Heads up, Gears fans! The Coalition is set to launch Gears 5 Operation 3 tomorrow, and along with the new Achievements, and content, there’s a load of gameplay changes too! This is called TU5 Title Update 5) for those keeping track. Check out the Gears 5 Operation 3 patch notes ahead of the launch!

According to The Coalition, the big Gears 5 TU5 patch will be out at 2 a.m. PT on March 31, though the majority of the content in Operation 3 won’t appear until the live deployment time scheduled at 7 a.m. PT.

Gears 5 Operation 3 patch notes (TU5):

Gameplay

• Extensive Versus Tuning update. Full details here.
• Ranked: Users now need to be level 30 or above to play in Ranked unless joining as part of a Level 30+ player’s squad
• Ranked: Split-screen users can no longer play in Ranked, except for 2v2 Gnashers
• Bot behavior improvements across every difficulty
  • Bots will less frequently follow the same path/clump together in packs
  • Bots will less frequently use long-range weapons in situations where short range weapons are appropriate (and vice versa)
  • Bots will now make use of cover more frequently
  • Beginner bots will now roadie-run when appropriate
• Bots will no longer backfill for players in TDM Quickplay
• Round timeouts will no longer cause King of the Hill matches to end on the first round
• Meatshields should now more consistently protect the user from explosive damage
• Improved consistency of finishing off DBNO opponents with melee when holding a meatshield
• Addressed an issue where pulling back on the analog stick at certain angles could sometimes cause cover slides to not be cancelled
• Addressed an issue that could cause cover slip animations to sometimes not replicate smoothly between clients, making them appear like they are moving at much higher speeds
• Players can no longer be chainsawed mid-roll
• Players will no longer receive a prolonged stagger if hit with melee by a player slightly above them.
• Players can no longer end up in an unarmed state by trading and dropping weapons at the same time
• Fixed an issue that allowed a player to ignore being into a DBNO state by being grenade tagged by a Smoke or Flashbang by entering the slide animation
• Fixed an issue where a player grenade tagged in the back could no longer take cover
• Fixed an issue that could cause severe server corrections if a player initiates a swat turn or roll immediately after having a cover move blocked by a player
• Fixed an issue that could cause a Retro Lancer charge to cancel instantly if performed shortly after cancelling/finishing the initial one
• Resolved an issue where, sometimes, players could teleport if staggered while wall-bouncing
• Fixed an issue that allowed sidearms to be traded after dropping both primary weapons, which could also cause the player to end up in an unarmed state
• Fixed an issue that caused the Lancer GL to be stuck in grenade firing mode with no laser if the user pauses while holding the grenade firing button

Characters

• Characters received extensive tuning in Operation 3. Get all the details here in our Horde tuning update post.
• Lizzie entering or exiting a Silverback should now be correctly visually replicated for other players
• Jack no longer jitters when carrying the Fabricator
• Kat’s Decoy ability will now run through barriers

Horde and Escape

• Extensive Horde Tuning update. Full details here.
• Horde Frenzy: Added all maps to matchmaking
• Escape specific weapon tuning updates (on top of the additional changes listed in Horde Weapon Tuning)
  • Longshot: Increased headshot damage
  • EMBAR: Increased headshot damage
  • Boltok: Increased starting magazine size from 1 to 2
  • Snub: Increased starting magazine size from 1 to 3
  • Talon: Increased stating magazine size from 1 to 3
• Jackbot now has HUD indications for when he is flash banged
• Jackbot can now be more reliably revived when near a boss
• Reduced Imago enforcer damage per bullet to 15 (was 20) to reduce instances of players being instantly downed with 5 modifiers enabled and up
• Fixed an issue where the Dropshot may break or be unable to fire when Hijacking a Dropshot Scion
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to drop grenades and have Keegan pick them up to gain 7 with the Grenade Pouch card
• Horde Frenzy: Fixed an issue that could cause the last boss wave to sometimes only have 2 mini bosses on Exhibit
• The Detour: Leeches will no longer sometimes die immediately after spawning in the last wave of reinforcements
• The Trap: Players can no longer get stuck in the top of the door if they are in the doorway when it closes
• Players will now see the outline of a Flock update in real time when marked but not visible to the player (ie. seen through a wall)
• Players that die will their Ultimate is active will no longer have their Ultimate fully recharged after being revived
• Crawlers will no longer initiate self destruction after spawning in as reinforcement in Escape
• Sires will no longer initiate a Sire Grab when a player is on a different elevation

