Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2: Patch #3 Release Notes

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox

This patch continues our focus on stability and performance, with a large pass on hitching and frame drops across several missions, a round of perk and ability fixes, Horde Mode changes, and a long list of level, audio and UI fixes. We know that there have been a number of issues with rewards; we’ve fixed most of them and will continue to resolve them. As a token of our gratitude for your patience, every player will receive emotes and Halloween decals. Thanks to everyone who has been sending in reports; many of the fixes below came straight from your feedback.

General

• Items
  • Fixed an issue where multiple items could be equipped in the players' item slots, rendering them unable to equip major items and inflating their combat rating.
    • You should now only be able to have one minor item and one major item in each slot.
  • Added extra collision around item crates to prevent situations which would allow players to get out of the play space.
  • Fixed medkits disappearing from your inventory after a host migration.
  • Fixed grenades thrown from cover sometimes hitting the cover.

Class Abilities & Perks

• Perks
  • Jackpot balance changes
    • Jackpot was a solid perk in AFE, but the substantial increase of special enemies on higher difficulties, combined with them being overall squishier than AFE makes this powerful effect trigger too often. We still want it to feel good to use but have a lesser effect when triggering from Specials. We may need review this further.
    • Jackpot works again with heat weapons.
    • The perk no longer reloads the underbarrel unless that is what you were using
    • Killing an elite still fully reloads the weapon and dissipates all heat.
    • Killing a Special has the following effects:
      • Most weaponry: Instant reload of 50% of the magazine's max ammo.
      • Heat weapons: -25% max heat.
      • 1 Shot weapons (Pike): Triggers full reload every 2 kills.
        
        
    • Drive Perks
      • Drive and its mods were balanced around a much smaller number of special enemies. While balancing the game with the goal of not making enemies too bullet spongey, we dramatically increased their number. This made Drive scale far too quickly and get to some seriously ridiculous values. We know that some players liked this, but it trivialized build choice and was giving far too much value for its slot size.
      • Drive now grants 5% cooldown reduction for elite kills, 2% for specials.
      • Battle Hardened is capped at 25 max health gain and only triggers on elites.
      • Muscle Memory is capped at 20% max damage and only triggers on elites.
        • The amount of damage bonus now matches what the tooltip says.
      • Reaper now restores 5 permanent health for elites, 1 for specials.
        • This was increased from 2 broadly.
      • Updated the text and formatting of these to reflect their new mechanics.
    • Escalating determination now gives you the max hp at the end of each wave instead of the start of each next wave.
    • Overwhelming Fire now has a cooldown per enemy, not per player.
    • Fixed weapon training/expertise/mastery perks not affecting weapons correctly.
    • Fixed different weapons being affected by the wrong perks.
    • Fixed the M4 Pistol not being affected by handgun perks.
    • CQW Weapon Training
      • Fixed it not affecting recoil as much as it should.
      • Fixed it not affecting the recoil limit, causing recoil to go back to normal over time.
    • CQW Weapon Expertise
      • Added overheat speed to its effects.
      • Fixed it making handling worse for all weapons.
      • Improved handling bonus from 15% to 20%.
    • CQW Weapon Mastery
      • Fixed fire rate being increased but not fire rate limit, causing guns to return to the normal fire rate over time.
      • Fixed it not affecting spread as much as it should.
      • Fixed spread being affected incorrectly, where it was reducing minimum and maximum spread instead of minimum spread and spread increase per shot.
    • Handgun Weapon Training
      • Changed from increasing weak point damage to increasing stopping power, aiding in the intended gameplay for handguns.
      • Fixed it not affecting spread as much as it should.
      • Fixed spread being affected incorrectly, where it was reducing minimum and maximum spread instead of minimum spread and spread increase per shot.
    • Handgun Weapon Expertise
      • Fixed fire rate being increased but not fire rate limit, causing guns to return to the normal fire rate over time
    • Handgun Weapon Mastery
      • Fixed range not being increased correctly, only affecting near and far ranges.
      • Fixed aim assist not being affected correctly, only applying a portion of the bonuses and not increasing aim gravity enough so handguns were barely affected.
      • Added weak point damage and stopping power bonus removed from Weapon Training perk.
    • Heavy Weapon Training
      • Added overheat speed effect.
      • Fixed it decreasing reload speed too much.
    • Heavy Weapon Expertise
      • Reduced radius effect from 15% to 10%.
      • Added stopping power effect.
      • Fixed it only increasing bullet and projectile damage and not explosion, environmental effect, and over time damage.
    • Heavy Weapon Mastery
      • Fixed causing guns to return to the normal fire rate.
      • Fixed it not affecting the recoil limit, causing recoil to go back to normal over time.
    • Precision Weapon Training
      • Fixed it not affecting recoil as much as it should.
      • Fixed it not affecting the recoil limit, causing recoil to go back to normal over time.
    • Precision Weapon Expertise
      • Fixed it making handling worse for all weapons.
      • Added existing handling bonus to description.
      • Improved handling bonus from 15% to 20%.
      • Added weak point stopping power to effects.
    • Precision Weapon Mastery
      • Fixed fire rate being increased but not fire rate limit, causing guns to return to the normal fire rate.
      • Added overheat speed effect.
    • Rifle Weapon Training
      • Fixed fire rate being increased but not fire rate limit, causing guns to return to the normal fire rate.
    • Rifle Weapon Expertise
      • Fixed range not being increased correctly, only affecting near and far ranges.
      • Fixed it not affecting recoil as much as it should.
      • Fixed it not affecting the recoil limit, causing recoil to go back to normal over time.
    • Rifle Weapon Mastery
      • Added overheat speed effect.
      • Fixed it not affecting spread as much as it should.
      • Fixed spread being affected incorrectly, where it was reducing minimum and maximum spread instead of minimum spread and spread increase per shot.
• Classes
  • • Specialist
      • Unyielding now grants the full health bonus listed in its description.
      • Hard to Hit now grants 20% damage resistance after dodging, instead of 100%.
    • Duelist
      • Fixed the Remote Detonator doing double friendly fire damage.
    • Machinist
      • Hyperlocal Logistics now increases turret health regen by 10% as described, instead of doubling it.
      • The Rumble Turret is now the correct size.
      • Fixed Rumble Turret radius and fire rate to appear accurately for clients.
    • Marauder
      • The Minefield perk no longer prevents you from manually launching remote mines when first equipped.
      • The Minefield perk no longer forces players out of aim down sights.
      • Fixed the Breaching Blast icon on enemy health bars.
    • Hunter
      • Made sure the beams only hit players if friendly fire is enabled and the players are hit directly.
      • Friendlies are no longer counted in the near-miss or point-blank beam code.
      • Particle Pulse ability buffed to make it more viable.
        • Damage increased from maximum of 800 -> 1000.
        • Stopping Power increased from a maximum of 600 -> 750.
        • Ability friendly fire behavior fixed so it's working correctly and reliably.
        • Maximum charge time reduced from 2 -> 1.5 seconds.
        • AoE Damage from the explosion increased from 200 -> 300.
        • AoE Stopping Power from the explosion increased from 300 -> 400.
        • AoE Radius from the explosion increased from 300 -> 400.
        • Fixed the ability not working to blow up explosive barrels or mines.
      • Supercharged perk now increases charge time by 20% instead of 50% to make it more viable.
• Challenge Cards
  • Challenge cards no longer deactivate for remaining players after a host migration.
• Misc
  • Players now play the correct grapple animation when grabbed while crouched in cover.

Weapons & Attachments

• Weapons
  • Fixed the F44AA stock ADS animation not replicating to clients.
  • Fixed the front hand not gripping the shotgun properly.
  • Adjusted the player’s hand grip on the Revolver Rifle.
  • Underbarrels
    • The HUD ammo counter now turns red when your underbarrel is out of ammo.
    • Fixed the HUD showing your gun as out of ammo while using an underbarrel that still has ammo.
  • Mondo Heat 9000
    • Fixed the muzzle flash staying red with the Cryo Ammunition augment equipped.
• Augments
  • Fixed the thermal beam augment for the Type 111 causing the beam damage to last indefinitely.
    • Removed the extra 20 DPS fire DOT from the augment because it would retrigger and reapply itself.
    • Added 10% Stopping Power buff to the augment to replace the lost DPS.
    • Fixed damage over time guns removing the wrong DOT from enemies if that DOT was applied by that weapon previously, causing the weapon’s DOT to last indefinitely.
    • The Kramer Short Barrel Electric Ammo augment now shows electric effects.
• Known Issues:
  • • Bonuses that occur on Empty Magazines are only working for the host, not for other players.

