Hi there. I’m Mark, the Senior Producer on Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance. So here we are, a few weeks out from the release of the first major DLC. We are releasing “We Are Legion” on the 10th December and are all very excited about getting it out to you all to play.
I wanted to answer some of the questions that players in the community have been asking about the new DLC. I find that it's a fine balance of giving information, but not wanting to spoil the story or the experience. As the new DLC is story based, in the same vein of the first T-Force campaign, I would still want players to have surprises and shocks as they play. So, I will do my best not to give too much away (in the knowledge that I’m sure there will be streamers out there that will stream the game before you’ve played it - do try to avoid spoilers).
Here we go:
Why a Machine focussed DLC?
As we have said, the new DLC is going to be Legion based, with you playing the side of the Machines. Why did we choose this, rather than just continuing with the story in the main game? We saw a lot of community comments early in the game's life-cycle about “Wouldn’t it be great to play as the Machines!”, and early on decided that we would like to provide that too, but to an extreme. So, the path of the first DLC was formed.
Will there be more human campaigns?
Yes indeed. The plan is, as always, to see the journey from the first game story through to where we see the future war in the Dark Fate movie, with the Resistance fighting Rev 7’s & 8’s (and getting their asses kicked), but eventually, getting to a point where they are hopefully ‘winning the war’. This will see more advanced human tech and equipment (hovering drop ships, augmented resistance fighters like Grace, etc), and more advanced Legion units (Rev 7’s splitting themselves and morphing bladed weapons and tentacles).
We plan continuing the story of Alex Church as he helps bring the Resistance together, as well as bringing in other forces to join, from both internal (and external) of the US.
I guess the question is also, “Will there be more ‘Legion focussed’ campaigns?”. I can answer that by saying, if you enjoy “We Are Legion”, then there would definitely be the option of more similar campaigns in the future. If everybody hates it, then maybe not.
Are we getting new Legion Units?
This is the most asked question since the DLC was announced. Well, there are new units in the game, but these are primarily given to other factions (mainly the Integrators, as many sharp eyed players may have seen, in the gameplay reveal, the Integrators are sporting new weapon platforms).
Integrator Armored Carrier with Legion plasma weapon
Integrator Platform: A Legion Hunter Platform, converted to manual control and mounted on a semi-trailer wheel chassis
Legion however are getting a whole upgrade on how the army management works, as well as full customisation for all the units.
This means that you will be able to not only customize the weapons on your units (and I mean, heavily customize weapons, with a greater array of weapons being attached to units and vehicles that did not support them in the original game, as well as units being armed with different weapons at the same time).
You will also be able to upgrade and customize many elements of your various units, by researching and ‘buying’ new features. These can be added onto your reinforcement units.
We also have ‘blueprints’. Blueprints are like ‘production templates’, and allow customized units to be added to the reinforcement roster, with these new unit versions to be fielded during re-inforcement or within the core of your Legion army.
Each unit has a number of slots that can be upgraded.
New Legion Army customization screen
So, upgraded legs, for increased speed, upgraded torsos for increased armor protection, updated vision chips for accuracy, etc. There is a restricted number of upgrades allowed per variant, so you can create specific units for specific jobs.
You may have a Rev blueprint type with increased speed and rate of fire for speedy assaults, but another Rev type that is the normal speed, but has higher armor, damage and accuracy, and carries two variants of machine guns, for a slower but more powerful follow up unit!
Not only can you upgrade units like this, but you will be able to assign additional abilities to units to make them ‘something else’. For example, a drone could have the ability to drop smoke grenades, making a very unique, speedy unit perfect for smoke cover. Or a legion tank can be created with an artillery-caliber gun (155mm), capable of demolishing any human fortification. Or even a spider with a self-destruct ability to explode its reactor, making it a useful bomb when damaged.
Legion Artillery: Multi-Barrel Plasma Cannon. Significantly higher rate of fire than basic artillery, but less range and damage.
Legion Tank Weapon Customisation: Heavy rotary 30mm cannons. This weapon turns your tank into a mobile grinder capable of grinding both infantry and not heavily armored vehicles
Legion Tank Weapon Customisation: Heavy 155mm cannons. The most powerful high-explosive weapon, capable of destroying any fortification
As you can see, you will be able to tinker with your army to produce something unique to your needs and strategies.
In conclusion, we’re thrilled to share insights about the upcoming “We Are Legion” DLC for Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance, set to launch on December 10th. We hope this peek into the new features and campaign elements has sparked your excitement.
But this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I, Mark, will be back to answer even more of your burning questions. Your feedback and curiosity drive our development, and we’re eager to engage with you further. Until then, keep an eye out for more updates as we count down to the release.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3227830/Terminator_Dark_Fate__Defiance_We_are_Legion/