After yet another leak yesterday suggested the Battlefield 2042 beta would start on October 6, EA and DICE have finally confirmed the news today. Early access will begin on October 6 for those who preordered the game, while all players will have access to an the full open beta from October 8. The beta will end in the early hours of the morning on October 10. They also detailed the many types of progression and cosmetics players will see while taking part.Players will be able to start preloading the beta at 3am EDT on October 5. Early access will then begin at 3am EDT on October 6 and will run through October 7. All players will then get access at 3am EDT on October 8, with access lasting until… you guessed it, 3am EDT on October 10. The beta will feature Conquest mode on the new Orbital map. Four specialists will be available—Boris, Casper, Falck, and Mackay—and players will be able to get a glimpse of the XP system, Ribbons, and player cards. To make the most of the experience, many weapons, vehicles, and gadgets will already be unlocked in the beta too.In addition to announcing beta dates, EA and DICE gave a bunch of new information about ranking up and player customization. As incentive to do more than just play everything like team deathmatch, players will notice they’ll get more XP if they play the objectives, play as a team and stick with their squad. Of course, kills, assists, and support actions like ammo resupplies will all reward XP too, as will earning ribbons. Each ribbon can have up to three tiers, with higher tiers granting more XP when they’re earned. EA gave some examples of the ribbons players can earn:Objective Ribbon – Play the objectiveWingman Ribbon – Support teammates with revives and various assistsLogistics Ribbon – Heal and resupply others and repair vehiclesIntel Ribbon – Spot and disrupt enemies, such as via EMP’s or destroying dronesCombat Ribbon – Score kills and destroy vehiclesPlayers can rank up to a maximum Player Level of 99. Each level unlock will give a reward like a new Specialist, weapon, vehicle, gadget, or cosmetics. All unlockable hardware has mastery challenges to complete to earn new customization options. Examples given included unlocking a scope for the M5A3 assault rifle by racking up enough kills, or new equipment for a vehicle if it’s used to “accomplish goals (like capturing points).”Ranking up doesn’t stop at Player Level 99 but there are no extra rewards. Those who climb their way through the S-levels (S001 to S999) will only earn bragging rights to be displayed on their Player Card, as will Mastery Badges earned through completing hardware challenges. Player Cards will show off Player Level, Player Icon and Title, Player Card Art (background) and up to three Mastery Badges. The cards can be customized in the Play screen and will be displayed to other players in their kill screen. Other players cards can be viewed at the end of each round and in “various other areas.”Finally, a variety of cosmetics will be available both to earn and to purchase. Skins will come in Common (Grey), Rare (Blue), Epic (Purple), and Legendary (Gold) tiers. For outfits, Common, Rare and Epic will have Headgear and Body components that can be mixed with components from other outfits. However, Legendary outfits will be a single component with both Headgear and Body included. Weapon skins apply to the weapon and all of its attachments, while vehicles can be customized with skins and decals.Battlefield 2042 releases on November 19, 2021, leaving the developers a month to sort out any issues that arise during the open beta period. It was delayed by nearly a month due to “unforeseen challenges” caused by the Covid pandemic.[Source: EA]
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