Black Ops 4 'Patch Includes Specialist Changes, Spawns Maps, Armor Nerfs and More

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 just received a huge new update that addresses your player-reported issues, significant gameplay tweaks, and a whole lot more. From Specialists, to map spawns, there is a lot with the latest patch so let's get started!

Treyarch started their latest blog post by addressing the multiplayer Playlists. "Our Featured Multiplayer playlists have been updated with highly-requested new modes, including the glorious debut of Gun Game, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit, and Domination Chaos, "mentioned the studio." What makes Chaos Domination so chaotic? Zone capture time is reduced to only 3 seconds, round score limit is 150 (up from 100), and player count is 6v6 (up from 5v5). We've had a lot of fun with it, and this is just another example of the playlist.

But the Playlists are just one part of a much bigger patch. Armor nerfts, Blackout changes, and so much more was also outlined in the latest update. The below changes are for Xbox One and PS4 at the moment

Multiplayer

• Playlist Updates
  • Featured Playlists
    • "Gun Game" playlist added to Featured Playlist.
    • "Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit" playlist added to the Featured Category by TDM and Kill Confirmed.
    • "Chaos Domination" playlist to Featured Category (3-second catches, 150-point rounds, 6v6).
  • Hardcore TDM / Hardcore Kill Confirmed
    • Player count increased to 6v6.
    • 2 Specialist limit per team.
• Assault Rifles
  • We're dialing back some previous buffs to Assault Rifles to help close the gap between ARs and SMGs, allowing SMGs to be more effective at firing on the move.
  • Slight Reduction to ADS Move Speed ​​for Assault Rifles.
  • Slight Reduction to ADS-in Speed ​​Transition 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 multiplied headshot, eliminating the possibility of a 3-hit kill.
• Submachine Guns
  • Mobility is the primary strength of SMGs, speeding 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 playing the field between SMGs.
  • MX9
    • Extended all damage ranges.
    • High Caliber: Reduced multiplied headshot, eliminating the possibility of a 4-hit kill.
  • cordite
    • Extended all damage ranges.
    • Belt-Feed Mod Operator: 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
  • Tactical Rifles, while stepping down to its Operator. The Swordfish received some adjustments, as well.
  • ABR 223
    • Extended maximum damage range.
    • Repeater Operator Mod: Now takes you to accelerate fire rate.
    • Stock: Slight reduction in movement speed bonus.
    • Laser Sight & Laser Sight II: Improved hip-fire accuracy.
  • Swordfish
    • High Caliber: Reduced multiplied headshot, 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 we're going to have a good time.
  • Removed turn sway when aiming down on the road.
  • 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. Whereas they will still be able 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 gusting 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 transition in speed for all Pistols.
  • RK 7 Garrison
    • Slight increase to the time between bursts.
    • Slight reduction to reload speed.
• Shotguns
  • This weapon 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 the 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.
    • Strobe Light interferes with enemy.
• Attachments (All Weapons)
  • Grip II
    • Reduced ADS flinch mitigation.
  • Suppressor
    • Reduced damage falloff ranges.
  • Holographic Sight Optic

