Battlefield 2042: New weapons, tweaks in 3.1.2 update
DICE released the 3.1.2 update for Battlefield 2042 today, January 17, 2023, at 09:00 UTC. Patch 3.1.2 comes with six new weapons, available in the Battlefield Portal.
New weapons introduced in this update are the M1 Garand sniper rifle, MK VI Revolver and Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle, along with its sniper variant, the Gewehr 43 ZF4. The Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle and the Sten submachine gun are also featured.
Aside from new weapons, DICE also introduced some tweaks to the weapons on the Battlefield Portal, particularly about their damage power to vehicles. For example, the High Power Capacitor variant of the Rorsch MK-4 now inflicts less damage against vehicles to ensure the weapon will not overpower its targets.
The update improved the performance of the MCS-880 shotgun. Unlike the Rorsch MK-4, however, DICE improved the damage power of MCS-880 for Close Range scenarios. As a result, this weapon is now on par with other Utility Weapons like the 12M Auto (also known as 12M Naval) and NVK-S22. Meanwhile, NVK-P125, which was first introduced in Season 3: Escalation, has its burst per minute increased from 150 to 160.
The vehicles have also received some tweaks to make them more durable against weapons. Heavy vehicles now take 50 percent less damage, while light vehicles take 25 percent less. Recoil compensation has also been improved to be more consistent when the players fire their weapons for extended periods.
In addition to making vehicles more durable, certain vehicle-exclusive weapons have also received upgrades. The 50MM Cannon on Transport Air Vehicles has increased its ammo slot from eight to 10. This weapon is primarily exclusive for the LATV4 Recon, Mi-240 Super Hind and MV-38 Condor.
The new update also fixes the issue of the EMKV90-TOR’s turret speed slowing down after firing with the HHV-EMG Maul Primary Weapon.
Other changes, fixes
Aside from the weapons and vehicles, the new update introduces tweaks on maps and specialists. The update comes with several balancing changes to fix some issues players reported during the holiday break.
The Spearhead map is now available in multiple game modes like Conquest Hardcore, FFA and Team Deathmatch. This map was first introduced during the Escalation season last year on November 22. Additionally, this update fixes the issue with the camera clipping out during the insertion phase when the match starts.
Earlier during the holiday season, several players reported that Specialists did not render correctly at the start of the match, which has been fixed in this update. Vehicles with Active Protection Systems can now correctly intercept Emma “Sundance” Rosier’s Anti-Armor Grenade.
There was also an issue with Charlie Crawford’s missing iconography to display overheating progression when using the Mounted Vulcan Stationary Minigun. DICE also fixed the problem in the update.
DICE said more changes and features would be available in the game’s upcoming 3.2.0 update, which the developers plan to release later this month. It will feature a reworked version of the Breakaway map and the return of Classes.
Battlefield 2042 is playable on PlayStation5, PlayStation4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC. As of this month, it is also available on the Xbox Game Pass.
