PUBG’s latest patch adds C4 and makes vehicles a little safer

Image: PUBG Corp./Bluehole

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has a brand new weapon, and it’s sure to cause a bang. The game’s latest patch adds C4 to the game, but also makes vehicles a little safer, along with a few improvements to the new version of Vikendi.

PUBG’s new C4 is a throwable weapon that explodes after 16 seconds. Unlike C4 in other games, PUBG’s can’t be activated early, so you’re making a rather large bet every time you throw it. C4 even lets players get a little tricky since it can stick to almost any surface — including vehicles — so you can set 16-second traps that other players may not expect.

Speaking of vehicles, they now take damage differently. You can now do more, or less, damage depending on where you shoot most of PUBG’s land vehicles. For instance, if you shoot a car or jeep near its engine, you’ll do 100% of bullet damage, destroying the car quickly. But if all your shots hit the roof of the car you’ll only do 50% damage, so taking it out will require many more bullets.

 is bringing a few updates to Vikendi itself. The map now has another train line, which will take players through the interior of the island, in addition to the original train line that ran along the outside of the map. The patch also increased the number of DRMs that spawn on Vikendi, and added a few more pieces of natural cover in areas that were a little too open.

PUBG patch 7.3 is available now on PC and is scheduled to be released for consoles on June 23. You can find the full patch notes below.

---

PUBG PATCH 7.3 NOTES

GAMEPLAY

VEHICLE BALANCE

Explosion mechanic changes

• Vehicles no longer explode instantly upon reaching 0 HP. Instead, engines are now disabled and set on fire, causing the vehicle to explode after 5 seconds
• Vehicles can still explode instantly if taking large radial damage, like from Red Zones, C4 etc.
• Exploding vehicles now receive both linear and angular velocity, instead of only linear (vehicle movement after exploding should look a bit less static now)
• Additionally, vehicles will no longer receive increased collision damage when they’re rolled over

Vehicle damage changes

Most vehicles now have multiple damage zones which apply different damage multipliers

• Applies to the following vehicles: Buggy, Dacia, UAZ, Mirado, Pickup, Rony and Zima
• All other vehicles receive damage as before, equally regardless of area hit
• Damage zones:

Engine – 100% Damage — Engine area, usually located at the front

Body – 75% Damage — Front and rear doors, rear and bottom sides of body

Roof – 50% Damage — Roof panel, roof pillars, seats, mirrors

Boat Armor Upgrade — Boats are now granted 5 static damage reduction

NEW THROWABLE: C4

• C4 will start beeping and automatically detonate 16 seconds after being thrown

Detonation cannot be stopped or activated early

There is a warning LED on the C4 and audible beeping with increasing intensity, clearly audible inside the damage radius which warns you of the upcoming explosion

• C4 sticks to most surfaces, including vehicles

It doesn’t stick to players

• Effective damage radius is 25 metres, with a lethal damage radius of 15 meters

Damage extends vertically, but with slightly less range (lethal radius of 12.5 meters vertically)

The shockwave emitted from the explosion is so powerful it damages all enemies within its radius, even if they’re behind cover

• Due to the weight of the C4 you can’t throw it far and you can’t carry many
• Found as world loot on Erangel, Miramar, Vikendi and Sanhok

C4 will be added to Training Mode at a later date

Spike Traps

• Spike Trap length increased by 50%

PARACHUTE FOLLOW FEATURE

• During the pre-match countdown, follow UI will be shown at the bottom left of the screen.
• Open the map to select a teammate to follow.
• You can still select a teammate to follow up until exiting the plane.
• After selecting a teammate to follow, you can cancel on the map screen, or also by holding F while in the plane, or while actively following a player in your parachute.
• If you’re obstructed by terrain or an object, your follow will be cancelled.
• A new icon has been added to better highlight the “Disable Follow” option

ESPORS TAB

Menu Breakdown

• Overview: An Introduction to PCS1 and the Pick’Em challenge, along with match schedule for the event
• Teams: All participating teams and their players can be found here, including individual player stats updated daily. Click regions and teams for more info
• Standings: Up to date standings with a per region breakdown (APAC, Asia, North America, and Europe)
• Pick’Em Challenge: Event page for the PCS Pick’Em Challenge where you can vote on who you think will take home the event victory. All details can be found here on how to participate for a chance to unlock exclusive rewards. We’ll also be sharing a separate announcement with more details before this goes live

Want more info? Read the PCS event announcement here.

Stay tuned for another announcement on everything you need to know about the Pick’Em Challenge.

For everything PUBG Esports, head over to pubgesports.com, or hit the PCS1 logo in the esports tab for an easy shortcut when you’re in-game.

VIKENDI

Train Line Adjustments

Added new train line

• Towards the center of the map, we’ve added another train line spanning vertically to help better connect the whole system and make it easier to move across the map.

Improvements to existing lines

• We’ve put a bigger focus on longer routes, lengthening existing train lines which should help players travel a substantial distance, without having to change trains multiple times

Stations and signals

• Trains will now move through two stations before changing direction, to give you some more time to catch up and jump on
• New flashing traffic lights and unique arrival and departure sounds will now alert you to arriving and departing trains

Additional Cover

• Added more tree and rock cover in towns and regions where it was lacking

Dinoland

• Artificial geysers have been added to Dinoland

Loot Balance

• Increased DMR spawns slightly on Vikendi

UI/UX

• Network debug stats have been moved slightly
• System pop-up message has been improved to display much more smoothly
• Tommy Gun icon has been updated to more accurately represent the weapon
• Changed logos for the 6x Scope and Shotgun Chokes

NETWORK STATISTICS DATA

• A new Network Statistics Data Collection option has been added to help troubleshoot certain network issues and send relevant data back to PUBG

This is DISABLED by default

PERFORMANCE

• Reduced instances of FPS hitching/stuttering which could occur when first opening your inventory in-game

SURVIVOR PASS: COLD FRONT

• The third season mission track is now available.
• Survival Pass: Cold Front ends July 15th 0200 UTC

After this, Premium Pass purchases won’t be available and you won’t be able to activate level up coupons.

