PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – PUBG: Battlegrounds, if you’re fancy – is going free-to-play next week with oodles of new and reworked features. Alongside two new in-game tutorials and improved training modes, you’re getting new tactical items to change the way you play.
The tactical gear will take up your primary weapon slot, which Krafton hopes will lead to more creative long-term strategies from players. You can use a drone to scout ahead and pick up items without facing direct combat, though other players can shoot it down. If you recall your flying gizmo, it’ll auto-pilot towards your position in a straight line unless you fancy piloting it yourself.
You can also loot the new EMT gear from crates if you fancy taking up the role of a healer on your team. The tactical gear comes with myriad passive buffs that’ll let you heal or revive a teammate in three seconds. Bandages and first aid kits will also heal players to maximum health. Two stacks of bandages will spawn alongside EMT gear, though you can use your ally’s healing items when lending them a hand.
You’re also getting two new tutorial modes. The first one will take you through the basics, like character movement and healing items. The second one is an AI training mode that involves going head-to-head against 99 other bots to find your rhythm.
Krafton has also made some additions to the training mode. The team noticed that players would shoot at a wall to practice aiming, so the devs have implemented a proper practice range.
PUBG’s 15.2 update is on the public test server on PC now, so you can give some of these features a whirl before they go live on January 12. If you’d like to read the patch notes in full, you can find them here.