December 6, 2022December 6, 2022 by Michael Goroff

Battlefield 2042’s next update is launching sooner than expected—here’s what’s in it

Battlefield 2042‘s Season 3 just launched, but DICE has one more update up its sleeve before going on vacation for the holidays.

Update 3.1 will launch tomorrow, December 7th, bringing with it a map rework, three new Vault weapons, and “gameplay responsiveness improvements,” as well as the groundwork for the upcoming mid-season event.

As previously announced, the map rework coming with this update is Manifest. According to the patch notes, Manifest’s new layout will “reduce travel times and create stronger paths and frontlines” while providing “stronger themes to previously underutilized spaces.”

DICE also added three new Vault weapons with 3.1, and they’re all from Battlefield 3: the M416 assault rifle, the M240B LMG, and the M93R burst-fire sidearm. Like the rest of the Vault weapons, players will have to complete specific challenges to unlock them.

Finally, the next mid-season event will launch “in the following weeks” and will last for three weeks “with each new week introducing a new set of earnable cosmetics and new mode to play through.”

Update 3.1 marks Battlefield 2042‘s last update of the year, with its next update, 3.2, scheduled for the end of January. That one will introduce a reworked Breakaway and the highly anticipated Specialist rework. Beyond that, DICE already confirmed that 2042 will receive as Season 4 and Season 5 with new maps, new weapons, and one final Specialist.

You can find the rest of the patch notes below:

GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS

You are now able to dynamically change the zoom radius of the minimap via keybind
Improved hit registration against soldiers on moving platforms or vehicles
Resolved an issue where a vault animation could play on top of a reload animation
Further improvements to improve responsiveness around weapon deploy and undeploy animations, aiming down sight, sprint traversal and reduced the time around enter soldier movement speeds these changes will be particularly felt on animation
Improved responsiveness on transition into movement from standing still
Fixed an issue where it was possible to skip the traversal sprint recovery time
Fixed animation not playing properly when entering vehicles though entrance that is high above the ground
Resolved an issue where the Character is stuck in downed state after dying during a takedown and then getting revived
Fix a rare issue that could make the player stuck in a limbo state after dying during a takedown
Making hit reactions more pronounced to improve the shooting experience
Fixed an issue where Sundance may have a more bouncy landing via their Wingsuit than anticipated
Fixed a bug where landing with the wingsuit on a fence shortly after activating could cause lethal fall damage
Fixed an issue with Blood Splatter not appearing correctly when shooting enemy soldiers
Fixed an issue causing blood spatter effects to appear in unintended places
Added blood mist elements to the regular body and head shot impacts on soldiers to better convey that you hit an enemy
Fixed a bug where you could attach to a rope through thin walls
Fix for left hand animations breaking after entering a vehicle from traversal sprint
Fixed a bug when traversal sprinting into water could make the swimming animation break
Fixed an issue where you could sometimes see floating weapon parts after throwing a smart grenade

MAPS

Renewal

Adjusted the Capture Zone for Sector A and B to encourage a smoother flow of gameplay as an Attacker.

Kaleidoscope

Removed C1 and G1 Capture Points on Conquest Large, and merged the subsequent capture area into nearby Capture Points. The win rate was balanced towards one side unfairly with Kaleidoscope, and these changes should hopefully improve and encourage a more natural flow of play throughout

Stranded

Tweaked ticket count for Conquest to encourage a slightly longer duration of match time
Adjusted the combat area and out of bounds limits on Breakthrough, for the last sector
Defender HQ has been moved closer to the flag on Breakthrough, for the last sector
Adjusted the HQ area and out of bounds limits for the first sector on Rush
The MCOM for the first sector has been relocated out of the hanger on Rush
Made improvements to other MCOM positions to improve attacking flow for Rush
Fixed an instance of flickering terrain when in low flying aircraft around D1
Fixed the ability to hide in in-world stationary Tanks near the C1 Objective
Fixed level of detail issue on destroyed showroom screens
We’ve placed extra lubrication on the crane rails for the Shipping Container grabber inside the ship, this means it shall no longer be jittery in motion and should be much smoother!

Manifest

Fixed a rare issue that allowed grenades to fall through the ground
Resolved a visual issue where flying close to the incoming storm on Manifest would result in a black vignette around the screen
A melee attack to a chair in the office suite will no longer destroy the entire desk, we have yet to invent Adamantium as part of your arsenal loadout
Fixed audio issue where metal scaffolding throughout the level did not sound correct to its material type
Improved lighting draw distance scenarios for the Toll Station at distance
Fixed issue in FFA where players got deployed under the map on small layout
Fixed issue where enemies could be seen deploying in the same spot
Fixed issue where the Spawn Beacon could be placed after crawling under containers
Fixed issue where the lighting poles on the map remained lit after being destroyed.
Fixed an instance of lighting draw distance inside the Storage Facility

