CoD: Black Ops 6 Beta Patch Notes Detail Much-Needed Jackal PDW Nerf And More

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades under my belt, I can wholeheartedly appreciate the dedication and transparency shown by Treyarch in their approach to Black Ops 6‘s spawn system and map design. They’re striving for that perfect balance between predictability and excitement, ensuring we engage head-on with our opponents while having enough time to strategize before the fight.


Starting today, I dive back into the action for the final week of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta! A surprise game update has dropped early, and here’s what’s new:

During the second weekend, the level limit increases from 20 to 30, allowing players to utilize a wider array of weapons, scorestreaks, abilities, and gear in Black Ops 6. This upgrade encompasses well-liked features such as Ninja, Cold-Blooded, and Fast Hands perks.

A change is coming to the swap speeds for all weapons. The weapon-drop time was reduced for sniper rifles by 100ms, while weapons in all other classes were reduced by 50ms. Treyarch says players looking for an even quicker weapon swap should try out the Fast Hands strategist perk.

CoD: Black Ops 6 Beta Patch Notes Detail Much-Needed Jackal PDW Nerf And More

For the second week, the speed at which different types of weapons move has been slightly altered. The developer explains that these changes are minor tweaks to the initial movement speeds across all weapon classes, ensuring they maintain a balanced position in relation to each other. These adjustments encompass both regular movement and aim-down-sights (ADS) movement speeds, factors that significantly influence combat interactions.

Treyarch is careful not to make the game overly fast, instead they plan to keep checking game statistics and player opinions for potential improvements.

A new modification has been made to enhance the swiftness of close-quarter combat sprint speeds, encouraging players to use their specialized melee weapons for navigating the map more efficiently. This way, melee players can close the gap and keep pace with opponents wielding ranged weapons.

During the initial weekend of beta testing, the Jackal PDW submachine gun was the standout performer. However, developers Treyarch admitted it was excessively powerful at medium distances. To balance things out, they’ve made some adjustments: increasing damage falloff, reducing the effective damage range, and slightly boosting recoil. On the other hand, players will now have a new weapon to explore in week two – the Tanto .22 submachine gun, offering another choice for those preferring submachine guns.

The way spawns appear in the game has been modified following the input received during the first week. Treyarch has fine-tuned the overall spawn mechanism to allow for more appropriate spawn points, and also adjusted the spawn system across multiple maps with the aim of decreasing frequent spawn switches.

The full patch notes can be seen below, as shared by Activision.

Here are some recommended Black Ops 6 settings to try for the beta. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 releases on October 25.

In this article, we at TopMob had a chance to play around with the multiplayer mode of Black Ops 6 and the future Area 99 map for Warzone. Here’s what we thought about the game’s innovative new movement system after our initial experience.

GLOBAL

PROGRESSION

  • Level Cap increased to 30. New content available to unlock:
    • Level 21:
      • Blast Trap (Lethal Equipment)
      • Scavenger (Perk – Enforcer)
    • Level 22:
      • Interceptors (Scorestreak)
      • Fast Hands (Perk – Strategist)
    • Level 23:
      • Sleeper Agent (Field Upgrade)
      • Cold-Blooded (Perk – Recon)
    • Level 24:
      • Combat Axe (Lethal Equipment)
      • Tac Mask (Perk – Strategist)
    • Level 25:
      • DM-10 (Marksman Rifle)
    • Level 26:
      • Gunfighter (Wildcard)
      • Forward Intel (Perk – Recon)
    • Level 27:
      • Gearhead (Perk – Strategist)
    • Level 28:
      • Decoy (Tactical Equipment)
      • Ninja (Perk – Recon)
    • Level 29:
      • Chopper Gunner (Scorestreak)
    • Level 30:
      • Tanto .22 (SMG)
  • New Rewards available to unlock:
    • Level 23: “The Truth Lies” Loading Screen
    • Level 27: “Beta Expert” Animated Calling Card
    • Level 30: “Bug Smasher” XM4 Weapon Blueprint

MULTIPLAYER

WEAPONS

WEAPON SWAP SPEEDS

Based on your input regarding the weapon swap speeds, we concur with your suggestions. To enhance this aspect, we’re planning to decrease the drop times of all weapons uniformly, thereby boosting the overall speed at which you can switch weapons. For those seeking an even swifter swap speed, consider experimenting with the Fast Hands Strategist Perk during Week 2 of the Beta.

