PUBG - Test Server - Update #25 Patch Notes

Posted: 23 Jan 2019 12:48 AM PST

Hey Everyone,

We're already a month into the launch of Vikendi and we've been pouring over the data and community feedback about our latest map. On top of loot balance changes, we're introducing some great new content to Vikendi as well including a new weapon, vehicle, attachment, and the long-awaited Moonlight weather setting for Vikendi. There are also some great quality of life updates and bug fixes, so dig in below to check out all the changes!

As always, we invite you to join us on the test server to try out all the latest changes to PUBG before they deploy to live servers. Thanks and read on!

*To facilitate healthy matchmaking times, Update #25 will be restricted to the following maps and modes while on the test server:

Asia Region:
Map: Sanhok/Vikendi
Mode: Squad, TPP

NA/EMEA Region:
Map: Sanhok/Vikendi
Mode: Squad, FPP

New Weapon: Bizon

Added new SMG weapon- the Bizon

Bizon is an SMG exclusive to Vikendi and Erangel
Uses 9mm ammunition and holds 53 rounds by default
Can only take muzzle and sight attachments
- Does not take grips or magazines

New Attachment: Canted Sight

Added Canted Sight as a new attachment
- Canted sight is a new scope for weapons with a secondary scope slot
- ALT + Right click toggles between equipped sights
- Canted sight can be used with
  - AR - Beryl M762, AKM, AUG, M416, Mutant, QBZ, SCAR-L, G36C
  - DMR - SLR, Mini14, Mk14, QBU, SKS
  - SR - AWM, M24, Kar98k
  - SMG - UMP, Vector, Bizon
  - Shotgun - S12K
  - LMG - M249
- The main scope you see when you aim will be different depending on which slot you attach the canted sight and scope
  - If you equip Canted Sight only, your primary sight will be the Canted Sight.
  - If you equip Canted Sight after scope, your primary sight will be your scope.
  - If you equip scope after canted sight, your primary sight will be the Canted Sight.
With the Canted Sight update, the weapon's position and view of angle might feel slightly different than before while in ADS. However, any features which might affect gunplay, such as scope's position in ADS, FOV, and recoil, were not changed.

New Vehicle: Snowbike

The snowbike is a new vehicle that can only be found on Vikendi

Snowbike is quicker and has better mobility than the Snowmobile, however, it is much less durable and easily destroyed
The motorcycle will no longer spawn on Vikendi

World

Added new weather setting on Vikendi
- Moonlight: Although the setting is at night, the big glowing super moon and bright aurora borealis will help you to detect enemies

Gameplay

Modified and decreased the damage amount delivered to vests
- The existing damage calculation used to apply 100% damage to vests
- Vests have been modified to receive lower damage
Modified the damage system of throwable weapons
- Damage and effects are now applied correctly to players hiding behind very small obstacles such as a thin poles
Trajectory guideline is now shown properly until the throwable weapon leaves a player's hand
Reduced the delay when opening a parachute
- This will make players able to change directions much earlier
Vikendi - Bluezone Modifications
- Bluezone will be generated further away from the center
- Damage of the last zone has been increased
Vikendi - Item spawns have been modified
- Decreased the number of SMGs and increased the number of ARs
- Decreased the number of DMRs
  - SR rate remains the same
- Reduced the number of LV3 helmets and vests
- Balanced the spawn ratio of attachments
- For full details, please refer to 'Dev Letter: Vikendi Item Spawn Rebalance'

Performance

Vikendi - Optimized performance by modifying the number of footprints shown around the player
Improved frame drops in the lobby and inventory.

Survivor Pass: Vikendi

You can now redeem all "drop in supply" rewards at once
You can now redeem all claimable rewards from the pass reward screen at once
- Click "Claim All" on the lower left to receive all claimable rewards
Changed the number of times you can swap daily missions from 1 to 3 missions per day
High difficulty mission balance
- Adjusted several highly difficult missions from daily and weekly mission lists
- Missions that had previously been announced are excluded from the balancing

