you enjoy in Metro and Locker. We’re keen to hear your feedback about how it plays!
New Specialist: Charlie Crawford
A well-connected British arms dealer with a love of taking risks, Crawford’s abilities make him a valuable source of support for squads on the Battlefield.
Using his Black Market connections, Crawford can deploy a powerful mounted Vulcan minigun with a ballistic shield that will give you the edge in holding down positions and providing cover fire. This minigun can be used by anyone on your team, or the opposition if you aren’t careful.
But that’s not the only trick up his sleeve. Crawford can also revive fallen comrades while replenishing their gadget ammo, helping them get back into the fight more quickly.
Speciality: Mounted Vulcan
Keep the enemy right where you want them with this beast. It lays down immense firepower, making it extremely effective against light vehicles, and infantry.
Trait: Cache Point
Supplies revived squad members with extra gadget ammo.
New Vehicles: EBLC-RAM and Polaris RZR
EBLC-RAM
Traverse the battlefield in a unique, four-seater armored vehicle, capable of extreme maneuverability at lower speeds. The EBLC-RAM can protect itself from incoming damage with its Active Protection System ability, and can also place a Spawn Beacon on the Battlefield.
Polaris RZR*
Fast and fun. Jump into this lightweight buggy with a teammate and zip across the Battlefield, surprising enemy infantry or gaining new, tactical positions.
* Coming in the first update of Season 2.
New Weapons: AM40, AVANCYS, PF51
AM40
This powerful carbine is designed to offer a midpoint between an assault rifle and a submachine gun.
AVANCYS
A high-tech LMG, designed for maximum mobility and attachment compatibility. Nimble but powerful, this weapon is useful for providing fire support.
PF51
Blurring the lines between an SMG and a pistol, the PF51 boasts a huge magazine and is ideal when fighting groups of enemies. An excellent companion to Recon Specialists.
New Gadget: Concussion Grenade
Create tactical confusion among nearby foes by temporarily disorienting them with this new throwable gadget.
New Feature: Assignments
Complete assignments to unlock Battlefield to earn Vault Weapons**. Vault Weapons are weapons previously available only in Battlefield Portal that can now be accessed in All-Out Warfare once unlocked - starting with the iconic M60E4 and M16A3. More weapons will be available as the Season progresses.
Assignments can also be used to unlock gameplay-related items from previous Seasons that you might have missed the first time around, including Specialists, weapons, gadgets, and vehicles. Here’s how you can unlock the first two:
M16A3
- 30 Kills and Assists with Underbarrel Grenade Launchers
- 100 Kills and Assists with M16A3 or SFAR-M GL
M60E4
- 100 Kills and Assists with the M60E4 or PKP-BP
- 100 Teammates Resupplied with Ammo
** Vault Weapons do not have the same visual customization options as All-Out Warfare’s standard weaponry.
New Battlefield Portal Hardware
New iconic weapons from our Classic Eras are available to unlock via Assignments in Battlefield Portal. These weapons are also unlocked via the new Assignments feature and will be playable across Battlefield Portal.
M2 Carbine - 1942
Building on the success of the M1, the M2 variant allows select fire. Fully-automatic and semi-automatic modes are now fed by a 30 round magazine.
- 100 Kills as the 1942 Assault
- 30 Enemy equipment destroyed
Bren LMG - 1942
This full-auto British assault rifle runs the same cartridge as the BAR 1918 and features a top mounted magazine.
- 10 Roadkills
- 50 Kills with the M2 Carbine
M95 - - Bad Company 2
This .50 caliber, bolt-action, magazine fed, anti-material sniper rifle is a beast. Its long range and power make it a must for enhanced stand-off effectiveness.
- 50 Headshot kills
- 50 Earn Intel Ribbons
M249 SAW - Bad Company 2 / Battlefield 3
The Squad Automatic Weapon is a belt-fed suppressive fire, light machine gun. It chambers the NATO 5.56 round with a 200 round capacity.
- 100 Kills and Assists with the M60, M60E4, M240B or M249 SAW
- 20 Kills or Revives with the Defibrillator gadget
AEK-971 - Battlefield 3
Fully-automatic fire, 30 round capacity with a low spread and decent recoil. Optics are suggested for staying on target with those longer bursts.
- 200 Kills and Assists with Assault Rifles
- 5000 Damage inflicted with explosives
These new weapons also come with new Scopes to give you even more customization options to fit your gameplay style.
Lastly, the M18 Smoke Grenade is back in Battlefield Portal and can be selected as a Throwable in your Loadout for all Classic eras.
Improved Play Menu
Browse through Conquest, Breakthrough, Portal and Hazard Zone via a single menu to see which Playlists are available. We’re also excited to bring back Rush as a permanent available game mode. You asked for it, and it’s here to stay.
Lastly, Once Season 2 goes live we’ll feature 24/7 Playlists on both Conquest and Breakthrough so you’ll be able to jump straight into our new map, Stranded.
Unlock all new looks for your Specialists, Weapons, and Vehicles in the Season 2: Master of Arms Battle Pass.
Gain XP & Complete Weekly Missions
Gain XP and complete Weekly Missions to earn the 10 Battle Pass points required to progress each tier. Every week a limited time Bonus Mission is available to unlock, and completion of this mission will provide additional points.
Unlock Rewards
The Battle Pass tiers are filled with rewards. Free tiers offer additional Weapons, Vehicles, Gadget and an all-new Specialist. Premium tier rewards include Epic and Legendary seasonal cosmetics.
Upgrade to Premium at any time to get access to rewards on all 100 Battle Pass tiers, and instantly unlock Premium rewards like the Master at Arms bundle, plus all Battle Pass Tiers you have already progressed.
Year 1 Pass owners who have purchased either the Battlefield 2042 Gold or Ultimate Editions will automatically get access to the new Specialist each season as well as the Premium Battle Pass, without needing to unlock them via gameplay.
Stay Informed
Make sure to follow @Battlefield and @BattlefieldComm to stay informed on all things Season 2.
GLHF
Tom // @Straatford87
Community Manager, Battlefield
This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.