The gunplay in Battlefield 2042 feels off for many reasons, but one of the most widely accepted is the massive amount of bloom and uncontrolled bullet spread whenever you fire a gun.
Bloom is the bullet deviation during sustained fire. In theory, your gun is perfectly accurate for the first one or two shots, then the bullets start to fire in an expanding cone. Every gun’s “bloom cone” is different in both size and growth rate, but all of them eventually reach a maximum radius.
This guide goes over what bloom looks like, what actions make it worse, and how to control it.
What Bloom Looks Like
For example purposes, I tested the bloom values of the M5A3 with an extended barrel and a foregrip from close, medium, and medium-long ranges. Up close, the recoil was essentially vertical, and the spread pattern was fairly contained. Most guns, especially fast-firing assault rifles, SMGs, and pistols, will be forgiving at these close-up ranges.
DMRs, snipers, and LMGs are not as generous. Any of these weapon groups fired from the hip or full-auto will spray bullets all over the place.
At medium range, the close, vertical grouping is long gone. Instead, bullets have significant space between each shot following the first three or four, with almost a full foot of deviation at its worst.
At medium-long range, the effect was slightly more pronounced, but at 30 meters or so, the M5A3 wasn’t going to get any less accurate. I began to control the recoil a little by pulling my aim down, and the final bullet grouping was cleaner and closer together.
What Makes Bloom Worse
There are four actions in 2042 that primarily contribute to making bullet spread — bloom — worse:
- Firing full-auto with no compensation for recoil. You’ll feel the spread at closer ranges than you’d expect, so unless you’re using either the PP-29 from almost any range or a DMR at the proper distances, expect for your shots to go everywhere but where you want them.
- Jumping while shooting. It doesn’t matter if you’re aiming down sights or hip firing. If you jump, your bloom radius will expand almost instantaneously. If you make take no action when you land, the radius resets, but that’s no help in the middle of a firefight.
- Sprinting/using tactical sprint. If you’re sprinting with your gun aimed up, you’re not only going to have a short period before you can even shoot, but once you’re able to, the bloom will be greater than at neutral. Standard sprinting also increase bloom, but not as much as tactical sprint.
How to Control Bloom
There isn’t a ton you can do to control the bullet spread of your weapons, as the mechanic is baked into every gun. You can, however, work around it by compensating for the rest of your gunplay.
- Control your recoil. While not a foolproof solution, compensating for your weapon’s recoil will make it easier for you to predict where your bullets should land. Every weapon’s recoil pattern is different, so take a moment to learn how to properly pull against it to bring your aim back to center.
- Tap fire. Every weapon’s bloom radius resets shortly after you stop firing, so consider only shooting one or two bullets at anything past close-to-medium range. Doing so ensures every shot goes where you want it to. You’ll keep your recoil in check as well, making weapons like the AK-12 more tolerable.
Unless DICE makes a significant pass at bloom in their first balance patch, don’t expect this annoying mechanic to be going anywhere fast. Until then, enjoy Battlefield 2042 as much as you can, even with all the RNG in a traditional FPS. Look for more Battlefield 2042 guides here on GameSkinny.