Maps and Tiles

• Icebound: The mantle cover on top of the slides have returned for Horde only. This will provide a more comfortable defensive position in the towers for players
• Icebound: The side windows in the trading post are now always blocked off except for Horde. These changes are to reduce rifle suppression towards the spawn areas and allow more traversal across the map
• Icebound: The blizzard is now denser and lasts for 30 seconds rather than 15. This change is to allow more opportunities to traverse across the map. In Horde, the timing remains the same but the blizzard will also be denser.
• Icebound: The blizzard still triggers every 2 minutes for all PVP modes except for Gridiron. In Gridiron, the blizzard triggers at the 1-minute mark and will only trigger that one time per round
• Allfather’s Arena: Fixed an issue where users could end up on top of cover
• Vasgar: Spectator camera will no longer shake when players are moving against certain high cover pieces
• The Pit: Fixed an issue where rolling onto a slide could cause sporadic movement
• Tiles: Fixed an issue that could cause a Pouncer’s tail to get caught and stretch
• Tiles: General improvements to some tiles to improve cover, reduce clipping or address camera issues
• Tiles: Fixed an issue that could cause a player to fall through the map when tagged with a flash grenade while in a struggle with a Sire

PC

• Keyboard and Mouse: Returning to the previous menu via back/thumb button on the mutator selection screen for matchmaking now responds consistently to input
• Split-Screen: Setting dynamic shadows to ultra will no longer add a layer of fog/atmosphere over player two’s screen
• Fixed an issue causing Escape Map The Hive’s ambient lights to be too dark, causing players to be unable to see properly

Other

• Accessibility: Numerous improvements and bug fixes for the Narrator feature
• Accessibility: Toggle Aim will now reset to off when putting accessibility options to default
• Audio: Reduced volume of Escape Snatcher intro
• Audio: Team announcer will now announce when pistols are placed in loadout
• Audio: Fixed an audio starvation issue when multiple Trishots are being fired
• UI: Fixed an issue causing players to see a black screen instead of an Omen on death if they are killed before transitioning to the end of the match
• UI: Free For All weapon icons are now more accurately aligned to their in-game location on the overhead
• UI: Player column on the right no longer cuts into the overhead map
• UI: Fortification health and ammo bars will no longer extend beyond the limit
• UI: Completing a match with Tac-Com open will no longer cause the MVP screen to appeari n Tac-Com
• Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause Del to fall out of world in an Act 2 cinematic under very specific conditions, blocking progression
• Campaign: Fixed an issue where suiciding as the player kills the Act 2 boss will cause cinematic audio to play when the checkpoint is restarted
• Co-Op Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause the game to enter a broken state if a user loaded in while reloading the checkpoint during the first combat encounter
• Co-Op Campaign: Fixed an issue that could cause Jack’s abilities and components to be missing / unusable when players stop playing as Jack
• Campaign Lobby: Host can now select Customization when opening the menu from the Campaign Lobby while a second controller is signed in locally
• Split Screen: Split screen players can now see each other’s Gears Allies card.
• Players can no longer force a Swarm model on COG team and vice versa
• Fixed severe clipping when grenade tagging a meatshield
• Fixed an issue that allowed other weapons to Chainsaw if a player dropped a Lancer while chainsawing
• Explosions in water will now produce splash VFX on Multiplayer Maps

Operation 3/TU5 Versus Tuning:

General Updates

Momentum/Roadie run boost

• Gaining a speed boost from a cover slip, vault or step-up requires a short time at maximum run speed prior to taking the action
  • Speed Threshold: Players must be at 90% of their maximum roadie run speed for 0.25 seconds before a boost is available
  • Boost Window: Players have a 1 second window to activate the boost by triggering a cover slip, vault or step up after the roadie run action is stopped
  • Stopping power is considered: if a player past the speed threshold has their speed reduced below 90%, their threshold will be reset

Blindfire

• Decreased transition time to Blindfire to 0.15 from 0.25 seconds
• Increased Blindfire aim time to 1.1 seconds (this is how long the weapon stays up in Blindfire after shooting)

Active Reload

• Generally reduced cooldowns around actives
  • All weapons have an active duration of 6 seconds
  • Loadout weapons have a cooldown of 12 seconds (was 20)
  • Secondary weapons have a cooldown of 10 seconds (was variable between weapons)
  • Power weapons have a cooldown of 8 seconds (was variable – 15-20 –  between weapons)

