Slow Capture Collision Variant

Starting Tuesday, a new variant of Collision will be available in the Small Team Quickplay playlist. This variant has been built to address feedback about the Collision game mode in the Competitive playlist, and we’d love for you to put it through its paces and provide additional feedback we can use to refine it.

The rules are simple:

1. Zones take longer to capture and rotate immediately once they have been capped.
2. Standing on the zone is the only way to gain progress towards the capture.
3. First team to seven captures wins.

Ultimately, if this variant is preferred to the Fast Capture mode that is currently used, we can swap them out.

Skill Delta Modifier

In 8.2.5.2 we will be increasing the number of points that the skill delta modifier can grant you on wins and losses, on a more exponential scale, and only in ways that positively affect players. For example, you will no longer have your points reduced if you beat a team you were supposed to beat, but you will get bonus points if you beat a team you were expected to lose to. On the flip side, you will no longer lose more points for losing to a team you might have been favored against, but you will lose less points for losing to a team you were expected to lose to.

This will help to offset some of the confusion around point gains and losses in close games. While the baseline win/loss amount will remain centered around 100, following Update 8.2.5.2 planned for next week, the new maximum/minimum point gains and losses will be:

• Maximum Win Amount – 190 gained
• Minimum Win Amount – 90 gained
• Maximum Loss Amount – 110 lost
• Minimum Loss Amount – 10 lost

We believe this change will help players who display above average performance at lower ranks to climb out of them more quickly.

Solo vs. Fireteam Loss Forgiveness

When we rolled this out in 8.2.5, we quickly ran into a networking condition that caused the array we scanned for team sizes to sometimes return incorrect data. While we determined the issue within the first couple days, a hotfix we launched to try to remediate the issue was partially successful but did not fully resolve the situation. In 8.2.5.2 we have a more robust code fix in place that we believe will cut down on the amount of failures, and once that has been verified, we will continue with our plans to reduce the stratification utilized by FTMM and allow duos and trios to match each other in both Competitive and Trials.

Ascendant 0 Competitive Emblem

We have seen a lot of questions about how you can earn the new Ascendant 0 Competitive emblem, and we wanted to clear up the ambiguity. This emblem is acquired using the same system as the new Trials cosmetics, where you earn points for wins, and your drop chance increases exponentially until you hit 1000 points, when the emblem is guaranteed to drop. To gain points, you need to win matches while in the Ascendant 0 rank, and you will gain more points for wins at higher ranks. The breakdown is as follows:

• Wins between 10000 and 10999 – 1 point
• Wins between 11000 – 11999 – 2 points
• Wins between 12000 – 12999 – 3 points
• Wins between 13000 – 13999 – 5 points
• Wins between 14000 – 14999 – 10 points
• Wins while at 15000 – 100 points

If you aren’t able to earn it this season, don’t worry, the emblem is meant to be more of a long-term chase for players who aren’t able to get to max rank and will still be earnable in Frontiers, though you will have to fight your way back into Ascendant 0.

Because this emblem is so rare, we are keeping an eye on those who earn it, and people who acquire it unfairly through win-trading, boosting, recovery services, or cheating will be banned. As always, you can help us out by reporting suspicious accounts either in game or online.