Season 3 of Battlefield 2042 is only a few weeks away, and from the start of it, the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for EA Access subscribers.
Season 3 comes with a new Assault Specialist, Battle Pass, new hardware, a new event, experiences, and more with Battlefield Portal, alongside more improvements, fixes, and quality-of-life enhancements with each update.
Reworks for both Manifest and Breakaway are on the docket, along with the return of classes.
New Vault Weapons will include Bad Company 2’s XM8 for the LMG pool, alongside Battlefield 3’s A-91. More Vault Weapons will arrive in further updates during the Season.
The Specialist Rework will come alongside Update 3.2 during the early part of 2023, which is during the later half of Season 3. With the reintroduction of classes into the game, Specialists will have defined roles that see them gain access to a specialized set of gadgets and equipment that best suit their purpose on the Battlefield.
These changes have been tested “extensively”, by both players and DICE.
You can also expect the following weapon proficiencies that DICE have so far: Assault – Assault Rifle Proficiency; Assault Rifles are ready to fire quicker after sprinting; Engineer – Utility Proficiency; Utility Weapons have improved reloading capabilities; Support – LMG Proficiency; LMG’s have additional magazines and are more efficient when deploying bipods; and Recon – Sniper Rifle Proficiency.
The team has also switched Irish into the Support role, with Crawford swapping in as an Engineer. Irish will therefore take Crawford’s current trait, reviving downed teammates with additional gadget ammunition, and a new trait for Crawford is being developed that will allow him to better specialize as an Engineer.
DICE is also looking into how Rao fits into the new system, and is working on improved team and squad communication around this Specialist so he will work as a “strong asset” within the Recon Class.
Manifest is being revamped with Update 3.1, and a massive overhaul of Breakaway is coming with Update 3.2 in early 2023.
Work on map improvements will continue next year, and the studio has already started pre-production on all new content that will come after Season 4.
In the meantime, if you have yet to get your boots muddy playing the game, in December, there will be free access periods across all platforms.
Steam and Xbox users can give the limited trial a go from December 1-5 and December 1-4, respectively. PlayStation users can hop into the trial December 16-23.