Spearhead

Further improvements to the initial spawning phase on Rush
Fixed some debris issues when the Landed Drone’s propeller was destroyed
Fixed an issue where at certain angles during the downed-state, some water sources could disappear
Fixed an issue where players were not taking damage from fire around the tire piles
Fixed issue where several entrances of the cube buildings were very darkly lit
Sealed the roof of the tunnel so rain no longer appears inside it
Fixed Printer Boxes issue where the robotic arm was still functional after the printer box got destroyed
Fixed issue where Deploy Point UI was missing from the Deploy screen on FFA
Fixed issue where a stack of four yellow tank containers were floating inside the E2 flag
Fixed issue where killcam transition to deploy screen showed the whole interior of the building when dying inside C2 & E1 buildings
Fixed some minor tree clipping issues around vents and containers
Fixed issue with movers where Ammo/Health crates would not get destroyed when a Mover passing over them
Fixed level of detail issues for base of robot arm after the yellow robots were destroyed
Fixed issue with unnatural stretched ground texture placed near the tunnel entrance
Fixed issue where it was possible to destroy the ruin state of Nordvik water tank
Fixed audio issue where the distant warfare on Spearhead was still present during end of round screen

AI

Given each AI Soldier a navigation manual that should help them through the road between Sector D and E with more ease on Spearhead
With this navigation manual, we have also told them to look out for small objects and not to get confused by them on Spearhead
Fixed an issue where AI could get stuck navigating through the Ventilator Zone on C2 and E1 on Spearhead
Given driving instructions for AI driving larger vehicles for Rush on Spearhead
Fixed issues where AIs were unable to climb ladders on Spearhead’s Capture Point E2

WEAPONS

Toggle Optics should now be listed for the NVK-NXT 2X scope in the Rorsch Mk-4 collection menu
Fixed an issue that was causing the PKS-07 to clip through the camera when equipped on the A-91
Fixed an issue that allowed the primary scope on the Rorsch Mk-4 to float slightly above the weapon on PlayStation 4
Fixed an issue where flashlights or lasers would sometimes be visible on secondary weapons and gadgets
Fixed an issue where the HUD would sometimes fail to load after switching attachments on weapons
Fixed an issue that was causing laser beams to be misplaced at different FOV values
Ensured that the sound effects are aligned with the firing of the 12M Auto
Subsonic magazine no longer interferes with other magazines ammo capacity on the VCAR
Subsonic mesh is visible when swapping from other magazines on the VCAR
Fixed an issue that was causing a broken weapon position to be displayed on the M16A3 while prone and using the M26 underbarrel attachment.
MP412 Rex now has the intended rate of fire.
AKS-74u now has the intended rate of fire.
Fixed an issue where the MP9 shooting animation while ADS would break when exiting a vehicle.
Added several missing weapon attachments to Portal.
VCAR magazines now have the intended color.
Fixed orientation of the TV 2x Sight within the icon on the AK24.
Minor VFX tweaks to the PF51
Improvements made to the Rorsch Mk-4 trail FX
An additional layer of Animation polish has been applied to the M16A3
Updated textures on the Avancys iron sights while viewing them from view
We have updated several elements of our weapons to improve the overall ‘feel’ of them. This includes work across our Reload Animations which should make all weapons, across the entire game, feel a lot more snappier and responsive.

VEHICLES

Call-in audio now plays when calling in the EMKV90-TOR
Updated the description of the Active Protection System to convey that it does not block close range projectiles
Fixed an issue where VFX was not displaying correctly when Active Protection Systems were firing
Fixed an issue where vehicles could have a repeating wet pattern on them
Fixed an issue that was preventing deployable gadgets such as the Spawn Beacon from being placed closed to either of the EBLC-RAM or EMKV90-TOR while Active Protection Systems were enabled
Fixed an issue where aiming within a tank could become problematic while looking at smoke
Parts of aircraft would sometimes animate in the wrong direction, we’ve turned them around so now they’ll be rotating on the correct axis
Fixed an issue that would allow drivers in the MAV to be able to ADS while in 1P view
Fixed an issue that was causing overheat circle to wrongly display while using the Howitzer cannon on the EBLC-RAM
Fixed an issue that was causing vehicles such as the LATV4 and LCAA Hovercraft from receiving too much damage when colliding with various objects around a map
Overheat and cooldown states are communicated with red in the crosshair HUD circle
For the MD540 Nightbird, we have lowered the ground pull effect and tweaked the force, may it be with you always
Fixed an issue when deploying into a vehicle that would cause the camera to briefly go inside the vehicle and look weird
Calling in a LCAA Hovercraft on top of a tank will propel the tank high in the sky or under the map. Physics are weird sometimes
The LATV4 has had its swole levels reduced and can no longer ram tanks (Thanks for the intel, Carpo!)
The “Unassigned” UI is no longer present in 1p view after repeatedly switching the seats on AAV-7A1 AMTRAC
Smoke Launcher VFX is now more accurately aligned across game clients
Active Protection Systems no longer block damage from C5 or AT Mines
Fixed an issue where the spotter seat on the MD540 Nightbird would only update the minimap and not provide the in-world spot
Improved behavior while flying the MD540 Nightbird with Helicopter control assists disabled
Improvements made to the VFX on fighter jets
Animated leading edge flaps on the F-35E Panther and SU-57 FELON
Updated and overhauled locking ranges and behavior of all locking weapons when laser designated
Tweaks to the vehicle HUD and crosshair, including updating alpha channels and ensuring decorative HUD elements are less visually impacting to players

