Battlefield 1's May Update Nerfs Bayonets, Tweaks AA, And More

During a livestream today, Battlefield developer DICE has previewed many of the changes being made in Battlefield 1's upcoming May update. This doesn't introduce much in the way of new content, but it does make balance changes and add some quality-of-life improvements.

One such improvement is called Operation playlists. Rather than playing through an Operation and then having to return to the main menu to find a new game, these servers will keep you playing. This is described as a "first step," and it shows--for the time being, the same Operation will loop over and over, with players simply swapping sides at the end of each game. In the future, DICE intends for this to cycle through different Operations. In the meantime, this should allow you to keep playing on a full server without having to deal with matchmaking.

Bayonets see a change to mitigate the frustration of those who have found themselves on the receiving end. The damage reduction players have while performing a bayonet charge has been removed; previously, they took 15% less damage. Additionally, you can now turn less during a charge, making it so that you can't rush around corners in the way you could before. More changes are also being explored, including making it clearer to players when someone is beginning their charge.

Other noteworthy changes include:

• Domination's ticket count increases from 100 to 200
• In Conquest, flag captures now count for less, but holding most points provides a bonus
• Self-repair on all tanks is now the same: 200 health every five seconds
• The Dogfighter and Bomber Killer have swapped gadgets
• The AA gun's range on the ground has been reduced, but it can now hit targets further away in the air
• The stationary AA and field guns can now be repaired; after taking a certain amount of damage, they'll become inoperable until they're fixed

In terms of netcode, DICE has implemented a new threshold that dictates whether hit detection is performed on the client or server level. Provided your ping is under 130 ms (or 200 ms if you're not in the US or Europe), this will continue to happen at the client level. Those with higher pings will have hit detection performed by the server, which means they will have to lead shots slightly.

Finally, DICE noted that its Premium Friends feature, which allows Battlefield Premium owners to share their DLC content with friends, will be enabled from now until EA Play, which kicks off ahead on June 10, just ahead of E3.

A release date for the May update has not yet been announced. It's currently going through the certification process on consoles, and a date will be shared once that's complete. Full patch notes will be shared alongside the update's release.

Also on the way to Battlefield 1 is the In the Name of the Tsar DLC pack. Among other things, this adds the Russian army, which features a playable female soldier. You can check out a piece of artwork from it above.