Weapon Switching

• Reduced weapon swap delay before shooting to 0.1 seconds from 0.2
• Reduced overall weapon swap speed to 0.5 seconds from 0.6

Weapon Specific Updates

Flashbang

• Removed from loadout. Now available as a secondary weapon on most maps/modes
• Grenades on pickup set to 2 (from 1)
• Note: We intend re-evaluate and adjust this weapon with the intention to re-release as a loadout choice in a future TU

Smoke Grenade

• Reduced smoke duration to 8 seconds from 10

Gnasher

• Removed partial magazine reload feature – all reloads will provide full capacity to the magazine
  • A perfect active reload will result in fastest reload possible
• All shots will now land consistently when firing immediately after canceling a cover slide
• All shots will now land consistently when doing a quick pop-shot from behind cover
• Significantly reduced inconsistent range calculation between the muzzle position and victim
  • Gib and pointblank damage thresholds adjusted slightly to compensate
• ‘Poke’ damage max-potential decreased to 150 from 200
• Reduced hipfire magnetism range by 2m (now 6m, was 8m)

Lancer

• Magazine increased to 40 from 30 (across all game modes)

Markza

• Fixed an issue so recoil curve and recovery escalates consistently after consecutive shots
• Reduced damage to 120 from 125
• Increased rate of fire to 240 from 180
• Reduced magazine size to 8 from 10
• Increased zoom-in factor

Snub

• Rate of fire increased to 600 from 425
• Damage reduced to 60 from 75
• Damage falloff curves adjusted to deal reduced damage at long (16m)+ ranges
• Active reload converted to a 10% damage increase from a 25% rate-of-fire increase

Boltok

• Overall weapon damage has been reduced to 185 from 190
• Removed 1-shot headshot at pointblank range
• Maintained short range effectiveness
• Mid-to-long range damage falloff increased so that damage is reduced at 12.5m and beyond
• Active reload damage increased to 20% additional damage

Dropshot

• Rounds on pickup reduced to 2 from 3

Operation 3/TU5 Extensive Horde Mode Tuning:

Horde Frenzy

The 50 wave experience you know and love packed into 12 intense waves – Horde Frenzy is back! Released just a few short weeks ago, Horde Frenzy is a 30 minute version of Horde that lets you play your favorite mode in bitesize format!

Beginning in Operation 3, all maps are now available in Horde Frenzy matchmaking. We’re working on bringing Horde Frenzy to Custom Lobbies as soon as we can too.

Horde Balance Changes

Since launch, we’ve been building a picture on the future of Horde based on your feedback and our experience as players.

Our goal with these changes is simple – up the fun factor as we mentioned before, reduce some of the friction in Horde and solve balancing with mostly buffs to players rather than nerfs.

Horde Tuning

• Reduced Ammo Case respawn time in Horde from 120s to 90s
• Jack can now carry ammo boxes on all maps. After the ammo box is used, it will respawn at its initial position.
• Reduced the total price of leveling up a perk to level 10 by approximately 50%. Price curve adjusted to reduce the differences between each level.
• Players can now use basic gameplay inputs during the end of wave screen in Horde.
• Removed the “Waiting for other players…” popup during the end of wave screen in Horde.
• Increased the amount of power gained per player from a Power Tap at each level to 200, 400, 600, 1000. (Was 100, 200, 400, 800)
• Reduced base health of leeches from 350 to 200.
• Reduced base health of Sentinels from 12,000 to 10,000.
• Reduced base health of the Matriarch (Horde) from 65,000 to 55,000.
• Boss creatures regenerate health 50% slower with Enemy Regeneration mutator activated.
• Shooting a Guardian or Sentinel’s shield will now delay health regeneration with Enemy Regeneration mutator activated.
• Reduced the rate Lancer GL grenades are refilled on the Weapons Locker to be consistent with the Boomshot. (15s to 40s per grenade with a Level 4 Weapon Locker)
• Adjusted the behavior of the Reduce Ability Cooldown perk to change the total cooldown time instead of increasing the cooldown speed.
• Added music to Horde boss waves.

PVE Weapon Tuning

*Note: There are some Escape specific weapon tuning changes that will be included in our full Update notes. All notes below also apply to Escape.

LANCER

• Increased max ammo on the Lancer to 420.
• Increased initial magazines on pickup to 5.
• Increased amount of magazines on Ammo Case pickup from 2 to 3.
• Increased bullets on dropped Lancer pickup from 20 to 50.

