Battlefield 5’s Latest Update Makes A Host of Noteworthy Changes

After being slightly delayed from its initially planned December 4 launch, Overture, Chapter 1 of Battlefield 5’s Tides of War content updates is now live. To go along with that, DICE has released a comprehensive document that details all the changes, fixes, improvements, and additions that they have made to the game with this newest update.

For starters, Overture adds a new War Story to the game with The Last Tiger, which is “built around tank combat in an urban environment”. The new multiplayer map, Panzerstorm, is similarly focused on tank battles, and offers “vehicle-centric gameplay with light infantry support roles”. The Practice Range has also been added, where you can drop in either with friends or solo to try out the game’s weapons and vehicles.

On top of that, the update also makes several tweaks and balancing changes to a host of aspects in the game. Everything from bug fixes, to tweaks to weapons, gadgets, soldiers, and vehicles, to UI tweaks, and a lot more is mentioned in the patch notes. Stability fixes and PC-specific performance improvements are also in. A selection of some of the patch notes can be found below, but be sure to check out the full, detailed patch notes through the link provided above.

TOP ISSUE FIXES AND CHANGES

• Fixed a bug where weapons would stay locked even if the player had reached the required level to obtain them.
• Improvements for the issue involving infinite loading screens. Should be drastically reduced with this update.
• Fixed an issue where vehicle passenger gunner turret animations would not align with where the player was aiming.
• Players no longer get into a soft hang when viewing assignments in-game.
• Made tweaks to the Conquest Soft Catch-up mechanics. The catch-up will now only be activated when the losing team is very far behind instead of rounds that are fairly close. We think that this will make matches more fair in general, while at the same time making the matches a bit more exciting if the skill gap between the teams is too big.
• We are adjusting the amount of ammunition given to airplane forward firing machine guns and cannons. With fast resupply we feel like we can reduce the ammo in each weapon so attrition becomes a factor over a long period of flying. This also allows us to use ammo load as a balancing mechanic for some weapons like the 8x LMGs on the Spitfire or the explosive cannon rounds on the BF109.

SOLDIER FIXES AND TWEAKS

• Fixed an issue where the third-person soldier animations would not properly function when going into the wounded state and result into soldiers weirdly snapping.
• Ragdolls no longer have strange movement after being dead for a certain amount of time.
• Fixed an issue where the soldiers would be getting an input delay (stuck in place) after the revive was completed. This change should improve the responsiveness of revives for both the reviver and the revivee.
• Aiming down sight (ADS) and moving on uneven terrain at the same time no longer kicks the player out of ADS (more specifically when using the “Custom Stock” Specialization).
• Added procedural face animations for voice overs.
• Improved the soldiers’ left hand animations when reloading side arms while coming out of a crouched position.
• The Tanker class is no longer able to build Fortifications faster than the Support class.
• Fixed an issue where the soldiers would move up and down slowly while down on uneven terrain.

VEHICLES

• When using the Danger Ping feature in a vehicle, all other occupants of the vehicle will now see the ping as if they were in your squad.
• Fixed the rain weathering effects on the Spitfire.
• Changed airplane damage effects to better visually represent both the health of the airplane and engine systemic damage.
• Added tire trails from the wheels of the Staghound T17E1.
• Removed an exploit where tanks could fire shells faster than intended.
• Players are now able to repair disabled parts of a tank from the outside, even if the tank is at full health.
• Fixed an issue when a player would “Jeep Stuff” the Universal Carrier from behind and it would not take any damage.
• Corrected the firing sounds on the Stuka B-2.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to exit the stationary PAK40 and 6 Pounder by moving backwards.

WEAPONS AND GADGETS

• Added a confirmation sound when successfully spotting with the Binoculars.
• Smoke Grenade Launcher now properly blocks spotting (including from suppression).
• The M30 Drilling reload animation should now always play when reloading.
• Added the Predator and Urban Blue customizations for the M1897.
• Players can now disable enemy placed AT Mines and Dynamite by interacting with them when playing as a class that supports it.
• When using the Chromed Finish skin on Turner SMLE the textures on it would flicker. No more of that!
• Improved the scopes by reducing the clipping in sights.
• Fixed an issue where you could reload the Gewehr M95 without having to play the reload animation.
• Players are no longer able to instantly fire rocket launchers when switching weapons.

MAPS AND MODES

• Removed some spawns that were out of bounds on Rotterdam when playing Grand Operations.
• Tweaked the metal beams on Devastation where players previously could get stuck.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to spawn on Arras when playing the Final Stand mode.
• In Airborne, the bomb no longer auto detonates if one of the carriers does not advance towards the objective while being close to the other bomb carrier. We have this functionality to prevent players from taking the bomb and not playing the objective.
• Added collision near the E flag close to the stage on Devastation where players previously could get stuck behind the scene.
• Enabled destruction on the objects inside the control tower on Aerodrome.

UI/HUD

• Added kill log icon for kills where the projectile first traversed a material before killing the player.
• Customized vehicles, and not the default setup, are now shown in the progression hub instead.
• The character is now facing the camera when applying facepaints.
• Fixed an issue where the Company in the Frontend could show corrupted graphics in some cases.
• Players should no longer see artifacts on the Company in the main menu.
• Alpha and Beta Dog Tags should now be properly unlocked for players that earned them.
• Players can now properly see the number of players in a friend’s squad in the social hub.
• Made various fixes to Special Assignments.

PC SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENTS

• When running VOIP at higher volumes the signal is no longer distorted.
• Fixed an issue where quick keyboard taps would get missed if both press and release happened in the same update tick.
• Controller stick and keyboard arrows now work properly when navigating the Calibration screen.
• Made TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing) improvements: fixed broken motion vectors, which reduces blurriness on vegetation.
• Origin friends presence is correctly updated for newly added friends.
• The push-to-talk button now only activates that functionality and does not interfere with other in-game systems.
• The social hub no longer closes down if you invite a friend to your squad.
• Squad leaders are now able to leave and create new squads.