Battlefield 3 – Tentative Future Update Including Balance Changes and other Fixes

Battlefield 3 Updates in Black

DICE senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz is at it again, suggesting tweaks and balance changes that may make it into Battlefield 3 in the near future.

Publishing his suggestions on Reddit, Kertz is looking to tweak a number of weapons, including their recoil, range and reload times. He also mentioned a fix for the recently discovered AUG M320 smoke glitch that was introduced in the latest patch as well as a few vehicle changes.

You can check out his comments and a list of tweaks below. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Here is a list of potential fixes for a future update. I’ve been scouring the feedback from Battlelog, Symthic, Reddit, Twitter and other places. As usual, this is not exhaustive, nor is this a guarantee we will perform these changes. Instead this is a request for feedback from our community. Currently I cannot see any substantial reason to make balance changes the weapons added in Close Quarters. The only weapon that has received substantial OP/UP feedback is the M417, which I feel is working exactly as it is intended: a good mid range run and gun weapon which lacks the long range accuracy of the MK11/SVD and has worse mobility than the SKS.

Additionally, the discussion about aim assist changes has been interesting, though I find that players are mostly commenting on should aim assist be allowed or not. Players have suggested zoom spamming over powers aim assist after the update, however the update only changed how a the assist helps a player stay on a moving target not how aim assist works when zooming. Further more the videos players have shown attempting to show zoom spamming as a valid tactic fail to actually get the crosshairs on target, as the system is designed to only assist the player and the player will need to do the rest. In fact the videos demonstrate a system which accomplishes exactly what it is designed to do. Finally, some players have worried about quick scope snipers using zoom spamming, however high zoom scopes on all weapons prevent this tactic by not including any zoom assist, the player has to do this skill shot on all his own. I recognize this is a hot topic for highly skilled players, and I feel currently the new aim assist settings provide enough assistance to players without eliminating the skill element.

Change list:

  • A number of weapons have had their reload timers adjusted to better fit their animations and gameplay balance. For most of these weapons the gameplay timers were slightly out of sync with the actual reload animation, meaning the player could either fire before the animation was done, or had to wait longer than the animation played. Primarily this is a cosmetic change (around 0.1sec); however for a few weapons (M416, F2000, FAMAS, KH2002, MK3A1, JNG90, MG36 QBU-88, SVD, Pecheneg, SCAR-H, AN-94) this should also improve the performance of the weapon.
  • Short and Long reload reduced: SCAR-L, AEK-971, F2000, AN-94, AK-74, PP2000, G3A3, SKS, MG36, JNG-90, MK3A1, SCAR-H, SVD, QBZ-95B
  • Long reload reduced: AUG A3, 44 Magnum, KH2002, Pecheneg, L85A2, QBB-95, M1911, MP7, M4A1
  • Short reload reduced: FAMAS, M39 EBR, M416, PP-19, QBU-88;
  • Short and long reload increased: ASVal
  • Long reload increased: P90
  • Belt Fed Machine guns are now more accurate when standing and firing while aiming: M240, M249, Type88, and Pecheneg
  • Increased the close range damage of the UMP but reduced its damage over range. The UMP now has a sweet spot in CQB but suffers compared to the PP2000 at longer ranges.
  • Increased the long range damage of the PP2000 to highlight its role as a mid-range, low recoil PDW.
  • Increased the min damage of the M1911 to make it fit better between the Magnums and the M9/MP443
  • Reduced the M93R’s damage and range, as it was an obvious goto pistol compared to the M9/MP443. Its recoil has been reduced for a smoother burst action to counter the reduced damage.
  • Increased the fire rate and reload time of the MP412 REX to better highlight the improved CQB performance over the 44 Magnum.
  • SG553: Horizontal recoil reduced to help make this weapon more controllable.
  • MG36: Vertical recoil reduced to make this weapon more controllable.
  • M416: Vertical, Horizontal, and First Shot recoil have all be reduced to make this weapon clearly different from the M16A3.
  • 44 Magnum: Rate of fire reduced slightly to highlight this sidearm’s role as a slow firing heavy hitter and differentiate it from the MP412 REX.
  • M16A3: Recoil amounts slightly increased.
  • M4A1: Recoil amounts slightly increased.
  • G36: Vertical and First Shot recoil amounts reduced.
  • The bonuses provided by a number of bipods have been increased: F2000, G3A3, M27, M416, Pecheneg, Type88, FAMAS, MG36
  • Added Burst Fire to the M5K as an available option.
  • Slightly reduced the range bonus added by the heavy barrel on the 5.56mm, 5.45mm, 6.5mm Assault Rifles.
  • Slightly reduced the range penalty for the suppressor on 5.56mm, 5.45mm, and 6.5mm weapons: AR, Carbine, and LMG.
  • Slightly reduced the range penalty for the suppressor on the SCAR-H.
  • The radius for maximum damage of the 40mm LVG has been slightly increased. The overall damage level and range remain the same.
  • Fixed the SCAR-L heavy barrel not increasing recoil when zoomed and standing.
  • Fixed Jets not getting bonuses on Laser Designated targets.
  • Fixed the AUG’s M320 smoke having an incorrectly high projectile velocity.
  • Fixed helicopter weapons being unable to destroy equipment with splash damage.
  • Increased the damage helicopter and jet rockets do to helicopters and jets and infantry.
  • Increased the damage helicopter gunners and IFVs do to helicopters and jets.
  • Slightly increased the damage of the AA vs infantry, AA is significantly less effective than even the coaxial LMG on tanks, making it extremely vulnerable. AA should be effective against a single infantryman but not over powering.

Thanks, Rubén

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