PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ next patch is live, with the battle royale game’s latest round of tweaks and changes as part of PUBG update 7.3 lands now available to get stuck into. They bring a new throwable – the sticky and explosive C4 – as well as a parachute follow feature, chance to bail out of exploding vehicles before they go bang, and plenty more.
That’s according to the PUBG patch 7.3 notes over on the multiplayer game’s website here, which announce there’s a pretty sizeable bunch of vehicle balance changes now in the live game. Amongst these you’ll find a handy new chance to escape from vehicles when they hit 0 HP – they’ll no longer explode instantly, instead catching fire and giving you a precious five seconds to get out and get running. However, they’ll still be vulnerable to “large radial damage, like from Red Zones, C4 etc”, as you’d expect.
Plus, most vehicles will now have “multiple damage zones which apply different damage multipliers”, depending on exactly where they’re hit. Nice.
In addition, there’s the “powerful new tool that gives players new ways to strategically flush out timid opponents” – the C4. It boasts a “massive 25 metre effective radius and damage that can penetrate cover”, so it’s a handy piece of kit to have at your disposal.
The parachute follow feature, which was originally introduced in patch 6.2 but taken down temporarily for a few fixes, is now back, too, so you and your pals will be able to more easily land next to eachother in the game.
Read on to see the PUBG update 7.3 patch notes below (via PUBG Corp.):
PUBG Update 7.3 Gameplay Changes
Season 7 Vehicle Balance
Vehicles are crucial tools on the Battlegrounds, and for a while now there’s been some frustration around dying instantly when your vehicle explodes. This patch seeks to add some more realistic survivability to how vehicles take damage and gives players a small window to bail out before the final explosion takes place.
Explosion Mechanic Changes
- Vehicles no longer explode instantly upon reaching 0 HP. Instead, engines are now disabled and set on fire, causing the vehicle to explode after 5 seconds
- Vehicles can still explode instantly if taking large radial damage, like from Red Zones, C4 etc.
- Exploding vehicles now receive both linear and angular velocity, instead of only linear (vehicle movement after exploding should look a bit less static now)
- Additionally, vehicles will no longer receive increased collision damage when they’re rolled over
Vehicle Damage Changes
- Most vehicles now have multiple damage zones which apply different damage multipliers
- Applies to the following vehicles: Buggy, Dacia, UAZ, Mirado, Pickup, Rony and Zima
- All other vehicles receive damage as before, equally regardless of area hit
- Applies to the following vehicles: Buggy, Dacia, UAZ, Mirado, Pickup, Rony and Zima
- Damage zones:
- Engine – 100% Damage
- Engine area, usually located at the front
- Body – 75% Damage
- Front and rear doors, rear and bottom sides of body
- Roof – 50% Damage
- Roof panel, roof pillars, seats, mirrors
- Engine – 100% Damage
- Boat Armour Upgrade
- Boats are now granted 5 static damage reduction
New Throwable: C4
- C4 will start beeping and automatically detonate 16 seconds after being thrown
- Detonation cannot be stopped or activated early
- There is a warning LED on the C4 and audible beeping with increasing intensity, clearly audible inside the damage radius which warns you of the upcoming explosion
- C4 sticks to most surfaces, including vehicles
- It doesn’t stick to players
- Effective damage radius is 25 metres, with a lethal damage radius of 15 meters
- Damage extends vertically, but with slightly less range (lethal radius of 12.5 meters vertically)
- The shockwave emitted from the explosion is so powerful it damages all enemies within its radius, even if they’re behind cover
- Due to the weight of the C4 you can’t throw it far and you can’t carry many
- Found as world loot and in Care Packages on Erangel, Miramar, Vikendi and Sanhok
- C4 will be added to Training Mode at a later date
Spike Trap
Spike traps aren’t quite as effective as we hoped, so we’re increasing their length by 50% to make those trapped choke points more difficult to get around.
- Spike Trap length increased by 50%
Parachute Follow Feature
- During the pre-match countdown, follow UI will be shown at the bottom left of the screen.
- Open the map to select a teammate to follow.
- You can still select a teammate to follow up until exiting the plane.
- After selecting a teammate to follow, you can cancel on the map screen, or also by holding F while in the plane, or while actively following a player in your parachute.
- If you’re obstructed by terrain or an object, your follow will be cancelled.
- A new icon has been added to better highlight the “Disable Follow” option
Esports Tab
Menu Breakdown
- Overview: An Introduction to PCS1 and the Pick’Em challenge, along with match schedule for the event
- Teams: All participating teams and their players can be found here, including individual player stats updated daily. Click regions and teams for more info
- Standings: Up to date standings with a per region breakdown (APAC, Asia, North America, and Europe)
- Pick’Em Challenge: Event page for the PCS Pick’Em Challenge where you can vote on who you think will take home the event victory. All details can be found here on how to participate for a chance to unlock exclusive rewards. We’ll also be sharing a separate announcement with more details before this goes live
Vikendi
Train System Improvement
To help put more focus on the train system, we’ve added another line, additional stops, and some visual and audio improvements to let you know when your trains arrive and depart. We’ve added some more DMRs and some scenery changes to end out the season as well.
Train Line Adjustments
- Added new train line
- Towards the centre of the map, we’ve added another train line spanning vertically to help better connect the whole system and make it easier to move across the map.