GNASHER

• No longer requires a perfect active reload to reload all 6 shots in PVE.

LONGSHOT

• Reduced Longshot active cooldown time.
• Increased Longshot bullets on Ammo Case pickup from 3 to 4.

EMBAR

• Increased ammo on dropped pickup from 2 to 4-6.

Characters

BAIRD

• Doubled the damage of Baird’s DR-1.
• Increased duration of DR-1 from 20s to 40s.
• Increased the radius that the DR-1 attracts enemies from 16m to 20m.
• Increased the max bleed damage on Baird’s Bloody DR-1 card from 40% to 100% (Level 5).
• Removed the short range requirement from Baird’s Bloody DR-1 card.
• Increase radius on Nerves of Steel from 3 meters to 10 meters.

Notes: Baird’s ultimate was a little underwhelming, and it was usually a better idea to continue benefiting from the effects of Bloody Support (bleeding damage when ultimate ready) than to send out the DR-1. Now the DR-1 will provide a burst of damage and protection that is valuable to the team.

MARCUS

• Marcus’ Custom Lancer card now applies to all Lancer variants.
• Increased the max damage resistance on Marcus’ Dug In card from 30% to 50% (Level 5).

KEEGAN

• Increased the damage resistance of Resupply Healing Module from 30% to 60% (Level 5).

Notes: Healing Module could create some awesome moments, but the strength of the card wasn’t in the right place. This change should now offer Keegan the potential to save the team in chaotic situations.

MAC

• Decreased cooldown of Barrier from 400s to 300s.
• Increased default duration of Barrier from 10s to 15s.
• Decreased damage delay on Mac’s Lethal Barrier card from 0.3s to 0.1s.

Notes: Mac doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to use his shield, so the precious time he has with it was usually better spent protecting himself while using Bloody Shot. Mac should now feel more comfortable using it in a wider variety of situations, because he’ll get to use it more often.

Reducing the delay on Lethal Barrier prevents quick enemies like Juvies and Leeches from slipping through the shield without taking damage. This also increases the DPS of the card, making it a more viable option.

FAHZ

• Removed “During Ultimate” requirement on Explosive Critical Hit.
• Changed the behavior of Icy Precision. Now applies 10% (Level 1) to 17% (Level 5) ice damage per active weakspot hit with precision weapons.

Notes: Fahz already had an initial round of buffs, but we wanted to push a little further.

Explosive Critical Hit is already difficult to use, because Fahz needs to time his kill when two enemies are very close together. Needing to also time this with his Ultimate was making this card difficult to get value out of.

We’ve completely changed the behavior of Icy Precision, because we felt the value in the previous iteration just wasn’t where it needed to be. The new version should make Fahz a formidable boss killer, and an especially strong counter to the Matriarch.

JD

• Swap JD’s loadout Lancer GL for the Boomshot. JD can still purchase the Lancer GL from the fabricator.
• Increased radius on JD’s Daddy’s Boy card from 2 meters to 10 meters.

Notes: JD is very strong in the meta right now, but we know that players are having a lot of fun playing as him. So instead of nerfing the damage, we’ve added a bit of a ramp-up to when JD can achieve his highest damage potential.

DEL

• Increased radius on Del’s Best Friends card from 2 meters to 10 meters.

LIZZIE

• Changed Lizzie’s passive to the default tank passive (Take Damage to Charge Ultimate)
• Increase ultimate multiplier from damage for Lizzie’s Silverback Salvo card from x0.00035 to x0.0008 (1.2s per hit) (Level 5).
• Updated the text on Lizzie’s Silverback Salvo card to be more clear.
• Increased the total ammo on Lizzie’s Silverback Buzzkill from 20 to 50.
• Increased the firing time until overheat on Lizzie’s Silverback Cryo Cannon from 5 to 8.
• Allow Lizzie to purchase the Dropshot from the fabricator.

Notes: We feel like Lizzie is in a pretty good place, but there wasn’t a lot of room to play with different weapon combinations because the Trishot and Mulcher were usually the best option. We’ve bumped up the other weapons to make them more effective.

KAIT

• Kait’s Laceration card now calculates bleed damage per pellet.
• Removed “Enemy must be bleeding” requirement on Kait’s Blood Drain card. Renamed card to Chain.

Notes: Although some players had found ways to use Blood Drain effectively (and we applaud you) we felt that it wasn’t particularly intuitive to play. The extra ultimate time Kait can now achieve should help give a little more time to return to safety before the Cloak expires.

