Black Ops 4 v1.17 patch notes – Multiplayer weapon balancing, Blackout map updates, and new weapons

At long last the fourth event in Black Ops 4 has arrived with the April 30 update bringing Operation Spectre Rising to live servers on PlayStation 4.

As a follow up to the Operation Grand Heist event, Treyarch is once again giving a healthy load of content to all the main pillars of the game including Multiplayer, Blackout and Zombies.

Following suit with the April 29 reveal trailer, Black Ops 4 is getting everything from a new Specialist to long-awaited game modes finally being introduced to the current iteration for Call of Duty.

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TreyarchThe next Operation release will unleash a deadly shadow to Multiplayer and Blackout.

Spectre arrives to Black Ops 4

PlayStation 4 users will be able to play as the “mysterious and deadly liquidator” as of the v1.17, and the assassin is bringing tons of new ways to dominate in Black Ops 4.

Equipped with the Shado Blade, Spectre will be able to hack and slash through foes while rolling and backflipping away from enemy gunfire. When using the Shadow Blade, the player’s camera will change to a third-person point of view to get a better grasp of who will be the next victim.

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Spectre has a Special Issue Equipment in the form of a Smoke Grenade that will disable enemy aim-assist if caught within the smoke, while outlining them so Spectre could zero in on the targets.

Blackout gets flooded in Wetworks

The new update will also give PS4 users access to the new Wetworks map event in Blackout. Since the Hydro Dam exploded, various areas of the Blackout terrain has been flooded opening new dimensions of combat.

Specific locations affected by Operation Storm Rising’s events are the Hydro Dam, Factory, Cargo Docks, Hijacked and the farm located next to Firing Range.

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TreyarchThe new changes to Blackout will have players fighting in familiar locations but with new ways to engage on an enemy.

Weapon balances and Scorestreak tweaks

There have been a plethora of changes throughout popular weapons in Multiplayer like the Daemon, Saug and more, while some fixes are only coming to console versions of the game.

Most weapon changes are going to increase the shot range as more bullets reign in, so players will definitely want to test out the updates before getting into a match.

Some players might not like seeing the Saug getting nerfed again, but this time Treyarch has dialed down the ADS move speed on Stock II.

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Meanwhile, players will be happy to see that all their points to activate the UAV won’t go to waste anymore as the duration for the reward has been increased a full 30 seconds. Similarly the Counter-UAV duration has been changed to 30 seconds to reflect the UAV buff.

TreyarchThe update is bringing in Spectre to Blackout for the Bounty Hunter mode.

New Game Modes

Blackout will be welcoming Bounty Hunter, where players will be able track down Spectre Stashes that contain the Shadow Blade. Upon equipping the blade, they player will turn into Spectre.

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The new mode in Blackout is sure to rejuvenate the battle royale for some players, especially with Humiliations now in the game.

Unfortunately, players will have to wait until the weekend on May 3 to try out the new Prop Hunt mode. Treyarch have pushed back the launch of the hide and seek mode just a bit to perfect it for when players get their hands on the mode.

There’s a heap of content to sift through from the April 30 update so make sure to check the patch notes courtesy of Treyarch.

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Here’s the full list of what’s new this week in Operation Spectre Rising:

  • Multiplayer
    • Spectre playable in MP and Blackout after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market (PS4).
    • 3 Black Ops Pass Multiplayer maps: Masquerade, Artifact, and WMD (PS4).
    • Tuning changes for SMGs, Specialist, and Scorestreaks.
    • Search & Destroy bug fixes.
  • World League Hub
    • Players who leave matches are now temporarily banned for a brief amount of time. The more suspensions a player accrues, the longer their ban will be.
    • Players now lose more points when they leave a League Play match.
  • Blackout
    • “Wetworks” map update now live in Blackout, flooding several areas of the map (PS4).
    • Bounty Hunter mode now live in Blackout (PS4).
    • DART now available to find and equip in Blackout (PS4).
    • Uncle Frank character now playable for Black Ops Pass holders (PS4)
    • Weapon tuning and Mesh Mine updates.
    • Alcatraz map improvements to gameplay flow and layout now live in Blackout.
  • Zombies
    • New “Super Blood Wolf Moon” Gauntlet (PS4).
    • New Tigershark LMG added to Mystery Box (PS4).
    • Classic Elixir Restock feature now places a Classic Elixir into an empty Elixir slot.
    • Improvements to the Winter’s Wail Perk.
    • Halved Camo kill requirements for weapons only obtainable through the Mystery Box.
    • Gameplay improvements for “Dead of the Night” and Mystery Box.
    • Various gameplay and stability improvements.
  • Black Market
    • 50 Tiers with new Contraband items to earn.
    • New Death Effects and Weapon Charm item types added to Contraband.
    • New weapons in the Contraband stream: Tigershark LMG and Nifo’Oti melee weapon.