  • Dual Zoom Optic

  • Recon Optic

  • ELO Optic
    • Slightly increased ADS recoil.
• Specialists
  • Ajax
    • We are providing more strategic options to counteract Ballistic Shield, and to help ensure the Shield is not activated too often in the same game.
    • Explosives now apply to the front of a deployed Ballistic Shield user.
    • Ballistic Shield now takes longer to earn.
  • Nomad
    • We want to encourage Nomad to work more closely with his K9-Unit to maximize effectiveness.
    • Reduced K9-Unit health by 10%.
  • Crash
    • While we're happy that our Support Specialist is so popular, he was a bit too effective as a Scorestreak farmer.
    • Reduced "Teammate Used Pack" score event from +50 to +25.
  • firebreak
    • Purify has been restored to form glory.
    • Increased Tactical Mask equipped.
  • Recon
    • Intelligence Wins Wares and Recon is living proof. We have intelligence that is so good, so we're re-classifying some of our sources.
    • Reduced Sensor Dart duration.
    • Resolved an issue where voiceover would be incorrectly state that the player's sensor was destroyed.
  • Torque
    • Many in the community have embraced Torque with inventive playstyles, though he's still struggling on a broad scale. We bolstered the effectiveness of his Barricade to ensure he stays in his compositions.
    • Increased earn rate for Barricade.
    • Increased hit points for Barricade.
    • Addressed an issue that prevented TAACOM from telling the player that their Barricade was taking damage.
  • Prophet
    • Prophet's Tempest needed an upgrade to a chance of competing with the rest of the Specialists.
    • Greatly increased Tempest projectile speed.
    • Slightly increased Tempest chain distance.
    • Resolved an issue where being hit by an explosive charge would disable the tempest charge, preventing further arcing.
• spawns
  • Team Deathmatch
    • Tuned spawn logic around how enemies 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
    • Hardpoint affects nearby spawns. This should provide more predictable spans when battling over an active Hardpoint.
    • Additional global spawn adjustments to improve the ability of the team to relocate to their team.
    • 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 is protected from multiple damage, such as the head or upper chest. This primarily affects weapons with chest modifiers, such as Sniper Rifles gold weapons with High Caliber II.
  • Acoustic Sensor
    • Which sprinting enemies are detected.
• Perks
  • Dead Silence
    • Reduced player movement volume and distance with Dead Silence can be heard by enemies. The intention for Dead Silence is not completely silent, but also allows you to hear your movement from longer distances.
  • Engineer
    • Extraction helicopter in Heist will 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 behind the owner's kills without dying medals.
• gameplay
  • Reduced ranges 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.
  • 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 for free.
  • Resolved an issue where Hardcore wins were not counted to Challenges.
  • Resolved an issue for Free Where Recon players could get 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 maps to address exploits that allowed players to leave the intended play space.
• Theater
  • Theater files recorded before this update will be visible 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 have a problem with the video and we have not seen it. While Theater represents what happened in a general sense, it does not reflect with 100% accuracy. Live recorded gameplay is the most accurate method for reporting behavior in the game that is not performing as expected. With this change, we can better identify the movie clips when reviewing and recording videos.
• audio
  • Resolved issues that caused footsteps to sound muffled when they should not be.

Blackout

• playlists
  • 100-Player Solos added to Featured playlist.
  • Maximum player count set to 88 for Duos and Quads.
• audio
  • Twilight 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 is caused by footsteps to be silent.
  • Resolved issues that caused them to become muffled when they should not be.
• Armor
  • Armor now allows more damage to multiply, such as the head or upper chest. For example, headshots now do more damage Level 3 Armor.
• Character Missions
  • Unlocked remaining Specialist Character Missions (Battery, Firebreak, Nomad, Prophet, Ruin, Seraph)
• "Item Found" Notifications
  • To get an item for your teammate, click on the item and select the bottom center on your Command Wheel. This item will be displayed in your team's HUD and highlight 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 some Challenges rewarded the same Calling Card.
• IU
  • Resolved an issue where the Altimeter could disappear during Infiltration.
  • Resolved an issue where incorrect Inventory items could be shown while watching 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 was not properly applied at Max Rank.

zombies

• gameplay
  • Increased XP earn for Hardcore and Realistic difficulties.
• Blood of the Dead
  • Addressed an issue where the New Industries portal is visible from the start of the step.
  • In the Main Easter Egg Quest.
• IX
  • Resolved an issue where players could be expected to play the Boss Battle Arena.
  • Resolved an issue where Mule Kick could get away from 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 the Alchemy Lab at specific times.
  • Earning additional Perks will be displayed on the player's HUD.
  • Resolved issues with the 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 was enabled.
  • Resolved several instances of Anywhere but Here is not working 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
  • Camos would be overlapping 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 the social menu.
  • General stability fixes and performance improvements across Multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is now available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.