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Battlefield 5 has a brand-new update that brings the first chapter of Tides of War to Xbox One, PS4 and PC. There's a lot to cover in 10GB of data, so let's get right to the very extensive patch notes courtesy of an official PDF from DICE.

Battlefield 5 Update 1.04 Patch Notes

Tides of War

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• New War Story: The Last Tiger.
• New map: Panzerstorm: A tank-focused map set in the Belgian countryside at the start of the war.
• Practice Range: Use all unlocked vehicles and weapons to see which ones you like.

Top Issue Fixes & Changes

• Fixed a bug where weapons would stay locked even if the player had reached the required level to obtain them
• Improvements for the issue involving infinite loading screens. Should be drastically reduced with this update.
• Fixed an issue where vehicle passenger gunner turret animations would not align with where the player was aiming.
• Player s no longer get into a soft hang when viewing assignments in - game.
• Made tweaks to the Conquest Soft Catch - up mechanics. The catch - up will now only be activated when the losing team is very far behind instead of rounds that are fairlyclose. We think that this will make matches more fair in general, while at the sametime making the matches a bit more exciting if the skill gap between the teams is too big.
• We are adjusting the amount of ammunition given to airplane forward firing machine guns and cannons. With fast resupply we feel like we can reduce the ammo in each weapon so attrition becomes a factor over a long period of flying. This also allows us to use ammo load as a balancing mechanic for some weapons like the 8x SMGs on the Spitfire or the explosive cannon rounds on the BF109.
• Airplane Zooming in 1P will now give 2.5x zoom, allowing for superior scouting of the battlefield and aiming at long range or small targets. This should help planes like fighters from be more connected to the ground combat.
• A reduction to the damage airplane parts take from LMGs and a buff to the health of the engine of airplanes means that dogfights should no longer be determined by an almost guaranteed part disable. Players will have to focus fire on parts to get disables or they will need to equip higher caliber, but lower rate of fire weapons to do effective part damage. This should deepen the experience in dogfighting and plane customization.
• The Stuka 37mm cannons have been adjusted to be more effective in direct fire against vehicles and less effective in splash against infantry. This brings them more in line with their original intent. Additionally a delay on dropping bombs that was unique to the Stuka has been cut from 0.3 sec to 0.1 sec (there's an arm on this bomber that swings down to drop the bomb, we sped that up).This should make bombing from the Stuka more accurate. The 8x MG specialization on the Spitfire has a new overheat behavior. These weapons offer great burst damage, but begin to overheat quickly, with their rate of fire dropping substantially in sustained fire.
• The BF109's Minengeschoss has seen a rebalance towards its intended role. The weapon now performs similarly to a single default cannon against fighters, but has seen a damage reduction against bombers. It retains an effective splash damage against infantry, though at a lower damage rate than previously. Combined with the increased 1P zoom, BF109s with this round should be able to make targeted strafing passes on single targets, but no longer be able to sweep an area of multiple targets. AA tanks were too vulnerable when engaging infantry, making them an unattractive vehicle when aircraft were not active. Reduced the damage AA tanks take to their turret to be better in line with side hits in order to make them more survivable. Their Damage against infantry has also been slightly increased.
• Tweaked the JU - 88 bomber to only carry one 1,000kg bomb and reduced the rate of fire when dropping the 16x50kg bombs. This ensures that the bombs have a larger spread when hitting the ground. Changed the Stuka damage model to be closer to bombers, to improve its intended ground attack role.
• Players occupying top gunner positions in land vehicles are now able to duck down and become somewhat protected from incoming shots. While ducking, top gunners are still able "blind - fire" the machine gun. The automatic spawn when round starts will be disabled in all game modes (except Final Stand). This change has been made to not force spawn players that temporary went "afk" during round transition and are not back in their seats at start.
• The icon above the bomb carriers in Airborne and Frontlines will no longer be visible.We've decided this based on community feedback. Note that the icon will still be visible for a brief moment on pickup as it is mentioned by audio. Panzerfausts are now designed to be simple ranged damage against tanks, and have been adjusted to have less spikey damage. The previous damage model relied heavily on the angle of attack, which played against infantry since infantry rarely can pick their angle of attack against tanks. Poor hits could gravely punish the shooter with as low as just five damage for a hit. The new model has reduced the maximum damage output of the projectile, especially against the rear of tanks, however it now guarantees far better damage for poor hits, around two - 3x more damage. For example, the previous poor hit that would give just 5 damage will now give 15 damage. In addition,Panzerfausts are now extremely potent against the part s of the tank, meaning that they will more easily disable turrets, tracks, and engines and give the attacking infantry boost in fighting the vehicle. Note that a part disable is not guaranteed with a hit. Overall, the maximum damage of the Panzerfaust is going to drop. In all normal cases the Panzerfaust will take more hits to kill all tanks, making tanks more survivable.We've dropped the damage from nearly 50 to the side of a medium tank to around 25.From the rear you used to be able to two-shot the tank , now it's at least three hits.
• Angled damage is now better exposed to players, with a critical hit (headshot)hitmarkers playing whenever a player makes a hit at an optimal angle or against a weak part like a turret
• Increased the direct hit damage of Stationary and Half Track mounted AT guns.Being exposed in these guns is a heavy disadvantage, and a higher amount of damage against tanks is required to balance the risk and reward.
• LMGs and Soldier Guns have beendoing more damage to airplanes than intended.We have reduced the damage of soldier weapons against airplanes, so that they're a threat to- but not a killer of- airplanes.
• The first version of Vehicle Customization is rolling out for all players, with skins for tanks as well as skins and nose art for airplanes. More to come in the future!
• Reworked the Panzerfaust to be less effective on rear shots on vehicles. Armor angleon vehicles now matter less, and the Panzerfaust now deals a more consistent amount of damage to vehicles. Panzerfausts also deal more systemic part damage,allowing them to be used more tactically, taking out engines, tracks and turrets, etc