UI/UX

Improved team invite settings and status system
- You can now control where you receive invites from by using the team invite settings
  - Receive All: Accept team invites from all players
  - Friends Only: Accept invites only from players added to your friends list
  - Block All: Block all team invites
- You can also set your status to online or offline from the friend system menu
  - If you are set to offline, your status will be shown as offline to all other players, and you will not receive team invites
Deleted the new item notice marker from the left menu of the items page on the store menu
When selecting 'new' in the sorting tab on the items page, crates will have priority over individual items if they share the same release date
Improved UI widget visibility, which is located on the bottom center of the game screen
Added additional game options
- Added an option to set default firing mode for weapons
- Added a keybind option for (Alt + Right Click by default) Canted Sight, a new attachment
- Added a keybind option (J by default) to inspect your weapon
Purchase failure message will pop up when a purchase fails due to a Steam issue

Skins & Items

Added BattleStat weapon skin

With a BattleStat weapon skin applied, the number of players killed with that weapon is recorded/displayed on the skin.
- Press J in-game to instantly view the number of kills made with that weapon.
The tag [BATTLESTAT] appears in front of the item's name, and the number of kills made with that skin can be seen in the weapon skin page's preview screen as well
Kills are recorded only when the original owner of the skin is using the skin
- If a player other than the skin's owner picks up a weapon with the BattleStat weapon skin applied to it, the panel that shows the number of kills will be locked and new kills will not be recorded
- The panel is also locked where the owner of the BattleStat item is unclear, such as in the marketplace or store.
The item can be traded in the marketplace, and once ownership goes to a different player, the number of kills recorded on the skin will be reset.
The count will be reset if you return weapon skins as BP.
BattleStat weapon skins can be purchased for 10 BP on the Test Server for system testing purposes. Once the patch is pushed to the Live Server, the item can be acquired through a BP crate that can be opened with a purchased key.
Added 'EAST ERANGEL POLICE CRATE' as a new crate
- This crate will be available 1/29 PST on the Live Server
- This crate can be unlocked using the East Erangel Police Key
- The '[BATTLESTAT] Industrial Security - AKM' item can be gained from the 'EAST ERANGEL POLICE CRATE' at a very low chance
- Drop rates of each item for the 'EAST ERANGEL POLICE CRATE' ar as follows:

The composition of random crates and their drop rates have been adjusted with the addition of the EAST ERANGEL POLICE CRATE.

Added 2018 Fall crate as a random crate
Random crate drop rate

Item grades for event items have been adjusted so they have a more appropriate value

Item settings have been changed so they can be exchanged for the appropriate amount of BP according to their grade

Bug Fixes

Fixed the issue of only changing the POV of third person when pressing ALT key while moving the screen
Modified blood effects not working properly in certain service modes.
Fixed an issue where emote wheels were sometimes shown differently in in-game and out-game
Fixed an issue where you could occasionally hear a footstep when the UZI was empty
Fixed an issue where care packages would sometimes dig into the ground and before coming back up when landing
Fixed an issue with vehicle locations sometimes being shown differently
Fixed an issue where a teammate's UI was still being shown even if they left the game before the match started
Fixed an issue where the kill feed would sometimes not show properly when a player was downed/killed by fists
Fixed an issue where a character would sometimes not use health items if the key is pressed during melee attacks
Fixed an issue where the nickname and report message was sometimes not showing when spectating a player driving a vehicle.
Fixed an issue where the camera sometimes showed the opposite direction when in death cam/replay
Fixed an issue where the 'No throwables' UI message was sometimes being shown when the unequipped throwable weapon was selected [using smart key/use designated weapon key]
Fixed an issue where the motorcycle engine would sometimes not turn off after the player has left the vehicle
Fixed an issue where a character was sometimes not able to loot even though they had the space to
Fixed an issue where the scooter would sometimes shake severely when in spectator/deathcam/replay
Fixed an issue where item use was sometimes interrupted when the crouch/lean key was pressed when crouch/lean and change seats are set to the same key
Fixed an issue where a player's character would sometimes not receive damage when the character left a vehicle at the right moment while crashing onto an object
Fixed an issue where you'd sometimes see a flickering afterimage when coming out of ADS mode with a scope attached in FPP
Fixed an issue where a vehicle would sometimes disappear when a player exits the client and re-enters the game while in the vehicle
Fixed an issue where the lobby screen was not always shown properly in 32:9 resolution
Fixed an issue where characters would sometimes have an excessive amount of instantaneous velocity when a character and vehicle collide with each other
Fixed an issue where the lobby screen would sometimes overlap each other when in low FPS
Fixed an issue where the weapons UI would sometimes overlap if you promptly change weapons twice
Fixed an issue where the marker would sometimes not be removed using 'Delete' key in Spectate mode
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the rear wheel of the motorcycle to lift up easily and flip over when lowering speed and changing direction
Fixed an issue where doors could sometimes be opened from an unreachable distance in TPP mode
- Doors will now only be opened when in reachable distance

