Major Battlefield 1 Winter Update Out Now, Patch Notes Released

Battlefield 1 is receiving its long-awaited Winter Update today, and now DICE has detailed what fans can expect to get from it. There are several big things in store, which deal with fixing bugs and improving the game’s progression systems. It had originally been set to be a smaller patch, but fan feedback lead to it becoming something else entirely.

As for what is included with the update, one of the biggest changes is the increase of the maximum class rank from 10 to 50. This is available for all of the classes in the game, from the base classes to the specialized ones. While it sounds like a big jump that might be a grind, they also confirmed that reaching milestones of 20, 30, 40 and 50 will unlock new dog tags and customization options for your kill card.

If you’re someone who has rented servers then you’ll find that you have a new kick and ban option, as well as being able to allow for map voting. Players will be able to vote for one of two possible maps on the screen with this feature turned on, allowing for a bit more player input. Don’t get your hopes up for this feature coming to official servers, as the company will not be adding the feature anytime soon. However, they did say that if the player response was positive enough, then they would consider adding it sometime down the line.

Ribbons will also be back in the mix, serving as a contrast to the current medals system. Unlike the medals that need to be selected in order to work towards their objectives, ribbons are tracked constantly and you can work towards all of them at once. There’s set to be 20 of these added to the game in the update, though more will be coming in the future.

There’s a lot more where this came from, and you can check out the complete patch notes below:

MAJOR UPDATE: RIBBONS

You will now be able to collect Ribbons as you play. There are 20 different Ribbons to collect, and each time you get a Ribbon you also receive a 300XP. The Ribbons are designed to promote good teamplay and playing the objective. If you have suggestions for other Ribbons you’d like us to add, we’re always listening! This is just the beginning.

MAJOR UPDATE: ELITE CODICES

• It is now possible to unlock an Elite Codex for eight of the available primary weapons in the game. All you need to do is get 500 more kills per applicable weapon. Not only will you get a shiny Elite Codex, but you will also be awarded 25,000 bonus XP. Not bad when you’re chasing those new Class Ranks.

MAJOR UPDATE: CLASS MAX RANKS

• The new max Class Rank will now be 50. At every 10 new Class Ranks you’ll receive a Battlepack, and when you hit 50, you will be granted some extra nice Class flair in the kill card to taunt your fallen foes. There will also be Dog Tags that you can unlock as you progress towards max Class Rank 50.

MAJOR UPDATE: SERVERS

With the Winter Update we’re releasing some highly anticipated rent-a-server features. RSP admins will now be able to kick players from their server using the in-game UI, or swing a mighty ban hammer if someone is misbehaving. RSP admins will now also have prioritized access to their server.

• On top of this, we’ve added the feature to vote for the next map after a match is over. Players on the server will get two options to vote for, and whichever alternative gets the most votes will be the next map. The options will be randomly selected from the server’s map rotation. This is done during the end of round screen, so no extra time between rounds has been added.

GAME IMPROVEMENTS

VEHICLES

• Fixed some parts of vehicles that were improperly placed in front of 1p cameras when taking or repairing damage to them.
• Fixed tank driver weapon visuals not functioning correctly for other players when the driver uses a 3p camera.
• Fixed an issue where the Heavy Tank would not show on the minimap when firing.
• Reduced the cooldown of gas abilities on vehicles from 30-32s to 25 seconds to make up for reduced gas duration.
• Fixed issue where multiple tanks could become available to a team when they shouldn’t be.

