The August update for Predator: Hunting Grounds is here! The new content was announced this morning in a PlayStation blog post, detailing a long-suspected Predator DLC character with included new early access weapon skin, fireteam bots, and Isabelle lore tapes.
Featured as the new Paid DLC Predator class is ‘Cleopatra,’ a female Predator hinted at in multiple lore tapes in the past.
While encounters with Predator females have been rare, Predators of Cleopatra’s prowess are rarer still. As the only Predator to defeat Dutch in combat, she’s also the only Predator known to spare an armed opponent. Was it mercy or a threat? Perhaps it was just professional courtesy from one hunter to another. Do you have what it takes to step into this powerful Yautja’s shoes or will you be worthy of going toe-to-toe with her in the jungle? Cleopatra brings with her a special skin for the smart disc. By purchasing this DLC you will get early access to this new weapon skin variant.
Cleopatra comes with a weapon skin for the Disc. This one is the ‘Ancient Disc.’
The NRV-E (Sniper Rifle) that came as early access with the Isabelle DLC is also now available for all players to unlock at Level 100.
Included in this update are Isabelle lore tapes, featuring the voice talent of Alice Braga! They are unlocked by leveling up just like with the Dutch tapes. We were disappointed about the lack of these in the last DLC in which she was featured, so it’s great to finally see them arrive for us to hear what she’s been up to since the events of 2010’s Predators.
Another significant part of the update is the addition of Fireteam bots, which you’ll be able to take over should you be killed. We’re quite curious on how this will affect the dynamics of the game.
This month’s Free Update brings the NRV-E (Unlock at Level 100) to all players. In addition, we are expanding the lore of the universe again with additional tapes. Have you wondered what Isabelle has been up to, where she has been, or how she got back to earth? There are now four level unlocked tapes featuring Isabelle telling her story (Unlocks at 1, 10, 20, 40). The community has been asking and we have been hard at work on it, we are so excited to bring friendly Fireteam Bots to the jungle. These Fireteam Bot members will fight alongside you in the jungle. They’ll also play a support role throwing ammo and health packs when you’re low; They’ll revive you if you’re downed; and if you are killed you can take over an Bot with your loadout. Now you never have to enter the jungle alone!
Here are the full update notes per Illfonic’s post in their forum:
Paid DLC
- New playable Predator – Cleopatra
- Early Access to the new Predator weapon Skin – Ancient Disc
Free Update
- Fireteam bots are now available in Hunt!
- Support role throwing ammo and health packs.
- Revive downed players
- Players have the ability to take over Fireteam bots if killed.
- New Collectibles – Isabelle Tapes (Unlock at level 1, 10, 20, 40)
- NRV-E (Sniper Rifle) is now available at Level 100
- Added Armor Skins for level 100 / 150 for the Elder Predator, Jungle Hunter 87 and Alpha Predator
- Added PS and Epic exclusive tints for Valkyrie
General
- Fixed an exploit spot on Headquarters map.
- Fixed several collision issues in the Headquarter map.
- Updated audio for the Headquarters map.
- Fixed cosmetics not displaying correctly when being granted from a field locker.
- Guerrilla Mercenaries will now use Flashbang grenades.
- Several cosmetics issues have been fixed.
Clash
- Fixed a stamina issue for Host on private Clash matches.
- Fixed floating spawns and added additional respawn points in Headquarters clash map.
- Fixed missing audio for the Airstrip map.
Fireteam
- General
- Fixed an issue where Fireteam members continue to go through the muddy up animation even after cancelling the interaction
- Fixed an issue where Isabelle head would not appear incorrectly in big head mode.
- Fixed an issue with Comms specialization not behaving as intended.
Predator
- General
- Fixed an issue with the Requiem and Paroxysm armor styles for the Hunter Predator that caused the armor styles to be level locked instead of purchasable.
It seems as though we’ll be having even more to look forward to, possibly beyond the current roadmap ending in October, as the blog ends with…
We have heard the requests for more Yautja and modes, and while we can’t share any details yet – be sure to keep an eye on our social media handles and forums! We have more in store in the months ahead and we cannot wait to share more information with you.
The current roadmap, with the next major update coming in October.
We’re already wondering who the next Predator we’ll be seeing in October will be, and it’s great to see the acknowledgement of players’ desire for new modes. For now, we’ll see you in the Hunting Grounds!
Be sure to keep your targets set on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for all the latest Predator: Hunting Grounds news! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. Be sure to join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums as well!
One Player as the Predator
- versus-
One Player as the Fireteam (player and 3 bots with pretty good aim).
So they haven't developed a single player model yet... but it's a step in the right direction.
Bots fill in if somebody drops (at least from my experience) and in Hunt mode only need two players for full match as opposed to 5. They do not move independently of the player as the rely on you for knowing where to go but can maneuver the map easy,
It's currently free from what I hear on PS+ so now is as good as time as any,
Yes, the disk is considered to be the best Predator right now. Stalker + downrange will allow you to do 155 damage with it, which can one shot many ft classes, then if you can turn it around fast the double hit is an insta down to anyone then 2 more hits while the fireteam is down and he is dead, and you don't even need to expose yourself to them. Its low risk high reward. On pubs matches vs randoms you can take them all out without getting shot once due to it.
