Battlefield 4 patch will put an end to adamantium shield

Battlefield 4 dice ea

Battlefield 4’s DLC, Dragon’s Teeth, brought with it EA’s very own version of Captain America’s adamantium shield. The ballistic shield could deflect bullets, sure, but it could also deflect armour-piercing tank shells and, with a single hit, kill other players. Battlefield’s next patch will see an end to that.

It’s not the only thing being changed. DICE have been looking at “how to decrease the feeling of getting killed when behind cover.” Hopefully they’ve managed this by preventing of you getting killed when behind cover. Just one of the reasons we put Battlefield 4 on trial for being a broken, bug-ridden mess.

The changes come from the new Community Test Environment, the test server where DICE let Battlefield Premium owners play a less broken version of the game than other players. DICE have detailed the changes coming in the next patch in a blog post. I’ve copied them in here though because I don’t like to watch you leave:

Improving Netcode

“Making improvements to the “Netcode” in Battlefield 4 has been a top priority for us. Some of the items we’ve been specifically looking at is how to decrease the feeling of getting killed when behind cover and getting killed without initially seeing a damage indicator. The improvements we did were released in June, and we’re looking at testing out additional fixes during the coming months.”

This isn’t the first time DICE have tried to improve Battlefield 4’s netcode, suggesting it wasn’t up to scratch at launch.

Core Gameplay

“The core gameplay initiative has started, and in the first phase, we’re looking at making improvements and fixes related to the new Dragon’s Teeth expansion pack. One of the main items that we wanted to test was the all-new Ballistics Shield, and based on the feedback that we received we made the following changes that’ll make it for the release of Dragon’s Teeth:

  • Shield bash damage has been tweaked, it is no longer possible to one-hit kill enemies. The Ballistics shield now better matches with the initial design intent

  • Single tank AP-rounds now kill those carrying the Ballistics Shield, something that previously wasn’t possible.”

Rush Tweaks

“If you’re a fan of Rush, you’ll want to jump into the CTE and try out the new changes we’re currently testing on the Siege of Shanghai, Zavod 311 and Operation Locker to start. The main focus of these changes has been to increase the balance and flow of the Rush round. Often, this means making it easier for the attackers to tackle certain MCOMs. Some general tweaks have also been made, such as:

  • Commander has been removed by default in Rush

  • Radar sweep has been reduced around attackers base

  • Many per map specific changes, MCOM placement and cover passes.”

Other Improvements

“Apart from these bigger initiatives, here are some of the areas of improvements that we will be looking at in the future:

  • General Weapon tweaks/balance

  • Weapon Suppression tuning

  • 3P Head-flinch dampening

  • Visual recoil ADS tuning

  • Vehicle tuning/balance

  • Game modes: Rush, Continued tweaks to Obliteration Competitive and Conquest small

  • HUD improvements and bug fixes”

There’s no word on when this patch will be available to non-Premium players but it is currently active on the CTE.

Whatever the case, it’s going to take more than this patch to place Battlefield 4 among the best first-person shooters on PC.

Cheers, MP1ST.