UI

• Fixed an issue where the Warbond symbol overlapped the amount of available warbonds in Arabic language.
• Fixed an issue where the kill log would be visible in the deploy screen in Hardcore mode.
• Fixed an issue where player nametag would not show in the kill log for some type of kills.
• Improved the logic for fading out crosshairs and UI when aiming down sights.
• Fixed English spelling error for magnification.
• Kit rank progress bar now becomes invisible once you reach max rank.
• Vehicle selection is now disabled while the preround countdown is running in order to provide a more fair selection process for vehicles.
• Increased the time for re-selecting invalid deploy points from 3 to 10 seconds to avoid 100% automatic reselection when squad members are under fire.
• Fixed issue where amount of warbonds could overlap UI container.
• Fixed issue where XP boost could overlap UI container.
• Fixed an issue where players would join an Operation when it had progressed too far, almost at the end.
• Improved performance in the menu system.
• Tweaked design of friends list.
• Player will now track first medal by default.
• RSP server information will now display owner of server.
• Now sorts regular servers below RSP servers in the server browser.
• Added server information in …-menu.
• Fixed a bug where joining server animation started twice when joining server.
• Fixed a bug where the user remained in hang after failing to join a server.
• Fixed a bug where the tracked medal was not highlighted.
• Fixed a bug where players were unable to see the highlighted text in end of round.
• Fixed a bug where players were prompted with “Matchmaking failed” when switching between Quickmatch modes.
• Fixed a bug where the party hub did not update party members.
• Fixed a bug where stats required reentering the weapons page to update.
• Fixed a bug where players were unable to invite to party from comcenter after booting the title via party game invite with a 6+ people party.
• Fix animation issue on personalized recommendation cards.
• Fixed a bug where personalized recommendation cards would not fade.
• Fixed a bug where the context menu was misaligned when the user clicked on it for the first time.
• Fixed a bug where the highlight was broken after the user selected a vehicle with service star in the vehicle tab.
• Fixed a bug where players were left in hang when dismissing the “Matchmaking Failed” while the “you have no scraps” prompt was active in loading screen.
• Fixed a bug where players could scroll using “R” in the comcenter on console.
• Fixed a bug where the end of round countdown stopped when quickly navigating through the tabs.
• Fixed a bug where the mouse scroll did not work in list of recommendation cards.
• Fixed a bug where content moved around in the menu when players were spamming down on the d-pad.
• Fixed a bug where players entered an unplayable state when attempting to join a game session via the Xbox friend’s tab.
• Fixed a bug where it was not possible to inspect skins in the Inventory.
• Fixed a bug where Standard Battlepack real-money price sometimes did not show up.
• Fixed 7 UI related crash bugs.
• Fixed several localization issues.

MAP ADJUSTMENTS

• Fixed an issue with floating debris after destroying a table.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a table.
• Player will no longer clip through the visual mesh of windmill interiors.
• Grenades and dynamite will no longer fall through the floor of the windmill balcony.
• Removed flickering effect on tall wooden fences.
• Destruction fixed between tall wooden fence parts.
• Fixed Conquest spawn locations on Suez. Moved one up so player no longer spawns underground, moved another out of a tree.
• Fixed issue where underwater sounds could get stuck on land.
• Fixed issue where the player could move on top of the map on Argonne Forest.
• Fixed issue where Hint Line for train did not disappear after performing indicated action or even leaving the behemoth on Conquest, Suez.

WEAPONS

• Side gun meshes weren’t rendering for 3p spectators depending on which weapon was used and if that particular seat was spectated.
• Fixed an issue with the “Tankghewehr 1918” Elite weapon replenished ammo after picking up any dropped weapon kit.
• Bayonet charge kills should now properly award service stars.
• Fixed illogical behavior when using K Bullets with the Martini-Henry.

Tweaked post reload delays to better match animations on the following weapons:

• Cei-Rigotti 0.4 to 0.6 s.
• Mondragon 0.5 to 0.5667 s.
• Selbstlader 1906 0.8 to 1.0667 s.
• Bodeo 1.1 to 1.0 s.
• Bulldog 1.0 to 1.1 s.
• Increased long reload time of Autoloading 8 .25 Extended from 2.9 to 3.066 s.
• Improved Selbstlader 1906 aimed accuracy, reduced recoil and decreased spread.

Increased horizontal recoil by 14.3%:

• Automatico Trench
• Hellriegel Factory
• M1909 Storm
• Madsen Storm
• MG15 Storm
• BAR Storm
• Increased horizontal recoil of Lewis Optical and M1909 Optical by 10% when ADS.

Reduced horizontal recoil of some self-loading rifles:

• Autoloading 8 0.6 to 0.4.
• Cei-Rigotti 0.64 to 0.56.
• M1907 SL 0.84 to 0.7.
• Upped recoil decrease of “Low Weight” SLRs from 6 to 7.
• Increased damage of the Martini-Henry between 30 and 80 meters slightly.
• Reduced the damage of impact grenades from 80 to 72″

Tweaked the damage behavior of the 12 g Automatic shotgun to balance all variants better against each other:

