DICE outlines changes for next major Battlefield 1 update

Game developer DICE laid out the upcoming changes introduced by the Battlefield 1 May Update in a live stream. Users of tanks, planes and bayonet charges will have a harder time. It also makes Operations mode more accessible.

The bayonet charge is a tricky point for some players. As it stands, a player gains extra resistance to damage when placing a charge and there is no limit to how sharp the turns he can make during that charge. So a player can easily sprint around a 90 degree angle with his bayonet. To limit this, players will soon be able to turn a maximum of 50 degrees after placing a charge and they will no longer be able to step sideways, or punish. The damage limitation is completely removed.

To increase the challenge for pilots, DICE has decided that in-game anti-aircraft guns can no longer be destroyed as of the update. Instead, it can only be turned off, after which an engineer will have to fix it. In addition, the anti-aircraft guns will soon be able to absorb twice as much damage before they are ‘broken’. The range of these weapons will also be increased when they are actually aimed at aircraft.

In order to bring more attention to the Operations game mode, its lobbying system is being addressed. Players doing Operations will not only switch sides after the update, but the teams will progress through all Operations levels instead of staying constant.

Planes will soon be given the opportunity to look behind them with a free look. In addition, the dogfighter aircraft type gets a second ammunition on board that can set other aircraft on fire for a quick shutdown.

The self-repair of the A7V, FT17, St. Chamond and Pierce Arrow tanks is being curtailed. The health points that a self-repair yields go from 320 to 200. However, a repair will take 5 seconds instead of 8.

To combat lag, DICE has decided that players with a ping of 130ms or higher will face server-side hit detection. It used to be 100ms. This applies to the US and Europe.

Finally, the ticket count in Domination jars goes from 100 to 200 because otherwise matches are sometimes much too short, the shaking of the camera due to explosions can be limited in the future, support players will soon see icons that indicate whether a team member needs ammunition and user-generated content such as avatars, clan names and emblems will soon be disabled.

DICE detailed the changes in a live stream that lasts over an hour, but the authors of pvplive.net have neatly listed the changes for those who would rather read than watch. It also describes other smaller changes.

This update for the game will be released no later than Tuesday, May 30. It appears that DICE has already completed its work on this, but is awaiting approval from Sony and Microsoft for release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. DICE will probably wait to publish the PC update so as not to penalize console players.