Upcoming Battlefield 3 Patch: What We Know

There have been many bits of information surrounding the upcoming Battlefield 3 patch, and we’ve taken to task to compile all the expected fixes and tweaks that DICE has confirmed will make their way into the new patch, which should be released in early February. The list of confirmed additions:

• Commo Rose 2.0: a complete overhaul of the “Q”-button communications interface, with new commands, voice overs, and more.
  
  
• Weapon specific accessory tweaks: accessories such as silencers, foregrips etc. will now be tweaked on a per weapon basis and not globally. All accessories are expected to be tweaked in this patch. For more, see a full list of accessory tweaks.
  
  
• A fix for MAV riding will be applied
  
  
• Random “Bad Luck” deaths will be fixed across all platforms.
  
  
• PlayStation 3 users will see a VOIP fix
  
  
• Drivers will now get 50 points for “vehicle assist kills”. Pilot assist points will be increased as well.
  
  
• Sniper rifles will get increased accuracy after aiming-down with Red Dot or Holo sights.
  
  
  And a few unconfirmed patch notes, but issues/features that DICE are looking into:
  
  
  
• The USAS-12 with Frag rounds will be balanced (unconfirmed: DICE has said they are looking into it).
  
  
• The resupply speed on the M320 grenade launcher might get increased, according to DICE.
  
  
• Horn sounds will be added to Humvees and other transport vehicles.
  
  
• Fall damage is being looked into as well.

This looks like a great patch. I've heard they are looking to improve the communication too

Yeah the VOIP is supposed to be getting fixed. Apparently that is happening this monday 6th with a 20G update

Most of the updates sound discouraging. It's such a stupid idea to have attachments magically change their adjustments per gun. >.<

Happy to see pilot and driver assists go up though. Now let's just cross fingers they get the VOIP issues fixed!

Cool.

good to have VOIP fixed though, and driver assists go up too. now to rack up points when bowl is in a tank.

How about a stinger that can actually shoot down a plane flown by a pilot who knows what he's doing and has unlocked all the upgrades?

I find it impossible...

Because in reality shooting down a $55 million dollar plane with a $38,000 stinger makes sense.

Tezzac wrote:Because in reality shooting down a $55 million dollar plane with a $38,000 stinger makes sense.

Whoa-ho-ho, the cynics are out in full force I see! =P

Why don't you just get two engineers to fire near-consecutively. Problem solved?

That's the best way I found, two stingers one after the other ususally does the trick.

Jets are pretty easy to evade against stingers. All you gotta do is fly towards the rocket and pull up at the last second or if you have afterburner use it to escape towards your advantage while letting your flares regenerate

Tezzac wrote:Jets are pretty easy to evade against stingers. All you gotta do is fly towards the rocket and pull up at the last second or if you have afterburner use it to escape towards your advantage while letting your flares regenerate

-writes down the tip- I totally knew that, was just uh...testing you! But jets I find are not as troublesome as attack helicopters. An attack helicopter can have two sets of flares (gunner and pilot) and a serious array of weaponry at their disposal. Jets are just a pest XD

As I said, I am sure stingers work great when 2 engs team up and fire stingers one after the other (to beat the flares), but failing this I just cant shoot them down!

It is quite frustrating as if you haev a good jet pilot, your tanks are basically toast

Hopefully I can soon get a couple games with TLCG members!

Guided Missiles in tanks are beastly when coupled with a CITV station. Takes a helicopter down in one. Jets are a difficult target to hit but you can scare the fuck out of them with the missile. I could see one pilot literally wetting himself as he tried to shake the missile off.

I pity the ones that can't successfully take off :/ Oh wait that's me! haha

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This video explains what will happen with the attachments

(This is a BF3 pro so the gameplay is crazy too)

Interesting vid prekez. It really highlighted what the changes might be. Interesting that everyone runs with silencer and foregrip. I didn't know that.

PrekezMatthe wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This video explains what will happen with the attachments

(This is a BF3 pro so the gameplay is crazy too)

I think I've realised one key issue to be honest. It is not whether or not a gun is 'overpowered', but rather how easy it is to become a master of. I say this because from one perspective, I have seen non-stop how little skill is involved using shotguns and how stressed players become because of this, not only because they die but specifically because of the lack-of skill involved. Without treading on the feet of other players I think it is fair to say that a lot of this concern is rage-based and has no real bearing on whether or not the guns are truly overpowered. I personally have become attached (no pun intended) to my gun and any display that my choice in gun was a bad one feels threatening to the way I play. If you take that video for example, you can observe that in the right hands with the right attachments that guy's gun (or almost any gun for that matter) is a mean mother-fucker. Now if he was to be killed (with ease) by another guy, he may defensively decide that the gun is overpowered, as he did not stand a chance (this is referring mostly to those moments where you are shredded within two seconds.) This could be attributed to various issues, as his gun may have pros and cons that make it better-suited to particular situations.

To say that a gun should be 'nerfed' (the same applies to attachments) appears to me to be a defensive manoeuvre by players who are consistently playing the game because they feel threatened by guns that give accessibility to 'new' or 'less-skilled' players. In all honesty, ignoring the obvious frag-round issues I have had no issues regarding guns being 'overpowered'. I think it is more a matter of pride than a matter of balance. And at the end of the day, as many -sensible- players have pointed out, all we'll end up with is a bunch of guns that under the correct combination will be -exactly- the same.

And just for the sake of argument, as it seems truly absurd, attachments that magically morph how they affect a gun? Really...? That's like saying a fore-grip just happens to turn into jelly on one gun and seem coated in super-glue on another? (Excuse my poor analogy.)