• Extended: Increased pellet cone from 1.6 to 1.8 degrees. Should now two hit kill a healthy target up to about 18 meters.
• Backbored: Reduced pellet cone from 1.28 to 1.2 degrees. Should now two hit kill a healthy target up to about 19 meters.
• Hunter: Reduced pellet cone from 1.28 to 1.2 degrees. Should now two hit kill a healthy target up to about 21 meters.
• All: Moved out damage dropoff by 1 m and added damage curves.
• Model 10-A Slug changes:
• Reduced aimed dispersion from 0.3 to 0.24 when stationary and from 0.50 to 0.48 when moving.
• Increased muzzle velocity from 380 to 420.
• Reduced damage against gut, arms and legs.
• Added ability to kill a healthy target with shots to the gut or upper arms within 8 meters.
• Increased lethal range from chest shots from 10 to 11 meters.
• Evened out recoil direction.
• Increased No.3 Revolver rate of fire in ADS from 119 to 138.
• Added missing tiered reloading to flash flares.
• Fixed Selbstlader 1906 and GasserM1870 last round fired animations for accuracy.
• Fixed Gasser round-in-cylinder rotation during reload loop.
• Fixed slide travel on several automatic pistols during fires and reloads.
• Fixed hammer position of Mars pistol during reload.
• Fix of Auto Revolver reload interrupt tiers and speedloader visibility.
• Removed visual recoil from ADS fire anims on Mle 1903, Pieper Carbine, 1903 Experimental.
• Fixed issue with tiered reloading in the Mle 1903.
• Corrected Frommer Stop Auto magazine capacity from 14+1 to 15+1.
• Corrected errors in moving dispersion for crouched hipfire on shotguns.
• Retune of Revolver No 3 reload audio to match new animation. Added hammer cocking to ADS firing animation.
• Retune of Luger1906 Reload Audio to match new animation.
• Automatico M1918 sometimes showed the wrong name (it was called Modello 1918 in a few places).
• The Tankgewehr now resupplies 4 rounds at once.
• Made damage of the Russian 1895 Trench and Horse drop slower to give them a slightly better 2 hit kill range.
• Retuned audio on Gasser reload to match new animation. Added hammer cock/decock to Deploy and Undeploy to match animation.

SPECTATOR

• Fixed an issue in Spectator where a 1P overlay appears for spectators viewing players in fortress guns in 3P or when spectating the artillery truck driver in 3P while the driver zooms.
• New button added in Spectator mode to view the gamer card of a spectated player.
• Added button labels to the view modes in Spectator mode for PS4/Xbox One.
• Bayonet recharged sound could trigger from any soldier on spectator clients. This should now only occur for spectated soldiers.
• Added extra check for “not team neutral” to gate announcer VO when in Spectator mode Freecam or Tabletop views.
• Added gates to Impaired Hearing Mixer, Low Health Mixer, Gas Supression Mixer to not activate for spectators in freecam/tabletop view.
• Added extra checks for Low Health and Gas Supression SFX/mixers to start if spectator enters player view while SFX/mixers should be active.
• Possession announcer VO will now not play for freecam and tabletop spectators.
• Fixes Pre-EOR music not activating for spectators (all game-modes).
• Gated “Lost Objective” VO to not play for spectators in Conquest/Operation/Domination.
• Fixed corrupted VFX when players shoot the Flare Gun in all camera modes.
• Fix for parts of the train disappearing while spectating a player in the train in 3rd person or director.
• Fixed the Spectator boundaries to be the same as the plane boundaries on Giant’s Shadow.
• Fixed a spectator bug with the behemoth icon staying at the center of the screen if you exit player view mode before it is moved to the final position at the top of the screen.
• Fixed an issue where the option “show player outlines”/Squad Pin stopped working when switching through players.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not select the numbered freecam they were just on from a drop camera.
• Fixed a bug where Battlepacks and Medals were present in loading screen when joining as Spectator.
• Fixed a bug where players did not receive the option to join friend as spectator on consoles from comcenter.

GAMEPLAY

• Improved cavalry victim experience. You should no longer get killed by cavalry using a saber from multiple meters away.
• Fixed errors where Elite Kits had unintentionally high health regeneration delays and carried too many grenades.
• Increased the threshold for suppression effects to prevent suppression from occurring too early.
• Reduced gas duration from 22 to 15 seconds.
• Tweaked suppression effects and low health visuals.
• Fixed VO issue in Rush when defenders have interacted with telegraph to send enemies coordinates.

CONTROLS

• Fixed PC custom keybindings not properly remapping for Behemoths.

NETCODE

• Reduce maximum displacement of high ping players when missing updates.
• Fixed huge extrapolation times for good connections after frame spikes.

CUSTOM GAME

• Added custom game setting to toggle Behemoth.
• Added custom game setting to toggle Squad Leader Only Spawn.

---