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:
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Aiming is impossible in this state. Spread is increased x5, recoil is tripled and reload time is doubled in this state.
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:
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.
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 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.
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.
Watch your HP. The First Aid Kit can prove a better option against Lumen than the Stimulant.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Healing Touch — Revived allies recover 15/25/35 HP.
A great skill for any Medic, Support Kit, Support Almaz and Marksman Bell.
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.
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.
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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