EA provides a nice, albeit small, surprise. As announced, DICE released the short film Exodus on August 12th. This is to illustrate how the world of Battlefield 2042 works. In truth, the seven-minute long strip had another purpose: The fifth specialist has been revealed. And this is by no means a stranger!
If you want to watch the short film first – you can find it right here:
Link to YouTube content
This is the 5th Specialist in Battlefield 2042
As a reminder: Specialists are the new classes of Battlefield 2042. More precisely, they are subclasses that each belong to one of the four well-known classes. If you want to know exactly how the class system of Battlefield 2042 works, then take a look at our info article:
more on the subject
The BF 2042 specialist system explained
Overall, players should be able to choose from ten specialists for the release. The first four have already been revealed. The fifth is Kimble “Irish” Graves.
Who is Irish and what defines him?
Unlike the previous specialists, Irish is not a completely unknown face. The veteran already played an important role in the Battlefield 4 campaign. This also confirms that 2042 will in some ways build on Battlefield 4. Even if there won’t be a single player campaign in the classic sense.
In Battlefield 4, Graves was a US Marine and fought on our side as a member of the Tombstone Squad. So if you liked the BF 4 campaign, you’ll be happy to see Irish back. In Battlefield 2042, Irish has visibly aged and is no longer part of the US Army. Like all specialists, Irish is a no-pat, a mercenary with no nationality.
But even among the no-pats there are some. Irish is keen to protect his family and advocates for homeless refugees. However, he often clashes with another no-pat leader named Oz, who welcomes the war. This tension is one of the driving forces behind the story of 2042, which is told via live service events.
What can Irish as a specialist in BF2042 do?
The special thing about all Specialists are their unique gadgets. While weapons or grenades are completely free to choose, every specialist has two special items in their pockets. So also Irish: The American-born veteran belongs to Upper class of engineers. So those who rely on technological bells and whistles. Irish has two of these gadgets:
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DCS Deployable cover
This is a sign that Irish can place anywhere on the floor. The device then unfolds automatically and protects Irish and all of his colleagues from approaching bullets. Cover remains in place until your health is completely depleted. In addition, the cover has bulletproof bulletproof glass so that allies can easily see through even when they are under cover. Irish can deploy multiple shields at the same time. -
APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel
A shield works well against fire, but grenades or missiles fly over it without any problems. That’s why Irish has another special feature in its luggage: The APS-36 is the perfect gadget to neutralize explosive projectiles. Grenades are repelled behind cover. Missiles near a vehicle. However, the tool can be turned off using EMP attacks.
In addition to its gadgets, Irish also has the passive veteran ability. This means that the soldier spawns with a low armor value each round. This value can be topped up further as Irish picks up ammo packs from fallen enemies.
What Irish tells us about BF2042
On paper, Kimble Graves’ abilities sound relatively unspectacular. At least when we think of the fact that McKay has a grappling hook, for example, and Maria Falck has a healing syringe gun. But if you look closer, Irish is a very exciting specialist.
The specialist specializes in protecting his teammates. That could suggest that team play in Battlefield 2042 will be even more important than in previous parts. Irish, for example, is very capable of working with other specialists and protecting them from harm.
Irish is also the first character to be very closely associated with the Battlefield 2042 narrative. The developers have already spoken of the fact that ultimately all specialists should tell special stories and that there can be tensions between them. But it remains to be seen whether this connection to the overarching story is conveyed really well in the multiplayer games.
Incidentally, the fact that Battlefield 2042 doesn’t offer a campaign doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Our shooter expert Phil sees this as one of the reasons why Battlefield could regain its former strength.
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