Soldier Fixes & Tweaks

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• Fixed an issue where the third - person soldier animations would not properly function when going into the wounded state and result into soldiers weirdly snapping.
• Ragdolls no longer have strange movement after being dead for a certain amount of time.
• Fixed an issue where the soldiers would be getting an input delay (stuck in place)after the revive was completed. This change should improve the responsiveness of revives for both the reviver and the revivee.
• Aiming down sight (ADS) and moving on uneven terrain at the same time no longer kicks the player out of ADS (more specifically when using the "Custom Stock"Specialization).
• Added procedural face animations for voice overs.
• Improved the soldiers' left hand animations when reloading side arms while coming out of a crouched position.
• The Tanker class is no longer able to build Fortifications faster than the Support Class.
• Fixed an issue where the soldiers would move up and down slowly while down on uneven terrain.
• Fixed an issue where players would get pushed by teammates when going prone.
• Fixed an issue where soldiers could fall through the ground if they got revived.
• Fixed a legacy and common issue where soldier jumps could get interrupted when trying to jump over obstacles (sometimes very sm all).
• Made various vault detection improvements on more complex assets such as rocks.
• Fixed an issue where reloading would be interrupted when vaulting through a window while the reload animation still played.
• Reduced stand - to - prone firing and aiming restriction by 100ms to match the soldier animations when transitioning from stand to prone.
• Fixed an issue where aiming would be slowed down and limited after getting revived.Fixed an issue where sliding could be triggered with a single press instead of a double - tap.
• Tweaked the sliding animation in first person to match the duration of the sliding in third person more accurately.

