Get tired of waiting for DLC to drop? Wish you could take control of when DLC drops? Well, you can't... but, with the new Arkbreaker DLC, you can rip Arkfalls down from the sky, rather than waiting around for them to fall of their own accord.

Arkbreaker DLC brings new weapons, much needed buffs, and gets you access to Volge technologies, along with the ability to pull Arks down from the sky. There's some things that are available to everyone as of the release of the DLC, but there are, of course, some things that are only available to DLC Purchasers.

If you have a season pass, you've already got the Arkbreaker content fully available to you. If you haven't purchased a season pass or the Arkbreaker DLC, you will still get some benefits from its release. This DLC introduces Stims and Spikes, two new types of consumable buffs. Stims are a personal item that you shoot into your neck to gain their effects, either healing buffs, strength buffs, speed buffs or EGO power refreshes. Spikes, on the other hand, are deployed in a location and then have a circular area of effect; if you or any other friendlies are within the area of effect, they, too, benefit from the effect, which can be Ammo, Damage Increase or Protection. Even if you don't have the full DLC, these Stims and Spikes are now available from the merchants and as drops.

In addition to the Stims and Spikes, there are a variety of new weapons, such as cold fire sniper rifles, pistols and assault rifles (in player-summoned Arkfalls) and twenty new advanced-tech versions of existing weapons in the game.

One simple mechanic that is a nice addition and is available to everyone as of the release of this DLC is the ability to mark weapons as Favorites in your inventory. Favorites get sorted above everything else when you sort your inventory, allowing you to quickly spot favorites or quickly scan through new, not-yet Favorited items to determine whether you want to keep new pickups or break them down for materials. One advantage to having something marked as a Favorite is that you can't accidentally break it down for materials. If you decide to get rid of something, you have to make sure it's not equipped and not a Favorite before you can do so.

Another nice tweak that came with this release is that the Company Contracts now show up on the Map. This makes it really easy to determine at a glance where you need to be to earn some rep with a given Faction. The emblem on the map will also indicate how much time is remaining (percentage-wise) if it's an event that's ongoing, so you can prioritize your efforts and either jump in where you're needed at the moment or avoid showing up at the party more than fashionably late.

If you pay for full access to the Arkbreaker content, you don't just get to participate in Arkfalls that have been brought down by force, you get to bring them down yourself. In addition to how cool that sounds, there are a few missions to go through to get this new, cool ability.

Arkbreaker Stash - A Random Weapon, Grenade, Spike and a Stim - all of Blue Quality.

Volge Outfit pieces - Headgear and Outfit.

Volge Warmaster - New Mega-boss who's been in the works since 2011. Huge, strong, smarter, tactical and he escapes if you don't beat him in under seven minutes... all inside a Major Arkfall. Up to 20 can go up against him, but you'll wish it was more. We beat him on my first encounter, but there were easily twenty of us... and we just barely scraped in under the seven minutes.

Arkbreaker Spike Batteries - Your Daily and Weekly Log-In Bonuses will include an Arkbreaker Spike Battery, to get you going bringing your own Arkfalls down.

Ability to Use New Weapons - All players can loot them and sell them or break them down, but you can't actually use the new Cold Fire Pistols, Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles found in the Arkbreaker Arkfalls unless you actually purchase the DLC.

Missions

• Main Missions
  • New Technology: Using stolen Volge Technology, some duct tape and a coconut, we're going to pull Arks from the heavens... If we build it, they will fall.
  • Dark Crystals: Now that you've got the Arkbreaker spike built, you'll need a way to power it.
  • In Enemy Territory: Get the last needed item from Dark Matter
  • Nowhere To Go But Up: Now that you've assembled and powered the Arkbreaker, you'll need to get to the tip top of the Golden Gate bridge to boost the signal enough to reach out and rip Arks from the sky.
• Side Missions
  • Combat Tech Part 1
  • Combat Tech Part 2

While the Arkbreaker DLC doesn't introduce a new playable race, it does show us more of the Volge, not the least of which being the new Warmaster boss in the Major Arkfalls. You also get access to some of their weaponry and some of their outfit pieces.

The Stims and Spikes provide much needed buffs to Defiance, giving you that second chance when your health nears its limit. This, alone, improves the playability / fun factor of Defiance, even though this is available to all players.

Bottom line is, if you have the season pass, you need to get in here. If you don't, the Stims and Spikes will still give you enough reason to pick Defiance up again. If you find yourself with a nice weapon in your inventory and you'd rather use it than sell it or break it down, then maybe buy the DLC. I suggest the season pass, to get access to a whole season of DLC at a reduced price.