Treyarch’s first major balance update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is now out, targeting different weapons in multiplayer. Blackout and Zombies have seen some changes as well, with the former receiving a 100 player Solo featured playlist and the latter having increased XP gain for Hardcore and Realistic difficulties. The lion’s share of the update is for multiplayer though.
A few new playlists have been added, like Gun Game, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit, and Chaos Domination. The latter two are in the Featured Category, while Gun Game is a Featured Playlist. As for weapon changes, all Assault rifles have slightly reduced ADS move speed and ADS-in transition speed.
The ICR-7 deals less headshot damage, while the VAPR-XKG has reduced close-range headshot damage and damage fall-off beginning sooner. The Dual Wield Operator Mod for the Saug 9mm has its hip-fire accuracy reduced, though how that will change its potency remains to be seen.
Multiplayer
Playlist Updates
Featured Playlists
- “Gun Game” playlist added to Featured Playlist (no parties allowed).
- “Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit” playlist added to the Featured Category (TDM and Kill Confirmed, no parties allowed).
- “Chaos Domination” playlist to Featured Category (3-second captures, 150-point rounds, 6v6).
Assault Rifles
We’re dialing back some previous buffs to Assault Rifles to help close the gap in effectiveness between ARs and SMGs, allowing SMGs to be more effective at firing on the move.
- Slight reduction to ADS move speed for all Assault Rifles.
- Slight reduction to ADS-in transition speed for all Assault Rifles.
ICR-7
- Reduced headshot damage.
- Slight reduction to reload speed.
VAPR-XKG
- Reduced close-range headshot damage.
- Damage now falls off sooner.
- High Caliber: Reduced headshot multiplier, eliminating the possibility of a 3-hit kill.
Submachine Guns
Mobility is the primary strength of SMGs, speeding across the map to engage or disengage quickly. Some of the close-range SMGs were performing quite well, while others struggled to compete with the rest of the category. This week’s balancing pass levels the playing field between SMGs.
MX9
- Extended all damage ranges.
- High Caliber: Reduced headshot multiplier, eliminating the possibility of a 4-hit kill.
Cordite
- Extended all damage ranges.
- Belt-Feed Operator Mod: Increased overheat rate.
GKS
Quad Shot Operator Mod: Slight time increase in between bursts.
Saug 9mm
Dual Wield Operator Mod: Reduced hip-fire accuracy.
Tactical Rifles
We’ve buffed the ABR to be more competitive with the other Tactical Rifles, while stepping down its Operator Mod to keep it from becoming a crutch Attachment. The Swordfish received some Attachment adjustments, as well.
ABR 223
- Extended maximum damage range.
- Repeater Operator Mod: Now takes longer to accelerate fire rate.
- Stock: Slight reduction in movement speed bonus.
- Laser Sight & Laser Sight II: Improved hip-fire accuracy.
Swordfish
- High Caliber: Reduced headshot multiplier, eliminating the possibility of a 3-hit kill.
- Penta Burst Operator Mod: Reduced extra granted clip-size.
Sniper Rifles
The other Sniper Rifles needed help to fight King Paladin. We’re giving these rifles reduced idle sway and upping their damage to help finish off wounded targets more consistently. Removed turn sway when aiming down sights on all Sniper Rifles to better ensure the weapon reticle stays centered when turning.
Paladin HB50
- High Caliber II: Hitting the lower torso on a full Tak-5-boosted enemy will no longer be a 1-hit kill.
- FMJ II: Improved damage against Scorestreaks.
- Stabilizer II: Player can now hold breath sooner after the previous hold breath.
Outlaw
- Improved base damage from 110 to 130.
- Reduced idle sway.
- Increased base movement speed.
- Stock: Slight increase in ADS movement speed bonus.
SDM
- Increased clip size from 10 to 12.
- Reduced idle sway.
Koshka
- Improved Damage from 120 to 140.
- Stock: Slight increase in ADS movement speed bonus.
Light Machine Guns
Some in the community have discovered that the Titan and VKM 750 are extremely effective weapons! We’re toning them down before everyone jumps on the bandwagon. While they’ll still be scary to face off against, players will now have a more reasonable chance to defend themselves against these LMGs.
Titan
- Reduced headshot damage.
- Reduced hip-fire accuracy.
- Stock: Reduced ADS movement speed bonus.