Regarding the bots, I have never not had a Fireteam fill up, so I couldn't experience the bots or their behavior last night unfortunately. At some point I'll have to set a private match with one other person so I can give the bots a go and see how they measure up. I've read they're pretty decent shots.
Got to disagree. I've used Smart Discs often now ever since they equipped Predators with 3 at a time. Those babies are deadly once you get good with them.
Yeah, agreed. One dumb turd in a box full of gold nuggets.
It's situational. If Hicks is playing as a Predator and walks up to a full Fireteam huddled together not doing anything and they all have a clear shot on you, AI or Humans, once they start firing they'll turn a Predator into mince meat in two seconds flat.
And here I was about to make a purchase. So the bots are just too damn strong? Maybe they'll adjust them in a patch or something.
Fireteam gets all the candy, damm this blows. Problem is not only can Fireteam revive twice but that now you can choose your build before you go in so that leaves the unfair advantage of choosing the right build to counter the Predator's playstyle.
Once again it's the same Illfonic face and body. Likely this is for animation purposes but she looks like everyone else.
I also have to raise a brow given she came with a smart disk. Her most notable weapon is the netgun given she attacked Dutch with that. This is the ideal time to introduce a wrist mounted netgun as a gear item or a variant for the netgun and yet she got a disk. Not that it's bad but it's odd that she got a disk given the netgun was the whole reason she beat Dutch. I can't even recall if this was mentioned in the logs. You also have a scenario where there's no holster for it. Sure Viking, Valkyrie, and Samurai don't either for the respective weapons but weird how they drew attention to this and yet she doesn't even sheath it. I'm not even sure why she got a disk either. The disk did gain new life with the specializations but you'd still be hard pressed to use it given how much better other weapons and tactics can be,
The Isabelle tapes insinuate something..., odd. Essentially that the Predators know how to genetically engineer organisms and alter themselves. They can develop nanotechnology and pilot spacecraft even creating and commonly utilizing a wrist mounted nuclear device, but can't figure out how to fix a broken piece of equipment? The Hell? It's not wrong to suggest they got the basis for the technology from somewhere else but you mean to tell me that they have no idea how to repair anything? How did they build the armor for Royce then? The irony of this is that the Emissary Predator are meant to be the scientists and this was specifically a plot point in the last film that they do have the technical know how and that's a scary prospect when they decide to cut the shit and make a monster. They're not all hunters. Just weird that this was something Illfonic led with and continues to signal to me they need a look over of shit they write.
I do however like the idea of Royce going rogue and wanting to see what's up. I think that can make for a great story and I'd love to see him become playable as a Predator and see how messed up shit can get. Not that he's an honorable killer but he ends up like Edwin with a nuclear arsenal. That's cool and I wish we got to see that.
Gonna check out the bots.
Yup. That's it.
So you need two players at this point? 1 Human vs 1 Predator and you keep replacing a bot until all of you are dead?
Hopefully bots do die before you...
Well you can't hunt the AI as a Predator. They just stay at spawn, and they are really strong. Slashed at them, was downed in 2 seconds.
Interesting. Hopefully Illfonic will keep tweaking the Fireteam AI where needed as updates roll out, but it's definitely a step in the right direction!
That's really lame. I hope it's fixed soon.
It's not the Jungle Hunter silly. It's the classic crucified Predator.
In all seriousness though, for some reason, I'm not taking the silhouette source literally this time around, other than as a generic placeholder. Hmm, I guess we'll see.
I also just read the Playstation blog article that's been posted - the one Illfonic tweeted to 'read to the end' - and judging by the silhouette for the next paid DLC, it looks like they might be making it Jungle Hunter.
I'm kinda of two minds about that. On the one hand the selfish part of me likes that he's exclusive to those of us who pre-ordered. Not to mention if that's true then it'll essentially mean no DLC that month for the people who've already got him, meaning it'd be a four month wait to see what the next one might be.
On the other hand I guess it'd be good for those who weren't able to get him. And the people who've been bitching about it on the Illfonic forums for the last year and a half. But honestly I hope it's just a placeholder for a different Predator (Mr Black or Wolf, please!).
Hopefulky a single-player game with a decent background history.
And yeah, the addition of bots is definitely good for the longevity of the game. Hopefully that means we might be one step closer to a single-player Predator mode too!
I knew you'd be the first one to respond, Voodoo! I just played a couple of solo private matches with the bots, and it's a mixed bag. They're pretty decent in a firefight, and will follow your lead when it comes to mudding up etc. However the pathfinding isn't great, which often results in one or more of them getting stuck somewhere across the map (so far it's always Delta). I wish you could give them waypoint and standing position orders using the spotting function, but so far it doesn't seem to do anything.
Haven't been able to check out Cleo properly yet, as my DLC is failing to register so far. I'm off to bed anyway, so hopefully it'll be sorted out by the time I wake up tomorrow.
Fireteam bots is a great announcement to me if they're decent. Now... when I have a few friends that only make up a party of 3 or 4 people, we can still private match it and take turns playing as the Predator!
And Illfonic working on Fireteam AI can only help down the road with the longevity of the game on the sad day (hopefully years away) when support ends and servers disappear. Maybe this is one step closer to a lone-wolf mode too!
And this is a great feature:
"Players have the ability to take over Fireteam bots if killed."
And Izzy lore tapes! WOOT! Maybe we'll finally find out what happened to Royce!