The next major Black Ops 4 update is finally here and looks to be the biggest one of 2019 by far. 

It’s been a few weeks since the v1.12 update dropped on January 29, but Treyarch looks to have more than made up for the wait with a ton of new features hitting the game in the v1.13 patch.

Not only did a new Operation go live that, but a massive weapon balancing pass dropped simultaneously. If that wasn’t enough, League Play will also release at long last in the days following the patch.

The v1.13 update will kick off Operation Grand Heist and give Black Ops player plenty to do.

What features will the v1.13 patch contain?

Multiplayer weapon balancing pass

It’s been quite a while since Treyarch last released any significant weapon balancing updates to Black Ops 4, which has resulted in quite possibly the most extensive pass in the game’s four-month history.

This particular pass features both adjustments for all platforms and some that will be PC only, with the platforms for all platforms being some of the most important of all.

At the forefront are nerfs to the Maddox RFB and Saug 9mm, which have resulted in some backlash from the competitive community already.

The full list of changes can be seen in the patch notes below.

Blackout will be receiving a new location that will surely be a hotspot come the release of the v1.13 update.

Blackout map updates and balancing changes

Multiplayer won’t be the only mode to get some extensive changes – Blackout received some major love in the form of an updated map and some balancing changes of its own.

Not only is Blackout receiving a new location called Ghost Town that’s a mash-up of the popular Outlaw Multiplayer map and Buried Zombies map, but new smaller areas have been added throughout the map.

When it comes to balancing, Armor was again nerfed as Treyarch continues to strive for a perfect balance on that front. Additionally, a few Blackout-specific weapon balancing changes came along with the v1.13 patch.

In addition to all this, Blackout also received a Prestige system, new game modes, new vehicles, new skins, and much, much more.

Zombies fans will have a new Gauntlet to look forward to with the v1.13 update for Black Ops 4.

New Zombies Gauntlet and Signature weapons 

Zombies won’t be left in the cold with the v1.13 update as there is plenty in store with the launch of Operation Grand Heist.

At the top of the list is the ‘Death-Con Five’ Gauntlet, which gives players new challenges and secrets to uncover.

Additionally, there are new weapons for players to get their hands on, as well as some more content that will be revealed once the update is released.

League Play is finally on its way for Black Ops 4.

League Play launches February 21 

At long last, League Play is actually almost here and will kick off just two days after the v1.13 update drops.

It’s been a long time coming for the competitive Black Ops 4 community, but it looks to be worth the wait as Treyarch have announced plenty of revamps and revision for the game mode.

League Play in Black Ops 4 will feature events all throughout the week and have a brand-new ladder system that Treyarch hopes will be more rewarding for players.

---

You can read the full v1.13 patch notes, courtesy of Treyarch, below:

Feb. 19 Update: Operation Grand Heist Begins on PS4!

Operation Grand Heist has begun today on PS4, and with it, we’re kicking off an entire season of content and events throughout February, March, and April. We’ve got something new to celebrate the event every day this week, and this is only the beginning. Check out our Operation roadmap detailing what’s on the horizon over the next couple of months:

Yesterday, we covered everything we’re bringing to Black Ops 4 this season in our Operation Grand Heist overview blog, which you can read here. And in case you haven’t seen the new Gameplay Trailer… buckle up.

Watch the Operation Grand Heist Gameplay Trailer

Operation Grand Heist delivers new ways to play in every mode. In Multiplayer, Outrider joins the party as our newest Specialist, plus three new weapons for players to unlock, two new Black Ops Pass maps to run wild in, the return of Party Games with One in the Chamber, a massive gameplay tuning update across every weapon class. We’ve also made tuning updates to several Scorestreaks, Specialists, Perks, Gear, and Equipment to ensure a fresh new Multiplayer meta to enjoy all season long… and of course, League Play begins this Thursday with the launch of the World League Hub!

Zombies fans can take on the new “Death-Con Five” Gauntlet on “Classified” with the help of the new Ethereal Razor Perk and Signature Weapons, now supported in the Zombies Armory. Players can also now earn a second Tier Skip each day for completing Daily Callings, and we’ve greatly improved the overall Zombies experience with a huge round of stability fixes and gameplay improvements. Our next new Zombies experience for Black Ops Pass holders, “Ancient Evil”, arrives in March during this Operation, with more new features and content planned for Zombies throughout the season.

