A while back, Senior Gameplay Designer, Alan Kertz, revealed a list of future updates that was compiled with community feedback in mind. Recently, a second list has been revealed with a hefty number of balance tweaks that may or may not be making it into future patches. Of course, the biggest change of note is that “bolt action sniper rounds now have a chance to kill at close range if the player is hit in the upper chest.”

Why are we making this change?

• Aggressive Recon was a popular (and controversial) play style in BFBC2, the fact that the playstyle is essentially not present in BF3 has been a disappointment to many players.
• The balance issues of BC2 (Magnum ammo increasing the 1 hit kill range) is not present in BF3, the range is set and cannot be improved by players. Additionally the 1 hit kill is not guaranteed in BF3, the target is small and can be blocked by the player’s arms.
• Additionally, all kits have access to the Slug shotguns, the 870 pump with slugs is still far superior to a bolt action rifle at close range. It is faster, and it can hit anywhere in the torso to 1 hit kill, though it lacks the accuracy of the snipers at range.
• Finally, Recon is under represented in the game, especially in CQB game modes, giving the Recon player a place in CQB is important to us as developers.

And yes, for those of you who follow me on Twitter, I changed my mind. I hope this change pleases the Recon players, and I believe it will not negatively impact the game for the rest of you.
-Alan “Demize99” Kertz

It’s important to note:

• This list is provided as a way for the Community to give us feedback on potential Balance changes to the game.
• This list is specifically focused on Balance changes. Feature requests and bug fixes are purposefully absent from this list.
• There is no guarantee that any of these Balance changes will make it into a future update at all, nor is this list a guarantee that there will be future updates.

Slightly increased the AEK971 recoil.
Slightly increased the ASVAL recoil.
Added Extended Mags to the ASVAL.
Slightly increased the recoil on the M249.
Reduced the recoil of the SKS rifle.
Fixed aimed firing max accuracy on the Pecheneg to be consistent with other LMGs.
Slightly reduced the recoil of the F2000 and restored it to the previous base accuracy.
Semiautomatic and automatic shotguns firing FRAG rounds now do slightly less splash damage.
Increased the damage of the G3, M60, and M240 at close range.

Claymores can now detonate from vehicles and can be used to disable jeeps or kill the passengers in light jeeps. Claymores will not do any damage to heavy vehicles.
Reduced the spot times on C4 and Claymore projectiles from 30 to 15 sec.
The Radio Beacon, Mortar, Mav, EOD bot, T-UGS, and SOFLAM should now be much easier to deploy.
C4 will no longer be detonatable after a player respawns, if the player is revived within 5 seconds he can still detonate his C4.
The player may now have a maximum number of mines which will persist after the player’s death. Deploying more than the maximum of 6 mines will remove a previous mine from the world.
Claymores now also persist through death, the player can have 2 claymores planted.

9x39mm rounds no longer benefit from the Sniper headshot bonus.
Increased the damage of the 9x39mm rounds.
Fixed the AKS74u damage at max range, it was incorrectly higher than other carbines.
Increased the damage of the .357 and .44 magnum rounds at max range.
All semiautomatic and bolt weapons, including all shotgun slugs, now have their maximum damage out to 15m.
Semiautomatic sniper rifles, Assault Rifles, LMGs, and shotgun slugs now have more consistent damage over long range.

Tweaked IRNV to be more consistent across all levels.
Fixed a rendering issue with IRNV view when taking damage.
Tweaked the IRNV zoom times and scope visible areas to be the same across all weapons (some were faster than others).
Fixed the QBU-88 sniper and the L96 IRNV scopes to use the proper aiming reticule.

The spread for Flechette rounds has been reduced slightly on all shotguns.
The spread for buckshot has been reduced on the M1014, DAO-12, and S12k. These weapons have an accuracy advantage over the USAS12 but are not as accurate as the 870.

Semiautomatic weapons will no longer “jam” if the player presses fire faster than the weapon is capable of shooting. Some semi automatic weapons have had their rates of fire adjusted to fit this change.

Slightly reduced the effective blast radius of the RPG, SMAW, and 40mm grenade projectiles against infantry.
Reduced the total number of RPG and SMAW missiles carried from 5 to 4.

Tank rounds will now instantly destroy Jets, Attack Helicopters, and Scout Helicopters.
Fixed a problem when locking on to two nearby targets, the locking should no longer jump rapidly between multiple targets.
Significantly increased the damage of the Javelin and Air to Ground missiles against laser designated targets.
Javelin missiles fired without laser targeting now do more damage to the side and rear of MBTs.
Slightly reduced the locking time of all weapons vs Laser Designated targets.
Increased the locking distance for Jets when locking on laser designated targets.
Slightly reduced the repair speed of the repair tool.
Increased the damage the MBT’s primary weapon does to other main battle tanks.
AA Missiles should no longer kill the pilot instead of the vehicle.
Reduced the damage AA missiles do to jets.
Stinger and IGLA missiles now do 50% damage to Jets, Attack Helicopters, and Scout Helicopters.
Slightly reduced the damage of Jet cannons.
Increased RPG and SMAW damage against aircraft.
Guided Rockets will now only track ground targets, as originally intended.
Reduced the direct damage done by helicopter gunners vs armor.
Helicopter guns should now suppress correctly.
Improved the accuracy of the Mi28 gun to match the AH1 gun.
Increased the direct hit damage of the APFSDS rounds for the IFVs.
Miniguns and Helicopter Gunners now more quickly destroy parked cars.
Increased the power of explosions from cars and other explosive static objects.
Dying from the explosion of a car or other explosive static object should now correctly credit the player who caused the explosion.
Adjusted the F35’s Center of Mass and Lift Engine for more stable, level flight.
Updated the F35 weapon systems to be consistent with the other air craft.
Changed the Kornets to TOW launchers on Wake Island and moved the spawn position of the AAV to a more level position.
Fixed several bugs with air vehicles colliding with objects at high speeds and taking no damage.
Players will no longer receive suicides or team kills if they crash their vehicle (dying is punishment enough).
You can now spot with the EODbot.

Increased the spawn protection time from 1sec to 2sec. The protection will still be immediately canceled as soon as the player moves or shoots.
Spawn protection will no longer be canceled by the player looking around.
Slightly increased the speed at which a player can shoot again after sprinting.
Fixed some situations that would unintentionally make a player unrevivable.
Reduced the black screen fade in time on spawn.