PUBG PC update 21 brings training mode to test servers, adds new weapon, vehicle, weekly challenges, more
A big and feature-rich update was released earlier today for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on PC.
Available now on PUBG test servers and clocking in at over 8GB in size, patch 21 brings a host of previously announced and surprise new additions. The expanded shooting range, now a fully fledged training mode, is the highlight.
This 2x2Km zone not only includes shooting ranges for various distances, it also has a parachute landing practice area, parkour area, CQC course, and two vehicle tracks. All of the game's items, weapons, and vehicles are also available for everyone to test freely.
The training mode is accessible through the main lobby, but quite unfortunately, it's not an offline mode you can launch any time. Instead, you'll have to queue up for it through matchmaking in the same way you currently do for regular matches. A training mode "session" won't start immediately unless there are five or more players queuing up.
This is not a solo zone, either, the players you queue up with will be present in the zone when you load in, for up to 20 players per session. Your time is also limited to 30 minutes per session, but the good news is that you can't die in training mode.
The new content portion of the patch continues with the addition of a new 7.62mm assault rifle: the MK47 Mutant, the Tukshai vehicle for Sanhok, and the laser sight attachment. The MK47 Mutant is available on all maps, and does the same damage as the AKM. It starts off with a 20-round magazine that you can expand to 30, and takes all rail and barrel attachments.
You'll be able to switch between a two-shot burst mode, and a semi-automatic mode. The Tukshai is a three-player vehicle that's slower than most others on Sanhok.
As for the laser sight, it can be attached to any weapon with a lower rail slot, but will prevent you from equipping any other lower rail attachments like grips. The dot itself is only visible to the user, and has a very limited visibility range at that.
The laser sight reduces bullet spread when hip firing, or using third-person aim.
Moving on to gameplay changes, update 21 finally introduces a form of player progression, something to shoot for. The new supply system offers daily and weekly missions. The more of these you finish, the more XP you earn. Said XP can be dumped into the new survival level, which offers a random reward every time you reach a new level.
The 3D marker/ping feature, which you may remember was available briefly on test servers before streamers complained enough to get it removed, has returned in a well, completely different way. Now, the marker you place will only be visible on the compass.
Markers last for five seconds, and there's a two-second cooldown to prevent spam. One other requested feature added in today's patch is a network activity graph that you can turn on to be visible in-game in the top left part of the screen.
The panel displays ping, packet loss, and send and receive rates in both KB/s and pkt/s. This should help greatly when diagnosing network problems.
Finally, patch 21 makes a change to the blue zone visuals to make them more consistently visible in the various weather conditions across the three maps. There's also a new store and customisation UI.
For the complete list of patch notes, check out the official forum post.
