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British SAS Collection

With the release of the 0.22.1 update, a second British unit, SAS (Special Air Service) will be added to Caliber. These new operators were based on fighters who served in the then-obscure unit back in 1980.

Today, we will share a quick history lesson on the inspiration for our new operators, and tell you about the features that these new characters have.

Article structure:

  • Context
  • Collection: SAS
  • Collection Special Trait
  • Assault Lumen
  • Support Tower
  • Medic Spark
  • Marksman Bell

CONTEXT

Late April, 1980. A group of armed individuals seize the Iranian Embassy in London, taking 26 people as hostages. The terrorists’ demands are the release of 91 prisoners from Iranian prisons, and the declaration of an independent Arabistan Republic. The terrorists threaten to blow up the building if their demands are not met.

A unit from the 22 SAS Regiment arrived on the spot. Their equipment was rather uncommon for the time: gas-mask helmets, fire-resistant overalls, convenient Individual Integrated Fighting Systems gear, special grenades and short-barreled HK MP5 submachine guns fitted with bright LED flashlights — perfect for urban conditions.

While police are negotiating with the terrorists, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decides to begin preparations to storm the building and create a plan to free the hostages. The operation was named "Nimrod".

Operation Nimrod was a large-scale enterprise. Specialists bugged the entire building to monitor the movements of the terrorists and hostages. Dozens of observers watched the windows. Adjacent doors and partitions were prepared for breaching by the action group. Heathrow Airport was used to mask the noise: dispatchers led incoming aircraft on flatter landing curves, so the sounds of the jet engines would drown out the noise of the construction.

During this time, the Special Project Unit was training around the clock in an exact copy of the Iranian Embassy, built on short notice by military engineers. To accomplish this, they had to get copies of the building’s blueprint, as well as find civilian employees of the embassy, since the building had been renovated several times and its layout changed.

On May 5, after the terrorists execute a hostage, Margaret Thatcher gives the order.

The detonation of breaching charges caused small fires to break out. Here, the fire-resistant overalls proved their usefulness, allowing easy movement through the burning debris, while the gas masks protected operatives from ash and smoke. The embassy was freed in 17 minutes.

The operation resulted in one hostage casualty and five out of six terrorists eliminated. The last was identified and arrested.

The raid and its aftermath were broadcasted live by the BBC. Millions of viewers across the globe watched the Special Air Service in action.

The well-coordinated actions of the British SAS and their high-end equipment impressed the entire world. After these events, many countries began developing police rapid response units and special state security forces of their own.

Another source of inspiration was the film "6 days" (2017), based on the events of the siege.

SAS COLLECTION

SAS collection operators use weapons and equipment of the 80s. They also have gas protection, just like their real-life counterparts.

They are best suited for storming and controlling enemies.

At launch, they will have the most varied upgrades in the game, even including Combat Reserves upgrades, which either improve their effectiveness or speed up their usage time.

The Assault blinds his enemies with his flashlight and stun grenades, the Medic can heal several targets in a chain, the Marksman impedes enemies’ use of interactive objects, and the Support heals his allies and strengthens destructible covers.

COLLECTION SPECIAL TRAIT

Starting at Level 6, each SAS operator can fire their secondary weapon while incapacitated.

Press the [E] key while the operator can still move to draw their weapon. It will be impossible to do so after the movement time ends.

MOVEMENT TIME

These operators’ basic movement time while incapacitated is lower than others — 10 seconds. You can extend this time by 15 seconds by drawing their weapons, but they will be slowed down.

FIRING TIME

Their firing time is 15 seconds. It is possible to prolong the effect by using Brazilian Medic Açaí’s Pneumatic Ampoule Launcher and British Marksman Bell’s On the Ground! abilities.

FIRING FEATURES

Aiming is impossible in this state. Spread is increased x5, recoil is tripled and reload time is doubled in this state.

INCOMING DAMAGE PENALTY

With great power comes great responsibility. You can be eliminated a second time during your assault — by just 1 HP damage.

You will also be penalized until you respawn or a new round starts:

  • Revival time will be increased by 10 seconds.
  • Max HP will be decreased by 10 points.
  • The Debilitated effect.
Debilitated is a new effect that prevents incapacitated movement time from being prolonged.

To draw or not to draw your weapon is up to you. Use this ability wisely.

HOW TO COUNTER

Try to closely monitor incapacitated SAS operators. Keep your eyes on them until you know they’re not getting up.

