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Call of Duty Black Ops 4 November 20th patch brings numerous balance tweaks & stability improvements

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Treyarch has released a new patch for Call of Duty Black Ops 4. According to the release notes, the November 20th update adds Nuketown to rotation in MP playlists, improves stability by fixing a number of crashes and brings numerous balance tweaks.

Furthermore, this patch comes with some PC-specific fixes/tweaks. For example, it fixes a source of hitching when video memory is full, allows players to assign the tilde key (~), removes the slight camera roll from head bobbing when sprinting, resolves multiple issues with the Gesture Wheel and updates the recommended NVIDIA driver version to 416.81.

As always, the Blizzard app (or Battlenet) will download this patch the next time you launch its client and you can find its complete changelog below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 November 20th Update Release Notes

Multiplayer

  • General
    • Nuketown added to rotation in MP playlists.
    • Updated Clan Tag and Kill Counter Weapon Prestige rewards to use an LED display for higher visibility on weapons.
    • Players can now equip Mastercraft on their Signature Weapon as soon as they acquire the Signature Weapon.
  • Playlist Updates
    • TDM 100 added to Featured Category (Team Deathmatch with a score limit of 100).
    • Mercenary Moshpit added to Featured Category (Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, and Domination, no parties allowed).
    • Hardcore Mercenary Moshpit added to Featured Category (Hardcore Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, and Domination, no parties allowed).
    • Gun Game remains in Featured Category.
    • Endurance Chaos Moshpit remains in Featured Category (PS4).
  • Stability
    • Fixed crashes that could occur:
    • When using the Reactor Core.
    • When a Firebreak player left the game after using their Reactor Core.
    • When a Nomad player left the game after using their Mesh Mines.
    • While freezing in the water in Icebreaker.
    • When piloting the Hellstorm.
    • When selecting a Specialist in the Specialist Draft.
    • When the player picked up a weapon in Multiplayer.
    • If the Transport Helicopter was destroyed while delivering a Care Package or Mantis.
    • Related to the Drone Squad’s wing-drone turrets animating incorrectly.
    • When failing to play a sound when picking up dog tags in Kill Confirmed.
    • When a player left a match while being shocked by the Tempest.
  • Scorestreaks
    • Care Package
      • Adjusted delivery chopper entry and exit points across all maps to reduce delivery times.
      • Increased the entry and exit speeds for the delivery chopper.
      • Reduced how often high-end Scorestreaks can be received in Care Packages.
      • Reduced the amount of roll on the smoke marker to ensure that the end position is a more accurate representation of where the Care Package will drop.
    • Score Adjustments
      • Dart reduced from 500 default to 450 / 350 with COMSEC Device.
      • RC-XD increased from 450 to 500 default / 400 with COMSEC Device.
      • Lightning Strike reduced from 900 to 850 default / 600 with COMSEC Device.
      • Sentry reduced from 950 to 900 default / 700 with COMSEC Device.
      • Hellstorm increased from 850 to 950 default / 750 with COMSEC Device.
      • Sniper’s Nest reduced from 1100 to 1050 default / 850 with COMSEC Device.
      • Mantis increased to 1100 default / 900 with COMSEC Device.
      • Thresher reduced from 1250 to 1200 default / 950 with COMSEC Device.
      • Attack Chopper increased from 1200 to 1300 default / 1000 with COMSEC Device.
      • Reduced score given for all Scorestreak kills from +25 to +10.
  • Game Modes
    • Hardcore
      • Teammates that die to a friendly bombsite explosion will no longer count toward the teamkill kick limit.
      • Care Package team kills will no longer count towards the teamkill kick limit.
    • Hardpoint
      • Reduced the score given for Hardpoint Secured to +50.
      • Resolved an issue that would prevent players from owning the Hardpoint while using the Lightning Strike tablet.
    • Search & Destroy
      • Silent Plant setting in Custom Games should now make planting and defusing the bomb completely silent.
    • CWL Custom Games
      • Addressed an issue where Specialist Weapons and Equipment would not update when players switched Specialists.
  • Specialists
    • Seraph’s Tac Deploy will now only allow 1 respawn per use in Free For All.
  • Challenges
    • Atomic Drop
      • The player’s death by their own Reactor Core will no longer track toward this Challenge.
    • Spotter
      • Kills in Free For All will no longer track toward this Challenge.
    • Air Cover
      • Resolved an issue where progress was not awarded in Hardpoint or Control.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Manually destroying the Tac-Deploy now gives Score.

Weapon Balance (MP Only)

Burst Tactical Rifles have been adjusted slightly to better define their role as ranged power-position weapons. With these changes in place, weapon balance on consoles is where we want it to be after the first month of changes, and we’ll allow the meta to stabilize before making additional balance passes.

  • Tactical Rifles
    • Swordfish
      • Reduced upward recoil to achieve a more accurate burst.
    • ABR 223
      • Slightly reduced upward recoil.
      • Extended 4-hit kill range from 25m to 32m.

