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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 update removes 9-Bangs from Blackout, activates Blightfather event

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News by Sherif Saed Contributor
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Treyarch has made several Blackout changes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's latest update.

The new Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 patch is available now on all platforms. Since the most recent patch focused almost entirely on multiplayer fixes and tweaks, today's update is all about Blackout.

The Blightfather event has been activated for the first time in Blackout. This is the Zombies boss from the map 9, which we'd seen in the beta a few times. The boss will spawn in the graveyard south of the Asylum, marked by the red ray of light. This is a tough boss, but will drop valuable rewards.

The Blightfather can spawn in solos, duos, or quads on all platforms. Character missions for Zombies Ether heroes Bruno, Diego, Scarlett, and Shaw are now available as well, and Treyarch upped the spawn rate for their quest items.

As far as balance, today's update took out the 9-Bang completely from Blackout. The flashbang was previously nerfed, but Treyarch decided to take it off the board while the developer figures out "its place in the gameplay loop." To compensate, the concussion grenade can now be thrown farther, and you can stack two of them in one spot.

Those working through the grind of Black Market tiers will be happy to know that a double tier boost event is kicking off on Friday at 10am PT, 1pm ET, 6pm GMT until Monday. The event also includes double Nebulium Plasma for Zombies players.

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For everything new in today's patch, including a big list of balance tweaks for weapons in Blackout, see below.

Blackout

-Playlist updates

  • Blightfather added to all playlists.
  • 100-Player Quads added to the Featured playlist.
  • Maximum players in Solo and Duos playlists changed to 88.

-Character missions

  • Zombies Chaos Storyline Character Missions now available (Bruno, Diego, Scarlett, and Shaw).
  • Increased drop rates of Character Mission items.

Blackout weapon balance

-Spitfire

  • Reduced recoil.

-Rampart 17

  • Reduced ADS sway.
  • Reduced recoil.

-Auger DMR

  • Increased re-center speed. We slowed down the re-center due to high performance in our Blackout beta, but have seen the AUGER slightly underperform since release.
  • Slightly increased muzzle velocity. This should make for more predictable shots when firing at a moving target within the Auger’s intended ranges.

-Swordfish

  • Tightened the spread pattern. This should allow more shots to land on target at range.

-Titan

  • Increased re-center speed.
  • Reduced re-center pattern offsets for more predictable recoil.

-VKM 750

  • Increased re-center speed.
  • Reduced re-center pattern offsets.

-Hades

  • Increased re-center speed.
  • Reduced re-center pattern offsets.

-9-Bang

  • Removed the 9-Bang from Blackout while we evaluate its place in the gameplay loop.

-Concussion grenade

  • Increased throw distance.
  • Increased stack count to 2.

Multiplayer

-Playlist updates

  • Added Team Tactical Moshpit to Featured Playlist (3v3 TDM, Kill Confirmed, and Search & Destroy).
  • Added Mercenary Chaos Moshpit to Featured category (6v6 TDM, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint, no parties allowed).
  • Added Mercenary Hardcore Moshpit to Featured category (Hardcore TDM, Domination, and Kill Confirmed, no parties allowed).
  • Gun Game and Control now in Featured category.

-Gameplay

  • Resolved an exploit in Search & Destroy where players could change classes after the start of a round to regain Scorestreak progress from the previous round before death.
  • Resolved an issue in Heist where navigating the Buy Menu with the d-pad could display the description for the previously highlighted item.
  • Resolved an issue where meleeing friendly Razor Wire in Hardcore game modes would damage players, potentially causing the player who placed the Razor Wire to be kicked for friendly fire.

-Miscellaneous

  • Corrected the description for “Fast Reflexes” Challenge to inform players of requirement to get 5 EKIA in a game shortly after switching weapons with Dexterity, Overkill, and Laser Sight.

Zombies

-Stability

  • Resolved 2 specific crashes in the IX Main Quest.
  • Resolved a crash related to banner challenges in IX.
  • Resolved a crash that occurred when the Shield broke while the player had the Victorious Tortoise Perk active.

-Gameplay

  • Resolved an issue where players could end up in a permanently downed state if they are revived as a self-revive is being completed.
  • Resolved an issue where picking up the Max Ammo power-up while Bandolier is active did not give additional ammo if the weapon was at its normal Max Ammo capacity.

-Miscellaneous

  • Resolved UI issues caused by opening the Paintshop after personalizing a weapon in the Armory.
  • Resolved an issue where players could equip Talismans in Local Play.
  • Changed Aftertaste Elixir description to reflect its 5-minute duration.
  • Changed Arsenal Accelerator Elixir description to reflect its 2-minute duration.
  • Resolved an issue where level-restricted Challenges could be locked again after Prestiging.

PC only

  • Added Audio Presets to Options.
  • Resolved an issue where the rotation icon would appear when highlighting any items in the Black Market.
  • Resolved an issue where players would be forcefully defeated when using the Fast Travel from Transverse Tunnel to reach the Cafeteria before opening its door in Blood of the Dead.
  • Resolved an issue where Warpaints could not be removed after being applied.

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