I am not so diplomatic and things I hate:

- unskilled noobs using USAS with 12g Frag and just spraying and being able to take me out 30m away without even bothering to aim! I actually shoot shotguns for fun and there is simply no way at that range a shotgun will beat an assault rifle - it is ludicious

- Same for ppl that just spray RPGs (although this doesnt upset me particularly)

- BUT my pet hate? Ppl that glitch the malev and fly around with it killing ppl - how is that realistic??? I've never heard of a member of the Tailban taken down by a US soldier flying survelliance equipment - IMO it is ridicilous and must be patched.

Any part of the game that you can't defend against drives me nuts - and there is no great counter to a Malev as it flies too low to the ground for stingers and is tough to shoot down generally (ie with guns). I have the same issue with F-35s (which I have never ever managed to hit with those totally useless stingers, but at least the answer there, or so I'm told, is to use teamwork...)

I fully agree with there Phil. I have only a couple of guns that I like and that I use a lot - I really should branch out and try other things, but since they handle differently it takes a while to get used to them and so once again i drop back to the old favourites.

I'm not really sure why they are being changed on a gun by gun basis, other than the fact that DICE want players to use other attachments. By what that pro guy was saying is that he'll simply move from Silencer and Foregrip to Heavy Barrel and Flash Supressor, and many others will follow suit.

The only thing I have balance issues with is the damn 12g Frag rounds with the shotgun, not the shotties themselves, just the rounds. Other than that, I agree wholeheartly that any gun is a beast in the hands of someone who has spent the time getting used to it.

azeg1 wrote:I am not so diplomatic and things I hate:

- unskilled noobs using USAS with 12g Frag and just spraying and being able to take me out 30m away without even bothering to aim! I actually shoot shotguns for fun and there is simply no way at that range a shotgun will beat an assault rifle - it is ludicious

- Same for ppl that just spray RPGs (although this doesnt upset me particularly)

- BUT my pet hate? Ppl that glitch the malev and fly around with it killing ppl - how is that realistic??? I've never heard of a member of the Tailban taken down by a US soldier flying survelliance equipment - IMO it is ridicilous and must be patched.

Any part of the game that you can't defend against drives me nuts - and there is no great counter to a Malev as it flies too low to the ground for stingers and is tough to shoot down generally (ie with guns). I have the same issue with F-35s (which I have never ever managed to hit with those totally useless stingers, but at least the answer there, or so I'm told, is to use teamwork...)

You pose a very good point that I completely forgot about, something that should definitely be addressed. Given that some players struggle to even make four kills, my first time in one of those MAVs I managed to garner four, as well as piss off and distract multiple of my enemies. I very quickly flew the thing into a wall and haven't touched it since. That said, it is not a glitch as there is a dog-tag specifically for MAV kills which just goes to show how stupid the developers are. They worry about whether a gun is balanced and then give support to the biggest troll-object in modern gaming!

Casamyr wrote: I fully agree with there Phil. I have only a couple of guns that I like and that I use a lot - I really should branch out and try other things, but since they handle differently it takes a while to get used to them and so once again i drop back to the old favourites.

I'm not really sure why they are being changed on a gun by gun basis, other than the fact that DICE want players to use other attachments. By what that pro guy was saying is that he'll simply move from Silencer and Foregrip to Heavy Barrel and Flash Supressor, and many others will follow suit.

The only thing I have balance issues with is the damn 12g Frag rounds with the shotgun, not the shotties themselves, just the rounds. Other than that, I agree wholeheartly that any gun is a beast in the hands of someone who has spent the time getting used to it.

DICE do seem to be trying to even out the attachments but stupidly they're just forcing players to flock from attachment to attachment. From what I am aware the tac-light used to be highly used, they nerfed that and then players moved to the silencer, from the silencer they'll move to the flash suppressor. There is definitely a trend emerging! And for the record, the frag rounds are damned silly.

It isnt a glitch??? Then DICE really are morons!

As for the tactical light - ah yes, I forgot about that! It's fantastic that DICE have managed to shrink a sun and put it on the end of a gun - but back in the realy world they may want to tone that down a bit... I am yet to see a small gun mounted torch that blinds in broad daylight!

In a dreamworld I would see:

RPG splash damage reduced
MALEV kills removed entirely
12g frag range halved (you can leave damage)
Flare reload time increased by 25% for all aircraft
Tac light brightness outdoors nerfed to nothing - it's fine to leave it super bright at night (that's realistic)

God, I forgot about the MAV. I hate that damn thing and refuse to use it on general principle. It's the fact that devs fully intended it to be used as a weapon that surprised me. A better use for it would have been a fire and forget thing similar to the laser painter that continuosu marks and shoots at tanks that Recon also have.

The MAV shouldn't be controllable, but instead it sit up in the area you set it in and paints enemies and adds them to your squad map and the owner gets say 20 pts (or even with what you get for resupply and healing) when you kill an enemy marked by the MAV, and make the dogtag for that.

azeg1 wrote:It isnt a glitch??? Then DICE really are morons!

As for the tactical light - ah yes, I forgot about that! It's fantastic that DICE have managed to shrink a sun and put it on the end of a gun - but back in the realy world they may want to tone that down a bit... I am yet to see a small gun mounted torch that blinds in broad daylight!

I'm under the belief that the tactical light has already been nerfed! That was the reference I was making. I barely come across it these days! =P

Yeah nerf it more - I still cant see anything but some feet when I come across someone with a tactical light (even in broad daylight!)