Zombies

  • Stability
    • Global – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • While the Mystery Box loaded into the map.
      • When interacting a second time with an object that should only be used or interacted with once.
      • When an enemy climbed or mantled over railing or terrain in order to spawn into the playable space.
      • When updating player stats in the After Action Report screen.
      • When disconnecting and reconnecting the controller during a match, leaving the player stuck on the “Please reconnect controller” message.
      • After disconnects while one player was reviving another.
      • When triggering the Winter’s Wail explosion FX.
      • When a player disconnected within a certain time after joining the game.
      • When Zombies were moving away from downed players.
      • When a player was downed while using the Ragnarok DG-5.
      • When a Bot decided to kill the last enemy in the round.
      • When the player disconnected after using Point Drops and before they were picked up.
      • When a player disconnected as the Hellfire’s Infernal Tempest disappeared.
      • When a player used the Burned Out Elixir.
      • When the inventory updated while picking up an item.
      • When a player’s grenades were restored as the next round started.
      • When a player disconnected while a power-up dropped.
      • When the player disconnected from their party while in the Custom Games screen.
      • When calculating the player’s final score at the Game Over screen.
      • When interacting with the crafting table to craft any item for the first time.
      • When Dying Wish and Winter’s Wail cooldown UI elements were on-screen.
      • When updating the player’s stats and score when tracking Rush multipliers.
      • When the player disconnected while opening a door.
      • When killing Zombies with the Ragnarok DG-5.
      • When triggering Kill-O-Watt’s FX.
      • When triggering Frostbite’s FX.
      • In rare cases when Zombies spawned into the map.
    • Blood of the Dead – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • When a player disconnected as the next Hellhound round was being determined.
      • Related to the UI at high rounds.
      • While following the Warden from the cellblock during the Main Quest.
      • When a player disconnected while looking at the bird during the Main Quest.
      • When killing Zombies during the banjo ghost event in the Main Quest.
      • When the player disconnected while following the ghost dog during the Main Quest.
      • When the player disconnected while riding the gondola.
      • When player was downed as they grabbed the Magmagat from the fireplace.
      • While running the unfinished Magmagat across the map.
      • When the furthest player in the catwalk during the gauntlet event disconnected.
      • For the host during the final boss battle.
      • When a power-up was dropped.
      • When loading into Blood of the Dead.
    • Classified – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • Related to the UI at high rounds.
      • When the metal detector sounds played as the player walked through them.
      • When the player exited a teleporter.
      • When a player disconnected after being the first one to teleport into the Panic Room.
      • When a player disconnected while in a metal detector.
      • During a match of Classified Rush.
      • While the Mystery Box moved.
      • When placing the teleporter modifier while playing splitscreen with 3 or 4 players.
    • Voyage of Despair – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • When spawning enemies in the first round of the boss battle.
      • When reaching the first Stoker-spawning round with the Wonder Weapon quest disabled in Custom Mutations.
      • When using the Kraken upgrade table.
      • When the Flying Car takes damage during the Upgraded Shield Quest.
    • IX – Fixed crashes that could occur:
      • When special enemies spawned during certain parts of the Main Quest.
      • When helping other players complete their challenges.
      • When a player disconnected and their Blade Trap became deactivated.
    • Tutorial
      • Fixed a crash that could occur with Bots in the tutorial.
  • Gameplay
    • Global – Resolved issues where:
      • Text for XP earned from each challenge tier was missing from the After Action Report.
      • The player could be permanently stuck when grabbed by the Blightfather’s tongue.
      • Concoctions UI remained on screen when switching from the Laboratory to the Identity screen.
      • UI incorrectly indicated to the player that Prestige unlock tokens could be spent on permanently unlocking Custom Class slots.
      • If a Prestige Master player did not gain any XP during a match (by launching the game and immediately quitting, for example), the displayed ranks would be incorrect, the XP bar would be completely filled, and there would be no indication of how much XP was required until the next level.
    • Blood of the Dead
      • Resolved an issue where the Hell’s Retriever could not pick up a power-up when thrown at certain angles.
      • Fixed incorrect subtitles stating that the voice for obtaining power-ups is the Warden.
      • Closed an exploit in Michigan Avenue that allowed players to use the Ragnarok DG-5 to jump on the railing on the top floor.
      • Resolved a rare issue where players were unable to progress the New Industries Portal in the Main Quest, despite having a fully-drained ghost killed in the Blade Trap.
    • Classified
      • Closed an exploit in the War Room that allowed players to use the Ragnarok DG-5 to jump on a terminal.

Blackout

  • Gameplay
    • Resolved an issue causing screen jittering when moving and changing attachments, or when moving and healing.
    • Bowie Knife now available in Equipment Stashes, as a random drop from killing Zombies, and as a randomized item spawn in Zombies-themed locations on PS4.

PC

In addition to the global changes above, the following updates are coming to the game on PC later today:

Weapon Balance (Multiple Modes)

We strive to provide a similar experience between PC and console whenever possible, making platform specific changes when appropriate. In our last weapon balancing pass, we made critical SMG balance changes that were needed on console. These changes did not translate as well to PC, where mouse-and-keyboard players already saw success with SMG weapons. We’re rolling these changes back to best suit the needs of our PC community, and taking it a step even further for the Spitfire. The above changes to the Swordfish and ABR 223 also apply to PC.

  • Submachine Guns
    • Spitfire
      • Reduced damage within 9m range. (MP only)
      • Restored previous ADS move speed.
    • Cordite
      • Reduced damage within 3m range. (MP only)
      • Restored previous ADS move speed.
    • MX9
      • Reduced damage within 6m range. (MP only)
      • Restored previous ADS move speed.
    • GKS
      • Reduced damage within 3m range. (MP only)
      • Restored previous ADS move speed.

General

  • Gameplay
    • Tilde key (~) can now be assigned in the keybinds menu.
    • Removed the slight camera roll from head bobbing when sprinting.
    • Resolved multiple issues with the Gesture Wheel.
    • Updated the recommended NVIDIA driver version to 416.81.
  • Stability
    • Fixed a source of hitching when video memory is full.
    • Fixed a rare crash during the first seconds after the game window appears.

Multiplayer

  • Resolved an issue where spawn selection would not be set to the Tac-Deploy by default when available.

Blackout

  • Added an in-game UI indicator for when a Perk is being activated.
  • Resolved an issue where a Stash would close when dropping a weapon.