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Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance
Asid:
Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance - Uprising | Dev Diary #1
Mon, 23 June 2025
With Lieutenant Church heading north in search of new recruits and allies for the growing Resistance, the task of holding the heartlands has fallen to you, the player, charged with managing our forces and standing firm against the relentless advance of Legion?s hordes.
And so, here we stand, preparing to face the challenge of our newest addition: Terminator: Dark Fate ? Defiance: Uprising!
The new Conquest Mode DLC is being released very soon, and so I thought it would be a good time to give a bit more detail on some of the new quality of life features that have been introduced.
Faction Icons
We released a screenshot of the world map last month. I wanted to show you the updated version with new faction icons now in each sector that they own. To be honest, this was due to a number of color blind people who noted they couldn?t tell the difference between some of the factions. I think you?d agree, the new faction icons make that much easier to see.
(Conquest Map showing new faction icons)
No Saves for a Rogue Like Experience
So, the team made the decision for the Uprising Conquest Mode to remove the Save Game function during most battles.
There are still some autosaves during a few ?critical? missions when objectives have been met, but these are slightly longer,harder missions. For most battles, there is no save, as battles should be somewhat shorter, with missions being won or lost in 15-20 minutes.
There will always be an autosave BEFORE the mission, which is made every time you press DEPLOY in the mission briefing screen.
However, as there are many elements that are RANDOM, when you re-load a mission from that save, you will likely get a different experience. Your spawn point(s) may be different, the enemy will attack from a different direction and encounters may be different. Even skipping a couple of days may mean that the mission will be somewhat different.
This has been designed to create the Rogue Like experience that the Conquest Mode gives you.
(Mission Briefing screen showing Deploy - and is that a new map!!)
Retreat
With the more Rogue Like game flow of the mode, we have provided a RETREAT option during battles which allows you to extract your troops immediately.
This allows you to sneak into sectors and ?steal? trophies and scavenge vehicles, without starting a large-scale battle. You can also help to weaken an enemy (if you can?t destroy it in one go), as all destroyed units will temporarily reduce your opponents strength (reserves). When attacking the sector again, the enemy will be weaker. And if that sector is cut off from its key point, then its ?strength? will not be replenished.
So, retreat becomes a very useful feature to sneak, and not be overwhelmed.
(Retreat option is found on the Menu. There is still honor in leaving, to fight another day)
Evacuation & Re-deployment
Throughout the missions in the Uprising Conquest Mode, the EXIT area is always available, allowing players to extract units from the mission battle, back to the Army Reserves screen.
This then allows you to re-supply, heal (if you have spare troops available), repair and refuel vehicles. It then allows you to re-deploy them if you have a slot remaining for that unit type.
One-Button Extraction
When you have gained a victory on the battle, when you have achieved the objective, whether that is domination, defended a point for a given amount of time, or depleted the opponents so they retreat, a VICTORY button appears, allowing for a quick extraction if you wish.
This finishes the map, and your units are returned to the Army Management screen.
So, you do not have to move all your units to the EXIT area to extract them.
You can use the VICTORY extraction whenever you like once the battle has completed, so you may want to spend some time scavenging for vehicles and weapons, get drivers into vehicles, picked up weapons, and then press VICTORY to extract with your new found loot.
I have found playing the Mode, that with Extraction abilities, you can use tank drivers and other specialised drivers to drive vehicles off the map, remove the driver out of the vehicle, and then re-deploy them without a vehicle, to search and drive other vehicles off the map.
Abandoned Vehicle Markers
Most maps will have abandoned vehicles, and as these are discovered, you are informed by an officer, and a marker is placed on the map. This is very useful when salvaging the battlefield after a fight.
(An abandoned vehicle marked on the map. An Integrators Plasma Howitzer!)
And Finally
There will be more information dropping about the Uprising Conquest mode before it is released, so please do watch out. And I am always available to answer your questions, when I can, on the official discord channel here.
And finally, I want to leave the last word to Major Stevens, who returns for the new Uprising Conquest Mode. Here is some dialogue of his straight from the game:
?The mission's in crisis in the heartlands. Legion, barbaric Marauders, Cartel gangs, those blasted machine cultist Integrators - friends are hard to come by, but we got a few left still. We'll need to rally with every last one of em, soldier, 'cos I ain't ready to say die to the machine. Not yet.?
So, good luck on the battlefield soldier, the Uprising is almost here!
Asid:
Uprising - Dev Diary #2
Tue, 8 July 2025
With the release of the new Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance: Uprising Conquest Mode DLC on the near horizon, we thought it would be a good time to journey back to the world of Terminator for more intel on what to expect.
Save Game System Update
In the last dev diary, we mentioned the team's decision to limit save functionality in Uprising to reinforce the roguelike feel. However, following player feedback, we've adjusted our approach.
New save options include:
- Quick Save Option: Can now be enabled via custom difficulty settings. It's off by default to preserve the roguelike experience, but available for those who prefer flexibility.
- Autosaves: Now trigger every 20 minutes during all missions (not just long or complex ones).
