A new patch for Back 4 Blood is now live – and it finally makes the dumb bots smarter. At least a little bit.
The co-op zombie shooter Back 4 Blood has been released for several months now and has undergone several changes since then. It was originally never supposed to have a solo mode with progression, but the developers quickly fixed that in a patch. Then the next problem arose, as the bots often acted quite suicidally. The latest update addresses this issue and also introduces many practical features.
What was the problem? Bots in Back 4 Blood are both a blessing and a curse. They take less damage and shoot extremely accurately – but also have considerable difficulties. One of the biggest annoyances was that bots eagerly placed themselves directly in the player’s line of fire. It didn’t matter whether you wanted to secure a door as a melee fighter with a machete, or if you were sitting at a stationary MG to mow down Tallboys. Bots consistently and repeatedly got in the way, making it difficult to shoot at them and recognize enemies.
What has been changed? A small change in the patch should cause the bots to behave at least a little smarter. They now respect the player’s line of sight and try to move out of it. At least according to the first reports from players, this seems to be working.
Although there are still other issues with the bots, such as them stopping their resistance or wanting to engage in close combat with a sniper rifle (especially the Jim AI), the current adjustment is at least a first good step.
However, bots have also lost some of their “tricks” – they no longer attack Snitches unless the human players do so as well. It is no longer possible to have bots simply eliminate Snitches without them summoning a horde.
What else is in the patch? Aside from the improvements to the bots, the February update brought many other adjustments. Highlights include:
- 16 slots for decks per game mode (previously only 8).
- Common zombies no longer break down alarm doors, only during a horde.
- Reworking of Walkers’ passive ability, she can now mark special zombies.
- Streamer mode no longer plays copyrighted music.
- Supply points are now available even when failing a mission.
- Ammunition boxes now give more ammunition for shotguns.
Additionally, balance adjustments were made to almost all weapons and numerous maps. In particular, the healing cards that Doc players often rely on have been redesigned and now interact better with each other. You can view the complete list of all changes on theofficial Back 4 Blood website.
When will there be more content? New content should slowly be emerging on the horizon. After all, at least 3 DLCs for the game have been confirmed for 2022, which many have already pre-ordered in the season pass. So far, only the name of the first DLC is known, “Terror Tunnel”, but players are waiting for concrete information about the release. Since the developers drastically nerfed the Nightmare mode, more and more players have achieved the toughest successes – and are now craving more content that expands the campaign.
Do you still check in on Back 4 Blood regularly? Are you going to try out the solo mode now? Or is this a game that only works as a fixed group for you?
