I’m enjoying the hell out of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. But it’s not without its headaches. And one of the biggest culprits is the 9-Bang. If you haven’t played Black Ops 4 yet, imagine your standard concussion grenade dialed to 11.
The folks handling the Blackout side of things are finally doing something about it. Today’s update strips the 9-Bang from Blackout. Here’s what they have to say about it:
Removed the 9-Bang from Blackout while we evaluate its place in the gameplay loop.
Since removing it completely is probably a non-starter, let’s look at how Treyarch could balance it. The obvious approach is tweaking its effects. Whether that’s how long the blinding effects last, or changing the initial effects.
Changing the throw and detonation mechanics could also be a good way to tweak it. A longer cook time, or a delay between explosions after the first one. Treyarch shouldn’t make the 9-Bang useless, but there should a little extra time for the other team to react.
Something has to be done. Right now, it can leave whole squads completely vulnerable.
With the 9-Bang gone for a little bit, the Concussion Grenade is getting some extra attention. The throw distance is getting a bump, and the stack count is now increased to 2.
The rest of today’s patch is worth a read. Here are a couple more pieces of info that caught my eye.
The Contraband Tier grind isn’t as grindy this weekend. A 2X Tier Boost kicks off on Friday (Nov. 9) morning. You’ll earn Contraband Tier progression twice as fast via Multiplayer and Blackout. Treyarch is also teasing “new ways to boost your Contraband Tier progression coming very soon.”
Blackout gets a boss. A red pillar of light will point the way towards the Blightfather (just south of the Asylum). According to Treyarch, “the victors will be handsomely rewarded.” The Blightfather will terrorize Asylum’s graveyard for the next week.
Mercenary Chaos Moshpit for all the solo players out there. Sometimes your squad isn’t online and you still want to play. But you don’t want to get tossed into lopsided Domination again and again. Mercenary Chaos Moshpit brings 12 solo players together across a range of Objective and Deathmatch modes. No parties.
You can check out the full patch notes here. Let me know what you think about the 9-Bang removal from Blackout in the comments. Should it stay gone for good? Or, do you think a tweaked version has a place in Blackout?