The online shooter Battlefield 5 will receive the major update 5.2 in December, featuring a new map, private servers, and a plethora of changes. However, players are not pleased with the adjustments to the Time-to-Kill (TTK). Here is a list of the changes.
What’s coming in December for BF5? Since early October, the Pacific War has been raging in Battlefield 5; another map was announced at that time.
Now the release of update 5.2 has been confirmed for December, including the remake of the popular map, Wake Island. Additionally, the long-awaited private servers are expected to arrive.
The update will be even bigger and will bring several gameplay changes: These changes are not well received by some players.
Weapons with update 5.2 weaker – TTK increased
What will be changed? A large portion of the weapons will receive a revision, especially at range. The developers have released some statistics to illustrate the changes.
The graphic compares “bullets for kill” and “distance”. The blue line shows the required bullets with update 5.2 and the yellow line with 5.0. The red line shows the average kill distance in BF5 according to EA – 22 meters.
The statistics show a decreasing damage for all example weapons at almost every range, or in other words – the increased bullet count extends the player’s Time-to-Kill.
Overall, Battlefield 5 will become slower.
Not all weapon classes are affected. Due to previous changes to the weapon classes of bolt-action rifles, sniper rifles, and anti-material rifles, these weapons will remain untouched with update 5.2.
Players find changes unnecessary!
How are players reacting to the changes in TTK? The first numbers clearly show for some players – The Time-to-Kill will significantly increase and nobody wanted this last year.
TTK is fine as it is. I can take quite a bit of hits and do not understand why it should be increased even further. I cannot understand why they are conducting such huge meta changes now, when everyone is finally happy with it. Why DICE, why?
Countdown3 on reddit (translated)
For “Countdown3”, it is absolutely incomprehensible why the developers have to make such significant adjustments to the weapons now, when everyone is satisfied with them.
The gunplay is great right now, changes are not needed. Continue your small nerfs and buffs on weapons you think are necessary – but this total overhaul of TTK will not be good for the game
wesman0615 on reddit (translated)
The statements regarding TTK are being moved to a large mega-thread on reddit, which is already filling up. “Wesman0615” also thinks these revisions will not help the game.
What’s happening with the most popular weapons? These statistics have been released for some of the so-called most popular weapons according to EA. They show how many bullets are needed for a kill at a certain distance.
Here are examples for 100 meters distance
- StG 44 – Assault Soldier
- 5.0 – 6 bullets
- 5.2 – 8 bullets
- MG42 – Support
- 5.0 – 6 bullets
- 5.2 – 13 bullets
- Trench Carbine – Scout
- 5.0 – 7 bullets
- 5.2 – 9 bullets
- M1A1 Carbine – Assault Soldier
- 5.0 – 5 bullets
- 5.2 – 7 bullets
- Thompson (M1928A1) – Medic
- 5.0 – 8 bullets
- 5.2 – 13 bullets
Many changes with the patch in December
What are the further contents of the update? The expansion includes the already announced map and now comes with the long-awaited private servers, which EA now calls Community Servers.
Here is a list of the most important 5.2 contents:
Community Games
- The long-promised private servers are called Community Games in Battlefield 5 and will be released with update 5.2.
- The details are still unclear, but the release has now been confirmed.
Fliegerfaust
- The explosion radius of the projectiles from this anti-aircraft weapon will be smaller, but almost all other values of the portable flak, such as range, reload speed, or salvo size will improve.
Wake Island
- The remake of the popular horseshoe-shaped map comes with update 5.2 and was already announced with the first Pacific update for December.
- Further information on this is expected at the end of this month.
Soldier Recognition
- Enemy soldiers will be easier to recognize and will have a red icon above their head at a distance of 28 meters or less when the crosshair is aimed directly at them.
- At 15 meters, soldiers in the field of view will directly have an icon.
- These markings can only be seen by the player and are not shared with the team or displayed on the mini-map.
- The video shows the new system
Marking Enemies
- The enemy marking system will be slightly improved. Those who are marked will receive a warning above the mini-map.
- Spotting will continue to be enhanced and should become clearer.
- This example video shows the warning and how smoke can remove your own marking
Attack Angles in Vehicles
- The hit angles of projectiles on vehicles like tanks will play a larger role and will impact damage more significantly.
- This way, anti-tank players can achieve more for the team with more precise hits.
- Critical hits deal significant damage to tanks but are also hard to land.
Additionally, the number of mines a Support player can carry will be increased – from 3 to 6. In return, the explosive gadgets will deal less damage.
Developers want to strengthen sandbox feel
What is behind all the changes? The developers have also discussed in the large blog post regarding December content what motivation lies behind the recent updates’ changes.
Improving the sandbox
We hope you have enjoyed the changes from the last series of updates designed to improve and restore the Battlefield sandbox you love. We want to continue this trend with update 5.2 next month […]
EA Community Manager PartWelsh in the Battlefield Forum (translated)
The developers emphasize the sandbox experience in the improvements. However, what exactly this means remains unclear. It likely refers to a unique Battlefield feel, which wants to differentiate itself from the CoD competition.
Is there more to come? The Community Manager “PartWelsh” posts in the Battlefield Forum and on reddit about the planned changes and addresses user questions and comments.
He notes that the currently published changes are by no means everything that update 5.2 will offer. More information is expected throughout the month.
Chapter 5 is doing a seriously good job for many BF5 players so far; let’s hope the developers know exactly what they are doing. We do not want to see another apology like after chapter 4.
What do you think about the announced changes? Do you also think the TTK is fine as it is?