VKM 750
- Reduced movement speed while firing.
- Reduced damage slightly.
- Fat Barrel Operator Mod: Reduced bullet tracer size.
Hades
- Cross Bar Operator Mod: Reduced movement speed and accuracy.
- Steady Grip: Improved recoil mitigation.
Pistols
Slight reduction to ADS-in transition speed for all Pistols.
RK 7 Garrison
- Slight increase to the time between bursts.
- Slight reduction to reload speed.
Shotguns
This weapon class is close to where we want it, with only a couple of specific Attachments performing better than intended. Shotguns in Black Ops 4 play a different role than in past Call of Duty titles, and those who have practiced cat-and-mouse gameplay can be highly effective with them.
MOG 12
- Choked Barrel: 1-hit-kill range reduced.
- Dragon’s Breath Operator Mod: Resolved an issue where the Dragon’s Breath occasionally triggered incorrect visual and sound FX on targets.
SG12
- Strobe Light Operator Mod: Addressed an issue with the Strobe Light where it would remain on after death.
- Live update coming soon to reduce the range at which the Strobe Light interferes with enemy aim.
Attachments (All Weapons)
Grip II
Reduced ADS flinch mitigation.
Suppressor
Reduced damage falloff ranges.
Holographic Sight Optic
Reduced ADS recoil.
Dual Zoom Optic
Reduced ADS recoil.
Recon Optic
Reduced ADS recoil.
ELO Optic
Slightly increased ADS recoil.
Spawns
Team Deathmatch
- Tuned spawn logic around how enemies impact where the game chooses to respawn the player.
- Spawn adjustments made for Slums, Summit, Militia, and Firing Range.
Domination
Spawn adjustments made for Icebreaker, Contraband, Hacienda, Payload, Gridlock, Slums, Summit, Militia, Jungle, and Firing Range.
Hardpoint
- Tuned spawn logic tuning around how the active Hardpoint affects nearby spawns. This should provide more predictable spawns when battling over an active Hardpoint.
- Additional global spawn adjustments to improve the ability for a player to anchor a location for their team’s respawns relative to an active Hardpoint.
- Spawn adjustments made for Frequency and Seaside.
Free For All
Spawn adjustments made for Slums, Summit, Militia, and Firing Range.
Control
Spawn adjustments made for Slums, Summit, Militia, and Firing Range.
Gear
Stim Shot
Increased time to fully heal the player.
Armor
Resolved an issue where Armor protected from more damage than intended when hitting areas of the body that have damage multipliers, such as the head or upper chest. This primarily affects weapons with chest modifiers, such as Sniper Rifles or weapons with High Caliber II.
Acoustic Sensor
Reduced the range at which sprinting enemies are detected.
Perks
Dead Silence
Reduced player movement volume and distance that players equipped with Dead Silence can be heard by enemies. The intention for Dead Silence is not to be completely silent, but also not to allow enemies to hear your movement from longer distances.
Engineer
Extraction helicopter in Heist will no longer be highlighted by the Engineer Perk.
Scorestreaks
Mantis
Resolved an issue where the Mantis could be destroyed by touching the Out-Of-Bounds area of a map.
Dart
- Increased explosion radius and damage.
- Players can now use a second Dart when earning two Dart Scorestreaks.
Strike Team
Prevented Strike Team kills from contributing towards owner’s kills without dying medals.
Gameplay
- Reduced ranges required for Longshot Medals for Assault Rifles, Tactical Rifles, Submachine guns, and Light Machine Guns.
- Resolved an issue where the “Hard Stop” Challenge could reset before reaching 300.
- Resolved an issue where the “Marksman Mastery” Challenge would not give 10,000 XP upon completion.
- Resolved an issue where destroying friendly Scorestreaks would award score.
- Players can no longer crouch or go prone while performing a Gesture.
Game Modes
- Increased XP earn rate in Heist.
- Increased amount of XP earned per kill in Free For All.
- Resolved an issue where Hardcore wins were not counted toward Challenges.
- Resolved an issue in Free For All where Recon players could receive Vision Pulse assist score.
- Silent Plant option in Custom Games should now make planting and defusing bombs completely silent.
Maps
Icebreaker
- Adjusted cover pieces to discourage players from spawn-camping.
- Added cover to the lower respawn side.