AI, Encounters & Level/Mission Design

Enemies

• Stuck Enemies & Behavior
  • Further fixes for enemies climbing surfaces at the wrong angle, clipping into geometry, and getting stuck there.
  • Fixed Xenos getting stuck under the floor in “Sleep Study”.
  • Fixed the Crusher getting stuck behind a door in “Bomb Squad”.
  • Fixed Enforcers falling off of catwalks in “Bomb Squad”.
  • Fixed the Warden becoming stuck and unresponsive in the corners of the room in “Power Problems".
  • Flamer synths now engage players properly instead of waiting until you get close.
  • Enemies can no longer open locked doors in the Underbelly finale.
  • Enemies can no longer be knocked through walls in “Piping Hot”.
  • Fixed Xenos appearing to come out of rubble in “Running on Fumes".
• Deaths & Visuals
  • Fixed enemies sometimes flying across the screen on death for clients.
  • Fixed the Pathogen Brute sometimes floating in the air after being killed.
  • Fixed incorrect gibs on the Synth Detonator and Synth Enforcer.
  • The death splat has been updated for certain enemies, and blood no longer splashes everywhere when shot.
  • Death decals from Bulwarks and Crawlers no longer appear on players.
  • Clients now see the dust and smoke effects when enemies spawn.

Companions

• Fixed some instances of companion bots not attempting to revive the player.
• Fixed companion bots getting stuck in an A-pose when switching weapons.

Progression

• We apologize for all the issues that players experienced with rewards, we have more fixes planned for future updates but we addressed the following:
  • We fixed an issue where rewards were being cleared from memory, causing them to be lost instead of rewarded.
  • Emotes had a specific issue that prevented them from being rewarded.
  • Known Issues:
    • It will still occasionally try to give you rewards you already have which results in no rewards, this will be fixed in the next update.
    • Completing the Queen Fight mission at times will not reward you properly.
• Players will receive new Halloween specific decals as compensation for the inconvenience this issue has caused.
• Unlock crates now primarily give you gameplay rewards instead of only cosmetics.
  • Augments, Major items and some perks will only drop on intense or higher difficulty but can still be purchased in the store.
  • Fixed incorrect unlock crates appearing in some missions.
• Horde Mode
  • Horde Mode is now available immediately for new characters and has been unlocked for existing characters.
  • Updated Horde Mode lifetime stats to be more relevant.
  • Clients can now see the grinder animations on the Horde Mode map.
• Rewards & Unlocks
  • Emotes found in Hidden Caches are now added to your inventory.
  • Reward notifications now still appear if you close the post-mission screen with ESC.
  • Fixed a Hidden Cache in “Synth Headache” that didn’t work like other caches.

Missions

• Mission Fixes
  • Fixed progression blockers in “Sleep Study” and “Power Problems” that occurred after a host migration.
  • Fixed a case where the finale couldn’t be triggered because a player got stuck.
  • In the mission “Breaking and Entering” the final encounter can no longer start while a player is still above, and players can no longer interact through a door.
  • Fixed an instance of the gate not opening during a “hold the landing pad” event.
  • Fixed a door in “Piping Hot” that could open into nowhere when an enemy was nearby.
  • The intel terminal encounter in “Deadly Descendants” now starts when you engage with the terminal instead of after crossing the bridge,
  • Adjusted the “Power Problems” finale battle with better pacing and more enemy variety.
  • The Find Administrator Office objective in “Breaking and Entering” now asks you to clear hostiles first.
• Horde Mode
  • Clients can now see the grinder animations on the Horde Mode map.
• Story & Hub
  • Piper now animates and speaks in person during her rescue instead of only over the radio.
  • Removed a long pause between voice lines in the final scene of “Piping Hot”.
  • Fixed one of Wrench’s lines playing twice in a row after “Power Problems”.
  • Esther no longer appears in the Hub before “Synth Headache” is complete.
  • Your active Hub objective now shows again after quitting and reloading.
  • NPCs’ lips no longer keep moving after skipping through a conversation.
  • Added skip options in two hub conversations in which they were missing.

