Rogue Company’s ‘Arctic Shield’ Update Brings New Map And Rogue

Hirez Studios third-person competitive shooter Rogue Company released a new update yesterday, Arctic Shield. The update brought with it a slew of significant balance changes and additions to the game, including a new map and playable Rogue.

All adjustments and new content were tested previously on the Public Test Server prior to being released. Also included in the patch are the holiday event, a new solo practice mode named “Strikeout”, and the long awaited spectator mode.

New map “Glacier” places players on a hijacked cable-laying ship currently traveling through arctic waters. The goal of each team is to reclaim the vessel while taking out opposing players in the process.

There will be plenty of close quarter combat opportunities on the tightly packed boat, as well as various routes for strategic flanking. Players should be capable of fast rotations and repositioning on the map thanks to its density.

This particular ship possesses a lot of verticality, creating high-ground positions which should also lend to varying strategies. The ship is split into three sections, with the main deck being the core of it. However, there are also vertical possibilities reaching above the main deck, whereas below-deck is also accessible and rather large.

Glacier is available in both casual and competitive modes.

Sigrid is Rogue Company’s newest playable Rogue and joins Gl1tch and Dima as the only other breachers in the game. She specializes in short-range tactics, preferring weapons like a D40-C SMG and S12 Tactical Shotgun. She’s most optimal when used aggressively, sporting an Adrenaline Shot, which grants an instant heal, increased health regeneration, and provides an immediate speed boost for a short duration. 

The Warrant, Sigrid’s secondary firearm, holds its own among all other secondaries in the game. It provides a high rate of semi-automatic power that should work very well until a primary is unlocked. Another one of her gadgets is the Semtex Grenade, which can be attached to either walls or opposing players. When placed well, this gadget can be incredibly deadly.

All of this is great so far, but what really sets her apart from the pack is a deployable Ballistic Shield. This shield will block all damage from the front and has a really short cooldown of 13 seconds unlike Anvil’s Barricade. Intelligent players will be able to use the short CD to their advantage, safely moving cover to cover when encroaching on enemy positions and choke points.

Top this off with her passive ability, Athletic, which allows for movement penalty-free crouching and immunity to slowing effects. Barbed wire and gas grenades will not deter this Rogue from creeping up on an enemy and getting the job done.

Frigid Haul is the new holiday event and features an assortment of festive unlockable goodies for the season. Sprays, borders, avatars, weapon skins, and two festive skins for Ronin and Talon are all available during the event and can be earned simply through playing the game.

The introduced Spectator Mode, is similar to most spectator modes in other games where you can swap between and spectate players from different perspectives. Only two slots for spectators will be allowed per custom match, so don’t expect to invite a party. The mode seems like more of a bid to increase esport potential for the game than anything else, which could be a good thing for its future. Regardless of its limitations, it should aid in creating more interactive tournaments where hosts and commentators can follow the action on a play by play basis. We could see additional tools to increase production value, in time (we hope!!).

Strikeout is just a practice mode where players can work on their aim versus non-player characters, or bots. It should also help familiarize the players with the Strikeout maps, allowing for strategy testing to take class under less hectic circumstances.

An abundance of balance changes have been made for various Rogues. Dima, Fixer, and Phantom being the most targeted. To get the full scope of these changes, you can check out the official patch notes for Rogue Company’s Arctic Shield update.