Building on Phase 1 of their Sandstorm expansion, Phase 2 will bring in the Sonoran Desert Zone, 10-player defense raids and much more

Global Agenda (GA) fans around the world were overjoyed today as GA's expansion, Sandstorm, has finally entered Phase 2, with the introduction of some huge new content. Phase 1 took place about a month and a half back, and with it came the introduction of over 30 new Epic Weapons, a new loot system, new PvE game modes, new PvP maps, and a whole lot more. This time around, Phase 2 is set to introduce players to the Sonoran Desert Zone, which is set outside of Dome City. The Sonoran Desert Zone is actually an open PvE Zone, and it's designed primarily for players between levels 5 and 15. In this zone, you can accept missions from NPCs in order to progress along a story-arc, all the while learning more about the neighboring Desert Dweller and Recursive Colony Factions.

In addition to the introduction of the Sonoran Desert Zone comes 10-player defense raids, where players will be able to defend facilities around Dome City against the Recursive Colony Faction. Also on the plate are new co-op PvE missions set in the Sonoran Desert Zone, as well as consumeables, a major revamp of the token system and the introduction of a Salvage system, where players can 'scrap' their useless weapons to get items that can be used towards crafting better weapons.

You can check out the entire patch notes below, or go to the Global Agenda website for more info!

    * SONORAN DESERT ZONE: Players may step outside Dome City into the Sonoran Desert Open PvE zone. Designed primarily for those between Levels 5 and 15, players within the Zone may accept missions from NPC's in order to progress a story-arc, learn more about the neighboring Desert Dweller and Recursive Colony factions, and earn loot and experience. Note that players must visit Dalton Bancroft inside Dome City (and run the Bancroft missions) before they can enter the Sonoran Desert Zone.

    * 10-PERSON DEFENSE RAIDS: Facilities around Dome City are key targets of the Recursive Colony faction. When the Recursive Colony attacks, alarms sound within Dome City and the RAIDS mission type will become activated on your MISSION screen. Join the Raid queue solo, or as a pre-made team of up to 10 players, to be matched into a ten-person defense team and transported to an area that needs to be defended. Note that these missions are designed to be difficult and are available only to players Level 30+.

    * NEW SONORAN DESERT SPECIAL-OPS MISSIONS:  New co-op PvE instances have been introduced for characters between Levels 5 and 19.  These missions are accessed thru the MISSION screen (Hotkey = "M") under Team/Medium Difficulty.

    * CONSUMABLES: Players may now craft Consumable items that can be used once while in a combat mission to give a short-term boost. Once used, that item is consumed. In order to equip a consumable, you must have a Consumable in your inventory, and fill the Consumable slot on your Equip screen. Only one consumable may be equipped at a time.

    * SALVAGE: Weapons and Armor that you do not desire to keep may be salvaged by clicking the Salvage button while the item is selected on your Inventory menu. When a weapon or armor piece is salvaged, you will receive a component loot drop put into your inventory (many of the components gained through salvage are useful when crafting consumables).

    * TOKENS: Major changes to the token system have been implemented. See TOKENS section below for more information.

    * CREDITS: Credits are now at the player level instead of the character level. Existing credits have been rolled up to the player level based on the total credits owned by all of your characters.

Server and Feature Availability

    * The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on THURSDAY, JULY 22 2010 from approximately 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM US Eastern (14:30 to 21:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Follow GAServerStatus on Twitter for up-to-date server availability information.
    * The European and North American Agency-vs-Agency Zones will be closed on THURSDAY, JULY 22. The Zones will open as normal on FRIDAY, JULY 23.

Mission-Giving System and the Sonoran Desert Zone

The Mission Giving system guides players through specific assignments that advance a story arc within Dome City and the Sonoran Desert Zone and progress the player’s character level.

Players will note that some low-level Special Ops PvE missions have been removed (on the "M" screen), as they are replaced by missions inside the Sonoran Desert Zone.

Players MUST visit Dalton Bancroft before they can exit Dome City and enter the Sonoran Desert Zone.

Please note the following useful keyboard shortcuts while in the Sonoran Desert Zone:

    "L" = Mission Log.

    "N" = Navigational Map.

    "M" = Global Missions (access instanced PvP and PvE missions).

    
Token System

The Token System has been modified significantly. There is now only one token type (Mercenary and Conquest Tokens have been collapsed into just "Tokens"). The Daily and Account limits have also undergone significant change and the pricing for items and rewards for individual missions have changed significantly.

    CONVERSION:

        * 1 Mercenary Token = 30 of our new tokens
        * 1 Conquest Token = 150 of our new tokens

    LIMITS:

        * Daily limit: 2,000
        * Account limit: 20,000

Consumables and Crafting

There are two new crafting career paths in this release: Consumables and Strike Force. The crafting of AvA items has been moved to the Strike Force path.

At present, there are only four Consumables available for crafting, all of the same quality level, so career progression along this path is limited.

The Consumables available for crafting are:

    * Insta-Heal: instantly provides a full heal when activated..
    * SuperShell: Pops a shell similar to the Perfect Target device.
    * Mini-Force Wall: Pops a small force-field (similar to the Robotics Force Field)
    * Excessive Damage: Provides a damage boost for a given time period.

All consumables can be equipped by players of any class and are use-once items.

Crafted consumables may be placed on the Auction House. Blueprints for consumables are found at a vendor in Dome City.

Level requirements for Mission Rewards

Level Requirements for Special Ops missions have changed.

    TEAM:

        * Medium Security - No Level Req, stops giving rewards past 19.
        * High Security - Requires 18, stops giving rewards past 29.
        * Max Security - Requires 25, never stops rewards.
        * Ultra-Max Security - Requires 30, never stops giving rewards.

    SOLO:

        * "Rookie" and has been renamed "Adept" and now requires level 20, stops giving rewards past 29.
        * Solo "Advanced" Requires Level 30. Never stops with rewards
        * Solo "Expert" Requires Level 40. Never stops with rewards.

Other Noteworthy Changes

    * Generally improved bot AI
    * Recharge time on bionics changed from 45s to 60s
    * Improved help text and general usability.
    * Durability shows in red when it is low
    * Small chance of Rainbow Dye to be dropped from Ultra-Max PvE missions.
    * Fixed mini-map player colors.
    * Confirmation messages pop up when the player lacks sufficient credits, tokens, skills, etc. to complete an operation.
    * Performance enhancements for intense PvE encounters
    * Improved response times of firing weapons and off-hands
    * Fixed  problem where boss encounters could have several waves of responder bots at the same time
    * Level is now displayed next to the XP bar in upper left
    * More alarm lights and sounds for Raid missions including notification within VR arena
    * Cybercuts now requires tokens instead of credits
    * Genolab Facial Reconstruction now requires tokens instead of credits
    * Improvements to backfilling PvP instances so that outcomes are as fair as possible
    * Fixed taskforce problem that would sometimes place player on the wrong team
    * When you exit the game, you will return to the open zone or the city depending on where you exited.
    * Added Bot Kills to Scoreboard
    * A number of other bug fixes with mail, repair functions, animation, graphics, chat and other areas