Just a few months ago, DICE revealed that Battlefield 2042’s Specialists will be receiving a massive rework in Season 3 that will make each feel like your traditional class. The studio has today gone in-depth the Battlefield 2042 Specialist rework, and how the UI will be improved, and other notable stuff incoming during Season 3.
Battlefield 2042 Class Rework Changes:
DICE is putting each Specialist under a specific class, which should be familiar for old school Battlefield fans. Expect each Specialist to fall under the Assault, Engineer, Recon and Support class in a more pronounced way than before.
ENGINEER: Vehicle Disabler & Support – the Engineer Class is centered around aiding and fighting vehicles.
RECON: Spotting & Targeting – Recons provide themselves and teammates with intel on enemy positions, and designate targets.
SUPPORT: Healer/Reviver/Ammo supplier – Support provides health, revives and ammo to ensure teammates can stay active in the fight.
ASSAULT: Anti-Infantry Frontline Fighter – Assault are specialized at fighting infantry and shine on the frontlines of combat.
CLASS LOADOUTS:
Here is a new overview of the Class Loadout structure:
Class Equipment (Always available)
- Assault – Med Pen
- Engineer – Repair Tool
- Support – Defibrillator
- Recon – Insertion Beacon
Class Gadgets (You can choose 1)
- Assault – Smoke Launcher, IBA Armor Plate, C5 Explosive, M18 Claymore
- Engineer – Anti-Tank Mine, Recoilless M5, FXM-33 AA Missile, GM-148 Javelin, EOD Bot
- Support – Ammo Crate, Medical Crate, Smoke Launcher, M18 Claymore
- Recon – T-UGS, Tracer Dart Gun, M18 Claymore, C5 Explosive, Prox Sensor, SOFLAM Designator
Throwables (You can choose 1)
- Assault – Frag Grenade, Smoke Grenade, Concussion Grenade, Incendiary Grenade
- Engineer – Frag Grenade, Smoke Grenade, EMP Grenade, Incendiary Grenade
- Support – Frag Grenade, Smoke Grenade, EMP Grenade, Incendiary Grenade
- Recon – Frag Grenade, Smoke Grenade, EMP Grenade, Incendiary Grenade
As for the Specialists that will be receiving kit changes, the ones confirmed so far will be Crawford, Irish, and Rao.
CRAWFORD
For Crawford we noticed conflicting gameplay behavior between offensively using his Mounted Vulcan, alongside being tasked to revive other players. Right now, this means Crawford is unable to fully commit to his role as Support. Similar to Boris who also takes an offensive approach with this SG-36 Sentry Gun, we are changing Crawford’s Class to give him a clearer purpose on the Battlefield.
We’ve heard you share similar feedback that this would be a better fit, and through further Playtesting we’re seeing that placing Crawford in the role of Engineer provides a smoother gameplay flow by allowing him to help purely focus on offensive support.
IRISH
For Irish, we recognize that the design of his APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel and DCS Deployable Cover provide more benefits towards helping infantry, instead of aiding or combating vehicles. We are therefore moving Irish to the role of Support where he can focus on helping and protecting teammates, instead of taking out enemy vehicles.
With this change in place, we’ve seen great new gameplay moments where Irish protects his team with his Shootdown Sentinel, while dropping Cover and reviving fallen friendlies.
As a summary for Crawford and Irish, these changes mean:
We’re switching their respective Classes; Crawford becomes an Engineer, and Irish becomes Support
Crawford gains the Repair Tool, while Irish gets the Defibrillator as Class Equipment
Irish receives Crawford’s “Cache Point” Trait, as Crawford can no longer revive players
Crawford will receive a new Trait which is still being designed. We are currently exploring making him more effective at repairing vehicles under certain conditions
RAO
We have also received feedback about Rao’s potential fit as an Engineer, as within current gameplay he is mainly used to take down vehicles.
Our design intent for Rao as a Recon is to be a disruptor and target designator so his team can follow-up to take down targets. Currently it isn’t always clear to the team who Rao is targeting so we are exploring ways to improve his teamplay opportunities.
We are maintaining Rao as a Recon. And while he can still be effective against vehicles through having access to C5, we’ll make further changes to enforce his Spotting & Targeting capabilities. These changes won’t impact Rao’s abilities directly, but rather how they are communicated to his team when he uses them. For example, when Rao Hacks a target, team mates will see a large UI indicator signaling a designated target is Hacked, and ready to be taken down.
WEAPON CLASS PROFICIENCIES:
As for weapon restrictions for classes, DICE has decided not to implement that in BF2042, but will instead give “Weapon Class Proficiencies” to classes.
Here’s an example of how the Recon class Specialists will benefit from these Weapon Class Proficiencies system:
Recons are known for using Sniper Rifles on the Battlefield, and their proficiency when wielding this weapon type outperforms for example an Assault, who are skilled at using Assault Rifles. While Recons will still have access to all weapons in this new system, they’ll now benefit from wielding Sniper Rifles by automatically holding breath for much longer while ADS.
Our design intent for this new system is to help enforce your role on the Battlefield while simultaneously making you more readable to other players. That leads to better balance and more teamplay, alongside maintaining current freedom of choice that many of you are used to, and enjoy. We feel it’s the right approach to make using Class-specific weapons meaningful.
UI CHANGES:
LOADOUTS
Loadouts will now be specific to the Class, instead of Specialist. This means you’ll be able to play faster, and will experience less clicking around through the available options per Class.
Character selection
In the character selection screen you’ll now see all Specialists grouped by their Class. You’ll still have the same streamlined overview as you enjoy in the game today.
Class Icons
We have updated Class Icons to make it easier to understand the Role of each Class. For example, all Support players are able to revive, so you can now recognize that Class by a Health, instead of an Ammo Icon.
Class indicators
Friendly soldiers will now have an in-world UI indicator above their head to help you identify their Class. You’ll also find the Class indicators listed on the Scoreboard.
Class Weapon Proficiencies
New UI indicators for the Class Weapon Proficiency help you identify which weapons your Class will benefit from using.
The Battlefield 2042 Specialist rework changes are planned to be rolled out in the “later half of Season 3.” Speaking of which, we should hear more about Season 3 soon-ish. Don’t forget to check out today’s long list of changes included in today’s BF2042 patch 2.2.0.
Source: EA