World

Fixed an issue where vehicles could get stuck on a certain structure in Erangel
Fixed an issue where boulders in a specific area could not be seen from far distances on Erangel
Fixed an issue where bullets only went through one side of the fence on a certain bridge in Sanhok
Fixed an issue where objects in a certain location on Sanhok were missing
Fixed an issue where characters could pass through or get stuck in a certain structure in Sanhok
Fixed an issue where characters could pass through the ground in a certain location in Sanhok
Fixed an issue where characters could not get up when close to a specific boulder in Sanhok
Fixed an issue where characters could go through or get stuck in a certain location in Vikendi
Fixed an issue where bullets would not go through a certain fence in Vikendi
Fixed an issue where items could not be picked up from a specific location in Vikendi
Fixed an issue where characters could open doors from behind the wall of a certain structure in Vikendi
Fixed an issue where foliage in certain areas would look like they are floating in Vikendi
Fixed an issue that footprints would not be displayed when you jump and move on the snowfield in Vikendi

Known Issues (Test Server Update - 23rd January)

The following are known issues with Update #25 Jan 23 build on the Test Server.
- UMP skins can unintentionally be applied to the Bizon.
- BattleStat information text overlaps with the UI if you have many skins in your inventory.
- Voice chat is not working in the lobby (main menu).
  - In-game voice chat is working as normal.
- Throwables are not dealing damage to certain vehicles.
  - Players inside the vehicles will be damaged as normal.
- Skorpion is incorrectly categorized as an SMG instead of Sidearm, causing issues related to Survivor Pass missions.
- In War Mode with Platoon team setting, the remaining players UI for the Red and Blue teams are switched.

Dev Letter: Vikendi Item Spawn Rebalance

Posted: 22 Jan 2019 04:50 PM PST

Hello everyone,

It's already been a month since we released our snow-themed map, Vikendi. First of all, we'd like to thank you for all the feedback on the new map. We've seen a lot of praise for Vikendi, from the visuals, to the map layout, to the tracking aspect and we're thrilled that so many of you are enjoying what we consider to be our best map to date. During this time, we've also been collecting your bits of feedback, analyzing in-game data, and making our plan for the best way to address it all. Now that the snow dust has settled, it's time for us to unveil our findings and plan for Vikendi.

Adjusting balance is a critical task that can greatly impact the game, so thorough review and detailed analysis of feedback in crucial, especially with such new content. Even though changes aren't always made immediately, the dev team continuously reviews possible improvements based on your feedback.

As a result of these analyses and reviews, we're deploying a rework to the item spawn balance on Vikendi based on your feedback and our internal data. In this dev letter, we'd like to share more details about our initial design intentions as well as information on the adjusted loot spawn rate that is planned to deploy to the test server later today.

*The modified ratios will first be applied to the tests servers on 1/22 PDT.

Original intention of the Vikendi item spawn balance

When we first designed Vikendi, our goal wasn't to just have the same characteristics as every other map and just add snow, but rather to pursue the core elements that make PUBG fun. In other words, the ultimate goal is to make each map distinct while maintaining a balance between survival and combat throughout different environments, thus offering a wide variety of experiences to our players.

Vikendi was specifically designed with a focus on SMGs, and maximized their usability. Statistically, the spawn rate of SMGs and SMG attachments were set so they would spawn at a 7:3 ratio to ARs. This was so players could quickly arm up for combat and still allow players with SMGs to fight players with ARs on equal footing by having sufficient attachments and ammunition in early-stage combat.