If you decide to execute them, firing an extra shot while approaching is often a good idea.

Use characters that can prevent incapacitated movement, such as Corsair, Sultan, Avalanche, Caçador and Spark.

Assault Lumen

BIOGRAPHY
 
Mark "Lumen" Hill, 30 years old.

Born in Sheffield, England. Father is a master electrician. Mark did poorly in school, preferring to help his father at work, play football and get into fights instead. He was kicked from his local team for excessive aggression towards other players, despite his obvious potential. He failed at following in his father’s footsteps as well, having little patience for instruction manuals and safety precautions. He ended up setting an unfinished building on fire after trying to "crank the output a bit".

He enlisted in the army, starting in the paratroop regiment, then heeded the advice of one of his officers and got into the SAS on his second try.

Hill genuinely considers himself to be a team player, but his comrades think of him as more of a loose cannon. They get on by making sure to point him in the direction of the enemy. In any unclear situation, Hill will rush headlong into battle all by himself, even if the enemy has a clear advantage. Mark’s football skills often come in handy, he moves quickly in close quarters, confusing the enemy and not letting them take aim. He also enjoys tinkering with machinery, in the hope of making upgrades. Sometimes his experiments end up in a broken device and docked pay, but the elongated magazine and extra-bright flashlight on his weapon turned out great.

FEATURES

Assault Lumen is most useful in close quarters. His ability and grenades blind his enemies and make sitting ducks out of them.

Bots can also be blinded, which will lower their accuracy (similar to the Suppressed effect).

The Blinded effect is technically tied to the Stunned effect. All characters and skills that currently possess or grant immunity or resistance to the Stunned effect will also work for the Blinded effect.

Starting at Level 3, Lumen will be granted full immunity to the Poisoned and Stunned effects.

At level 14, both upgrades will provide a buff to Lumen if there is an enemy with less than full HP nearby.

Upgrade #14-1 "Special trait: the operator gains the Haste effect if there is an enemy with HP below 35% within a 15-meter radius":

Upgrade #14-2 "Special trait: an enemy with HP below 35% within a 15-meter radius is inflicted with the Marked effect for 1.5 sec every 5 sec.":

We have mounted the flashlight to the bottom of Lumen’s weapon so as to not prevent players from installing scopes. The real-life inspirations had both mounting versions.

HOW TO COUNTER

Blinded is a new in-game effect that decreases visibility.

To defend yourself from the Blinded effect, try to choose skills and operators that grant immunity or resistance to the Stunned effect. And a simple, yet effective piece of advice: try not to look directly at the light.

  • Skills: R&R and Stay Frosty.
  • Operators: Kit, Avant-garde, Aphela, Volk and Barreira (can grant temporary immunity to the entire team using upgrade #4-1).

Watch your HP. The First Aid Kit can prove a better option against Lumen than the Stimulant.

PERSONAL SKILL

Shieldbreaker — Damage dealt to Shielded enemies is increased by 20%/25%/30%. Damage is increased only in relation to shield HP.

Choose this skill before the battle if the enemy team has an operator capable of shielding their allies. This skill can also prove useful in the quick eliminations of bots in Threshold mode.

SUPPORT TOWER

BIOGRAPHY
 
Alan "Tower" McKinnon, 29 years old.

Born in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Father was a sales agent for the "clan" liquor, Drambuie, and often took Alan with him on his travels. The young Scotsman loved to travel, but it turned out that his skill with the bagpipes and being able to lift a sheep overhead with his bare hands provided little in the way of employment opportunities. He attempted to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was rejected on the grounds that they "simply couldn’t understand his accent".

After enlisting in the army, McKinnon started out as a "Sapper", but quickly found that the Royal Engineers rarely travel abroad and almost never blow things up. The very thought of building ugly bridges and roads disgusted the young artist. He soon found his place in the SAS, being able to carry a machine gun, ammo, explosives, additional armor plates for his ballistic vest and a bulky flask with something very Scottish inside. Enjoys when "everything’s all burning and blowing up".

His closest friend is Laumer, who is the only one who can stomach both his bagpipes performance and his endless tales of sheep. To pay him back, Alan assists Laumer in his treatment training and sometimes even agrees to test his latest batch of concoctions.

FEATURES

Tower is the first Support in the game that can heal his allies.

Use his Guardian Angel ability on an ally to apply the Shielded effect to them. As soon as the ability ends, the shield will disappear and HP regeneration will begin.

