Planetside 2 releases massive balance update, further optimization

SOE has just released the PU02 patch for Planetside 2 which among other things; sees further optimization added, and over 10,000 words worth of balance updates spread across infantry and vehicles. The latest batch of performance improvements focuses on the client's memory use, physics calculations, and the UI.

While the previous patch added well over 20-30 FPS for some players, you'll probably see a smaller increase this time around. These changes are most pronounced on Esamir, where SOE spent a lot of time optimizing the cold continent by making changes to the number of unique objects, object count, and polygons per object. SOE says this will give players the same environment based performance increase they see on Indar, the MMOFPS's most popular continent.

However, Planetside 2's latest patch isn't all about the numbers. It seems as though SOE spent some of their time in Esamir building snowmen, which you can then blow up for an XP boost, which in turn means more numbers....hey wait a minute! A special rare golden snowman is also fabled to exist somewhere in the cold, granting its destroyer a "very exclusive reward".

If you've got half an hour to spare, be sure to check out the full list of changes here.