The seven-year-old Planetside 2 has gotten a new update called Escalation, which adds giant battleships to the game among other things.

That ship is called the Bastion Fleet Carrier, which looks a bit like a Star Destroyer merged with a Helicarrier (sans the rotors). It can be crafted by any Outfit (the name for Planetside 2‘s clans), but it’d require “significant Outfit coordination and investment to call in, and each Empire can only field one at any given time”.

The Bastion Fleet Carrier is armed with turrets and artillery systems, but also fulfils more tactical purposes by having a launch platform and being able to act as a spawn point for the whole Outfit. When deployed over contested territory, it also contributes to Empire Strength.

Bastions can carry up to 48 players at a time, with one seat for the Captain and another nine for the turrets. When seated, the Captain can use waypoints to direct the Bastion and order artillery barrages. Players who eject from the carrier will be placed in an Interceptor class fighter.

To take down one of these behemoths, you can target one of their eight weak points with anti-vehicle weapons. They can’t be repaired, but they have a “regenerating shield layer that comprises a quarter of their total health pool”. Bastions will self destruct if all the weak points are destroyed.

The update also adds War Assets to Planetside 2, which provide nifty assistance for Outfits. One of the assets is Steel Rain, which lets you “Deploy your entire squad in a coordinated drop pod assault anywhere on the map” and reminds me of a line from Dawn of War: Soulstorm (skip to 2:04 for the “Steel Rain” part). Another asset is called Citadel Shield, which covers the area with a “massive projectile-blocking bubble shield”.

Like Bastion Fleet Carriers, War Assets will have to be crafted. Outfit leaders can grant Asset crafting and deployment privileges to members.

The additions don’t end here, as the Escalation update also brings with it a neutral area called Sanctuary, a competitive zone to battle in, and more. You can read about the rest here.