If an enemy manages to break the shield before it runs out, it won’t heal the ally. Instead, it will inflict the EMP and Confused effects and deal up to 40 damage to all enemies in a 10-meter radius.

We suggest using this ability primarily against those operators who prefer close-quarters combat.

Tower’s secondary weapon is the compact MP5K submachine gun, which makes him the best sharpshooter while incapacitated.

At Level 10, Tower can strengthen any low, destructible cover on which he places his bipod. If the operator changes his weapon, crouches or walks away, the cover effect will disappear after three seconds. This time allows you to safely reload your weapon.

Upgrade #10: "Special trait: Using a bipod on a destructible object increases its durability by 300%." The upgrade can be improved at max level, making the bonus twice as big and granting partial armor restoration while hiding behind a cover. Pairs well with the Regenerative Materials skill to restore two armor plates at once.

These upgrades will make all covers sturdy for you.

The ARWEN-37 special gear pierces cover with its projectiles. If the special gear hits an enemy, it will deal damage and inflict the Suppressed and Concussed effects on them for 3 seconds.

Concussed is a new negative effect. The operator’s vision is impeded, their screen is darkened.

HOW TO COUNTER

Choose operators that have an advantage against shielded operators. Such operators include Corsair, Sultan and Barreira.

Operators who can pierce covers can also be effective — such as Komar, Cánglóng, Barreira and Avalanche.

PERSONAL SKILL

Extra Layer — If the operator uses an Armor Plate while their armor is full, they gain an additional 20 AP. Activation time is increased by 1 sec. The reserve recovery time is increased by 20/15/10 sec.

Use this skill if you feel like you don’t have enough armor.

MEDIC SPARK

BIOGRAPHY
 
Anthony "Spark" Laumer, 33 years old.

Born in Norfolk, England. Father was a small-fry landowner and avid hunter, especially passionate about the archaic tradition of horseback fox hunting, a pack of dogs at his heel. However, he was quite inept at managing his finances, living well beyond his means. When Anthony was a freshman at veterinary college, Laumer Sr. took his own life, leaving a slew of debts for his son to deal with. The bank took away the family home, which was mortgaged several times. Anthony spent a year in the intensive care unit and developed a cynical attitude to life. He’s often heard saying there’s "nothing like a good shock to wake the dead". He enlisted in the army to escape his painful memories.

Starting in an infantry unit, he moved to the SAS in the hope that his skills as a hunter and a doctor would be more useful there.

Spark rescued several foxhounds from the family house before it was sold, and keeps them at a retired friend’s house in Herefordshire. He spends his free time walking them around Credenhill. He kept hold of a defibrillator from his time at the intensive care unit.

Anthony also loves to mix his own medicine, creating various homemade stimulants and handing them to his colleagues, swearing that there’ll be no side effects "this time, Scout’ honor!" He’s usually lying, but when one shot can bring you back from the brink of death, an upset stomach is a small price to pay.

FEATURES

Medic Spark is armed with a MAC-10 submachine gun. With linear upgrade #10, "Bolt carrier group modification", you can crank his rate of fire up to 18 shots per second, giving this weapon the highest rate of fire in the game.

The high rate of fire has to be offset with lowered accuracy and faster ammo depletion, so try to use this fighter at close distances. At Level 6, the suppressor will decrease recoil by 33% and spread by 50%.

If you want to make firing easier, then simply activate the bolt carrier group modification — it will feel very similar to an ordinary Medic.

Spark uses a new type of healing — chain healing!

After activating the Chain Healing ability, the operator recovers their own HP and launches a projectile. If there is an ally or an enemy within range, the projectile bounces to the nearest target. Does not bounce to the same target twice.

If there are no targets nearby, press and hold down the ability activation key to heal the operator.

If the projectile hits an enemy, it inflicts the EMP and Confused effects. It will also deal 30 damage if upgrades #7-1, #8-2 and #14-2 are chosen.

The Defibrillator can be used on allies and enemies alike.

Hold down the left mouse button to charge the device. Discharge the device at your target as soon as you hear the signal.

Use this ability on an ally to instantly revive them. It will work even if the target is affected by negative effects that increase revival time.

The operator will be revived with 80 HP.

Use this ability on an enemy to deal up to 160 damage, inflict the Stunned effect and increase their incoming damage.

