Battlefield V's 6.2 update reverts the 5.2 weapon changes that made me quit the game

Battlefield V
Battlefield V (Image credit: Electronic Arts)

In a post on reddit, Battlefield V community manager Jeff Braddock went into detail on what EA and DICE are doing to un-rebalance the game back to its pre-5.2 state, following on from the 6.2 announcements a little while ago.

Next week we'll be releasing Update 6.2 that includes tweaks, adjustments, and fixes to Weapons & Gadgets, Vehicles, Soldiers, Maps & Modes, Sound, and improvements to Stability and Performance. We'll also be bringing Tank Body Customization to Battlefield V - but we have a separate Broadcast for that.We know that one of the biggest conversation topics of which we've received a plethora of feedback and data on has been the weapon changes that came with Update 5.2 / Hotfix 5.2.2. As noted in the previous Community Broadcast by Global Community Manager Adam "PartWelsh" Freeman:We will continue to operate a damage model that ensures that weapons that are designed to be lethal in close quarters will still do less damage beyond 30M than experienced in 5.0, however, we're making adjustments to the damage curves to ensure that the damage drop off doesn't feel as instant or severe. Weapons that should be more effective at range such as the Semi Auto Rifles and Pistol Carbines will have their damage drop offs extended, ensuring that they regain a purpose closer to their design and perform significantly better at range. Similar changes are also being made across MG's and AR'sUpdate 6.2 returns the base damage at range values of most weapons to those of 5.0 while maintaining a drop in ranged damage that is smaller than 5.2 or 5.2.2.

from r/BattlefieldV

In short form, DICE increased the time-to-kill or bullets-to-kill (TTK and BTK) for targets at range, making games feel slower and forcing players into close-quarters combat. The changes were near-universally unpopular, with the community accusing DICE of chasing a more "casual" audience as Battlefield V approached the busy holiday season. FG-42 took five bullets up to 13 bullets to kill at range as of 5.2, where it was between four and six bullets as of 5.0. In 6.2, they're returning it more closely to the 5.0 figures, between up to seven bullets at range.

Braddock followed up in the reddit thread numerous times, stating that the vast majority of weapons are returning to their 5.0 figures, save for a few weapons that may take an extra bullet at longer distances. Recoil will also largely return to their 5.0 figures, which should hopefully make Battlefield feel more like, well, Battlefield again.

It was odd watching the Battlefield V community react to these changes over the past few months, namely due to EA's stubbornness on the backlash. Many fan-favorite weapons played completely differently, some inconsistently, feeling like an entirely different game in some respects. I suspect EA was waiting to see how well the changes performed when it came to retaining players. It looks like it didn't pan out as they'd hoped.

Patch 6.2 is dropping next week on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. And I for one hope they bloody well leave it alone after this.

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Jez Corden
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Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!