The following is now live on PS4, with other platforms to follow.

MULTIPLAYER

  • Specialists
    • Spectre
      • Unlocked at Tier 1 in the Black Market during Operation Spectre Rising.
      • Specialist Weapon: Shadow Blade.
      • Special Issue Equipment: Smoke.
  • Black Ops Pass Maps
    • Masquerade, Artifact, and WMD added to rotation in Core and Hardcore playlists for Black Ops Pass holders.

BLACKOUT

  • Wetworks Map Update
    • An explosion at Hydro Dam has flooded the map, affecting several areas in Blackout.
    • Hydro Dam, Factory, Cargo Docks, Hijacked, and the farm near Firing Range have been transformed, allowing for new types of engagements and new avenues for water-based vehicles to turn the tides of battle.
  • Bounty Hunter Mode
    • Drop in and find the beacons of light that indicate new Spectre Stashes, which contain the Shadow Blade and other valuable items, including Level 3 Armor, Smoke, stealth-related Perks, and Trauma Kits.
    • Equipping the Shadow Blade transforms the player into Spectre, giving them unique skills including increased movement speed, the ability to see digital footprints of nearby enemies, and full third-person camera perspective.
    • Spectre can carry both the Shadow Blade and a normal weapon. When the normal weapon is equipped, Spectre will return to first-person view.
    • With each new Collapse, players with the most kills will be marked as Bounty targets that only Spectre can see.
    • Eliminate the target or survive the Bounty attack to be rewarded with a Supply Drop on your position.
    • Unique to Bounty Hunter, players can also perform Humiliations on downed enemies. These are fatal finishing moves to end an opponent in dramatic fashion.
    • Last team standing wins the game.
  • Equipment
    • DART
      • DART now available to find and equip in Blackout.
      • Use for a bird’s-eye view of your opponents and detonate the DART on command or when it hits its target.
  • Black Ops Pass Content
    • Uncle Frank character now playable for Black Ops Pass holders.

ZOMBIES

  • Gauntlets
    • Super Blood Wolf Moon
      • New Gauntlet now available for “Dead of the Night” featuring 30 unique challenges.
  • Weapons
    • Tigershark LMG added to the Mystery Box.

GLOBAL

  • Black Market
    • Weapon Charms are now available in Blackjack’s Reserves and can be equipped on weapons through the Weapon Personalization menu.
    • Death Effects are available in Blackjack’s Reserves and can be equipped on weapons through the Weapon Personalization menu. Death Effects play when shooting an enemy and are only visible during first-person, Best Play, and Killcam.

MULTIPLAYER

  • Weapons
    • GKS
      • Increased 5-shot range from 5 meters to 7.5 meters.
    • MX-9
      • Increased 5-shot range from 7 meters to 7.5 meters.
      • Slightly increased 5-shot range damage.
    • Daemon 3XB
      • Created a 5-shot range out to 7.5 meters.
      • Increased 6-shot range from 11.5 meters to 19 meters.
      • Increased 7-shot range from 19 meters to 25 meters.
      • Increased 8-shot range from 25 meters to 32 meters.
    • Switchblade X9
      • Increased 5-shot range from 2.5 meters to 7.5 meters.
      • Increased 6-shot range from 16.5 meters to 19 meters.
      • Increased 7-shot range from 19 meters to 25 meters.
      • Increased 8-shot range from 24 meters to 32 meters.
    • Saug 9mm
      • Stock II: Slightly reduced move speed during ADS.
    • Cordite (consoles only)
      • Increased 5-shot range from 4 meters to 7.5 meters.
      • Increased 6-shot range from 16.5 meters to 19 meters.
      • Increased 7-shot range from 22 meters to 25 meters.
      • Increased 8-shot range from 26.5 meters to 32 meters.
    • Spitfire (consoles only)
      • Increased 6-shot range from 7.5 meters to 8 meters.
    • Miscellaneous
      • Closed an exploit where players could fire faster than intended from sprint by starting a slide, then immediately firing.
  • Specialists
    • Nomad
      • Increased cooldown time for Mesh Mine.
    • Ajax
      • Increased cooldown time for 9-Bang.
    • Torque
      • Increased cooldown time for Razor Wire.
    • Ruin
      • Grav Slam’s kills no longer feed its ability meter to be consistent with other Specialist Weapons.
    • Firebreak
      • Reactor Core kill notifications now take up less screen space.
  • Scorestreaks
    • UAV
      • Duration increased to 30 seconds.
    • Counter-UAV
      • Duration increased to 30 seconds.
    • Drone Squad
      • Damage increased for lead and buddy drones.
      • Minimum and maximum burst fire times increased for lead and buddy drones.
      • Drone clip size increased.
    • Mantis
      • Reduced the amount of time the Mantis can be temporarily disabled.
      • Increased the damage threshold for temporarily disabling the Mantis.
  • Game Modes
    • Search & Destroy
      • Addressed an issue where players would see teammates as enemies if the last player died to a bomb detonation.
      • Addressed an issue where the briefcase bomb could reduce bullet damage.

