Battlefield V update 6.6 goes live tomorrow — here’s what’s in it
Battlefield V‘s last update is scheduled for June, and it’s going to include at least one map. But before that, developer DICE is releasing update 6.6 tomorrow, and while it’s pretty light on content, it does bring some necessary bug fixes and vehicle balance changes.
In terms of content, DICE is adding two new Elite soldier skins in the forms of Akira Sakamoto and Steve Fisher, which players can purchase with Battlefield Currency. New weekly missions are taking the place of the game’s now-defunct Tides of War system, and players will be able to earn either Battlefield Currency or Company Coin. Last but not least, the game mode Outpost is returning for a limited time, and the Twisted Steel map will now be part of the rotation.
Otherwise, Battlefield V is getting a couple of small but notable tweaks and fixes. In terms of bugs, the current one that’s stopping players from being able to join their friends’ matches from the main menu is getting fixed in update 6.6. Once you’re in a match, spawning on squadmates is also getting slightly tweaked to prevent players from dropping in at inopportune moments. According to the update’s patch notes, squad spawns will “now be aborted when the squadmate enters Combat.” This should “prevent instant death on squad spawns” if a squadmate is in danger of getting in a firefight, and it should also prevent random enemies from spawning in right after you kill their squad mate.
Vehicle balance is also getting a little love to make ground-to-air combat a little fairer. Anti-air stationary weapons will get a 20 percent damage boost against fighters, and the velocity and accuracy of AA will be better at higher altitudes. Plane flares are also getting a significant nerf, as they “now lose effectiveness outside of visual range by tweaking the spotting radius curve” so that the “radius shrinks when the flare so the radius shrinks when the flare is outside visual range [of] 100+ meters.” In other words, players are less likely to be spotted by flares they can’t see and, thus, can’t shoot down. There are also new scoring events that will give players more points for shooting down planes, even if the enemy pilot bails out before they can confirm the kill.
Several tanks are also getting some necessary gameplay changes. The STUG IV, which has been underpowered ever since it was introduced a year ago, has gotten a buff against tanks. The British reinforcement tank, the Crocodile, is also getting a substantial damage to armor so that it’s more in line with its rival Sturmtiger’s damage.
As far as infantry tweaks, the biggest change is that the transition when scoping in with a weapon will be smoother and that players’ “sight will be blocked by the opaque scope model for a shorter time.” This change will be especially obvious to snipers using 6x scopes with the Quick ADS specialization unlocked.
Not listed in the patch notes are that default soldier uniforms are getting an aesthetic overhaul, specifically with their colors, for better historical accuracy. British default uniforms will now have a more brown tint, while German uniforms will now be a darker gray. Other promised fixes, like a team balancer and more effective anti-cheat on PC, were not mentioned in the patch notes.
If you want to read the full patch notes, you can find them on the game’s official website. This is the penultimate update before DICE drops the game’s live service updates and fully devotes itself to the next Battlefield title, which is scheduled to launch in 2021.
