PlanetSide 2 patch adds temporary spawn protection, spotting adjustments, SMGs

The war for glorious balance continues in PlanetSide 2: the latest major patch released on Friday Gal-dropped new fixes and adjustments first outlined by the team last month . Among the significant changes are the addition of a few precious seconds of invulnerability when spawning, defensive boosts for bases, and a finer-tuned spotting system.

The patch also implements penalties for the totally un-tactical act of spawn camping: killing a player within 10 seconds of him or her deploying now only nets you 25 percent of the XP award. Taking the fight to base camp-fests are new spam-proof walls for Biolab landing pads, armored overhangs for tower spawn rooms, and underground tunnels for Amp Stations and Tech Plants.

On the spotting system, reconnaissance by way of mashing your spot key on the horizon doesn't work anymore. Not only will spotting go on a cooldown if nothing is targeted, you'll also need extra precision for the actual spot beyond 30 meters.

There are new weapons too: armories for the Terran Republic, Vanu Sovereignty, and New Conglomerate all receive new SMGs for short-range, rapid-fire skirmishes: the SMG-46 Armistice, Eridani SX5, and AF-4 Cyclone, respectively.

PlanetSide 2's official forums hold the full patch notes , but we've snipped some of the more interesting changes for viewing here.

• Repeated spotting without a valid target will now put your ability to spot on cooldown.
• Spotting an enemy at 30+ meters now has to be more precise.
• You now have to be closer to the center of the target to see their nameplate.
• Added a short invulnerability on newly spawned players. This invulnerability goes away if the player moves or takes any action.
• Added auto-run to infantry. Defaults to '=' key and can be re-mapped in the keybinding settings.
• Ctrl-F11 will now turn off the first person arms and weapon. You cannot shoot or interact with terminals while this option is turned on.
• Reminder: Ctrl-F10 will turn off the UI.
• Purchasing the second Medic C4 cert will no longer grant every class the ability to carry an additional C4. This bug allowed a number of classes to carry more C4 than what was intended.
• Ace Tool ammo packs should now be properly affected by Ammo Pack certs.
• Hotspots have been reworked. They have a much more visual representation on the map and are dependent on more precise and up-to-date activity metrics. Also, the color of the hotspots is now tied to the empire that is dominating the area.