A huge nerf for Back 4 Blood is coming. All difficulties are being made easier – will Nightmare finally be easier?
Since its release, Back 4 Blood has faced criticism. Although the zombie shooter is well-received by many co-op fans, the hardest difficulty level, “Nightmare,” is under constant scrutiny. It is simply unmanageable for most players. Unfair combinations of corruption cards and negative effects lead to most players losing interest, as hardly anyone gets past the first 3 cards.
Now, after months of criticism, the developers are finally addressing the issues. All game modes will be significantly easier and should be more manageable with a coordinated team in the future.
What will change? There are numerous changes, not just to the Nightmare mode – although the most significant changes are made there. The most important adjustments are summarized here:
- Friendly fire no longer increases with higher weapon levels.
- In Act 2 and Act 3, an additional card can be drawn.
- Corruption cards with bosses can no longer appear in the first card of an Act.
- The fog card no longer automatically creates a horde.
- Birds now have only 1 health point (previously 10 health points).
- Barbed wire is now a “quick slot” item.
The extensive changes to the Nightmare difficulty come on top of that:
- Healing stations now have 1 free charge (previously 0).
- The damage bonus from special zombies has been reduced to 35% (previously 70%).
- The damage bonus from regular zombies has been reduced to 50% (previously 100%).
- The “tumble resistance” of special zombies has been reduced to 25% (previously 40%).
- Special zombies now have only 7.5% more health (previously 15%).
- When consuming continues, there are 100 additional copper (previously 0).
- When consuming continues, there are 10 bonus health points (previously 0).
- When consuming continues, there are 5 bonus trauma healing (previously 0).
- When consuming continues, there is an additional card (previously 0).
In addition, there will be some improvements and nerfs to the spawn of special zombies. These will now be subject to new rules:
- During endless horde and rapidly consecutive hordes, a maximum of 2 special zombies of the same type can now appear and a maximum of 4 special zombies overall.
- Special zombies now have a cooldown to be able to appear. Multiple hordes in very short intervals will no longer lead to many special zombies appearing.
- Tallboys and their variants now appear less frequently on “Veteran” and “Nightmare”.
If you want to see all the patch notes with all the details, you can check them out in this Reddit post.
What was the problem? The Nightmare game mode is the toughest of the 3 difficulty levels in Back 4 Blood. However, it was nearly impossible to manage in a normal way. Either one relied on “Speed Run” decks to skip all fights, or one exploited various bugs to duplicate grenades or trick the AI at certain points.
It was hardly manageable through “normal gameplay” – which led to extreme criticism. This is supposed to be fixed now.
Where did the patch notes come from? They were leaked. However, confirmation from the “Back 4 Blood” Discord, where the developers are also present, confirms that these are indeed the actual patch notes. If there are any changes to them, they will likely be minimal. The patch goes live on December 16.
What else is in the patch? Aside from the numerous adjustments, there will also be new skins, new maps, and new supply lines where you can spend your points. These supply lines are only temporary and can likely only be completed during the duration of the Christmas event.
How exactly the skins will look and how long all of this will remain active is still unknown.
Are you looking forward to these changes? Or will Nightmare become too easy with this?