SPECIALISTS & GADGETS

Fixed an issue where weapon meshes could be seen breaking after throwing Sundance’s Smart grenade
Fixed an issue where the Throwing knife was visible floating on player when being headshot with throwing knife
Fixed FPS drops when ADSing with the XM370A on Stranded and Hourglass on previous generation systems
The XM370A now has SFX for when its projectile is traveling in the air
Fixed an issue where Ammo was present in empty magazine when reloading the XM370A
Fixed a bug with Falck Stim Pistol where it could get stuck in self heal animations
Fixed a bug where players were able to resupply from ammo bags while inside a vehicle
Fixed an issue where players who were manning the Mounted Vulcan in smokes would have their animations break
Added Missing Gadget descriptions for Lis and Zain in Hazard Zone screen
Fixed issues where Players were able to spot insertion beacons through the wall
Fixed an issue where Irish shield couldn’t be deployed in tight corridors
Fixed an issue where the camera would shake when using the Raos’ Cyber Warfare Suite after switching from main weapon
Fixed an issue with Broken Hit animations when hitting Dozer while he’s using the Ballistic Shield
Fixed a bug Hacked/EMP icon was missing on enemy gadgets
Fixed situations where Paik’s EMG-X Scanner overlay does not immediately disappear when entering a vehicle
Fixed an issue where the Insertion Beacons could be seen through the floor of the building near A2 on Kaleidoscope, Conquest
Fixed a bug where the Prox Sensor grenade in-world Icon was not displayed on the grenade
Fixed a bug where Angel’s Loadout Crate were not being fully absorbed by the player and would bounce away (Eyes in the sky, people >:))
Fixed a bug where Dozer’s shield did not protect user against close range attacks
Fixed abusable behaviors where players could progress on missions by damaging and repairing their own gadget
Fixed a bug where when you would cancel self-heal with Med-Pen audio keeps playing
Fixed a bug where the player was unable to pick up Mounted Vulcan after dying/redeploying
Heal needed UI Icons are now visible for non support characters with the health create, without first having to deploy the health create
Fixed issues with Grenade throw animations not playing correctly
Fixed an issue where after fragmentation the grenades would get stuck into the ceilings
Open and character gadgets can now not be placed on top of bushes
Fixed a bug where Rocket Launchers would deal no damage on a user mid vault
World Log event messages for vehicle repair and Angels’ ammo resupply now informs who is doing the action
Fixed a bug where after exiting the OV-P Recon Drone, the Enter hint would remain displayed on the screen
Fixed an issue where Zain’s trait would trigger in vehicles with closed seats

AUDIO

Fixed an issue where requesting orders from a dead squad leader would default to MacKay
Several Voice Over improvements have been included around ping reviving and canceling pings
Airstrike voice over lines have been added
Added Audio improvements for the XM370A, including new projectile sounds for the Airburst
Fixed an issue where audio keeps playing when you cancel self-heal with Med-Pen
Fixed an audio issue when reloading after an empty reload
Fixed an issue where sound effects were not triggering when reloading the DM7 while running/walking during the first part of the reload
Added hit reaction camera shake and bullet damage sound polish
Fixed an issue where no call-in audio is played when calling in the EMKV90-TOR
Fixed an issue where distant warfare sound effects were still present during EOR screen

PORTAL

Added the S3 map, Spearhead, as an available map under the Custom Conquest Portal mode.
Added the S3 Battle Pass Weapon, Rorsch Mk-4, to the InventoryPrimaryWeapons block
Added the S3 Battle Pass Vehicle, EMKV90-TOR, to the Vehicles block
Added the S3 specialist, Zain, to the PlayerSoldiers block
Added Zain’s specialist Gadget, XM370A, to the InventoryCharacterSpecialties block
Added the S3 Battle Pass Weapon, NVK-P125, to the InventorySecondaryWeapons block
Added the S3 Battle Pass Throwable, Throwing Knife, to the InventoryThrowables block
Added the S3 Battle Pass Weapon, NVK-S22, to the InventoryPrimaryWeapons block

PROGRESSION & XP

Reviving a teammate that has requested it will now reward you with Request Fulfilled XP
Increased the XP from “Match Reward” in Hazard Zone by 50%
Increased the XP from successfully destroying an MCOM in Rush from 150 to 300
Solo & Co-Op XP Changes
Enabled all Ribbons, but at 40% XP value.
Doubled “Round Actions” XP cap, but each action gives 50% reduced XP.
In Rush, the Scoreboard now shows the correct objective icon for Attackers and Defenders
Fixed an issue with displaying the Player Levels correctly at the End of Round Progression screen
Fixed an issue where the unlock requirement progress for an already unlocked Player Card item would look like it had been reset
Fixed an issue where the wrong unlock requirement would be displayed on attachments
Fixed an issue where an item would show up as new even if you had previously unlocked it in a different way
Improved scenarios where people look like they are awarded 0 XP at end of the round