PlanetSide 2's latest update lets you shoot space pumpkins

PlanetSide 2 is getting a patch today that overhauls the Directive system, fixes bugs, and more importantly, lets you shoot space pumpkins for in-game rewards.

The developer posted the the patch notes on the official forums. "It’s simple, really. Find a Space Pumpkin, destroy it, and bring the seeds (SPS) to a designated SPS-drop off zone, and you’ll get a reward!," the developer wrote.

Hunting space pumpkins nets you their seeds, which you can later use to purchase masks for your character. Some of the masks you'll be able to acquire are listed below.

• Azure Inferno Skull (NC Only)
• Crimson Inferno Skull (TR Only)
• Violet Inferno Skull (VS Only)
• Skull Noir (NS)
• Inferno Skull (NS)
• Spectrum Skull (NS)
• Ichabod Crown (VS/NC/TR)
• Frankenstein Facepaint (NS)
• Jester Facepaint (NS)
• Skull Facepaint (NS)
• Augmented Brain Chassis (NS)

New Alert type - Pumpkin Hunt

• Space Pumpkins will only spawn during the alert
• The empire that has the destroyed the most pumpkins at the end of the alert locks the continent
• The alert duration is 1 hour and triggers at random intervals throughout the day
• Territory Control alerts have been temporarily disabled
• Watch out for strange new properties in sticky grenades and mines.
• Some outposts have been frightened into adopting new names.
• The NS CandyCannon 3000, The Slasher, and brand new horns are available for purchase
• Complete the Halloween 2014 directives to unlock special rewards.

In addition, Directives are getting a bunch of new improvements.

You can now track your objective progress on the HUD

• Click on any objective from the directive screens to add a progress tracker on your HUD
• The tracker is positioned on the left side on the HUD, directly above the mission UI
• Clicking a tracked objective either from the directive screen or from the HUD will untrack the objective
• Up to 6 objectives can be tracked at any one time
• Completed objectives will automatically be untracked

A summary screen has been added to the Directives UI that displays the following

• Overall Character Progress: Shows the directive points earned by your character and his progress towards completing all directives
• Recently Completed Objectives: Displays the last 6 objectives completed by your character
• Tracked/Recommended Objectives: This section displays a combination of your tracked and recommended objectives. If you’re tracking 6 objectives, all 6 tracked objectives will show up in this area. If you’re not tracking any objectives, all 6 objectives in this area will be recommended objectives

-Directive category progress bars have been added to the navigation buttons
-Tooltips have been added to each objective to provide more information
-New Leadership Directive Tree, Leadership directives are based on Leadership Ribbons and Squad Beacon spawns

New Events category & Halloween Tree

• The first of seasonal event directives has been added.
• This tree has lower requirements than other trees due to the limited time to complete the directives.
• This tree will be available through November 9th.

Objectives Tree

• Number of required deployed AMS kills has been reduced for all tiers.
• Objective Support Ribbons now award after 2 events (down from 5).
• Objective Support Ribbons no longer count Terminal destruction and now hacking terminals (not turrets) will give credit towards the ribbon.
• Point Control ribbons have been adjusted upwards but now count the new experience ticks and periodic guard xp awards for capture (see experience changes below).

The rest of the patch notes are too many to list, so if you're interested in reading the full changelog, which includes bug fixes, experience points adjustments , and more click this link.