The Defibrillator can be used without charging, but it will not inflict the Stunned effect or increase incoming damage. It will revive an ally, but it will not grant additional HP.

The special gear is restored after each revival and at the start of each round.

HOW TO COUNTER

Spark prefers close-quarters combat and tries to approach targets to activate his ability, use his special gear and open fire.

Pick operators that can prevent healing or those that are effective at close range, such as Corsair, Sultan, Diablo, Fortress, Avant-garde and Açaí.

PERSONAL SKILL

Healing Touch — Revived allies recover 15/25/35 HP.

A great skill for any Medic, Support Kit, Support Almaz and Marksman Bell.

MARKSMAN BELL

BIOGRAPHY
 
Reginald "Bell" Foster, 32 years old.

Born in Surrey, England. The second son of a priest, he took part in the church choir, where many of his mentors noted his impressive vocal range, advising him to continue his career as a chorister, or even to try getting into the Royal College of Music.

When he was young, he was invited to the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, where he took up long-range shooting. He couldn’t have fallen into such a "gentleman’s sport" if not for the army shooting competitions held at the Bisley Camp. The marksmen there would often allow bright young men to not only "have a go, just this once", but would also tell them that the rifle and ammo are free if you get into the Army. Foster got his start in the Royal Regiment of Green Jackets and served in Northern Ireland and West Germany. He decided to join the SAS because "they pay you a lot more for doing the same, and it’s more engaging".

He started his personal tally in Ireland, killing two armed IRA fighters, and got involved with secret MI6 missions several times. His comrades would joke that he had a "license to kill", just like James Bond. He’s an O negative blood type, which makes him a universal donor. Thanks to this, he once saved several wounded comrades by setting up a blood transfusion post in the field.

Reginald mostly stays silent, but can snap with such force his allies compare it to a grenade going off. The team’s medic thinks that, thanks to his well-trained vocal cords, his signature battle cry can reach even the infrasound range.

FEATURES

Marksman Bell is armed with a SIG550 rifle. He is the first Marksman in the game who can shoot in both autofire mode and 3-round bursts. The latter increases stability, and hitting a target with all three shots slows them down by 10%.

Autofire makes it harder to control the weapon’s accuracy, but the potential damage per second will be higher. The recoil from the first bullet is rather low, so you can try and master single-shot shooting.

You can switch between firing modes in the linear upgrades tab on the operator page, or during the customization phase before a battle on the right panel at the top of the screen.

His special gear is a Welrod that uses marker bullets. Upon hitting an enemy, the marker is attached to them and applies the Marked effect until it is destroyed or removed by an ally. It also inflicts the Marked effect on enemies in the area of effect.

An enemy operator can remove the marker from their ally without any consequences. However, consequences will follow if they try to remove it from an interactive object.

If an enemy tries to hit the marker or interact with it, the marker blows up, inflicting damage and the Burning effect in the area of effect.

You can plant it on any interactive object that enemies may use intel, hacking devices, terminals, ammo boxes and so on.

You can also use the marker to destroy sturdy covers. Just hit a cover with the Welrod, then hit the marker itself with another weapon.

An upgrade at Level 15 can turn the Welrod into an ordinary contact grenade launcher.

You can strengthen your allies and weaken your enemies with the On the Ground! ability.

Press [Q] to inflict the EMP, Confused and Weak Grip effects on enemies in the area of effect. Enemy bots will receive the Suppressed effect.

Weak Grip is a new effect in the game. It increases recoil for primary and secondary weapons.

Hold down [Q] to apply the Haste and Inspired effects on allies in the ability’s area of effect.

Starting at Level 8, Bell can revive his allies even without Syringes, but sacrifice his own HP to do so.

Upgrade #8: "The operator spends 50% of their max HP for a revival." The HP cost can be lowered to 35% at Level 14.

Bell will not be able to revive an ally if it will take more HP than he currently has.

HOW TO COUNTER

Remove the markers from your allies, carefully inspect interactive objects and keep track of the effects that get inflicted on you. If you see a Marked effect, then it is quite possible that a marker is close by.

Remember that you can destroy markers by shooting at them.

A piece of advice: pick Rein. His ability eliminates all markers in the area.

PERSONAL SKILL

Zeroing — eliminating an enemy with a headshot applies the Focus and Haste effects on the operator (10/15/20% for 5 seconds).

This skill would suit Marksmen that use bolt action rifles well. It is best suited for PvE and PvPvE modes.

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