Details on Vikendi item spawn rebalancing

As stated before, Vikendi was designed to focus on SMG gunplay, so our loot solution isn't to just flood the map with ARs and call it balanced. Rather, we'll be introducing our new SMG, the Bizon, while significantly reducing the spawn rate of the Tommy Gun. However, we understand that ARs are strong and versatile guns in the current state of PUBG, so we'll also be boosting the AR spawn rate a bit so they don't feel so rare. You can see our spawn balance plans for these guns below.

Decreased SMGs, increased ARs

AR (Total) | +20%
Bizon | +New Weapon
Tommy Gun | -52%

In addition to the loot changes above, we are also increasing the spawn rate of some SMG attachments so that SMGs can still be highly effective in the early game, while remaining a solid choice mid to late.

Decreased DMR, Maintaining the number of SR

DMR (Total) | -16%

DMRs are arguably the most powerful weapon in PUBG and it is no exaggeration to say that they have high utility value on the wide open snow planes of Vikendi. Therefore, with the increase in AR spawns and with the intention to try and keep close range combat a staple of Vikendi, we're slightly decreasing the amount of DMR spawns. Sniper Rifles will maintain their current spawn ratio.

Increased 4X scopes

<Indicator on scopes acquired in the first circle per map, 12/24/2018 ~ 01/05/2019, Bold bar in Graph: Item Drop Rate / Light bar: Item Pick-up Rate>

We've also received feedback that we should increase the spawn rate of high powered scopes. However, especially with the increase in ARs, we'd like to keep the rate of high powered scopes where they're at for now. As an alternative, we are increasing the spawn rate of 4X scope spawns to improved medium range combat situations while not warping the maps focus on short ranged fights.

Decreased level 3 helmets

Lv3 Helmet | -49%
Lv3 Armor | -36%

One factor that received a lot of varied feedback was the addition of Level 3 Helmets to the world loot tables instead of just in crates, making them significantly more common on Vikendi. The level 3 helmet is the only thing that can block a map-spawned SR from killing you with a single headshot, so it makes sense that the decision to make them a world spawn item was met with both equally positive and negative responses.

With the helmet being available within the map, there were fewer cases of players dying from a single sniper shot. However, towards the end of a game a large amount of surviving players would be wearing level 3 helmets. Both sides of feedback in mind, we're taking a middle-of-the-road approach and keeping level 3 helmets a world spawn for now, but cutting their drop rate in half. We're also lowering the spawn rate for the level 3 military vest by 36% to better balance out all level 3 equipment. We'll monitor these changes and keep a close eye on how they impact all phases of the game.

<Indicator on helmets acquired in the first circle per map, 12/24/2018 ~ 01/05/2019, Bold bar in Graph: Item Drop Rate / Light bar: Item Pick-up Rate>

Additional feedback showed that backpacks needed to be a little more common throughout the map, while certain SR/DMR attachments were dominating loot locations too much. The original intention of the Dev team was to let players use their weapons immediately when they looted them by making sure attachments were in abundance, since SRs and DMRs are so rare on Vikendi. With all the changes this patch, we wanted to also reduce these attachment drop rates and watch the new loot ecosystem for a while. Each has been adjusted as indicated below.

Increased backpacks, decreased SR attachments

Backpacks | +11%
SR (muzzle, magazine) | -40%

<Indicator on backpacks acquired in the first circle per map, 12/24/2018 ~ 01/05/2019, Bold bar in Graph: Item Drop Rate / Light bar: Item Pick-up Rate>

<Indicator on SRs and DMRs acquired in the first circle per map, 12/24/2018 ~ 01/05/2019, Bold bar in Graph: Item Drop Rate / Light bar: Item Pick-up Rate>

<Indicator on SR and DMR attachments acquired in the first circle, 12/24/2018 ~ 01/05/2019, Bold bar in Graph: Item Drop Rate / Light bar: Item Pick-up Rate>

We're thrilled so many of you have been willing to share your Vikendi feedback with us. We know these adjustments sometimes aren't as fast as you'd like, but we hope you understand that many factors go into the decision to make changes like this. Our next step is to define and reinforce the characteristics that make each map unique and special using many of the same methods we used here. As always, we thank you for taking the time to send us your feedback and are looking forward to your thoughts on the new balance changes. Jump into the test server, play a few matches, and let us know how it feels!

Thank you.
--The PUBG Team