And in Blackout, drop into two new locations based on “Buried” and “Outlaw” in the southeast desert’s new Ghost Town destination, and rise through the ranks of Blackout’s new Prestige system with 10 Prestige levels and 1,000 Echelons. We’ve retooled Armor, made tuning passes on nearly every weapon class to shake up the meta, reworked the scoring system to create more opportunities to earn Merits, and added new quality-of-life improvements like the ability to instantly swap weapon attachments onto a gun on pickup. And on Friday, put the pedal to the metal in Hot Pursuit, our all-new respawn mode featuring a new fleet of police vehicles and Muscle Cars.

Read on below for the patch notes on everything new with today’s update, and remember… this week is only the start of the full season to come.

Here’s what’s new in Black Ops 4 with our latest update:

• Multiplayer

• New Specialist: Outrider (PS4)
• 3 new weapons earnable in the Black Market (PS4)
• 2 new Multiplayer maps for Black Ops Pass holders: Lockup and Casino (PS4)
• New Featured Playlist: One in the Chamber (PS4)
• Map Pack Moshpit added to Featured category (PS4)
• Arms Race Team Deathmatch added as Featured Playlist (Xbox One/PC)
• Hardcore Endurance Moshpit, Pro Series Moshpit, and Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit added to Featured category
• Major gameplay tuning update (PS4/Xbox One)
• Blackout
  • New destination: Ghost Town (PS4)
    • Two new locations inspired by fan-favorite maps, “Buried” and “Outlaw” (PS4)
  • Prestige System with 10 Prestige levels and 1,000 Echelons (PS4)
  • Dozens of additional supporting structures throughout the map (PS4)
  • New Specialist: Outrider (PS4)
  • Cosmic Silverback character for Black Ops Pass holders (PS4)
  • Gameplay and Armor tuning (PS4/Xbox One)
• Zombies
  • New “Death-Con Five” Gauntlet on “Classified” (PS4)
  • New Ethereal Razor Perk (PS4)
  • “Classified” available for standalone purchase (PS4)
  • Additional Tier Skip for completing Daily Callings
  • Signature Weapon support
  • Stability improvements and bug fixes
• Black Market
  • New 100-Tier Contraband stream (PS4)
  • Revamped Black Market featuring the return of Blackjack (PS4)

The following updates are live today on PS4, with other platforms to follow:

Multiplayer

• New Specialist
  • Outrider playable in Multiplayer after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market.
  • Special Issue Weapon: Sparrow
    • Fire explosive-tipped arrows with deadly accuracy.
  • Special Issue Equipment: Hawk
    • Pilotable drone that can be parked at strategic overwatch positions. Automatically tags enemies in its view.
• New Weapons
  • Three new weapons now earnable in the Black Market to use in Multiplayer:
    • Switchblade X9 folding SMG
    • Rampage full-auto shotgun
    • Cha-Ching! money bag melee weapon
• New Multiplayer Maps
  • Lockup and Casino maps now available for Black Ops Pass holders.
  • Available in standard map rotation (Core and Hardcore) and in the new Map Pack Moshpit playlist.
• Featured Playlists
  • One in the Chamber added as Featured Playlist.
    • Players are given three lives and a pistol with one bullet.
    • Land a shot or melee enemies to gain another bullet and 100 points.
    • Keep an eye on the UAV sweep and earn the most points to win.
  • Map Pack Moshpit added to Featured category.
    • Moshpit playlist featuring Lockup and Casino.
  • Hardcore Endurance Moshpit, Pro Series Moshpit, and Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit added to Featured category.

Blackout

• New Destination: Ghost Town
  • Drop into a new Western-themed destination in the southeast desert featuring two new locations inspired by fan-favorite maps: “Outlaw” above ground and “Buried” below.
• Prestige System
  • Prestige up to 10 times and conquer 1,000 Echelons on your way to Prestige Master.
  • Unlock unique Prestige icons, Calling Cards, Victory Coins, and Echelon Characters as you rise through the ranks.
• New Structures
  • Dozens of new and supporting structures added throughout the map, including additional buildings and entirely new locations for more looting options.
• New Characters
  • Outrider playable in Blackout after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market.
  • Cosmic Silverback now available for Black Ops Pass holders.

Zombies

• New Gauntlet: “Death-Con Five”
  • 30 rounds of challenges on “Classified” with unique rules for each round.
  • Players earn medals and tiered rewards for completing rounds 10, 20, and 30, as well as a cosmetic reward for completing round 30 without failing a round.
  • Players are issued a Strike by failing a round, with the game ending after three Strikes.
  • All matches are timed for competitive speed-run support.
• New Perk: Ethereal Razor
  • Provides health gain and greatly increased damage to melee attacks.