• Grace period

From July 15th 0200 ~ before the July 22nd maintenance, players will be able to claim unclaimed rewards in the results page

The Coupon Store is available until the grace period ends, with any remaining coupons

• Coupon store

Coupons can be spend in the coupon shop until July 22nd maintenance

Unused coupons will NOT be available after July 22nd maintenance

RANKED MODE

• The current Ranked season will end with maintenance on July 22nd, with a new season commencing immediately after completion of maintenance

A timer will appear on the Ranked lobby screen one week prior to season end, so you can quickly see how much time is left

• Ranked Rewards

Ranked Season 7 rewards will be given out the first time a player logs in to the game after Season 8 is live

Ranked Season 7 rewards are determined by the highest Rank Tier a player is holding at the end of Season 7 in either queue

Players who are on the Top 500 Leaderboards at the end of the season will receive bonus rewards

• To clarify some confusion due to some ruleset info not being included in Update 7.2 patch notes, we’d like to let you know that the M249, DBS and Spike Trap intentionally do not spawn in Ranked Mode.

Map selection ratio adjustment

Sanhok Ratio Decreased

• Decreased frequency in which you’ll get Sanhok in Ranked Mode

We have been having discussions internally and looking at player feedback in regards to the Ranked Mode experience of Sanhok. The experience it offers is generally quite different to the larger maps and we have even considered removing it from Ranked Mode entirely. Although, there are of course many players who do enjoy Sanhok in Ranked, so for now we’ve decided to just slightly reduce the frequency in which you’ll get Sanhok matches in ranked.

• Please keep the feedback coming on this.

CUSTOM MATCH

Observing UI Improvments

• Auto (combat) spectate system (Ctrl + Z)

Use the hotkey to spectate players combat scenes by priority. This cannot be used when in freecam or follow cam

• Switch to attacker’s perspective (Ctrl + X)

Can be used while using the auto spectate system

Switches to the most recent attacker who has attacked the player being observed

Cannot be activated while using Freecam or Follow Cam

• New item visual effects

Observing a player who uses a throwable or healing item now displays a new visual effect

• Increased team color visibility

Team color UI visibility improved

Team colors may seem slightly darker than before, with the added shadow

Custom Match list overhaul

• The custom match list page now displays matches of all game modes on one page

SKINS AND ITEMS

Swimsuits #1

• CHECKERED SUMMER SET (Including Victory dance 20 emote)
• RETRO FERN SET
• Summer Bikini (Black)

Swimsuits #2

• POLKA DOT SUMMER SET
• RETRO SUMMER SET

PCS1 2020

• PCS1 COMBAT SET
• PCS1 CLOTHING SET
• Weapon Skin – 3 Items
• Emote – 1 Item

Emotes

• Use Your Brain
• Rev It Up
• Victory Dance 17
• Victory Dance 18

Sales period

• Swimsuits #1 : 7/1 – 8/26
• Swimsuits #2 : 7/15 – 8/26
• Esports PCS#1 : 6/17 – 7/2
• Emotes – 4 items : 20/6/24

BUG FIXES

Gameplay

• Fixing an issue where the mouse cursor would stay onscreen while playing War Mode
• Fixed an issue where sometimes weapons would clip through a player’s back while they were a passenger in a vehicle
• Fixed the issue with boat/aquarail heaving awkwardly when hit by a throwable.
• Fixed an issue which prevented leaning/peeking from working while crouched and using consumables
• Fixed an issue where the appearance of AR and DMR compensators were swapped when attached to the MK14/SKS
• Fixed an issue where character models could appear outside the vehicle when entering BRDM with a throwable.
• Fixed an issue where grenades would not deal damage to a vehicle if they exploded while cooked.
• Fixed the abnormal collision of the Zima/Rony’s vehicle windows
• Improved the animation for underarm throwing while prone.
• Fixed an issue where weapon aiming animation would play incorrectly while in the UAZ backseat.
• Fixed an issue where characters sprinting downstairs could get launched forwards.

UI/UX

• Fixed an issue which displayed the wrong system message when declining a party invite
• Fixed an issue with the Parachute Follow feature and the interaction UI not displaying a player’s correct keybinds in certain situations
• Fixed a localization issue with the Mirado in the Last Match tab
• Fixed the abnormal system message in certain language option.
• Fixed the issue with changes in ‘Prepare Throw’ key settings not being applied to the key guide
• Fixed an issue where the throwable weapon indicator would not update correctly in all colorblind modes.
• Fixed the UI update timing for S686 reloads.

Skins & Items

• Fixed a visual issue with PGI Title Wraps
• Fixed the issue with character’s finger displayed abnormally when equipping ‘The Chain’ skin in character customization screen.
• Fixed an issue where the camera was not locked in place on the preview screen for weapon skins, or item crates
• Fixed a visual issue with High Waisted Shorts

Replay System

• Fixed an issue with incorrect team color/patterns displayed in replays
• Fixed the issue where buildings destroyed by the Black Zone on Karakin weren’t marked as destroyed when moving through replay timelines

The replay system has been updated. Replay files from previous updates are now unavailable for use.