Battlefield 1 update 1.18 has finally arrived to finish off the Turning Tides DLC expansion . The full patch notes include major adjustments to weapon tuning, new maps, new vehicles and a sweet launch trailer.
UPDATE 1.18 PATCH NOTES
- New Map - Heligoland Bight: A naval-focused map emphasizing vehicular combat
- New Map - Zeebrugge: A close-quarters map that blends anti-air and vehicular strategies
- New Vehicle - C-Class Airship: It has four seats and two package loadouts. It’s got plenty of heavy artillery and the ability to self-repair.
- New Uniforms: Blue British Empire Royal Marines
Weapon Balance: Time-to-kill has been decreased, with greater distinction between weapons and weapon types.
- Assault v Medic: Strong outside of close range. Assault TTK decreased at close range.
- Support: Slower to target at close range, giving Assault a better chance. Support LMGs remain strong.
- Scout: Winner of engagement will usually depend on range.
- Medic v Support: LMGs more likely to kill Medics, but their close-range effectiveness has decreased. Medic rifle range improved.
- Scout: Medics are more of a threat to Scouts over long distances.
- Support v Scout: Support is more dangerous at long range.
- Reduction in the number of bullets required to kill a target at a weapon’s ideal range.
- Shotguns: Still the strongest close-range weapon. Spread of bullets increased to make sure spray doesn’t bunch up in one area for a lucky kill.
- SMGs: Second-strongest close-range weapon. Variance in TTK reduced to eliminate favorites.
- LMGs: Most firepower, but the lowest mobility. Best weapon at medium range but slow hip-fire speed and high spread.
- SLRs: Most flexible. Slightly weaker TTK but better range, handling and close-range performance than some other guns. It’s the medium-balance choice.
- Bolt Actions: One-hit kills at long range, but very low fire rate. These have changed the least.
FIXES AND ADJUSTMENTS
Progression
- Vehicle damage performed by K Bullets fired from the Martini-Henry sniper rifle are now properly tracked for the Overwatch Service Assignment.
- Reduced the requirements of the Ribbon of Justice from five kills in a round to two.
UI & HUD
- The player outlines now comply with the colorblind settings.
- Added custom colorblind color settings in the video options.
- Players can customize the size and opacity of world icons in the gameplay options.
- Hit indicators can be customized with different colors for critical hit kills.
- Detailed mini-map/full map customization is now included in the gameplay options.
- Vehicle spawn logic has been changed to allow players to select the spawn point even if a vehicle is not available, allowing players the opportunity to customize vehicles at the deploy screen more often.
Weapons Vehicles & Gadgets
- Tweaked Medic rifles like Farquhar-Hill, M1907 SL, Autoloading, RSC 1917 and Cei-Rigotti. Aspects like damage drop off, recoil and fire rate adjusted.
- Auto weapon tuning addresses inconsistencies in LMGs, SMGs, Russian 1895 Trench, Cavalry Russian 1895, Infiltrator Elite, M91 and Carcano.
- And more
Maps & Modes
- Removed all Elite Classes from War Pigeons mode
- Fixed an issue where several weapons were causing unwanted dips in ambient SFX volume in certain parts of Cape Helles
- Increased visibility of boat wakes
- Fixed an issue that would allow Defenders to spawn airplanes in the third sector of Cape Helles in Operation Gallipoli.
- The Ottomans now use the Gotha Bomber on Cape Helles
- Fixed an issue where the medic primary weapons were not available in the Custom Game: Armored Kill
- Adjusted the combat zones in Cape Helles on both Operations and Rush game modes, allowing more pathing and fewer places to camp
- Moved the Ottoman plane and torpedo boat spawns in Cape Helles
- Adjusted the British boat spawns in Cape Helles
- Moved the Defenders spawns in the first sector of Rush on Cape Helles
- Adjusted some problematic spawns in Conquest on Achi Baba, to avoid spawning in high traffic areas
- Fixed squad spawning on the final objective of Rush on Lupkow Pass
Gameplay Tweaks
- Disconnects fixed
- More options for RSP hosts
- Fixed an issue that allowed the player to use some Pistol Carbines while swimming
- Improved inconsistent slowdown on steep hills. It now occurs on movement direction, instead of the direction you’re facing.
- Slowdown will occur when climbing diagonally, as well as directly up/down a hill.
- Corrected slowdown when climbing up hills backwards
- Interlaced video modes won’t display on PC
- Fixed a bug where certain VFX would trigger when colliding with invisible geometry
- Fixed an issue with VOIP volume option not behaving as intended
- Fixed a bug where spectators would be kicked from the game if the last player left
- Removed some of the female Russian Scout spotting lines that mentioned German soldiers and vehicles
- Fixed an issue where Russian self-voice says “tank” when spotting a Scout soldier
- Fixed an issue where players occasionally encountered a loading loop the first time they tried to launch a Single Player level after playing through the Prologue
While extensive, these patch notes don’t include every finer weapon tweak present in the full list. Regardless, this 1.18 patch remains an important piece of the Battlefield 1 puzzle, because it might be one of the last significant updates this 2016 title ever receives. The weapon balance tweaks in particular have been tested by players for quite some time. In addition to to the fixes listed here, Turning Tides also added two maps, seven weapons, four gadgets and one vehicle back in December.
The new DLC will be exclusive for Premium members until mid-February. However, the free 1.18 update is still available now to all players.
Battlefield 1 is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
What do you think of these patch notes? Does the 1.18 update send Battlefield 1 out with a bang? Tell is in the comments section!
