PUBG Update 4.3 Balances Shotguns and Introduces Survival Mastery

There’s a slew of new updates coming to PUBG with a new progression system and a new care package shotgun

There’s a new Player’sUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) series of patch notes for the 4.3 update. This update contains several shotgun balances, a brand new shotgun, new emblem tricks, and plenty of non-lethal rewards for players who prefer supporting their team than taking out enemies.

The new shotgun balances modify the recoil animations after a player fires their weapon, along with more realistic bullet curves as the bullets fly towards an enemy. Additionally, players are going to do more damage to someone when they land a headshot than a body shot, giving distinct advantages to those who are better shots and properly rewarding them. The maximum effective range of all the shotguns changed to 80 meters.

Survival Mastery is all about rewarding players are support their teammates than being expert gunslingers. This new progression system is going to reward players who consistently loot, use items during combat, provide assistance in combat, and who are reviving their allies. The Survival Mastery progression is a brand new system that’s going to remain in the game and not get reset following each new season.

Following the end of each match, players are going to receive a summary of what they did, and it’s going to provide a much more detailed break down of their match. Plus, players can alter their Survival Mastery PUBG ID with several different cosmetics. Their character is going to show up next to the icon in different poses, the nameplate is going to have several different options, and will have emblems alongside it.

The final, big thing coming to PUBG is the DBS shotgun. It’s a brand new shotgun that’s going to drop with the game’s care packages. It’s a double-barrel pump-action shotgun that deals a great deal of damage up close, with a lot of power.

All of these changes are coming to the PUBG test servers at an unknown date. Check out the official PUBG Twitter profile to learn when it releases to the test servers, and then expect them to release to the main server after a few weeks. Here are the full patch notes below:

Welcome back Survivors!

The latest update to PUBG is coming soon to the PUBG: Test Server. Keep an eye on the official Twitter @PUBG for an announcement once it’s available to play.

This update brings new ways to show who you truly are. Season 4 continues in Update 4.3 with a new progression system to improve your non-lethal play skills, Survival Mastery. The Shotgun family got some special attention this patch with a slight rebalance and Care Packages are now dropping a new bundle of joy, the DBS. Be warned, waking this baby will result in more than just sleepless nights.

New Feature: Survival Mastery

“Develop your not-so-killer instincts.”

We are excited to introduce the Survival Mastery system, where players can develop their less-than-lethal aspects of PUBG gameplay. This companion system to Weapon Mastery, which allows players to progress their skill in gunplay, will also introduce new ways for players to express their personalities on the Battlegrounds with new rewards and PUBG ID.

• Survival Mastery is a new progression system where players increase levels by gaining XP based on the players’ survival patterns
• The system operates all the time without being affected by seasons. The Level cap for Survival Mastery is 500
• Players can earn XP in the following situations:
  • Looting
  • Using items during combat
  • Combat
  • Reviving a teammate

Match summary timeline

• The match summary timeline recaps all survival actions performed in a match
• Players can check survival actions they have performed in their previous match in a timeline sequence from Mastery > Last Match Tab
• The activities below will be shown in the timeline, along with other XP earning activities
  • Landing point
  • Location where players perform certain actions
  • Damage dealt and received
  • Distance a player travels using vehicles
  • Surviving Blue Zone phases

Survival style showing players’ playstyle

• In Mastery > Survival tab, players can check their recent survival playstyle from the analysis of all players’ data
• The activities below will be shown in the timeline, along with other XP earning activities
  • Landing point
  • Location where players perform certain actions
  • Damage dealt and received
  • Distance a player travels using vehicles
  • Surviving Blue Zone phases
• Survival style showing players’ playstyle
• In Mastery > Survival tab, players can check their recent survival playstyle from the analysis of all players’ data

• Survival style tracks your recent playstyle by analyzing data of all the players playing PUBG. It includes the following information:
  • Average engagement length
  • Average engagement distance
  • Items looted per game
  • Distance traveled per game
  • Hot drop rate
  • Damage taken per game
• The 3 most prominent of these traits will be displayed

