The hipster gaming argument about “who dun it first” is eternal when it comes to describing the Battle Royale style of gameplay and how it has come to redefine the FPS formula. Was it H1Z1, was it not, and isn’t it all just an ultra-realistic single-player/team deathmatch anyway?
What can’t be argued is the global phenomenon that exploded out of the advent of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, even before the full game finally hit virtual store shelves. It put PUBG Corp and Tencent Games on the map, spawned a huge number of PC and mobile clones, and inspired Epic Games to push out its own BR contender, Fortnite. While a number of the most recent news and developments in PUBG land seem to revolve around catching up on mobile platforms and arguing about copyright infringements, the devs are finally taking a good hard look at what keeps the players fighting for winner, winner, chicken dinner — the game itself.
This latest update adds a ton of new possibilities, many of which are geared towards the more experienced player (different gun attachments, new grips, the new SLR, etc.) and the gamers PUBG wants to lure back from Fortnite. You can find the full patch notes here, but check out some of the tips below that’ll help you keep playing at your best, even with all these new changes.
1. Find a new place to camp.
This applies particularly if you’re playing a lot on the Miramar map, because the devs have made a bunch of world changes. A lot of players have noticed that their usual haunts have been changed around some, and what were once high-cover camp spots are now not nearly as ideal.
A few tweaks to the map have made other areas a little easier to pass through and scavenge in, however. The oasis is now a lot bigger than it used to be, and more buildings have been added around it. These add more opportunities to sneak around undetected, and up your chances of finding more loot as well.
Moreover, if you’re out in the open world on foot, you’ll now find a little more cover to hide your approach. That’s handy, especially when you can’t find a vehicle and you’ve got to really hoof it to stay in the safe zones.
2. Know your vehicles and what they can do.
It’s no fun to run — not in MMOs and not in FPS games with giant maps. When you can get your hands on a vehicle — any vehicle — it means a quick getaway and a heck of a lot of fun, especially if you’re playing in a squad and you’ve got guns at your back to watch for other players out to snipe your ride.
Vehicles aren’t new to the game, so most players should already know their upsides (speeeeeeed) and their downsides (noise). There’s also the differences between each of the vehicles (e.g. you don’t want to bring the van, sturdy as it may be, off-roading). And now there’s a new car in the mix, exclusive to the Miramar map — the Mirado.
A classic muscle car, the Mirado is probably a little more style (and straight-up fun) than it is function … but there’s no denying that it is the fastest vehicle you’re going to find for zooming along long stretches of road. If you’re down to the last minute between safe zones, some extra speed might be your best bet in beating the city traffic and staying alive.
3. Bring out the new PUBG SLR.
It’s new, it’s shiny, and almost everyone in the game wants a chance to try it on for size. The camp sniper meta just got kicked up a notch, especially since this gun packs a powerful punch but has a lot of recoil. If you use this gun, you’re going to want to be sure of your first shot since you’ll have to work for the next one (10 bullets per mag of 7.62 mm ammo, although this can be extended to 20 if you can find the right attachment).
Also keep in mind that when everyone else wants the gun, way more people are going to be carrying it around, and even more people are going to want to pry it out of your cold, dead fingers.
If you opt for using it, know the right situation for it to shine. If you don’t use it, go the opposite way — pile on the armor and practice your tracking — you’ll land six bullets dead in the brainpan before the other guy can recenter after three shots.
4. Level-3 helmets just upped the ante on care packages.
It’s not just the guns — it’s having the resources to stay alive when other people are shooting back at you. The closer you get to the end game, the more geared up your opponents are going to be. You may have stocked up on new character cosmetics, but nobody is going to turn down the opportunity for armoring up when they get the chance.
This latest patch has made the draw of the loot crate even stronger now that the highest-grade helmet can no longer be acquired via scavenging through the regular world map — they’ll only be made available in these massive, greed-laden murderfests around the boxes. The same goes for the SR quick-draw magazines and SR extended quick-draw magazines.
If you’re going to try your chance at obtaining it, get in and get out as soon as you can!
5. Rethink your swimming strategy.
If you’ve found yourself winning games by hiding out in the water, you may want to consider a new way to get from the islands to the mainland. In an effort to keep all the underwater rabbiting at a minimum, you can only stay submerged for a max of 15 seconds now (compared to the previous 35), and when you’ve run out of air, you’ll start taking damage (10 per second, up from 4).
Once you lift your head out of the water, you’ll need to wait 4 seconds (up from 1) before you recover enough breath to dive down again. What was once an excellent escape route is no longer as effective. Time to start hunting down a boat in order to make your quick getaways on water (although players should also note that boats now sink when they are destroyed).
6. Other things you’ll want to remember:
- A considerable degree of rebalancing has happened to the existing guns so that there’s no “best AR,” SMGs are better in short-range situations, and shotguns have better damage and range now.
- There are a number of new grips and attachments that can adjust how the new and existing guns fire, how much ammo they can hold, etc. Many of them will operate slightly differently or do different damage from how they used to behave, and the same goes for throwables.
- Damage from different kinds of body/head/limb shots has been adjusted.
- Movement speeds have changed and will be determined by what weapon you’re carrying. Weapon sway has been tweaked.
All of the above means that even if you’re a seasoned pro with a favorite set of guns, things are going to look and feel a lot different. Test them out a little before you really take on the whole battlefield!
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That’s it for now! Keep checking back for more PUBG guides on GameSkinny!