- Victory Saves: Completing a mission will now autosave, letting you exit and return later to collect trophies or salvage vehicles.
We hope these updates strike a better balance between challenge and player choice.
Following the Games Story
Although Uprising delivers a more open, roguelike experience, it still follows the storyline we began in the main game and continued with the We Are Legion DLC last year.
In this DLC, you take on the role of an officer tasked with helping build and sustain the rising Resistance, battling against the various factions entrenched in the heartlands of the United States.
Your commanding officer is a returning character - Major Stevens, last seen assisting Lt. Church in the final mission of the base game. From a former military base captured from the Marauders in Alabama, you'll manage and expand your army, fighting across multiple sectors to reclaim territory from Legion, the Marauders, and the Cartel. You'll also support your Movement allies and decide whether to befriend or oppose the enigmatic Integrators.
(The Uprising begins, capturing the Alabama base from the Marauders)
Sectors and the Army Store
Each sector you capture provides unique units to your Army Store. For example:
- Capture the Island Sector near your initial base to unlock Bradley tanks.
- Take control of the Integrator base on the new Riverside Village map in the north to unlock Integrator Dozers and Technicals.
The composition of your army is shaped not only by what you capture, but by the route you take across the map.
And of course, any vehicles and weapons abandoned on the battlefield can be salvaged for use in your growing force.
Allied Sectors
You can only attack sectors adjacent to ones you already control. However, forming an alliance with a factionsuch as the Movement allows you to use their territory as a bridge to reach new areas.
In one of my playthroughs, for example, this let me link up with Movement forces stationed near the Legions main base, opening a path for a full-scale attack with my army.
Legion Deep Raids
Legion can deploy airborne forces using the same carrier technology introduced in the We Are Legion DLC. This enables them to launch Deep Raids, striking even sectors fully surrounded by friendly territory.
That means your main base or even secondary bases can come under sudden assault. Defending these becomes critical to surviving the machine onslaught.
Quality of Life improvements
We've made several QoL upgrades across the DLC and the base game. For example:
- Training upgrades are now visually indicated directly on unit icons within the army management screen.
- - You'll see a small upgrade available icon like this one on the Templarios unit or the Heavy Weapons Squad below.
(Templarios have an available upgrade)
Further Updates
When the DLC releases, development doesn't stop there. Conquest Mode's open-ended design gives us plenty of room to expand.
Look forward to:
- New unit types
- Additional mission types
- Emerging world events in future updates and DLCs
And Finally
The Uprising DLC is nearly here. Keep an eye out for more info dropping soon and join the discussion on our official Discord! I'm always there, ready to answer your questions.
Join Discord
And once again, I'll leave the last words to Major Stevens, returning to lead the fight in Uprising:
"Divided the machine has us beat. But together there is a way forward if we choose to resist!".
So, see you on the battlefield soldier very soon, the Uprising is upon us!
Asid:
Uprising - Out Now
Tue, 29 July 2025
The wait is over. Uprising, the massive new expansion for Terminator: Dark Fate ? Defiance, is officially out now.
This DLC introduces a full sandbox-style, rogue-like campaign that puts you in command of the Resistance across 22 dynamic sectors in the post-apocalyptic United States. With no scripted paths and multiple factions acting on their own, every decision you make, every battle you win or lose, shapes the course of the war.
You?ll clash with the unpredictable Marauders, who thrive in chaos and strike when sectors are left isolated. Face off against the relentless war machine of Legion, always expanding and always hunting. Watch for the Cartel, a ruthless paramilitary force with its own agenda. Support the struggling Movement, your last true allies in this war-torn world. And deal with the enigmatic Integrators, whose advanced tech may be the key to turning the tide, if you can gain their trust.
Raid Marauder strongholds, scavenge vehicles, and recruit new troops to reinforce your army. From high-level planning on the sector map to intense tactical combat on the ground, Uprising hands you full control of the fight ahead.
Build your army. Command your front. The Resistance is counting on you.
v1.07.1145
Additions
- New Uprising Conquest Mode added.
- New achievements added.
- Autosaves every 20 minutes on Uprising DLC sectors
- "Enable quicksaves" option added to custom difficulty settings for Uprising DLC. You can enable it to make quick saves on all missions (Only two quicksaves can exist at once).
- 5 new music tracks have been added to the OST
Asid:
Uprising | Update v1.07.1152
Thu, 18 September 2025
Hi everyone, the latest update for Terminator is out now.
v1.07.1152
Uprising DLC fixes:
- Enhanced AI behavior in sectors: 10,11,14,20.
- For defense in Domination mode, a preparation stage (120 seconds) has been added in sectors:
2,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,20. Do not cross the restriction line at this stage.
- Removed ATGM helicopters from regular marauders in Sector 10.
- Decreased AI attacker reserves in Sector 4 (Integrators Main Base).
- Fixed UI bug that caused unit tooltip texts to slide down.
- Fixed bug that caused supply changes on missions not to be applied to strategic map.
- Fixed softlock on the strategic map that could occur after completing Movement annexation
conditions.
- Fixed UI bug with reserves tab in Sector 18.
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