Vehicles

• When using the Danger Ping feature in a vehicle, all other occupants of the vehicle will now see the ping as if they were in your squad.
• Fixed the rain weathering effects on the Spitfire.
• Changed airplane damage effects to better visually represent both the health of the airplane and engine systemic damage.
• Added tire trails from the wheels of the Staghound T17E1.Removed an exploit where tanks could fire shells faster than intended.
• Players are now able to repair disabled parts of a tank from the outside, even if the tank is at full health.
• Fixed an issue when a player would "Jeep Stuff" the Universal Carrier from behind and it would not take any damage.
• Corrected the firing sounds on the Stuka B - 2.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to exit the stationary PAK40 and 6 Pounder by moving backwards.
• Fixed an issue where anti - tank half - track vehicles had over - sensitive aiming.
• Fixed the launch velocity of tank flare launchers to make the flares shoot further and higher, increasing the area in which they spot and making them more useful.
• Decreased the heat threshold for the top grenade launcher on the Sturmtiger. After Overheating, the grenade launcher now needs to cool down completely before it can be fired again.
• Increased the launch velocity of the top grenade launcher on the Sturmtiger, for increased range.
• Added reload time to bombs and rockets, after planes re - supply, so that they're not instantly available after a resupply.
• Refactored flak to deal more consistent damage vs. large planes, and slightly less vs.smaller planes.
• Moved aircraft resupply points further away from the infantry combat areas on most maps, to make Attrition a bigger factor for bomber planes.Reduced the explosion radius of the GR21 rockets on the BF - 109, to reduce its effectiveness against ground targets.
• Reduced the damage of GR21 and RP - three rockets on the BF - 109 and Spitfire vs.medium and heavy tanks.
• Changed the Stuka damage model to be closer to bombers, to improve its survivability vs. most forms of damage, and strengthen its intended ground attack role.
• Reduced the number of light bombs carried by the Ju - 88 A to 16 and also reduced the rate at which they drop from the plane.
• Reduced the number of 1,000kg bombs carried by the Ju088A from two to one.
• Fixed an issue preventing wheel systemic damage to the Staghound T17E1 from explosions.
• Changed crosshair in third person when using bombs on Spitfire and Bf - 109 planes.
• Fixed the Flakpanzer IV Zimmerit Specialization which is not functioning properly.
• Fixed the Panzer IV Zimmerit Specialization which wasn't properly visible on the exterior of the tank.
• Fixed some issues with the third person FOV setting on vehicles.
• Fixed issues with the tank Field Repair Specialization not repairing turret damage consistently.
• Changed the MCLC Specialization on British tanks from a weapon slot to fire when pressing the equipment three button instead.
• Fixed that the Staghound T17E1 didn't consistently explode immediately when destroyed.
• Fixed some vehicle overlay diagrams that showed incorrect layouts.Fixed that the Valentine Mk1 AA Specializations Field Repair and Emergency Repairs Had swapped functionality.
• Fixed strange behaviors when vehicles had towable weapons hitched.Fixed some airplane Specialization trees that had incorrectly accessible paths .Lowered the health of stationary weapons.
• When using the Spotting Scope specialization in light tanks, a sound is not played when an enemy is spotted.
• Greatly reduced damage of aircraft light bombs vs. tanks.
• Increased the direct hit damage of Stationary and Half Track mounted AT guns.Being exposed in these guns is a heavy disadvantage, and a higher amount of damage against tanks is required to balance the risk and reward.
• Changed the vehicle "Critical Hit" indicator (the orange hit indicator show when you cause damage to a vehicle) to more consistently display when causing damage at good angles to tank armor.
• Fixed an issue with airplanes sometimes not exploding properly when crashing.The wingtips on the Spitfire Mk Vb now properly become "clipped" when using the Improved Control Surfaces Specialization.
• Fixed an issue occasionally causing damage to tanks to incorrectly cause engine damage that couldn't be repaired.Added a reload animation when using stationary and towable AT weapons.
• Fixed an issue preventing squad spawning on the Blenheim airplanes.
• Fixed an issue causing the Churchill Gun Carrier zoom view to be incorrectly offset from the weapon position.
• Fixed an issue causing some towable weapons to spawn while being used or towed.
• Fixed an issue when spawning into vehicle gunner positions that caused the weapon to appear disconnected from the player.
• Fixed an issue causing an empty third weapon slot to be available on some tanks.

Weapons

• Added a confirmation sound when successfully spotting with the Binoculars.
• Smoke Grenade Launcher now properly blocks spotting (including from suppression).
• The M30 Drilling reload animation should now always play when reloading. Added the Predator and Urban Blue customizations for the M1897.
• Players can now disable enemy placed AT Mines and Dynamite by interacting with them when playing as a class that supports it.
• When using the Chromed Finish skin on Turner SMLE the textures on it would flicker.No more of that!
• Improved the scopes by reducing the clipping in sights.Fixed an issue where you could reload the Gewehr M95 without having to play the reload animation.
• Players are no longer able to instantly fire rocket launchers when switching weapons. FG - 42 iron sights are no longer misaligned when in ADS.MP34 Lattey sights are no longer misaligned when in ADS.
• Throwing knife maximum damage range reduced to 6.5m (from 13m).Throwing knife headshot multiple was incorrect and has now been increased to 2x(was 1x). This means a headshot should always guarantee a kill at any distance. Throwing knife maximum capacity reduced to two from six.
• Decreased M1928A1 maximum damage to 25.1 (Was 30).
• Increased the three hit kill range of the Gewehr 1 - five to 30 meters (25 meters).
• Increased maximum damage for the Sturmgewehr 1 - 5 and StG 44 to 25.1 (Was 24).
• Reduced the range at which the Turner SMLE can kill with one headshot and onebody shot to 30 meters (Was 35 meters).
• Increased the four hit kill range of all assault rifles, LMGs, MMGs and SMGs to 10 meters (Was nine meters) to make close quarter damage more reliable.
• Increased all SMG five hit kill range to 30 meters (Was 25 meters).
• Slightly extended pistol damage dropoff distances.Bolt actions no longer deal slightly reduced damage when hitting the lower body or upper arms.

Recoil

• Increased horizontal recoil of the KE7 to 0.45 (Was 0.36).
• Increased horizontal recoil of the M1907 SF to 0.41 (Was 0.39).
• Decreased horizontal recoil of the STEN to 0.38 (Was 0.4) and increased the efficacy of the Ported Barrel specialization.

