Yes Auto Assault is still going and from what we hear it’s not actually as bad as all the night elf lovers have made it seem. NetDevil are a good bunch and they seem to be working their asses off to try and fix up some of the early problems which plagued the release of AA so we’re more than happy to see them still fighting the good fight. Recently it was revealed at the Auto Assault forums that Update 3 for AA is currently going through the internal QA process and should address quite a few issues some of the critics have been lobbing their way, including some much needed balancing, clan name support and new instances.

Read a list of upcoming changes to Auto Assault after the jump..

Outpost Tokens – We’re working on a system where it will be possible to get outpost tokens from PvP kills. Also, we’re working on systems to integrate outpost captures and GZ population density into this system, to encourage players to not only kill each other but cap each others outposts. Also provide incentives NOT to afk or truce.

Status Effect Counters – I have always been in favor of a system where players can have game play where they can counter a status effect like stun or lockdown. We’re working on a system where players can simply click their power bar (or hotkey it) and dump all their power to have a chance at eliminating each current status effect. The more power dumped gives a higher % chance of eliminating each status effect. This will provide an interesting new point-counterpoint gameplay and will be available to everyone. Support classes who can provide power to allies will be more in demand.

New Ground Zero Convoy Instance – I will leave the fictional specifics out for now, but there will be a new convoy only instance with extremely difficult and rewarding content. New loot will be available specifically off the boss(es) in this challenging map.

Skill Balance – All skills with ranks > 20 will have been reduced to 15 ranks, making them much cheaper and much more efficient. Other balance tweaks should improve the situation in GZ as well as the rest of the game.

Server Stabilizations – Key Inventory and desynch bugs have been squashed! This has already resulted in major improvements in stability since they have been pushed in a recent hotfix. More optimizations are being worked on.

Auction House and Mail System – While this definitely will not make Update 3, we are making progress on the Auction House and Mail System.

Arena and Tournament Rankings Web Page – This feature is coming along nicely. It also may not make Update 3, but it is coming together. We also hope to improve this to many other “leaderboards” and character pages in the future.

Clan Names – We finally worked through an issue preventing this from happening (even though it may seem simple to implement). So Clan names will finally display!

Race Arena – This also likely will not make Update 3 but it is nearly complete. It is a “pure race” arena map. Everyone will drive identical chassis in a long and challenging race map, with no guns, no skills, only pure driving skill.

Skill Tree Simulator Web Page – Work has been invested into a skill tree simulator so you can investigate different skill loadouts without respeccing in-game.

Taxi Missions – This also will not make Update 3 but we have a working system where you can take time out from missions and grinding and go on taxi missions on various highways. If we can tune this to be fun and challenging, it should provide an interesting driving game play diversion.

Skill Stacking – We are working on fixing the problem with “like” skills stacking with each other. Primarily this is an issue with some factional skills and consumables.

Resistance and Deflection PvP Mods – Way back in Beta days we ran into a problem where players 3-5+ levels below their target would rarely if ever win in PvP combat. So we implemented a 50% reduction in Deflection and some resistance calculations such that a lower level player could compete with a higher level player. While this works in principal, people also tend to favor low damage/low refire rate weapons and offensive builds.

This system is being adjusted such that as you approach equal level (80-vs-80), these adjustments will not be present. ie- Deflection and resistance builds will matter, as will high damage/slow refire rate weapons. At the same time, lower level players will have the same old benefits present today. So it will be a scaling system to allow the best of both worlds.

3 New 18th Level Convoy Instances – Near the end of each faction’s region 1 highway will be new and challenging instance maps geared for convoy only play!

New Set of Outpost Token Store Items – We’re adding additional items to purchase from the Outpost Token Store.

2 New Tiers of Enhancements and Better Broken Items – We’re introducing two new tiers of enhancements for better broken items, experimentation and loot drops at high levels.

We have other tricks up our sleeves too, but these are the more concrete items we are currently working on. I want to reiterate that not all of these will make Update 3. Some will be provided in Hot Fixes or future updates. Some may not see the light of day. But this list gives you an idea of what kind of things we have been working hard on!

Read more: Upcoming changes in Auto Assault Update 3 | Auto Assault