Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout beta gets solo Close Quarters playlist, armor balancing

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson Former News Editor

Published on Sept. 13, 2018

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - Blackout beta extends to PC and Xbox One players tomorrow, and ahead of opening it up, Treyarch has added new Close Quarters playlist and additional updates.

Day four of the Blackout beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is underway, and Treyarch has added more content alongside a new playlist and character updates.

The studio is also keeping an eye on various issues players have reported such as bullet penetration, merits and leveling, and pickups.

Solo players can jump into the new Close Quarters playlist from today. Here, players will get "up close and personal" using only SMGs, shotguns, handguns, and fists.

Armor received a balancing pass which Treyarch discussed previously. Level 3 Armor will now break sooner and pass more damage to the player wearing it. Level 2 Armor also received a minor adjustment. More armor tuning will come as the beta progresses.

Black Ops characters Mason, Menendez, Reznov, and Woods have been unlocked and can now tag along for the ride.

Updates made to the Blackout beta today are below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - Blackout beta updates

Playlist Update

Changed Featured playlist to Close Quarters (Solos only)

Character Updates

Mason, Menendez, Reznov, and Woods unlocked in Character menu

Miscellaneous

Enabled Killcam
General stability fixes
UI Error fix

Tuning Updates

Armor:
- Level 3 Armor will now break sooner and pass more damage to the player wearing it. It still offers headshot and other damage mitigation. Level 2 Armor was minorly adjusted as well. In a game where time between the first and second shots can be measured in milliseconds, it’s key to our design philosophy to be sure you can feel the difference between similar gameplay Items. More tuning to come here as we gather data from the Beta.
Perk Consumables:
- We’ve changed the time it takes to activate all Perks to 2 seconds. We are currently evaluating if that will be a permanent change, but we are eager to learn how much the use time of a Perk impacts how and when Perks are used.

Here's the list of Blackout issues the team is currently tracking:

Item Pickup Proximity: We’re working on making Items easier to pick up without having to look directly down at them. This is not likely to be something we can patch in the Beta, but will be available on launch day.
Footsteps: We are working behind the scenes to adjust footstep volume so that your own steps and the steps of your teammates won’t sound louder than the footsteps of your enemies. We are still investigating any issues associated with adding that to the Beta.
Perk Consumable - Awareness: Speaking of footsteps, in addition to the above, we have made and are testing changes to Awareness so that your own team’s footsteps are muted even further. We are optimistic that this one might make it in before the Beta period ends.
Bullet Penetration: We’ve seen reports of windows blocking the first shot before they’re broken, and issues with how bullet penetration might work shooting through a ceiling, but not through the floor and vice-versa. We’re on top of it, and we’ll make sure bullet penetration works as you might expect before the game releases.
Obituary (AKA: Killfeed): We’re seeing requests for better intel when your teammates are downed and killed. We didn’t quite get everything we wanted to do with the Obituary in before the Beta deadline, so expect to see a more robust set of notifications for important game activity in the final version of the game.
Merits and Leveling: Merits and level progression aren’t intended to be a meaningful part of the Beta, as none of your game stats will carry with you to the final game. Nonetheless, we are working out the bugs and improving the accuracy of stat reporting. Additionally, we’ve heard the feedback loud and clear and are actively discussing the best next steps to improve this experience.
Wingsuit/Base Jumping: We generally like that you can get to almost anywhere across the map if you dive and gather momentum during Infiltration. However, in some cases the distance that you can travel and the speed at which you can dive allows you to outpace the helicopter itself, which is not intended. We are currently evaluating revised tuning that would still let you reach nearly any Destination of your choice, but you would have to wait a bit longer until the helicopter is further along its flight path. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow night if this change can make it in before the weekend.
Collapse: We are currently testing tuning changes to the damage tick rate of the Collapse, especially in early stages. With enough basic medical supplies in your Inventory, you can currently stay out in the collapsed area of the map longer than we intended.