Call of Duty: Black Ops 3: Feb 1 Update

The latest update has arrived for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3!

Ahead of the launch of the first Black Ops 3 DLC, Awakening, Treyarch have released a new update.

The update addresses several issues, such as the Free Run, Nightmares, and Dead Ops Arcade 2 game modes will now be accessible from the main screen, in addition to balancing the XP earn rate across all the game modes.

However, for those of you with a season pass, the best part is four brand new multiplayer maps and one new zombie story will be waiting for you.

• Gauntlet: A map which showcases Treyarch’s classic three-lane map structure. This transports players through three different environments:a  sprawling jungle, sub-zero artic zone and rainy urban cityscape.
• Splash: Let’s players dive into an abandoned water park, featuring a vibrant and colorful environment, and offers several opportunities for underwater gameplay.
• Rise: A versatile snowy map, Rise is set on the outskirts of Zurich in the middle of an ongoing construction site for a massive subterranean Coalescence research campus.
• Skyjacked: Skyjacked is a modernized version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s multiplayer map, Hijacked. Utilizing the new core movement system featured in Black Ops III, this map gives players new ways to traverse the environment.
• Der Eisendrache: Zombie fans rejoice! The classic crew returns with more zombie story plot twists in Der Eisendrache. Join Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey in a medieval Austrian castle during World War II.

 You can find the full patch notes listed below. 

MULITPLAYER

General

• Addressed an issue allowing Players to infinitely vote for the previous map.
• FreeRun, Nightmares & Dead Ops Arcade 2 are now accessible from the Bonus Menu on the Main Screen.
• Balance pass to improve XP earn rate consistency across game modes.
• Resolved issue where Specialist’s showcase weapons showed both base attachment models and Player selected attachment models.
• Resolved issue where Players were unable to freely scroll through taunts in the Taunts menu if a new taunt was recently acquired.
• Added missing rotation prompt icon in Gunsmith “Custom Variant” and Gunsmith “Snapshot.”
• Addressed issue where Leaderboards were not properly being reset after a Player used a Prestige Token.
• Resolved issue where the Create-a-Class would not update immediately after the purchase of the Extra Slot Pack.
• Added additional anti-cheat support.

General Gameplay

• Fixed an exploit that allowed Players to move faster by sliding just before landing from a jump.
• Fixed an issue where moving while crouching or ADS did not properly reduce your audio footprint.
• Addressed issues that affected Cryptokey earn rate consistency across game modes.
• In Hardcore, AI-controlled Scorestreaks will no longer count towards the kick limit.
  • Cerberus – AI-controlled
  • Talon – AI-controlled
  • Wraith
  • RAPS Drones
  • GI Unit
• Resolved issue where Specialist weapon progression was not tracking in round-based game modes.
• Fixed an exploit where Players were being awarded Cryptokeys when not participating in matches.
• Teammates can no longer damage friendly Scorestreaks in Hardcore.
• Addressed issue where Players were able to place turrets underwater after using Rejack.
• Fixed exploit whereby Players were able to obtain the Hellstorm Scorestreaks repeatedly without earning them.
• Addressed bug where Players were able to pick up a turret while controlling the HC-XD.
• Fixed an issue in Free-for-All where the Mothership could not be locked onto by Launchers. 
• Adjusted the spawn logic for Lightning Strike to better match the blast radius.
• Adjusted spawn logic in TDM and Kill Confirmed to increase the chance of spawning with your team.

Black Market

• Players are now able to equip Taunts, Gestures, and Specialist themes from the Black Market results screen for Specialists that are unlocked.
• Updated Black Market purchase animations and FX.
• Addressed audio issues with Black Market when accessing it during matchmaking.

Theater

• Fixed an issue where attempting to view a merged clip in a Highlight Reel would kick the Player back to the Theater menu.

Store

• Fixed issue with the Extra Slots purchase confirmation to ensure the store icon updates immediately.
• Corrected visual layout bug that occurred after purchasing COD Points.

Combat Record

• Players can now view other Player’s Combat Record by selecting the player and choosing “View Combat Record” from the “Player Details” menu.
• Players can now compare stats with Friends in the Combat Record.

Specialists

• Nomad
  • Increased Rejack stand up speed.
• Reaper
  • Equalized footstep audio volume to the same audibility of other Specialists.
• Spectre
  • Reduced leftover Specialist Power available if Player died while activating the Ripper.

Create-A-Class

• General
  • Fine-tuned Rapid Fire effectiveness across all weapons.
• Submachine Guns
  • General
    • Reduced sprint out speed
  • VMP
    • Fixed issue where Player would occasionally not show on the radar when firing.
• Assault Rifles
  • XR-2
    • Increased ADS aim stability.
    • Increased recoil control.
  • ICR
    • Increased ADS aim stability.
  • SHEIVA
    • Increased ADS aim stability.
• Shotguns
  • Argus
    • Increased lethal damage range.
  • KRM-262
    • Increased lethal damage range.
• Light Machine Guns
  • All LMGs
    • Increased ADS aim stability.
• Sniper Rifles
  • Locus
    • Increased ADS aim stability.
• Special
  • Brass Knuckles
    • Added spark effect to Brass Knuckles taunt.
• Attachments
  • FMJ
    • No longer deals increased damage to the robot in Safeguard. 
    • No longer ignores the armor provided to Satellite Drone carriers in Uplink. 
• Awareness Perk
  • Reduced audible range bonus.

Scorestreaks

• Cerberus
  • Increased health of dropship
  • Increased AI targeting speed
  • Increased AI accuracy
  • Increased AI damage
  • Increased missile accuracy
  • Increased missile projectile speed
• Hellstorm
  • Increased damage radius.
  • Increased projectile speed of bomblets.
  • Increased targeting radius.
• Mothership
  • Increased health.
• R.A.P.S. Deploy Ship
  • Increased health.
• Rolling Thunder
  • Fixed issue where Rolling Thunder drone pushed through geo, inflicting damage on Players inside buildings.
• Talon
  • Addressed issue where the Hellstorm vision set would show in a Talon's final Killcam.
• G.I. Unit
  • Increased G.I. Unit Drop Ship flares by two.
  • Increased health of dropship
  • Increased duration to 90 seconds
• H.A.T.R
  • Corrected issue where the H.A.T.R. no longer displayed enemies after the owner died.

Maps

• Breach
  • Adjusted geography at doorway of Coalescence offices to ensure smooth traversal in that area of the map.
• Combine
  • Addressed an exploit where Players were able to mantle atop a building to gain an unfair advantage against other Players.
• Hunted
  • Addressed an issue where AI scorestreaks were able to track Players through lodge walls.
• Nuk3town
  • Fine-tuned G.I. Unit traversals around the map.
  • Updated blue car profile to reduce poor engagements.
  • Tweaked unique Domination and Demolition cover objects to reduce poor engagements.
• Infection
  • Fixed an issue where Players were able to get to an unfair advantageous position on one of the roofs.
• Redwood
  • Fixed an issue where Players were able to leave the play space near southern gate.

Arena

• “Popular” will replace “Moshpit” in the next season.  Popular features 6v6 on a mix of Domination and Kill Confirmed game modes.             
• Domination and Kill Confirmed will be added to Arena Leaderboards.
• Addressed issue where Emblem Editor UI would remain behind the Arena Pro Series pre-game sequence if the Player was editing a layer during lobby transition.
• Arena default Custom Classes no longer contain restricted items.
• Removed the Map Voting stage from Arena.

Game Modes

• Free-for-All
  • A loss will no longer be recorded when joining a Free-For-All game in progress.
• Hardpoint
  • Addressed issue where Hardpoint boundary wouldn’t appear if a friendly Player controlled the point.
• Safeguard
  • Adjusted win timing in Safeguard.
• Search and Destroy
  • Addressed an issue where inactive Players were not being removed from games in S&D.
• Uplink
  • Updated regulation time limit conditions so that if the score limit is reached in regulation Round 1, it also sets the time for regulation Round 2.
  • Changed Overtime rules: Game ends if team that set the time to beat in Overtime Round 1 scores any points in Overtime Round 2 before the opposing team.
  • Players are no longer able to catch the Satellite Drone immediately after a score; the Satellite Drone resets as soon as the score occurs.
  • Fixed issue where Players were able to simultaneously pick up the Uplink Satellite Drone and a turret.
  • Reduced score bonus for kills while carrying Satellite Drone.
• Capture The Flag
  • Reduced score bonus for kills while carrying the flag.

Custom Games

• Fixed issue where the CTF Custom Game Settings win rules were flipped in the UI.
• Titles for Custom Games are now displayed in the lobby with the game mode and map.
• Official variants have been added to Custom Game modes for Hardcore and CWL rules (Call of Duty World League).
• An “Official” badge is displayed in lobby map image for Official game variants.
• Fixed incorrect Capture the Flag Rule Win Condition description text in game rules.

CODcaster

• Enabled CodCaster for bots only matches.
• Fixed bug where the CodCaster could begin a match before all Players joined.
• Player list will now wrap when cycling through Players.
• Player names now appear with the correct colors when using custom team colors.
• Addressed several UI issues related to CODCasting Hardpoint matches.
• Minimap will now show when a Hardpoint is in a contested state.
• Flag Carrier indicator should now properly appear when CODCasting CTF matches.
• CODCasters can now see objective indicators in the Player List when a Player has an objective.
• Addressed issue where if a Player protected/banned multiple items, only the first item would display.

Lobby Invites

• Addressed an issue where Player’s max party size would be set to 1 when going from a Multiplayer Lobby to a Zombies Lobby.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when accepting an invite during any cinematic.
• Addressed several issues related to Players being able to exceed the max party size in various situations.
• Resolved several bugs related to joining a session from outside of the game.
• Players can now send game invites while in Campaign.

Challenges and Medals

• Fixed issue where unlocking the Cannibal head for Nomad from a Supply Drop displayed the wrong item.
• Fixed issue where images would not appear for some challenges in the After Action Report.
• Fixed issue for "Collateral" medal in Hardcore where it was occasionally incorrectly awarded for rapid sequential kills.
• Fixed bug where the “Clutch” medal was improperly being awarded if you killed the last Player on an enemy team.
• Addressed issue whereby grenade kills were not counting towards the “Gung Ho Perk 3” challenge.
• Addressed issue where kills from a Hardened Sentry gun received in a Care Package were counting towards the “Heavy Cover” challenge.
• Corrected issue where “Flak Jacket” challenge was tracked in Arena even if the Player had not unlocked Flak Jacket in Public Matches.
• Addressed issues where the following challenges were not correctly being tracked:
  • “Engineer Prestige”
  • "Now You See Me"
  • "Run and Gun"
  • "Blast Suppressor"
  • "Gunfighter"
  • “Secondary Gunfighter”
  • "Covering Fire"

Media Tab

Fixed a crash in the Media Tab that occurred when a Player attempted to publish a Clip from a saved file.

ZOMBIES

General

• Daily Challenge feature added.
• Ready-Up functionality has returned to the Zombies lobby.
• Fixed an issue where Players were not able to achieve prestige master status.
• Fine-tuned weapon balance.
• Addressed issue where GobbleGum users infrequently consumed the wrong Player’s stock.
• Fixed issue where Players were being kicked from match in 4-Player split screen.
• Fixed issues where lightning effect wasn't playing on various weapons. 

Shadows of Evil

• Fine-tuned weapon balance.
• Addressed various exploits where Players were able to get out of the map.
• Fixed an issue around an Easter Egg quest that prevented a Player from accomplishing the quest.
• Fixed rare issue where Players were unable to start an Easter Egg if they obtained a specific gun.
• Increased visibility of "Lil'Arnie" bottle.
• Addressed visual issue near Beast Mode altar in Canal District.
• Fixed bug where Players were able to pick up the sword while in beast mode.
• Addressed an exploit related to the Level 2 Sword charge meter not depleting correctly.
• Fixed issue where Players were able to purchase/pick up items while transforming back from Beast Mode to Human.
• Addressed bug where the Pop Shocks GobbleGum stayed active when a Player went into Beast Mode.
• Addressed issue where Players are unable to wall run after a host migration in the Pack-A-Punch Room.
• Fixed issue where Players could exploit Margwas from spawning in for the rest of the game.

The Giant

• Addressed exploits in the Giant map where Players were able to leave play space near Animal Testing area.
• Fixed exploit in the Giant where the Player was able to get under the map near the "Catwalk".
• Addressed issue where Player could become stuck on collision near the KRM wallbuy and power switch locations.  

Dead Ops Arcade 2

• Dead Ops Arcade 2 is now accessible from the Main Menu (BONUS).
• Dedicated Dead Ops Arcade 2 lobby added w/public match support.
• New Leaderboards for solo/2-Player/3-Player/4-Player.
• 4-Player Local support.
• Player guardians (Robots and Skeletons) are no longer collidable.
• Non-player entities should no longer trigger round exits.
• Fixed bug where upon death, Player would respawn with 1, 2 or 4 boosts. (2/4 depending on FATE)
• New Pickup added: Golden Egg, a rare post round 60-item spawn.  The Golden Egg hatches into Extra Life pickup.
• Fate of Firepower upgrade: If granted this ability, all weapon pickups will start at Level 2(red);  Default Permanent weapon is Level 2 Death Machine (red).
• Fate of Friendship upgrade: Player's permanent weapon is the Level 3 LMG(purple).
• Fate of Favor upgrade: Golden chicken now only cycles through Level 3(purple) weapons; Golden Chicken lays up to 3 Golden Eggs after ceremonial dance. 
• Addressed multiple bugs around invisible Shadow Man issue.
• Solo Player Anti-kiting logic.
• Addressed variety of issues around small window of possible death when exiting vehicle.
• Nerfed the amount of score increment given for direct damage to boss.
• Fixed issues around a small window of possible death at end of Redins Rally.
• Fix for zombies failing to path when Player is in VTOL.
• Fix for loosing ability to run fast if Player dies after Redins but was awarded the temporary Force upgrade.
• Sentry/Rocket turrets can no longer pickup items.
• Upon Death, gems now pop-out correctly and can be scavenged.
• Umbrella pickup now properly drops skulls.
• Fix for Room of Fate progression break if Player captures a falling Fate rock before all others have landed.
• Fix for Player controls not being mapped correctly when Joining in Progress on a game that is currently First-Person mode.

Room of Judgment logic changed to factor in skill and remove the random nature, a Player will always be rewarded.

CAMPAIGN

Challenges

• Resolved an issue that occasionally prevents completed accolades from registering after finishing a level.  This would have prevented Players from achieving the Combat Distinction and Campaign Master challenges.

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