As the title says, you will need to purchase the pass to continue progress on it when the Combined Arms operation launches next week. If you have already purchased the S5 pass, you will be able to switch between it and other passes as normal.
The Combined Arms operation will last five weeks (ends Dec 19, when Winter Contingency launches) and will have its own free 20 item track to progress on, a premium option will be available to unlock a premium-only item, keep the operation pass forever, award bonus xp during the duration of the operation, and to unlock an extra challenge slot for the duration of the operation.
For more information on Operations, see this Waypoint article.
But I used to be able to do the event AND still progress on the season pass at the same time. And that was with 4 challenge slots. Now, despite the fact that I bought the season 5 battle pass, I only get 3 challenge slots for the operations because I don’t want to fork over another $5 (each).
They could have just made events available for longer than 2 weeks but they chose to add more microtransactions. Idk how anyone with a brain could think that’s good for the players.
Losing the challenge slot is dumb, but you didn’t mention that.
There are half the tiers in the BP than previous months, and you’ve bought it which means you can complete it at your own pace. Focus on the timed Operations and when they’re inevitably completed in a couple of weeks (because they are only 20 tiers), then go back and finish the BP. You legit don’t need to think about paying for the Operation - so don’t fret about it.
You’re making it seem like a bigger deal than it is, but the truth is they’ve watered down the BP + Operation progression anyway that you can so much as fart near the game and gain a level.
And if you don’t have the 3 hours a week it takes to keep on top of these, then I’m gonna tell you now, you’re spending too much time worrying about something that doesn’t need to be a concern for you.
Play the game, enjoy it. These systems have no impact on the gameplay or the fun to be had with it.