- Improvements to existing lines
- We’ve put a bigger focus on longer routes, lengthening existing train lines which should help players travel a substantial distance, without having to change trains multiple times
- Stations and signals
- Trains will now move through two stations before changing direction, to give you some more time to catch up and jump on
- New flashing traffic lights and unique arrival and departure sounds will now alert you to arriving and departing trains
Additional Cover
- Added more tree and rock cover in towns and regions where it was lacking
Dinoland
- Artificial geysers have been added to Dinoland
Loot Balance
- Increased DMR spawns slightly on Vikendi
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 UI/UX Changes
- Network debug stats have been moved slightly
- System pop-up message has been improved to display much more smoothly
- Tommy Gun icon has been updated to more accurately represent the weapon
- Changed logos for the 6x Scope and Shotgun Chokes
Network Statistics Data
- A new Network Statistics Data Collection option has been added to help troubleshoot certain network issues and send relevant data back to PUBG
- This is DISABLED by default
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Performance CHANGES
- Reduced instances of FPS hitching/stuttering which could occur when first opening your inventory in-game
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Survivor Pass: Cold Front
- The third season mission track is now available.
- Survival Pass: Cold Front ends July 15 0200 UTC
- After this, Premium Pass purchases won’t be available and you won’t be able to activate level up coupons.
- Grace period
- From July 15 0200 ~ before the July 22 maintenance, players will be able to claim unclaimed rewards in the results page
- The Coupon Store is available until the grace period ends, with any remaining coupons
- Coupon store
- Coupons can be spend in the coupon shop until July 22 maintenance
- Unused coupons will NOT be available after July 22 maintenance
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Ranked Mode changes
- The current Ranked season will end with maintenance on July 22, with a new season commencing immediately after completion of maintenance
- A timer will appear on the Ranked lobby screen one week prior to season end, so you can quickly see how much time is left
- Ranked Rewards
- Ranked Season 7 rewards will be given out the first time a player logs in to the game after Season 8 is live
- Ranked Season 7 rewards are determined by the highest Rank Tier a player is holding at the end of Season 7 in either queue
- Players who are on the Top 500 Leaderboards at the end of the season will receive bonus rewards
- To clarify some confusion due to some ruleset info not being included in Update 7.2 patch notes, we’d like to let you know that the M249, DBS and Spike Trap intentionally do not spawn in Ranked Mode.
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Custom Map CHANGES
- Auto (combat) spectate system (Ctrl + Z)
- Use the hotkey to spectate players combat scenes by priority. This cannot be used when in freecam or follow cam
- Switch to attacker’s perspective (Ctrl + X)
- Can be used while using the auto spectate system
- Switches to the most recent attacker who has attacked the player being observed
- Cannot be activated while using Freecam or Follow Cam
- New item visual effects
- Observing a player who uses a throwable or healing item now displays a new visual effect
- Increased team color visibility
- Team colour UI visibility improved
- Team colours may seem slightly darker than before, with the added shadow
Custom Match List Overhaul
- The custom match list page now displays matches of all game modes on one page
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Skins and Items
- Swimsuits #1
- CHECKERED SUMMER SET (Including Victory dance 20 emote)
- RETRO FERN SET
- Summer Bikini (Black)
- Swimsuits #2
- POLKA DOT SUMMER SET
- RETRO SUMMER SET
- PCS1 2020
- PCS1 COMBAT SET
- PCS1 CLOTHING SET
- Weapon Skin – 3 Items
- Emote – 1 Item
- Emotes
- Use Your Brain
- Rev It Up
- Victory Dance 17
- Victory Dance 18
- Sales period
- Swimsuits #1 : 7/1 – 8/26
- Swimsuits #2 : 7/15 – 8/26
- Esports PCS#1 : 6/17 – 7/2
- Emotes – 4 items : 20/6/24
PUBG UPDATE 7.3 Bug Fixes
Gameplay
- Fixing an issue where the mouse cursor would stay onscreen while playing War Mode
- Fixed an issue where sometimes weapons would clip through a player’s back while they were a passenger in a vehicle
- Fixed the issue with boat/aquarail heaving awkwardly when hit by a throwable.
- Fixed an issue which prevented leaning/peeking from working while crouched and using consumables
- Fixed an issue where the appearance of AR and DMR compensators were swapped when attached to the MK14/SKS
UI/UX
- Fixed an issue which displayed the wrong system message when declining a party invite
- Fixed an issue with the Parachute Follow feature and the interaction UI not displaying a player’s correct keybinds in certain situations
- Fixed a localization issue with the Mirado in the Last Match tab
- Fixed the abnormal system message in certain language option.
Skins and Items
- Fixed a visual issue with PGI Title Wraps
- Fixed the issue with character’s finger displayed abnormally when equipping ‘The Chain’ skin in character customization screen.
- Fixed an issue where the camera was not locked in place on the preview screen for weapon skins, or item crates
- Fixed a visual issue with High Waisted Shorts
Replay System
- Fixed an issue with incorrect team color/patterns displayed in replays
- Fixed the issue where buildings destroyed by the Black Zone on Karakin weren’t marked as destroyed when moving through replay timelines
- The replay system has been updated. Replay files from previous updates are now unavailable for use.