WORLD LEAGUE HUB

  • Match Leave Penalties
    • Players will now be banned for a brief amount of time after leaving a League Play match. The more suspensions a player accrues, the longer their ban will be.
    • Players will also now lose more points when they quit League Play matches.
  • Weapons
    • Melee weapons have been restricted.
  • Scorestreaks
    • Attack Chopper
      • Rockets required to destroy the Attack Chopper reduced to 2 including the flare.
    • Gunship
      • Rockets required to destroy the Gunship reduced to 2 including the flare.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Addressed an issue that allowed 6 players in a 5-player party.
    • Addressed an issue in the Event End notification that displayed Top 10 when players finished in the Top 5.

BLACKOUT

  • Alcatraz
    • Various environmental updates and mantling improvements added to aid player traversal.
    • Lighthouse foghorn sound effect added at the end of each wave spawn delay timer.
    • Addressed an exploitable area in the Alcatraz map.
  • Weapons
    • Mozu
      • Increased close range damage.
      • Increased headshot multiplier.
    • VKM 750
      • Reduced recoil.
      • Additional recoil reduction during the first 4 shots.
    • Hades (Gold)
      • Reduced hits to kill from 6 to 5.
      • Increased maximum damage range.
      • Replaced 4x Scope with 2x Scope.
  • Equipment
    • Mesh Mines
      • Increased visibility of visual FX to make Mesh Mines easier to spot.
  • Personalization
    • Character personalization and selection will now be shared between Blackout lobby and Blackout Custom Games.

