In recent months, a small, short-lived wormhole had begun periodically appearing near the planet of Auraxis. Over time, the timing and placement became somewhat predictable, enticing Empires to venture through with expeditionary forces, eager to explore or claim what was hidden beyond.
Desolation is Planetside 2’s newest continent, amidst an asteroid belt harboring ancient Vanu obelisks know as Relics, far from the war on Auraxis. Outfits have access to this new zone through Outfit Wars, a new competitive environment.
The Map
The map of desolation consists of 3 Warpgates and 9 Relics. A match on Desolation starts with all of 9 Relics neutralized (no faction ownership).
Warpgates
- Within each Haven Warpgate lies a Command Center
- Each Command Center contains:
- 1 Spawn Option
- Spawns at Desolation Warpgates do not have a respawn timer, like all other Warpgates
- 4 Infantry Terminals
- 2 Vehicle Terminals & respective Pads
- These Vehicle Terminals function as the Construction System’s Light Vehicle Terminal but additionally can pull heavy ground vehicles (the faction-specific MBT) for Cortium, and the Colossus Heavy Tank
- An MBT costs 500 Cortium to spawn
- A Colossus requires you to have one already constructed to spawn
- 2 Air Terminals & respective Pads
- These Air Terminals function as the Construction System’s Light Air Terminal but additionally can pull heavy air vehicles (the Liberator and the Galaxy) for Cortium
- As these are Construction Air Terminals, you will not be able to resupply your aircraft at them
- Additionally, the Air Pads that are attached to the Command Center are purely cosmetic, and therefore do not distribute ammo to any vehicle
- A Liberator costs 500 Cortium to spawn
- A Galaxy costs 750 Cortium to spawn
- 1 Desolation Cortium Silo
- The Desolation Cortium Silo is stocked at the start of the match with 75,000 Cortium
- The Desolation Cortium Silo will recharge nearby construction objects and terminals
- Cortium held within all Cortium Silos across Desolation will not decay over time
- 1 Spawn Option
- You cannot quick-spawn vehicles from the respawn screen, since these terminals are functionally construction terminals, and are therefore detached from the facility’s spawn-system
- You can use any War Assets on Desolation, excluding the Bastion
- The reasoning behind which faction receives what Warpgate is currently unknown
Relics
- There are 9 identical Relics on Desolation, each with a 2-minute capture timer
- Relics are named in alphabetical order, starting from the northwest Relic going in a clockwise spiral
- You cannot capture a Relic while within a vehicle, MAX unit, or while cloaked
- All of the Relics have the same layout, including the cardinal directions of their interior
- Each Relic under your control on Desolation will net your team a point each every 10 seconds
- Your team does not immediately receive on capture; only after 10 seconds have passed
- Therefore, each Relic will give your team a minimum of 12 points if it says connected to allied territory
- Cut-off Relics (Relics that do not have an allied lattice link) do not distribute points until re-connected to an allied lattice
- The first team to reach 750 points is the match victor, with second and third place determined by the points accumulated up until that point
Trivia
- Akka Relic used to be known as Atma Relic but was changed because it was too phonetically similar to Relic Etna
- The Relics used to be known by a single letter (e.g., Relic A instead of Relic Akka ) before OW Alpha Cycle 3
- While the September 2020 patch notes claim that The Haven was the first mobile Warpgate, which replaced the Esamir’s now-destroyed Northeast Warpgate, the February 2021 patch notes refer to the Desolation Warpgates as Haven Warpgates, and therefore pre-date Esamir’s Haven Warpgates, being revealed to players as early as February 2020
- This indicates that these Warpgates are likely coded the same, which also indicates why during the first OW Alpha Cycle Nanites did not regenerate, and Esamir after the Shattered Warpgate update had triple Nanites regeneration for players (Warpgates are the source of Nanite restoration; this is easily confirmed by seeing your Nanite gain triple when on a continent that you have won after an alert, or set to zero if you’ve lost. Since Sanctuary does not act as a Warpgate, that is why you don’t get any Nanite restoration there)
Updates
Feb. 24, 2021
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Atma Relic on Desolation is now named Akka Relic, so that it isn’t phonetically similar to Etna Relic.
Feb. 09, 2021
- Desolation
- The battlefield of Desolation is located amidst an asteroid belt far from Auraxis. The calamity on Esamir has re-established access to this forgotten space, and its secrets are once again pursued by interested parties.
