Aerial update incoming!
The update and forced map wipe is expected at normal time, 2pm EST (7pm BST).
Attack helicopter
A new source of air superiority is in town! The Attack Helicopter enters the game with the update today, and it is a force to be reckoned with. This two-seater helicopter can fire two types of rockets (high velocity and incendiary) and features a manual turret for unleashing your weapon of choice on any unlucky foe below.
Size-wise it’s between the Minicopter and the Scrap Helicopter, and maneuverability looks to stand somewhere in between those two as well. As expected, it runs on low grade fuel (500 max) and operates with the same controls of the other helicopters in the game. In front there is a gunner seat, and behind that the pilot sits. The gunner can operate the screen in front of him (‘e’ to click in once you’re seated and the heli is on) which allows him to operate the turret along with firing rockets. The manual turret can be aimed (with angles limited towards below and in front of the craft). The pilot does what pilots do, they fly the helicopter. On top of that, they can also fire rockets.
Fuel, rockets, flares, and the turret all must be managed when the Attack Helicopter is stationary on the ground. Unlike its little brother, the Minicopter, this guy has no wheels, so you can’t drive it around. It does, however, have a light in front to help illuminate your way at night.
To obtain one, head to your local Airwolf with 2250 scrap. Given this helicopter is larger than the mini, storing one inside is a bit more complicated. It doesn’t fit through a normal garage door, but you can squeeze it through a large external gate. You’ll need at least a 2×4 to squeeze it under a roof and get it inside. Once you do, decay time looks to be roughly 36-40 hours. Left outside, it’ll decay in about 8 hours (similar to the mini).
Total health
850hp
Purchase at
Airwolf
Purchase cost
2250 scrap
Seats
2
Repair cost (total)
~500 metal frags
Repair cost (per hit)
51hp for 30 frags
Homing missile launcher
To counter such an air adversary as the Attack Helicopter, the devs have added an ace in the hole for those left on the ground. The Homing Missile Launcher is a new weapon which, as you probably guessed by the name, launches missiles which home in on the heat signature of various helicopters.
To operate, just aim (no ADS at the moment) at the flying object of your choice, and maintain that aim for 4 seconds as it locks on (theres a small progress bar and sound). You can lock on targets from a great distance out (~350 meters based on testing) provided they are in line of sight.
Once locked, let her rip and pray your target doesn’t have flares (more on those below). This bad boy will lock on to Minicopters, Attack Helicopters, Scrap Helicopters, and even the Patrol Helicopter (although they have unlimited flares making it hard to take down — it takes 4 if you can hit it). It is not feasible to take out the Chinook with this weapon. Durability grants about 10 missile launches before repair is needed. Also note: you can’t reload while a rocket is in the air or swap to another homing launcher.
How many rockets to destroy
Minicopter
2 Homing Missiles
Attack Helicopter
2 Homing Missiles
Scrappy
4 Homing Missiles
Parachutes
About to get blown the fuck out of the sky? On a really tall building and don’t want to take the long way down? Make sure to pack a Parachute! This new item can be equipped to a fancy new backpack inventory slot (above the left-most clothing item) and, if you find yourself falling from a great height (15m or more), this will slow your descent. To deploy, you’ll need a 1 meter sphere radius and 6 meters below. Assuming you have that, press the spacebar with the packed parachute in its inventory slot and you’ll quickly start floating down – you can also just hold spacebar to deploy as soon as possible once you jump.
While in descent, you can steer with WASD. You can also defend yourself by whipping out a weapon and firing (although this disables your ability to steer). You can be shot down, it takes about 15 rounds from an AK to do you in. As the damage stacks up, you’ll start falling quicker and having less control of your steering.
Once you land, the parachute drops on the ground in an unpacked state. You can pack it back up by running over to it and holding ‘e’ for about 8 seconds. A full health parachute can be repacked 5 times (losing durability on each pack). You can repair it on a workbench for about 12 cloth per every 20 health.
Research cost
125 scrap
Available for purchase?
No
Spawns in
Basic crates
Crafting cost
2 tarp
2 sewing kits
50 cloth
Workbench
Level 2 required
Flares
Now you might be saying, “Oh man, it makes sense to have homing missiles for the Attack Helicopter, but aren’t Mini’s and Scrappy’s screwed?” Not quite! Enter: Flares. If you’ve ever seen Top Gun or any similar media, you’ll know flares are used to confuse homing missiles by adding extra heat signatures. And that’s exactly what these do.
In the Attack Helicopter, pilots can right click to have the flares dropped (equipped in the same spot the rockets are). In the Minicopter and Scrappy, passengers can right click to toss flares out.
Crafting cost
2 tarp
2 sewing kits
50 cloth
Workbench
N/A
Research cost
125 scrap
Available for purchase?
No
Spawns in
Basic crates
Armored Hot Air Balloon
Topping off the aerial nature of this update, Armored Hot Air Balloons have been added. Purchased at Airwolf, you can get the HAB with armor for 150 scrap. Alternatively, if you already have an HAB, you can buy the armor upstairs for 70 scrap and equip it to any stationary HAB you find (similar to adding horse armor, just point at the red button with the armor in your inventory).
Once added, this armor provides a bunch more protection from the elements along with increasing the total HP of the HAB from 1500 to 2500. This will hopefully give you a bit more defense against the new aerial predators.
Global networked bases
An awesome new quality of life and optimization is also coming in with this update! Global networked bases turn each element of a base into a prefab, essentially increasing the render distance to that of trees. Now, at a great height, you can scope out bases literally across the map! They of course render at a lower fidelity when far out (for performance), and then increase in quality as you approach (like LODs).
*This option appears to be off by default, but you can turn it on via graphics menu -> global rendering -> on.
Weapon racks
A new DLC pack is also coming with the update today. Weapon Racks are an awesome new base item which allow for the storage of weapons on walls and a new floor deployable. There are 4 in total (3 sizes of wall mounted, 1 floor mounted). Not only do they look great (especially the wall mounts with lights over) but they have great utility. You can simply walk up to one with a weapon out and it’ll show a blue guide for placement in select slots. To place, simply left click. Then, to pick up any weapon, you do the same (point and click). You can also unload and load ammo for weapons on the rack by holding ‘e’ while looking at a weapon.
No word on price point, but expect this to be available for purchase on the item store around when the update hits. Here is some crafting costs:
Twitch drops
It looks like another round of Twitch drops will be coming with this update! There appear to be 5 streamer specific drops and 3 generics. Head over to the Facepunch Twitch page to check them and out make sure your accounts are connected.