Players can express themselves through their PUBG ID

Survival Mastery – PUBG ID

• A new system where players can express themselves while show their progression and Survival Mastery rewards
• PUBG ID includes Survival Mastery Level, Player ID, Emblem, Background, and Poses
  • A summary and detailed recap are available
• Players can view and change from Mastery > Survival tab
• Players are able to view other player’s PUBG ID in the following case
  • Teammate from the previous match
  • Player you killed and the player who killed you

Emblems

• For every 10 levels (5, 15, 25…), players are rewarded an emblem
• Players can express themselves with various emblems on their PUBG ID

Backgrounds

• For every 10 levels (10, 20, 30…), players are rewarded a background
• Players can express their identity with different backgrounds on their PUBG ID

Poses

• For every 100 levels (100, 200, 300…), players are rewarded a pose
• Poses are the highest reward in the system and players can change their pose using the Survivor tab and PUBG ID
• Player poses utilize the player’s equipped clothing
  • Other skins such as vehicles and weapons aren’t currently utilized for poses

BP Rewards

• BP will be granted for levels without other rewards

New Weapon: DBS

• The DBS is a double barrel pump-action bullpup shotgun that can only be initially obtained from Care Packages
• DBS has two internal magazine tubes that allow the user to load up to fourteen 12-gauge rounds
  • Thanks to those combined firing mechanics, DBS can produce massive bursts of damage in a short time span
• Upper rail of the gun allows a Holographic, Red Dot Sight, and 2x to 6x Scopes
• Maximum effective range to deal damage with the DBS is 100 m

Gameplay

“Two in the front, two in the back, and we don’t look back.”

• Improved shotgun consistency
  • Hit probability increased, especially in medium shotgun range
  • Damage drop-off over distance increased
  • Minimum per pellet damage within effective range of each shotgun increased to 4
    • Except the Sawed-Off, which is 3
    • All shotguns fire 9 pellets total per round
• Adjusted shotgun balance
  • All shotgun pellets now use more realistic ballistic curves (speed decrease over time)
  • All shotguns had their recoil effects updated
  • Damage multiplier changes
    • Headshot: From 1.5 to 1.2
    • Torso: From 1.0 to 0.9
  • S686
    • Maximum effective range set to 80 m
    • Increased reload speed by 20%
  • S1897
    • Maximum effective range set to 80 m
    • Pump action speed increased by 20%
    • Pump action will no longer temporarily un-ADS the player
  • Sawed-Off
    • Maximum effective range set to 80 m
    • Maximum increased probability range set to 50 m
    • Increased number of pellets fired to 9
    • Decreased damage per pellet from 22 to 20
  • Duckbill attachment: Pellet spread multiplier increased from 0.8 to 1.0
• Updated weapon impact effects
  • Both decals and particle effects are now more directional allowing players to better understand the direction shots are coming from
  • Size and characteristics of the effect depend on both the surface being hit and the class of the weapon being fired
• QoL improvement for healing items while walking
  • Healing items can now be activated while moving and your player will be reduced to walking speed and continue using the item while you move at walking pace
    • Previously, you had to come to a complete stop to start healing
• Canted Sight reticle type can now be adjusted, along with brightness, similar to the Red Dot

Sound

• Reduced the volume of the Red Zone
• Footstep sounds volume and attenuation have been re-balanced
• Footstep sounds will be more drastically reduced when players move to the outer limit of footstep audible range
• Different sound effects are played when landing from falling, dependent to the surface material type
• Made improvements to the ledge-grab sound effects
• For more information on the sound improvement plans, please go to the following link: Dev Letter: Sound Improvement Plan
• Added a new song to the Turntable
  • The new song will replace the previous song

Survivor Pass: Aftermath

• The current season of both the Survivor Pass and Survivor Title System will end on October 16th KST
• Survivor Pass: Starting October 2nd, two weeks before the end period of Aftermath, there will be an on-screen message, pop-up and countdown on the Survivor Pass banner in the lobby to notify players of the pass end timing
  • A pop-up message displayed will be displayed to users purchasing Premium Pass and Level-up items, alerting them of the time left until pass end
• Premium Pass and Level-up items can be purchased until the Pass period ends