ZOMBIES

  • Classic Elixir Restock
    • Empty Elixir slots will now be filled with a randomly-chosen Classic Elixir during a match.
    • Classic Elixirs will be placed into any empty slots at the start of a match.
    • Team-friendly Elixirs like “Nowhere But There!” have a greater chance of being chosen when playing in co-op matches.
  • Gameplay
    • Dead of the Night
      • Werewolves now spawn less frequently and take more damage when weak points are hit.
      • Adjusted the base health of the Nosferatu and reduced the maximum and minimum number of Nosferatu spawns per round.
      • The Crimson Nosferatu now spawns less frequently, summons reinforcements less frequently, and has lower base health.
      • Removed zombie speed increase that occurs when the Sentinel Key is acquired.
    • Mystery Box
      • Removed some of the Wall Buy weapons from the Mystery Box.
      • Prevented duplicates occurring in consecutive Mystery Box weapon pulls.
      • Reorganized Mystery Box probabilities by weapon tier.
  • Perks
    • Winter’s Wail
      • Now fully recharges with Max Ammo and at every round completion.
      • Will only proc if the player is not at full health in order to reduce the number of times it activates.
      • On Realistic difficulty, Winter’s Wail will still activate on contact since players will rarely survive more than one hit.
      • Players will now gain one charge every 60 seconds.
      • Increased base maximum charges to 3. Modifier charges increased to 4.
  • Camo Requirements
    • Halved Camo kill requirements for weapons only obtainable through the Mystery Box to make them more attainable.
  • Server Pause
    • Addressed an issue where, if a player left a match during a Server Pause, their character model would remain in-game for an extended time.
    • Addressed an issue where players could move during a Server Pause.
    • Addressed an issue where initiating Server Pause could cause players to lose connections to the host.
  • Host Migration
    • Addressed an issue where, if a Host Migration occurred at the beginning of a public match, the wave would unintentionally proceed after the migration ended.
    • Addressed an issue where, if the host used Quacknarok and left, the effect would remain after the Host Migration.
  • After Action Report
    • Addressed an issue where the Rewards section of the Custom Mutations After Action Report would show rewards earned from the previous public or private match.
    • Addressed an issue where incorrect information could display in the After Action Report after a player left after a Host Migration.
  • Visuals
    • Ancient Evil
      • Addressed various visual issues that could occur during natural gameplay, the Main Quest, and the Outro Cutscene.
      • Pack-a-Punch Runes are now correctly aligned for the Wonder Weapon Pack-a-Punch Quest.
      • Addressed an issue where the Pegasus Strike did not appear correctly in third-person when the player was holding the Equipment button.
  • Custom Mutations
    • Global
      • Fixed multiple issues related to the Enhanced Only setting in Custom Mutations.
    • Ancient Evil
      • Addressed an issue where players could be prevented from progressing past the first round in Custom Mutations.
      • Addressed multiple issues related to the Equipment and Regen Speed settings in Custom Mutations.
  • Weapons
    • Saug 9mm
      • Stock II: Slightly reduced move speed during ADS.
  • Stability
    • Ancient Evil
      • Fixed a crash that could occur if players killed a Blightfather during the initiation for a Wonder Weapon.
      • Fixed a crash that could occur after players destroyed the final statue while inside the Charon Charge Attack during the Main Quest.
      • Fixed a crash that could occur after players shoot all Chaos Crystals off of a tree during the Gaia Wonder Weapon Quest.
    • Blood of the Dead
      • Fixed a crash that could occur when firing the Spectral Key and changing targets.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Global
      • Addressed an issue where power-ups and special round Max Ammo could drop outside of the playable area.
      • Addressed an issue where using an Elixir while shooting the Shield’s Pistol could result in the Elixir’s ability not activating.
      • Addressed an issue that prevented Shields from receiving ammo from Max Ammo power-ups.
      • Addressed an issue where, if a player had Mule Kick from the Secret Sauce Perk and lost it, they could not get Mule Kick again unless it was in that same slot.
      • Addressed an issue where Perk descriptions would not update when hovering over Perks equipped to Altars in the Create-a-Class menu.
    • Ancient Evil
      • A prompt now lets the player know they are unable to pick up a Dormant Hand when already holding a Wonder Weapon.
      • Players can no longer accidentally cancel the Pegasus Strike when repeatedly pressing the Equipment button.
      • When fast-travelling with Bots, the Bots will no longer disrupt player movement.
      • Addressed various issues relating to voiceover being interrupted and incorrect subtitles being played.
      • Addressed an issue where, if a player died and entered spectate with a Tribute reward available, their progress could be reset upon returning.
      • Addressed an issue where, if a player used the charge attack with the Hand of Ouranos or Hand of Hemera, the channeling animation would play but nothing would happen.
      • Addressed an issue where a player could be in the Shadow’s Bank and get stuck by receiving help from other players.
    • Classified
      • Addressed an issue where zombies could get stuck pathing in Groom Lake.

GLOBAL

  • Weapons
    • Bullets that travel underwater will now inflict reduced damage.
    • Fixed an exploit where players could fire faster than intended from sprint by starting a slide, then immediately firing.
    • Selecting a weapon that has a Signature Weapon available will now display both the base and Signature Weapon to choose from.
  • Black Market
    • Gestures and Tags are no longer character-specific, and the UI has been updated to start with the Slot assignment.
    • Gestures, Tags and Jump Packs in Blackout can be now be accessed from the Extras menu in the Lobby.
  • Personalization
    • Gestures and Tags can be played in the Lobby in Multiplayer, World League Hub, and Blackout.
    • Outfit personalization can now be accessed from the Specialist button in the lobby in Multiplayer and World League Hub.
    • Outfit personalization will now be shared between Multiplayer and World League Hub in Custom Games in each mode.
  • UI
    • “Clear All Markers” has been moved to the right stick button on consoles.
    • Player Prestige Master level number is now Gold.
    • Tier Reward animations are faster in the After Action Report.

-Treyarch