We’ve resolved a bug where a single pellet would deal the bleeding damage of a full spread when using Laceration. The amount of bleed damage is now based on the amount of pellets hit, but the maximum damage potential is unchanged.

COG GEAR

• Removed Snub Pistol requirement and increased radius on COG Gear’s Helpful Headshots card from 5 meters to 10 meters. No longer requires nearby teammates for COG Gear to gain stim.
• Edited the description of Custom Lancer to clarify that it applies to all Lancer variants.

Notes: Helpful Headshots is a cool card in theory, but it was difficult to get consistent value out of it. These changes will help COG Gear keep the team alive longer and fulfill the medic role a little better.

JACK

• Reduced the max multiplier on Jack’s Optimizer card from 3 to 2.5 (Level 5).

Notes: This change is paired with the increase in power gained from Power Taps.

Jack is clearly the best option when it comes to the amount of power he can generate. This change should take some of the pressure off of Jack to collect all of the power the team needs, and encourage a more well-rounded strategy.

Operation 3 – New Achievements

Operation 3 includes 32 new achievements to earn offering up a grand total of 290 Gamescore.

Versus

Sampler (5) – Complete a Match of Free For All, Arcade Blitz and Gridiron

Shutout (10G) – Win a match of Gridiron and keep your opponents scoreless

Paydirt (5G) – Score a Touchdown with the Flag in Gridiron

Planned and Executed (5G) – Execute both members of the enemy team within a round of 2v2 Gnashers

Dynamic Duo (10G) – Win 10 Ranked Matches of 2v2 Gnashers

Close Call (10G) – Win a Match of Arcade Blitz where the opposition team is within 25 points of winning

Ring Leader (10G) – Win a Match of Arcade Blitz with the most Points earned in a Ring

Optimal Armaments (5G) – Complete a Match of Arcade Blitz as a Hero or Villain from Operation 2 or Operation 3

Resourceful (10G) – Defeat an opponent with every Pickup Weapon in a single Free For All Match

Line Them Up (10G) – Defeat 10 different opponents in a Free For All Match

Victory Seized (10G) – Place first in a Match of Free For All

Come From Behind (10G) – Be 10 kills behind the leader of a Free For All round, then come back to win

Lay of the Land (5G) – Complete a Versus Match on Allfathers Arena, Lift, Mid, Boxes, Nethercutt, Pit & Core

All of Allfathers (10G) – Win a Versus round on every customized map piece in Allfathers Arena (9)

PVE

A Very Particular Set of Skills (10G) – Acquire 30 Skill Cards of Level 3 or above

Proficiency (10G) – Master an Operation 2 Escape Hive and Horde Map

Highly Capable (10G) – Master an Operation 3 Escape Hive and Horde Map

HordeBusters (10G) – Complete 50 Waves of Horde with Mac, Keegan and Lahni in your squad

These New Recruits Got Grit (15G) – Complete 50 Consecutive Waves of Horde with Lizzie Carmine, Clayton Carmine, Baird or Cole

Hi-Ho, Silverback (5G) – Kill 200 enemies using the Silverback in Horde

Expanded Expertise (10G) – Reach Character Level 15 with COG Soldier, Lizzie Carmine, Clayton Carmine, Baird or Cole

Fresh Lineup (5G) – Escape a Hive with a team of COG Soldier, Lizzie Carmine, Clayton Carmine, Baird or Cole

New Hivebusters (5G) – Escape a Hive with Lizzie Carmine, Clayton Carmine, Baird or Cole

Destroy From Within (15G) – Escape all Operation 2 Hives on Experienced Difficulty or Higher

Stop ‘Em Cold (5G) – Defeat the Matriarch in Escape using the Relic Dropshot

Hives: Busted (15G) – Escape all Operation 3 Hives on Experienced Difficulty or Higher

Buying Time (5G) – Use the Scrubber Room to slow down the Venom in Escape

Other

In the Name of.. (5G) – Acquire any 3 Hero & Villain Totems

The Path To Victory (5G) – Re-up 5 Times

Go, Hunt In Packs (10G) -Re-up 10 Times

Destroy Them, My Children (15G) – Re-up 20 Times

Be Aggressive, Devious (20G) – Re-up 30 Times

If you want to check out the new character challenges and bundles, head on over here.

Once the patch is live, we’ll let our readers know.