Battlefield 2042 – Update 4.1 Removes 128-Player Breakthrough, Includes Balance Fixes, and More

While Battlefield 2042 hasn’t had the greatest of critical or commercial reception, EA and DICE aren’t giving up on the game. The game has been receiving content updates here and there in hopes of reinvigorating player interest, and its latest Update 4.1 is no different.

The biggest change is most definitely the removal of the 128-player Breakthrough mode, which was removed because it wasn’t functioning as DICE intended it to. DICE had previously suggested that it would look at Breakthrough’s player count and decide what to do with it. Other changes include a nerf for Angel, better weapon handling for all weapons in stock configuration, and much more. There are also bug fixes to important mechanics such as aim assist, among a slew of other minor changes as well.

In response to the removal of the Breakthrough mode, DICE had to say:

“In Breakthrough’s 128 player mode, we feel that the value and impact of an individual player, and squad is reduced due to the increased intensity and chaos of the combat.

“Reducing our player count here helps to remove some of the chaos from the experience, and in combination with the reductions that we have made to the number of available combat vehicles, it means players are better able to hold frontlines more effectively. Players will also find more space to work together and fulfill their individual roles.”

“We believe that the move to 64 players will bring back the pacing that helps celebrate these moments of teamwork and PTFOing, and will be keeping a close eye on how our changes help to improve the experience ahead of the start of Season 1.”

You can take a look at the full patch notes down below. In related news, the store pages for Battlefield 2042 and FIFA 22 are suggesting that the two games will be joining Xbox Game Pass pretty soon- read more on that through here.

Patch Notes: 

Update 0.4.1

Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

General

• Vehicle Aim Sensitivity and Transport Vehicle Freelook Sensitivity Controller settings now always correctly apply their effects
• Aim Assist has been improved while aiming at moving targets
• Aim Assist should no longer incorrectly acquire targets through thin obstacles
• When not ranking up, you should no longer see the “You have been promoted screen” during End of Round
• Delivered improvements that help to reduce input lag
• Adjusted Trigger Weight to ensure that inputs feel more responsive when applying successive inputs

Audio

• The Announcer Voice Over for Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 3 experiences has been remastered, and now includes new radio sound effects

Battlefield Portal

• Specialists will now correctly display animations during the End of Round screen while in Battlefield Portal modes
• Made the following changes to Hardcore Templates within the Battlefield Builder to align them with our Featured Experience offerings.
  • Enabled HUD in Hardcore Templates
  • Disabled Mini-map and Compass in Hardcore Templates

Gadgets

• Hitting enemies with EMP effects now correctly triggers Player Disrupted XP
• Removed placement delay for deployable gadgets so they now appear instantly
• Deployable gadgets are now easier to deploy

Insertion Beacon

• The size of the Insertion Beacon has been increased so it’s easier to see
• The Insertion Beacon is now visible from further away

Modes

In this update, we’re making multiple updates to the All-Out Warfare rotations. Our leading change is the removal of the 128 player version of Breakthrough. When reviewing the available experiences in All-Out Warfare, we felt that the 128 player modes are better suited for Conquest where gameplay spaces are larger, and where you have a more natural fit for sandbox gameplay. 

In Breakthrough’s 128 player mode, we feel that the value and impact of an individual player, and squad is reduced due to the increased intensity and chaos of the combat.

When reviewing Breakthrough, we noted that the 64 player version represented a more tactical experience. Reducing our player count here helps to remove some of the chaos from the experience, and in combination with the reductions that we have made to the number of available combat vehicles, it means players are better able to hold frontlines more effectively. Players will also find more space to work together and fulfill their individual roles

As a result, squads in Breakthrough 64 have a better opportunity to work together, to flank the enemy, place a spawn beacon, use their plus menu to attach suppressors, then clear, and hold a point – one squad helping turn the tide as an example. We believe that the move to 64 players will bring back the pacing that helps celebrate these moments of teamwork and PTFOing, and will be keeping a close eye on how our changes help to improve the experience ahead of the start of Season 1.