Specializations

• Increased the effect of the Slings and Swivels Specialization. Switching to your primary weapon is now an additional 50 ms faster for all weapons and firing after sprinting is allowed an additional 16 ms earlier for bolt - action rifles, assault rifles,semi - automatic rifles, and SLRs.
• Changed the specialization for the KE7. Recoil Buffer has been removed. Quick Aim Has been added. Specialization tree has been reordered.

Reload

• Increased the reload speed of the KE7. Base reload time is now 3.55 s (Was 3.75 s).
• Increased the reload speed of the MG34 with the double drum magazine. Tactical Reload is now 3.7 s (Was four s) and empty reload is 5.083 s (Was 5.5 s).
• Increased the reload speed of the M1907 SF. Tactical reload is now 2.7 s (Was 2.9 s)and empty reload is 3.3 s (Was 3.5 s).

Miscellaneous

• Improved sustained fire accuracy of SMGs while aimed and stationary.
• Decreased sustained fire accuracy of assault rifles while aimed and moving.
• Increased muzzle velocity of all SMGs as follows:o MP34: 495 m/s (Was 450 m/s)o MP34 (High Velocity Bullets): 560 m/s ( Was 520 m/s)o STEN: 495 m/s (Was 430 m/s)o MP40:455 m/s (Was 400 m/s)o EMP: 420 m/s (Was 380 m/s)o MP28: 345 m/s (Was 320 m/s)o Suomi KP/ - 31: 330 m/s (Was 300 m/s)o M1928A1: 330 m/s (Was280 m/s)
• Decreased drag of SMG bullets from to 0.005 (Was 0.007) for regular bullets and0.0035 (Was 0.005) for High Velocity Bullets

Maps & Modes

• Removed some spawns that were out of bounds on Rotterdam when playing Grand Operations.
• Tweaked the metal beams on Devastation where players previously could get stuck.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to spawn on Arras when playing the FinalStand mode.
• In Airborne, the bomb no longer auto detonates if one of the carriers does not advance towards the objective while being close to the other bomb carrier. We have this functionality to prevent players from taking the bomb and not playing the objective. Added collision near the E flag close to the stage on Devastation where players previously could get stuck behind the scene.
• Enabled destruction on the objects inside the control tower on Aerodrome.Added more spawn points on Conquest, Domination, and Breakthrough on all maps. Removed a spawn point that was out of bounds on Fjell 652 when playing Frontlines. Fixed an issue on Airborne and Frontlines where the bomb could spawn below the ground.
• Frontlines on Twisted Steel: Increased respawn timer on tanks, from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.
• Delayed all airplane spawns in pre - round by 30 seconds as an intermediate measures to prevent bombers spawn killing players.
• Breakthrough on Arras: Increased the initial ticket count from 200 to 250 and increased the spawn threshold on all sectors.
• Breakthrough on Twisted Steel: Increased initial ticket count and increased the spawn threshold in the first sector.
• Breakthrough on Fjell 652: Increased the spawn threshold in the first sector.

UI

• Added kill log icon for kills where the projectile first traversed a material before killing the player.
• Customized vehicles, and not the default setup, are now shown in the progression hub instead.
• The character is now facing the camera when applying facepaints.
• Fixed an issue where the Company in the Frontend could show corrupted graphics in some cases.
• Players should no longer see artifacts on the Company in the main menu. Alpha and Beta Dog Tags should now be properly unlocked for players that earned them. Players can now properly see the number of players in a friend's squad in the social hub.
• Made various fixes to Special Assignments.
• Items should no longer appear blurry when getting new shipments in the armory.
• The in - game chat log will now stay hidden even if the player joins a squad and the player has chosen to hide the chat log.
• The game doesn't switch to default button mappings while the soldier is dead (death experience and deploy screens) anymore.
• Fixed an issue where the social widget was overlapping on the end of round screen.
• Iron sights zoom level now properly shows as 1.5x instead of 1x.

There are even more detailed patch notes at the link above, and those tweaks relate to campaigns and platform-specific features. The main takeaway from Battlefield 5 update 1.04, however, is that it impacts nearly every part of the game's post-launch package. Bugs with weapon locking, reloading and objectives have been addressed to such a detailed level that the entire experience should feel new once this patch has been installed. On top of the Tides of War content listed above, this is a hearty contribution to DICE's latest live service game.

The question that remains for players, though, is just how well this level of support will continue. While titles like Star Wars Battlefront 2 got the attention they deserved in the weeks after launch, the game seemed more or less abandoned by its developers until fairly recently. At least at first glance, the story looks to be slightly different for Battlefield 5. The transparency and detail of these notes suggests the team wants to foster a sense of total transparency with the community as Tides of War evolves.

Battlefield 5 is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Overture update should be live on all platforms.

What are your thoughts on Battlefield 5 update 1.04? Is there enough here to keep you invested? Tell us in the comments section!

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