  • Assault Rifle, SMG, Shotgun, LMG, Marksman Rifle, Pistol, and Launcher drop times reduced by 50ms
  • Sniper drop times reduced by 100ms

MOVEMENT SPEEDS

To ensure that the movement speeds of all weapons are appropriately balanced, we’re fine-tuning minor adjustments. Our primary focus has been on base movement speeds and ADS (Aim Down Sights) speeds, as these factors significantly impact combat situations.

In summary, we’re satisfied with the weapon class usage and performance during Beta Weekend 1, particularly the swift movement pace of SMGs. Therefore, we won’t make any changes to SMGs and aim to enhance other classes instead. We’re cautious about making the game too fast-paced and will closely watch game data and your feedback for further adjustments.

A key modification in this update concerns the speeds of Melee Sprints. Our aim is to motivate players to use their Special Melee Weapons as a method for moving across maps quickly. Additionally, we want Melee users to be able to catch up with players using ranged weapons who are sprinting, especially during surprise Body Shields and Finishing Moves.

Movement Speed Adjustments

Weapon Category Adjustments

Assault Rifles

  • ADS Crouch Speed increased from 1.75m/s -> 1.88m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 4.14m/s -> 4.29m/s
  • ADS Move Speed increased from 3.07m/s -> 3.23m/s

SMGs

  • Crouch Speed increased from 2.31m/s -> 2.77m/s

Shotguns

  • ADS Crouch Speed increased from 1.63m/s -> 1.75m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 4.14m/s -> 4.29m/s
  • ADS Move Speed increased from 3.07m/s -> 3.23m/s

LMGs

  • ADS Crouch Speed increased from 1.14m/s -> 1.3m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 3.71m/s -> 3.86m/s
  • ADS Move Speed increased from 2.31m/s -> 2.46m/s

Marksman Rifles

  • Crouch Speed increased from 2.41m/s -> 2.49m/s
  • ADS Crouch Speed increased from 1.37m/s -> 1.55m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 3.76m/s -> 3.99m/s
  • ADS Move Speed increased from 2.9m/s -> 3m/s

Sniper Rifles

  • Crouch Speed decreased from 2.41m/s -> 2.31m/s

Pistols

  • Crouch Speed decreased from 2.9m/s -> 2.84m/s
  • ADS Crouch Speed increased from 1.88m/s -> 2.24m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 4.47m/s -> 4.52m/s
  • ADS Move Speed decreased from 3.94m/s -> 3.81m/s

Launchers

  • Crouch Speed decreased from 2.44m/s -> 2.18m/s

Melee

  • Crouch Speed increased from 2.9m/s -> 2.95m/s
  • Jog Speed increased from 5.16m/s -> 5.31m/s
  • Sprint Speed increased from 6.93m/s -> 7.16m/s
  • Super Sprint Speed increased from 8.41m/s -> 8.66m/s
  • Move Speed increased from 4.47m/s -> 4.62

Weapon Adjustments

SMG Adjustments

Weapon Adjustments

Jackal PDW

  • Decreased Maximum Damage from 29 -> 26
    • Decreased Maximum Damage range from 15.24m -> 14.61m
  • Decreased Near-Medium Damage from 23 -> 22
    • Decreased Near-Medium Damage range from 22.86m -> 17.78m
  • Decreased Medium Damage from 22 -> 18
    • Decreased Medium Damage range from 29.21m -> 26.04m
  • Decreased Minimum Damage from 19 -> 15
  • Small increase to view kick strength and view kick deviation.
  • CHF Barrel
    • Headshot multiplier improved from 1.2 -> 1.4

The Jackal PDW excels in maneuverability and control among its peers, but it lags behind in terms of firing speed versus other automatic weapons in the game. Due to its overperformance at medium distances, we’ve boosted damage drop-off and reduced the effective ranges slightly, as well as introducing a minor recoil increase. The Maximum Damage and CHF Barrel headshot multipliers have been tweaked to preserve the same kill potential when using these attachments.

C9

  • Increased medium damage range from 25.4m -> 27.31m

We believe the C9 is ideally positioned as a versatile Submachine Gun due to its robust firing rate. Compared to other Submachine Guns, it has greater horizontal recoil, so we’ve enhanced its mid-range damage drop-off area for better performance at moderate distances.

Marksman Rifles Adjustments

Weapon Adjustment

SWAT 5.56

  • Disabled burst fire queuing, which was queuing an additional burst if the fire input was activated at any time during the previous burst or the burst cooldown.

