PTS: First Impression of the Map Expansion in Skyline Valley Update
It is there! On Thursday evening April 18th, 2024 the current PTS with the “Skyline Valley Update” was made available. There we are now testing the map expansion for the first time!
Yes, it is a card expansion. No instance and no loading screen. The map expands south into Shenandoah National Park. The main street there is called "Skyline Drive", hence the name for the update (Release in June 2024).
Two events are currently being tested on the PTS: Dangerous Pastimes and Neurological Warfare. The Neurological Warfare event is a new endgame event that is triggered by a nuke impact. Currently, however, you can't see any impact zones on the map expansion and the weather also seems to change the entire region after a nuke. We'll wait and see whether it stays that way. I would find it a bit irritating. After joining on the PTS, I initially thought I had landed in a nuke zone and quickly turned on the PA. However, that wasn't necessary at all. I was able to move around normally without a PA, even though it sounded like a Nuke Zone.
There are 26 new locations in total and the area seems larger than it might seem at first glance on the map. I first walked around the observation towers to make the places visible.
The overall mood of the card expansion is mostly dark and mysterious. You also meet various new enemies and animals. e.g. pheasants and thrashers.
In the middle of the area you will find a "Trading Post", where you will find stash boxes, ammo boxes and salvage boxes, as well as various workbenches. Similar to Nuka World.
The atmosphere of the place "Dark Hollow" almost seems like Stranger Things in season 4 (if you know what I mean).
And before you ask: Yes, you can set up camp anywhere in the new area. Except of course in the existing locations. As on the rest of the map.
I am attaching a gallery with numerous pictures at the bottom of the post.
Changes in the Background / Datamining
The update contains so many changes that it is impossible to keep track of it in a short time. It includes about 3x as many new textures as in most other updates. There are new enemies, new weapon variants, new events, new quests, new random encounters, new locations, new rewards, etc.
You can already see some new items for the Atom Shop and Season 17 in these posts:
- Datamining: PTS Patch 52 ATX 18th April 2024 (Atomic Shop) Datamine
- Datamining: PTS Season 17 Preview Patch 52 SCORE 18th April 2024 Datamine
There is also e.g. an interesting change to the 10mm submachine gun. There you can now see a suppressor and a reflex sight in the list of mods. The mods are also supposed to drastically reduce the AP costs. However, not yet at the workbench. I would really like these mods to actually be playable. Many of you probably feel the same way.
The new random encounters could also be interesting. There are encounters with turkeys here and also special storm encounters that probably only exist in the new area.
The quests won't be available on the PTS until May, but you can get an idea of the list of quests here.
This new weapon is called "The Meltdown" and is basically a 10mm SMG with fusion cell ammunition.
I will compile further data, preview images and details during the PTS and then report on it again. Many things are currently not yet linked or have not yet been completed. I will also present the new events separately.
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