Saying the Battlefield V Attrition system is divisive is an understatement. Opinions range from it’s terrible to it’s incredible and a lot of the folks somewhere in between. I love the concept, but there’s a lot of room for tweaking. The team at DICE uploaded another Dev Talk on YouTube today covering a whole range of topics including Attrition, player visibility, TTK (time to kill), and vehicle gameplay. We also get glimpses of new gameplay on the Hamda map.
Let’s talk about the Attrition changes since it has the most significant impact on Battlefield V’s core gameplay loop. It’s the first topic covered in the video (1:30-4:30).
First up, ammo changes are coming. But only for “certain weapons” according to Franchise Design Director Daniel Berlin. No details on to the exact weapons seeing changes, but I’m crossing my fingers it’s tied to the Assault class. Two clips aren’t enough when you’re rushing around trying to capture points. After about two or three gunfights you’re down to a pistol.
The ammo capacity is also seeing a bump. Again, a little light on specifics here. It’s great DICE is listening to the feedback, but detailing the exact weapons and the developers’ thoughts with specific changes would be nice.
DICE is also looking into having every person spawn with a health pouch. This is a one time use (needs to be resupplied by medic or resupply station) to heal yourself.
As for the resupply stations, DICE is also changing things up there too. Prebuilt resupply stations will still be at the HQ (main spawn point) and adjacent objectives. Past the first set of objectives, you’ll need to build them. The devs talked about how they want these resupply stations to act as another layer for you to “cement your ownership of the base.”
I hope DICE adds some visual elements within the matches to make them easier spot. They’re easy to see on the mini-map, but a white outline while running around would make them stand out a bit more.
DICE is taking a tweak and nudge approach to Attrition. Which is good. They don’t need to knee-jerk and hurt the team play they are striving for. But specifics on these changes would be nice. Maybe a blog post with some before/after data. Better yet, some gameplay showing these changes in action.
I had a fantastic time playing Battlefield V earlier this month, but this Dev Talk shows there’s a lot of work still to be done. What do you think about the changes DICE announced today? Any thoughts on which “certain weapons” you want to get more ammo? Anything full-auto (assault rifles, SMGs) is a must.