General

• Black Market
  • New 100-Tier Contraband stream including:
    • 3 new earnable weapons
    • New Blackout character
    • New Mastercraft Weapon
    • New Reactive Camos
    • New Epic Outfits
    • New cosmetic Jump Pack item type + more
  • Newly revamped Black Market featuring the return of Blackjack

The following updates are live today on consoles, with PC to follow with additional platform-exclusive updates:

Multiplayer

Weapon Tuning

• Assault Rifles
  • Rampart 17
    • Increased max damage range from 37.6 yards to 41.6 yards.
  • KN-57
    • Increased max damage range from 15.2 yards to 17.3.
  • VAPR-XKG
    • Increased 5-hit kill range from 34.7 yards to 50 yards.
    • Improved ADS idle to sway less.
  • Maddox RFB
    • Reduced recoil stability in first 5 shots in bullet pattern.
    • Echo Fire Operator Mod: Improved recoil stability.
    • Quickdraw: Reduced ADS-in speed.
    • Quickdraw II: Reduced ADS-in speed.
    • Stock: Reduced ADS move speed.
    • ELO: Reduced recoil stability.
    • [Console only] Reduced max damage range from 23.6 yards to 20.8 yards.
• Submachine Guns
  • MX9
    • Increased 5-hit kill range from 5.5 yards to 7.6 yards.
    • Improved ADS-in speed.
  • GKS
    • Increased 5-hit kill range from 2.7 yards to 5.5 yards.
  • Spitfire
    • Reduced max damage range from 9.7 yards to 7.6 yards.
    • Stock: Reduced ADS move speed.
    • Extended Mags: Reduced magazine size.
    • Fast Mags: Reduced reload speed enhancement.
  • Cordite
    • Belt-Fed: Reduced overheat cooldown speed.
    • Grip: Reduced recoil stability.
  • Saug 9mm
    • Reduced sprint-out speed (now the same as most other SMGs).
    • Reduced base move speed (now the same as other SMGs).
    • Stock: Reduced ADS move speed.
    • Stock II: Reduced ADS move speed.
    • Grip: Reduced recoil stability.
    • [Console only] Dual Wield: Reduced hip-fire accuracy.
    • [Console only] Dual Wield: Reduced max damage range from 11.1 yards to 8.3 yards.
  • Daemon 3XB
    • Increased max damage range from 6.9 yards to 9 yards.
• Tactical Rifles
  • Auger DMR
    • Increased ADS move speed.
    • Increased firing speed.
    • Double Tap Operator Mod: Improved firing time between shots.
  • ABR 223
    • Increased ADS move speed.
    • Improved sprint-out speed.
  • Swordfish
    • Increased ADS move speed.
    • Quickdraw II: Improved ADS-in speed.
• Light Machine Guns
  • Titan
    • Reduced max damage from 46 to 38.
    • Reduced flinch resistance when being hit.
    • Stock: Reduced ADS move speed.
• Sniper Rifles
  • Outlaw
    • [Console only] Increased firing speed.
  • Koshka
    • Reduced ADS sway.
    • [Console only] Quickdraw 2: Improved ADS-in speed.
• Pistols
  • RK 7 Garrison
    • Increased all damage ranges.
• Shotguns
  • MOG 12
    • Dragon’s Breath Operator Mod: Now does 1 quick blast of fire damage instead of damage-over time. This increases its one-hit-kill potential at certain close ranges, and is especially effective when paired with Choke Barrel.
    • Increased max damage Range from 3.75 yards to 4.1 yards.
    • Quickdraw: Improved ADS-in speed.
    • [Console only] Barrel Choke: Improved accuracy, pellet damage, and max damage range.
  • SG12
    • Strobe Light Operator Mod: Reduced luminosity on visual light effect.

Specialists

• Prophet
  • Seeker
    • Greatly reduced Seeker’s hitpoints so it can be destroyed with 1 bullet.
    • Reduced detection range against enemies with Cold Blooded.
• Ajax
  • 9-Bang
    • Reduced visual opacity of screen flash when hit by 9-Bang.
    • Players will no longer raise their hand when flashed if they have Tactical Mask.
    • Players can now change stances while flashed.
• General
  • Active Specialist Weapons now lose all cooldown on round change (as opposed to partial loss previously).

Equipment

• Frag Grenade
  • Increased damage.
• Concussion Grenade
  • Players can now stun themselves with their own Concussion Grenade.
  • Players will no longer raise their hands when affected by a Concussion grenade if they have Tactical Mask.

Gear

• Acoustic Sensor
  • Reduced the ranges at which Acoustic Sensor can detect enemies.
  • Reduced the ranges at which enemies with Dead Silence are detected.