Further changes

• Breakthrough 64 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S now have set map sizes for specific maps:
  • Discarded, Manifest, Orbital, Kaleidoscope will play the 128 player version
  • Hourglass, Breakaway, Renewal will play the 64 player version

Soldier

• The Compass now expands while in ADS to improve its readability

Specialists

Angel

• Angel will no longer be able to grant Armor Plates via his Supply Bag

Boris

• Spotting via the SG-36 Sentry Gun now highlights spotted players via a red dot, and spotted enemies are now also visible for friendlies
• The SG-36 Sentry Gun will no longer track players behind walls
• Overall damage and health for the SG-36 Sentry Gun has been lowered
  • RPM reduced from 450 -> 250
  • Start Damage 16 -> 10
  • End Damage 10 -> 7
  • Fall Off Damage Range 50 -> 40
  • Projectile Speed 960 m/s -> 500 m/s
  • Health 200 -> 150
  • Lock-on time increased by 0.3 seconds
  • Target Forget Time 2 -> 1.5 seconds
  • Target lock-on range 65 -> 50m
  • Reload Speed 5.2 -> 4.2 seconds

Dozer

• Bashing with the SOB-8 Ballistic Shield while inside smoke should now always deal damage

Irish

• Fortification System recharge rate reduced from 25 -> 20 seconds

Weapons

• Update 0.4.0 introduced an unintended change to the behavior of some weapons via incorrect values on their damage tables. In this update we’re restoring performance to its intended design and you should feel an overall improvement to weapon performance
• The impact of recoil affecting attachments has been lowered, while base weapon recoil has been improved to compensate. This means weapons without attachments now handle better
• Bolt Action Sniper breath control now lasts a max of 5 seconds, with an added 5 second penalty if used entirely
• Underbarrel Attachments no longer affect weapon deploy speed
• Overall horizontal recoil for DMR’s has been reduced
• Sidearms are now faster to deploy

AC42

• Increased the AC42 distance damage dropoff at higher ranges

AK24

• Removed the AK24 Semi Auto fire mode
• Increased AK-24 Burst Mode rate of fire to 900RPM

NTW-50

• Improved the NTW-50 effectiveness against vehicles
• Added an additional damage multiple versus tank tracks

PKP-BP

• Increased PKP-BP vertical recoil, and added a new horizontal recoil profile

SFAR-M GL

• Improved the SFAR-M GL damage at short to medium range
  • Taking down an enemy now requires 5, instead of 4 bullets while at 20m
• Decreased the SFAR-GL distance damage dropoff

SVK

• Reduced SVK’s Horizontal recoil to make it easier to land follow-up shots
• Increased the SVK distance damage dropoff past 40m
• SVK’s High-Power Rounds damage lowered past 150m
  • Taking down an enemy now requires 3, instead of 2 bullets

Vehicles

• Fixed a bug for no XP being rewarded when capturing an objective in a vehicle that wasn’t spawned via the Deploy Menu

Following the release of Update 0.4.0, we’re continuing to make balance adjustments to vehicle gameplay by updating the total number of vehicles that can be active at any time across maps in Conquest and Breakthrough.

Conquest 128:

• Kaleidoscope – Reduced each teams light ground vehicle allocation by 1
• Manifest – Reduced each teams light ground vehicle allocation by 1

Breakthrough 64:

• Breakaway
  • Adjusted Sector 4 to reduce the Attackers number of Transport Air Vehicles by 1, and reduced the number of Heavy Ground Vehicles for Attackers and Defenders to 1
• Manifest
  • Adjusted Sector 3 to remove the Defenders allocation of Transport Air Vehicles, and also reduced the number of Heavy Ground Vehicles for Attackers and Defenders by 1

• Hourglass
  • Adjusted Sector 4 to reduce the Attackers and Defenders allocation of Heavy Ground Vehicles to 1, removed the Defending teams allocation of Transport and Combat Air Vehicles
• Renewal:
  • Adjusted Sector 4 to reduce the Attackers and Defenders allocation of Heavy Ground Vehicles to 1
• Orbital
  • Adjusted Sector 4 to reduce the Defenders allocation of Heavy Vehicles to 1

MAV

• The MAV is now part of the Transport vehicle category

M5C Bolte

• The M5C Bolte’s Missile Launcher no longer deals unintentional increased damage to air vehicles
• The M5C Bolte is now part of the Armored vehicle category

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