World and Environments

• General Improvements
  • Adjusted collision in several Missions and Horde Mode maps to prevent players from getting stuck or exiting the gameplay space.
  • Several asset adjustments in environments to fix areas where the player could see through the level.
  • General improvements to asset LODs to prevent visual inconsistency.
  • Updates to address decal artifacts, incorrect materials, and misplaced props throughout the Missions.
  • Adjusted the location of intel, credit crates, and pickup items so they are no longer hidden in the environment.
• Adjustments to level streaming in “Rescue and Recovery”, “Boarding Party”, “Rock Bottom”, and “Ancient Anomaly” to prevent seeing assets unloaded.
• Fixed the camera clipping into walls in “Canyon Crawlers” and “Muthur May I”.
• Improved the steam, smoke and dust VFX in “Bomb Squad”, “Rescue and Recovery”, and ‘Running on Fumes”.
• Fixed a visibility issue with the dropship during the second bombing run in “Breaking and Entering”.
• Fixed flickering on the floor near Wrench in the Hub.
• Fixed a “Restricted Area” sign typo in “Breaking and Entering”.

Multiplayer & Online

• Optimized network bandwidth usage.
• Fixed missing or swapped character models and names in the Ready Up screen and the post-game screen when players join or leave.
• “Banshee Down”, “Reckoning” and the finale have been removed from the Quickplay mission pool.

UI & Menus

• HUD position settings now support a wider range resolution ratios.
• Augments previewed in the Collection menu now show their Advanced details by default.
• Added a Resistance entry to Enemies in Lifetime Stats.
• Updated loading screen tips for accuracy.
• Added a purchase confirmation popup when buying from Wrench’s shop on consoles and removed an extra confirmation prompt from the store popup.
• Headgear no longer disappears in the major/minor items screen.
• Fixed the Region text being angled incorrectly.

Character & Customization

• Character creation now includes darker skin tone options.
• Colorways no longer tint Ripley and Rain shoes.
• The “Stripes, Orange” decal now matches its name.
• Fixed decals showing an edge line when scaled to minimum size.
• Fixed a visible seam on heads, Hair #9 floating above the head, and Male Head #6 clipping through the APEsuit helmet.
• Fixed holes and stretching on several armor pieces, including the Armat SF1, Mondo Pest Jumper, Weyland-Yutani Light, 3WE Mk. IV Heavy and default Duelist armor.
• Fixed the Ski Goggles strap not fitting the head properly.

Audio

• NPC and Player Voiceover now properly ducks the music volume.
• Fixed first-person weapon firing sounds cutting out during heavy combat.
• Weapon fire audio now correctly represents fire rates when they increase or decrease as a result of modifications, traits, perks, abilities, etc. (including Medic’s Overclock).
• Automatic weapon firing sfx will no longer loop endlessly after changing fire rates while firing.
• Player voiceover lines for pinging ammo boxes and health packs now play more consistently.
• Player voiceover when being grappled by the harbinger now trigger with the intended timing.
• Instances of mission music not transitioning properly at mission end have been corrected.
• Added missing sounds to unlock crates, the “Power Problems” generator room flames, and the valve interaction.
• Hidden caches now emit a looping sfx.
• Updated the explosion sound in “Sleep Study” if players fail the mission.
• Selected player voiceover “barks” have been added back into gameplay.

Performance & Stability

• Optimization pass across Colony levels to reduce hitching.
• Fixed the game freezing for several seconds when certain enemies spawned.
• Reduced instances of hitching and frame drops during combat.
• Reduced hitching for clients when opening doors in “Bomb Squad”.
• Fixed the host hitching when a hidden crate is opened.
• Fixed a large frame-rate drop when using Explosive Rounds on the Duelist.
• Reduced hitching in Breaking and Entering and “Power Problems”.
• Fixed crashes when inviting a player and matchmaking in Quickplay, and after accepting an invite.
• Fixed a crash for clients when swapping perks and backing out of the menu.
• Fixed crashes during missions in “Power Problems”, “Sleep Study” and “Banshee Down”.

Localization

• Translated the error message shown when trying to join while already in a game.
• Localized text in the loading screen frame.
• Fixed the Tab key label not being translated in Korean controller settings.
• Fixed Spanish wall text overlapping the art in the Prologue.

Known Issues

• There are still instances of enemies visibly spawning in.
• Horde Mode will still occasionally try to give you rewards you already have which results in no rewards, this will be fixed in the next update.
• We are still looking into fixing APEsuit Mk.IV Helmet and the Torso/Legs so they can be delivered correctly upon reaching wave 50 in horde mode.

Platform Specific Updates

Xbox Series X|S Updates

• The game’s crossplay setting now matches your Xbox account setting on startup.

PlayStation 5 Updates

• Audio recordings, such as Dr. Pierce’s, now play at the same volume as character dialogue.

Epic Games Store Updates

• Fixed achievement pop-ups displaying incorrectly in Traditional Chinese and Korean.