UI/UX

• Added background blur effects to make the duo/squad team UI have better readability
• Improved visibility of the fire mode indicator on the HUD to further differentiate firing modes
• Decreased brightness of equipment icons
• Added headphone icon to the UI right of the health HUD to indicate when the Instant Volume Reducer (F7) is enabled
• A system message at the bottom of the screen has also been added when activating/deactivating this function

Performance

• Minor performance optimizations that will improve FPS in areas where many players are in close proximity to one another
• Made visual improvements to shadows and enhanced rendering performance
• Deployed tentative change on the test server mitigating an issue which causes loot to appear late, mainly after landing from your parachute
  • Dev Note: As this change increases server load, we will closely monitor any potential negative impact this may have to the player experience. We intend to apply this change to live servers with this update if player feedback is positive and the overall server performance impact is negligible. Any changes to this plan will be communicated through the patch notes. Please try the changes on the test servers for yourself and share your feedback.

Custom Match

Improved Zombie Mode

The days of slow, weak zombies are over! Custom match Zombie modes are getting the following improvements:

• Zombies now have stronger physical capabilities
  • Zombies can run faster, jump higher, and attack much faster
    • Increased the running speed by 1.5 times
    • Increased the jumping height by 2 times
    • Increased the speed of attacks by 1.5 times
  • Zombies now have much more health and stronger healing power
    • Increased strength by more than 2 times
    • Can recover health automatically when they are not engaged in combat
    • No fall damage when falling from high locations
    • Receive less damage from guns, except for headshots
  • Zombies can now drive vehicles
    • Zombies can now move around using vehicles instead of simply running on foot
• Moreover, we are developing a virus infection feature, which is one of the core elements of PUBG Zombie (PUBZ) content. Internal tests are ongoing for various features to make the zombie mode matches more diverse and exciting. We look forward to your feedback on the improved zombie mode

PUBG Partner Icon

• In Custom Matches, an icon will be displayed in front PUBG Partner’s nicknames. This icon will only be shown in the match information section and waiting room

Skins & Items

Once Update 4.3 is released to the Live Server, you will find the following new items in the store:

• Halloween themed items
  • Sales Period: 9/25 ~ 11/13
• 12 new Twitch Broadcast Royale items
  • Sales Period: 9/25 ~ 10/15
• 3 Pan skins and 1 set celebrating the PUBG Classic
  • Sales Period: 10/2 ~ 10/23
• New BP purchasable items
  • Beryl & S12K BattleStat skins
  • 2 Madsy shoes
• New BattleStat skin
  • SCAR-L BattleStat skin
• Reduced the probability of receiving a locked crate from the random crate purchase by 50%

Replay System

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

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where character footsteps cannot be heard when walking backwards against corners of objects
• Fixed an issue where the smoke UI timer doesn’t sync correctly when the replay is skipped in replay mode
• Fixed an issue where the Flare Gun firing animation is obscured when in the prone position
• Fixed an issue where grenade damage in rare situations could be received through objects
• Fixed an issue where an incorrect kill distance was shown when a disconnected player is killed
• Fixed an issue where the healing items would be cancelled when pressing Sprint without moving
• Fixed an issue where UAZ wheels wouldn’t get destroyed after being punched multiple times
• Fixed an issue where skull icons are incorrectly displayed on the minimap in Simplified Chinese language version
• Fixed an issue which caused an excessively bright light effect in the side mirror of motorcycles
• Fixed an issue where players could not be damaged by other players punching them inside vehicles
• Fixed an issue where parachutes were not displayed in training mode with a fully equipped bag
• Fixed an issue where players are forcibly removed from training mode when vaulting over a certain wall
• Fixed an issue where zombie players occasionally appear to be human in zombie mode
• Fixed an issue where the lung capacity icon does wouldn’t display correctly when holding breath while swimming
• Fixed an issue which prevented footstep sounds from playing in specific situations when running through certain puddles