This is a minor change to improve control with the Swat 5.56 (and any future burst weapons).

ATTACHMENTS

  • The Rapid Fire attachment now correctly displays its recoil penalty con. The attachment description has also been updated to indicate the tradeoff.

MAPS

General

  • Adjusted general spawn logic to enable additional valid spawns under certain scenarios.
  • Adjusted spawn logic across several maps with the goal of reducing a high frequency of spawn flipping.

In our game, a “problematic respawn” is when a player gets hurt or inflicts harm during the initial 3 seconds after being resurrected. This principle forms the basis for creating the respawn system and remains constant across all maps and game modes. We monitor this statistic, alongside others, to detect high rates of unfavorable respawns in Black Ops 6. So, if you took or dished out damage within the first 3 seconds during Weekend 1 of the Beta, we’ve got it on record.

For instance, during Week 1, the Core Moshpit entry with the most unfavorable spawn rate was Domination on Skyline, where approximately 4 out of every 100 spawns resulted in damage being inflicted or received within a 3-second timeframe, amounting to a 4.2% rate. Although we’re content with our overall statistics, we acknowledge that averages encompass both good and bad instances. As this game progresses, we will persistently monitor and address any areas of concern.

In Black Ops 6, we aim to create a spawning system that is consistent across all games in the series. We understand that everyone has their unique perspective on what makes a good or bad spawn, and it’s not just about combat scenarios. For instance, did you find yourself too far away from the Hardpoint, or why were you constantly respawning on the same side as your enemies? The layout of spawn points in a map significantly impacts the rhythm of the gameplay. Our objective is to design a system that places you strategically near opponents for an engaging encounter while ensuring you have enough time after respawning to make informed decisions, taking into account the time needed before being thrust into a battle that might not be optimal yet.

For Weekend 2 of our Open Beta, we’ve adjusted general spawn logic and have targeted multiple maps with additional tuning changes with the goal of improving predictability and time to engagement. We know we have some work to do and will continue to process our data, evaluate your feedback, and play the game with you all to draw our own conclusions on how to continue making positive progress.

SCORESTREAKS

  • RC-XD
    • Improved handling and general usability.
  • Watchdog Helo
    • Increased base health.
  • Hellstorm
    • Increased Cluster Bomb damage radius.

EQUIPMENT

  • Lethal Equiptment
    • Thermo Grenade
      • Reduced explosive ignition delay.

MOVEMENT

  • Slight increase to the time to enter prone or supine during a slide.
  • Slight increase to all mantle speeds.
  • Slight decrease to time before movement is allowed after landing from a Dive to Prone.
  • Slight increase to Dive to Prone landing friction.

PROGRESSION

  • Weapon XP
    • Increased awarded Weapon XP, which will decrease the amount of time needed to gain Weapon Levels. The Weapon XP speeds observed in Weekend 1 were slower than expected.
  • Daily Challenges
    • Fixed an issue that was causing the Daily Challenge countdown timer to display the incorrect reset time.
    • The “Get 50 Eliminations with the Recon Perk Specialty equipped” Daily Challenge will now track progress correctly.
  • General
    • Beta Rewards earned in a match will now appear in the After-Action Report.

AUDIO

  • Increased player weapon firing audio volume.
  • Additional footstep audio adjustments.
  • Reduced audio levels for impact sounds when taking damage.
  • Resolved an issue where Shotguns could play more than the intended number of hit impact sounds.
  • Resolved an issue where explosion sounds would not play during normal gameplay.
  • Resolved an issue where some sounds were not playing during Best Play.
  • Reenabled a previously disabled audio occlusion system on PlayStation 5.

BEST PLAY

  • Adjustments to underlying Best Play logic which will result in more varied and interesting Best Play selection.

UI

  • Improved stability throughout various menus and HUD.
  • Addressed various localization issues.

SETTINGS

  • Users should no longer encounter issues when switching their ADS Transition Timing to ‘Instant’, when using keyboard and mouse.

GENERAL

  • Increased the duration of the Lobby Vote before matches to give players a better opportunity to participate in the vote when returning to the lobby after a completed match.
  • Reduced the amount of camera motion in the Dynamic Deathcam.

STABILITY

  • Improved stability in Skyline.
  • Improved stability in Training Course.
  • Improved general server-side stability.

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2024-09-06 19:09