- Three teams of 48 players (one per faction) start a Command Center on one of the equidistant sides of Desolation.
- A match has a 20 minute preparation phase, and players must remain within a Haven Warpgate that surrounds their Command Center.
- The Command Center includes a spawn point, vehicle and air pads, and a Silo with a limited supply of Cortium.
- Additional constructs can be placed both during and after the preparation phase, and additional Cortium can be found throughout the map after the match starts.
- While on Desolation, all War Assets that Outfits have accrued are available for use, with the exception of the Bastion Fleet Carrier.
- When the match begins, teams fight to control the 12 available Relics for duration of the hour-long alert.
- Controlled relics provide a point of score every 10 seconds.
- The first team to reach 750 points is the match victor, with second and third place determined by the points accumulated up to that point.
June 05, 2020
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Updated names of Relic Sites on Desolation.
May, 29, 2020
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Relics bases on Desolation now have full names.
- Fixed some collision related to Desolation’s relics objects.
May 01, 2020
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Fixed various asset-related issues and misaligned walls on Desolation.
April 24, 2020
- Desolation
- Outfit members who aren’t flagged with the “Outfit War Eligible” privilege will no longer be allowed to access Desolation.
- When the Desolation alert ends, the victorious players currently in the zone receive the “Outfit Warrior” title.
- Increased the Desolation alert point maximum from 500 to 750.
April, 8 2020
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Desolation has received a beautification pass on the bases, capture points, and surrounding terrain.
March 20, 2020
- Desolation
Terrain, base flow, and Desolation visuals have received significant updates, and should continue to be considered work in progress.- Major revisions to terrain have been made, including additional cover in open fields.
- A unique, new capture point building now surrounds each capture point.
- Combat flow near and within each capture point has received major revisions.
- Desolation Obelisk has received a new model and FX.
- Desolation Obelisks now glow faction colors when captured.
- At the end of the Outfit War, skybox now changes, continent now locks, and rewards are doled out.
- The victorious outfit in an Outfit War now receives a free Bastion Fleet Carrier (this reward is mostly a placeholder that will be changed later.)
- Warpgate regions now properly prohibit enemy players.
- Warpgate bases now have a Desolation Cortium Silo, which is stocked at the start of the match with 75,000 Cortium.
- Cortium held within Cortium Silos will not decay over time while on Desolation.
- Desolation Cortium Silo will recharge nearby construction objects and terminals.
- Airpads now have an icon on the map.
- Fixed the fake, uncapturable capture point marker that could appear beneath the ground at the center of the map.
- New ambient audio has been added to Desolation.
- Fixed LOD ranges on Desolation Command Centers.
- Desolation 2d map has received new visuals.
March 11, 2020
- Desolation
- When the war phase begins, players can join the Desolation zone by opening the Outfit Wars UI window in the Outfit Menu, or by going to the World Map screen.
- An Alert will then trigger on Desolation where Outfits attempt to capture and control as much territory as possible, which earns them points over time.
- The Outfit with the most points at the end of the Alert (or the first to 500 points,) wins additional resources, rewards, and glory for their Empire.
February 28, 2020
- Misc. Changes, Fixes, and Additions
- Fixed Desolation world map using the wrong icon and description
February 21, 2020
- Desolation
- Upon completion of the Outfit War alert, the continent is now locked to the victorious faction, and players are booted 30 seconds after.
- Placeholder particle effects have been added on continent lock at every obelisk location. In the future these will be more thematic, and better showcase an outfit’s victory.
- The victorious outfit now receives a free Bastion Fleet Carrier if they do not have one already stocked.
- Fixed significant graphical issues in Desolation, particularly in the Command Centers.
February 14, 2020
- Desolation
- Various terrain and cover adjustments have been made. This zone is still very much a work in progress.
- Vehicle and Air pads have had their visuals converted to Construction-style structures, and we’ve reduced the number available to two of each.
- Currently, each pad has its own Cortium supply with which to pull vehicles from, but in later updates we’ll be adding a main Silo structure which fuels all pads, similar to the normal construction system.
- Nanite recovery in this zone is still broken, and will be fixed in a later update.
- This zone no longer appears unlocked when it is unavailable.
- Relic H is now properly connected to the Warpgates.
- Known Issues
- There are some visibility issues in some of the interior structures (Command Centers) in the Desolation map. As a result, terrain geometry will disappear when inside them.