Black Ops 6 Movement Buffs, Spawn Improvements, and Increased Headshot Damage Unveiled

Ahead of the official Black Ops 6 launch date, Treyarch has released an extensive blog detailing community-requested adjustments to the game.

With two weeks of beta activity providing ample time for initial impressions, players conveyed concerns that many of the 16 maps are overly small and not conducive to 6v6 gameplay. The development team reassured the community that the majority of the 12 core 6v6 maps set for launch are medium-sized.

Players also expressed frustrations regarding inconsistent spawns, which negatively impacted the multiplayer experience. In anticipation of the second beta weekend, the BO6 developers adjusted spawn placements and confirmed that further enhancements would be implemented prior to launch.

PC players criticized the beta as an “absolute mess,”citing significant crashing and performance issues that made logging in and participating in matches difficult. Treyarch acknowledged these concerns, stating that the team identified the root of in-game “hitching”and implemented significant fixes ahead of the launch.

Complete Black Ops 6 Multiplayer Update Patch Notes

An operator jumping over cover in Black Ops 6 on Scud. — Activision

Here are all the changes outlined in the blog post.

Adjustments to Headshot Damage

We were thrilled to see our new weapons utilized by players during the Beta and are thankful for the wealth of data and feedback that will inform our balancing updates for launch.

One recurring piece of feedback was regarding low headshot damage, which diminished the rewards of skilled play and made it challenging to contest certain high-ground positions. We acknowledge these viewpoints and are currently working on weapon adjustments to incentivize players landing multiple headshots during encounters. However, we aim to ensure that hit location multipliers do not excessively alter the overall time-to-kill in Black Ops 6, and we will closely monitor headshot effectiveness during and after the launch.

Improvements to Bullet Penetration

Bullet penetration mechanics will also be refined for launch. Generally, players should experience fewer extreme instances of bullets causing excessive damage when passing through specific surfaces (commonly known as “Wall Bang”), while also not penetrating through others as previously expected (e.g., snipers concealed behind the radar dish on Scud).

More Updates Ahead

We are continuously reviewing data and feedback related to weapon handling and tuning, and we maintain oversight of overall weapon class balance considering our entire map collection. Some specific changes coming at launch include:

Enhancements to sniper aim-down-sights (ADS) fluidity.
Improved weapon swapping fluidity during sprint and tactical sprint – we’re excited about this update!
Reducing weapon motion while transitioning into crouch.
Small buffs to shotguns and targeted adjustments across all weapon types to ensure SMGs do not dominate compared to other classes.

Weapon balancing is a continual process, and our team is dedicated to evolving it throughout our live seasons. We will detail specific balancing changes in our launch patch notes.

Movement Enhancements

Ongoing improvements to animation fluidity and fidelity, particularly across:

Identified areas where we could enhance our 3rd Person animation fidelity for actions such as slide, dive, jump, and prone. Our aim is to ensure that first-person visuals correspond with third-person views for better immersion and predictability.

Adjustments to sliding for increased predictability and smoothness:

After Weekend 2 of the Beta, we extended the time before players could enter the supine position during a slide. However, based on player feedback, we have shortened that time to strike a balance between the setups of Beta Weekend 1 and Weekend 2.
Reduced the minimum time required to initiate a slide after sprinting to prevent accidental crouches when attempting to slide, known as a “dead slide”.
Minimized the maximum slide duration.

Intelligent Movement updates:

You can locate our Intelligent Movement settings under the Movement tab within the Controller or Keyboard & Mouse settings. These settings include Sprint Assist, Mantle Assist, and Crouch Assist, allowing players to fine-tune their experience by requiring considerably fewer inputs for basic movement and Omnimovement in Black Ops 6.
We discovered and rectified an issue in the Beta with extra settings for Mantle Assist, which should now function as intended.

Winner’s Circle Adjustments

Shortened the overall timing duration of the Winner’s Circle.
To mitigate emote spam, players in the Winner’s Circle can now activate only one emote.
Simplified the emote menu for easier activation within the Winner’s Circle and during gameplay.
Enhanced overall fidelity and lighting.

Kill Counter Integration

By popular demand, we’ve introduced a Kill Counter on your HUD that tracks progress toward Kills-in-One-Life Medals, especially for those aiming for the prestigious Nuclear Medal and Nuke Scorestreak.

Camera Motion Modifications

Overall camera motion during sprinting, tactical sprinting, and sliding will be reduced.

Kill Order Updates

Increased ‘Kills as HVT’ team score to 3.
Reduced ‘HVT Survival’ score to 20.
Raised Score Limit to 150.
HVTs will no longer drop their pistols upon elimination.
Improved notification signals when a player is selected as HVT.

Sleeper Agent Updates

Eliminated the time penalty when securing eliminations with Sleeper Agent active.

Equipment Changes

Stim Shot has transitioned from Inventory-Based to Cooldown-Based by default.
Quartermaster (Strategist) will reduce cooldown times.
Fixed an issue where the Combat Axe wouldn’t inflict lethal damage at the beginning of rounds—it wouldn’t be a Black Ops game if you couldn’t execute those cross-map shots at match start!

Perk Adjustments

Following an assessment of perk data collected during the Beta, we implemented several updates to ensure engaging decisions are made:

Assassin (Enforcer) and Bruiser (Enforcer) have been moved from Perk 1 to Perk 2.
Dexterity (Enforcer) and Gung Ho (Enforcer) have been moved from Perk 2 to Perk 1.

RC-XD Control Modifications

Updated to classic BO view-based control by default, with an option to switch to gas/brake; on the controller, detonation has been swapped from R2 to R1 to prevent accidental activations.

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