Slums
Adjusted cover pieces to discourage players from spawn-camping.
Miscellaneous
Several map fixes to address exploits that allowed players to leave the intended play space.
Theater
- Theater files recorded before this update will no longer be viewable due to significant architectural changes to the system. As noted in our previous major update, we will make every effort to keep instances of incompatibility to a minimum.
- Added a watermark in the HUD that only displays when in Theater mode: Why this change? We often see players posting videos recorded from Theater as a demonstration of “poor hit detection” or other issues that appear to be incorrect. While Theater represents what happened in a match in a general sense, it does not reflect with 100% accuracy all of the details as they were experienced live. Live recorded gameplay footage is the more accurate method for reporting behavior in the game that is not performing as expected. With this change, we can better identify Theater clips when reviewing community videos and therefore filter them out for the more accurate live recorded clips.
Audio
Resolved issues that caused footsteps to sound muffled when they shouldn’t be.
Blackout
Playlists
- 100-Player Solos added to Featured playlist.
- Maximum player count set to 88 for Duos and Quads.
Audio
- Tweaked settings to ensure friendly teammates’ footsteps are now quieter than enemy footsteps.
- Adjusted footsteps for all Armor types in first-person and third-person to give better directionality and distance information.
- Resolved an issue that occasionally caused footsteps to be silent.
- Resolved issues that caused footsteps to become muffled when they shouldn’t be.
Armor
Armor now allows more damage to pass through to areas of the body that have damage multipliers, such as the head or upper chest. For example, headshots now do more damage against Level 3 Armor.
“Item Found” Notifications
- To tag an item for your teammate, approach the Item and select the bottom center command on your Command Wheel. This will display the Item in text on your team’s HUD and highlight the item in the world for your team.
- Increased the brightness of Items when a teammate tags them as “Item Found” via the Command Wheel.
- Increased duration that Items tagged using “Item Found” are displayed in the world to your team.
Calling Cards and Challenges
- Resolved an issue where completing Dark Ops Challenges would not unlock their associated Calling Card.
- Resolved an issue where certain Challenges rewarded the same Calling Card.
UI
- Resolved an issue where the Altimeter could disappear during Infiltration.
- Resolved an issue where incorrect Inventory items could be shown while spectating another player.
Miscellaneous
- Resolved an issue that allowed players to shoot through certain rocks.
- Improved visual quality of the grass.
- Resolved an issue where the After Action Report would show double damage when in Squads.
- Resolved an issue where Echelon Ranking wasn’t showing properly at Max Rank.
Zombies
Gameplay
Increased XP earn rate for Hardcore and Realistic difficulties.
Blood of the Dead
- Addressed an issue where the New Industries portal ghost remained visible from the start of the step.
- Fixed lever animation on the Power House ghoul in the Main Easter Egg Quest.
IX
- Resolved an issue where players could be tossed outside the intended play space of the Boss Battle Arena.
- Resolved an issue where earning Mule Kick could take away all player weapons and money.
Miscellaneous
- Resolved an issue preventing players from applying their Clan Tag or using the Kill Counter after weapon Prestige.
- Resolved an issue where the SG12 lost all attachments when Pack-A-Punched.
- Fixed multiple exploit spots in the maps.
- Fixed several stability issues associated with entering and exiting the Alchemy Lab at specific times.
- Earning additional Perks will now be displayed on the player’s HUD.
- Resolved issues with Prestige Master not functioning correctly.
- Resolved several issues with Custom Mutation options not working correctly.
- Resolved an issue where the wrong Camo could be displayed on a weapon.
- Resolved an issue where players were not getting revived when the DG-5 Power Plant ability had been enabled.
- Resolved several instances of Anywhere But Here not working when activated on a moving platform, like the gondola in Blood of the Dead.
- Fixed an exploit where players could keep their Special Weapon out indefinitely.
General
Social
Players can now invite players who are online, but not in the game, to their in-game party.
Miscellaneous
- Resolved an issue where particular weapon Camos would overlap weapon Optics.
- Resolved multiple issues with Paintjobs not showing up in-game.
- Resolved an issue where your Gun Rack would show up when inspecting other players.
- Resolved an issue where Emblems for other players would appear in lower resolution than expected in the Social menu.
- General stability fixes and performance improvements across Multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies.