By now, most of you know that Treyarch released its latest patch [1.06] for Black Ops 2. The comprehensive list of fixes and balances can be found on several gaming-related websites, including our own. Check back to this article for reference: www.examiner.com/article/black-ops-2-1-06-patch-released-for-ps3-list-of....
However, if you’re too lazy to go through the entire catalog, this article will look at some of the major changes and examine how they will affect the common Call of Duty player.
First, under Issues Addressed, we have:
• Stocks on SMGs no longer allow a player to move faster while ADS than when moving normally.
This is a very important fix, and one that not many people were aware of. Every weapon class has a certain level of movement speed, SMGs being the highest along with Shotguns. Though, when one aims down sight, his or her player character’s movement speed is reduced. The “Stock” attachment allows the player to move at a faster rate while aiming down sight (replica of the “Stalker” perk from MW3), allowing the player to be much more mobile at all times. The only problem was that ADS movement was actually slightly faster than normal movement. With this fix, ADS movement has been equitably reduced to prevent exploitation of the Stock attachment.
Next, we have:
• Addressed an issue where players were able to plant numerous Assault Shields.
This issue was more annoying than it was game-breaking. It became somewhat popular in public matches of Search and Destroy where players would plant several riot shields in their spawn area, and wait for the enemy team to bewilderingly and aggravatingly pursue them. Thankfully, this ridiculous glitch has been removed. Sorry for the all adverbs.
Under Gameplay Balancing, specifically in Perks, we have:
• Hard Wired: Players with hard wired are now completely unaffected by EMP grenades.
This is probably the biggest improvement. Treyarch deserves some acclaim for finally turning this worthless perk into a contender. The second Perk tier has long been dominated by the likes of Toughness, Scavenger, and Fast Hands, but no more. The original Hard Wired rendered a player unaffected by enemy Counter UAVs and EMPs. CUAVs are commonly used, but EMPs are almost never used unless earned through a Care Package. The old Hard Wired was pretty much a waste of time, but the new Hard Wired will become insanely popular, because EMP “grenades” are used frequently. For those that do not know, EMP grenades are tactical grenades that destroy enemy equipment, prevent them from calling in any scorestreak, and cause their HUD to disappear (minimap, ammo count, etc.) for 12.5 seconds! That is a long time to be unaware of your surroundings. Hard Wired will certainly be utilized in the foreseeable future because EMP grenades now have zero effect on its users. Pro tip: EMP grenades are effective through cover, meaning you can throw one at a wall and destroy any equipment or scramble any player behind that wall, as long as they are within the blast radius.
Still in Gameplay Balancing, under SMGs, we have:
• All + Silencers: reduced range.
This is a hardcore blow on heavy SMG users. This of course depends on the extent of which the range was reduced; nonetheless, players will have to adapt their playstyle. Logistically, this fix makes sense because SMGs are meant to be close-range weapons, and they should not be able to do great damage outside of mid-range gunfights. If a player still wants to have a commanding presence in said mid-range gunfights, he or she would be wise to remove the silencer and possibly tack on the long barrel. While your shots will register on the enemies’ minimaps, you can get around this by using the Ghost perk and/or the Counter UAV scorestreak.
Remaining in Gameplay Balancing, we have a number of fixes under Assault Rifles:
• All: reduced idle sway.
• M27: reduced amount of bullets to headshot kill at all ranges, increased 4-hit kill range.
• Type25: reduced amount of bullets to headshot kill at all ranges, slightly reduced maximum hip fire spread.
• MTAR: increased 3-hit kill range.
• FAL OSW + Select Fire: increased recoil.
• FAL OSW: increased hip spread.
The reduced idle sway is somewhat baffling, because Assault Rifles previously had little to no idle sway already. Noob tip: idle sway is the subtle “back-and-forth” movement of you weapon, just like the sway of a sniper rifle when zoomed in and not holding your breath. The decrease in sway on Assault Rifles seems redundant. If anything, there should have been a slight increase in sway.
Moving on, the M27, Type 25, and MTAR have all received slight damage boosts in the form of increased range. These were solid weapons, but did not compare to the likes of the FAL OSW, M8A1, and the AN-94. Hopefully, this buff will even out the usage of the Assault Rifles, which are generally very balanced amongst each other.
Finally, the FAL OSW received yet another nerf in the form of more recoil and less accurate hipfire, which is most likely necessary. This extremely popular weapon is a 2-hit kill at close range and a 3-hit kill at all ranges outside of that. This is Treyarch’s attempt to steer players to experiment with the other Assault Rifles, which are all very formidable choices in their own ways.
Continuing in Gameplay Balancing, under LMGs we have:
• All: ADS in and out time reduced.
This will certainly aid those defensive players that may or may not be referred to as “campers,” much to the dismay of CoD community. The Target Finder is more often than not the attachment of choice for LMG users, and the ability to aim in and out faster does not seem like a sound idea. On the bright side, this may coerce players to play more offensively with these weapons.
Again in Gameplay Balancing, under Shotguns, we have:
• SRM1216: slightly increased short range damage.
A great fix, considering this shotgun is without a doubt the weakest in its class. However, many people might have liked to see some sort of decrease in damage to the R870 MCS. Nevertheless, this is a decent step forward.
Finally in Gameplay Balancing, under Pistols, we have:
• Executioner: increased medium range damage.
Another great fix, this time to the weakest pistol, which seemed impossible to use at times outside of extremely close range. This should hopefully divert some attention away from the highly used Tac-45 and B23R.
This concludes the overview of the more recognizable changes in the most recent Black Ops 2 Patch [1.06] for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Again, for the complete list of fixes, see the link at the top of the page.
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