Perks

• Tactical Mask
  • Players equipped with Tactical Mask now recover faster after being hit by the Tempest.
  • Players will no longer raise their hand when flashed or concussed with Tactical Mask equipped.
  • No longer provides fire or radiation resistance.
• Flak Jacket
  • Fire and radiation resistance moved from Tactical Mask to Flak Jacket.
  • Improved Flak Jacket resistance to radiation and burn.
• Cold Blooded
  • Reduced the range at which an enemy Seeker can detect the player with this Perk.

Scorestreaks

• Lightning Strike
  • Reduced the delay between targeting locations and the jets arriving.
• Sentry
  • Increased damage.
  • Increased the time that the Sentry will remember a target after losing line of sight.
  • Increased the range at which the Sentry will detect an enemy within a 360-degree radius.
• Drone Squad
  • Increased damage.
• Sniper’s Nest
  • Increased number of rockets required to destroy the Sniper’s Nest by 1.
• Mantis
  • Increased explosive damage radius.
• Thresher
  • Increased chain gun explosive radius and damage.
  • Increased health of vehicle to balance damage dealt from an enemy with FMJ II.
• Strike Team
  • Increased awareness radius.
  • Increased health regeneration rate of Strike Team members.
• General
  • Scorestreak teamkills will no longer count towards the teamkill kick limit in modes with friendly fire enabled.

Miscellaneous

• General
  • Players can now change stances when flashed or concussed.
  • Fixed an issue that would restart a rechamber on some weapons when using a piece of Equipment.
  • Fixed an issue where first-person screen effects would not stop after the player died.
  • Fixed an issue that would let player names show through the Ice Pick when active.
  • Fixed an issue where hacked Equipment would sometimes not show the hacked effect.
  • Fixed an issue where Create-a-Class slots unlocked through Prestiging would have non-functional Equipment slots.
  • Fixed an exploit allowing players to throw multiple Seekers when interacting with a Care Package.
• Weapon Customization
  • Fixed an issue where Reactive Camos could unwrap to a stage other than the starting stage.
  • Fixed an issue where the Clan Tag and Kill Counter could reset when restarting the game.
  • Fixed an issue with displaying Reactive Camo and Mastercrafts on secondary weapons during the Specialist Draft.
• Game Modes
  • Heist
    • Fixed an issue where buying max ammo for the Hellion Salvo launcher would not fill the player’s ammo.
• Custom Games
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to enter a match with another player’s Specialist Weapon and Equipment if Specialist Draft was disabled.

Blackout

Merit System Update

• Merit scoring has increased x10 from the previous model (for example, kills now award 100 Merits instead of 10), with progression also scaling x10 to match.
• Merits are now awarded for a wider range of situations and final match placements, particularly in Solo and Duo matches.
• This means that while players won’t necessarily rank up faster than before, there are now more opportunities to earn Merits without placing in the top 15 in Solos or top 10 in Duos.

Armor Tuning

• Increased Level 1 Armor damage mitigation to 25%.
• Increased Level 2 Armor damage mitigation to 35%.
• Increased Level 3 Armor melee damage mitigation to 50%.
• Reduced number of Armor Plates to fully repair Level 3 Armor from 10 to 5.

Weapon Tuning

• Assault Rifles
  • Maddox RFB
    • Reduced idle sway.
  • VAPR-XKG
    • Reduced 1st and 2nd shot recoil.
    • Reduced idle sway.
  • SWAT RFT
    • Increased idle sway.
    • Reduced damage.
    • Increased 1st and 2nd shot recoil.
• Submachine Guns
  • Spitfire
    • Reduced 6-hit kill range.
  • Saug 9mm
    • Reduced re-center speed.
    • Increased sprint-out time.
    • Reduced move speed (now the same as other SMGs).
  • Daemon 3XB
    • Increased idle sway.
    • Reduced 2-burst kill range.
  • Cordite
    • Reduced hip spread.
  • GKS
    • Reduced idle sway.
  • MX9
    • Reduced ADS in time.
• Tactical Rifles
  • Auger DMR
    • Increased re-center speed.
    • Reduced 1st shot recoil.
    • Slightly increased ADS move speed.
  • ABR 223
    • Increased time between bursts.
    • Reduced re-center speed.
    • Slightly Increased ADS move speed.
  • Swordfish
    • Reduced recoil of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shots.
    • Slightly Increased ADS move speed.
  • Essex
    • Increased rate of fire.
    • Increased re-center speed.
• Sniper Rifles
  • Koshka
    • Reduced idle sway.
  • SDM
    • Increased re-center speed.
    • Reduced re-center radius.
  • Outlaw
    • Increased idle sway.
    • Reduced ADS in and out times.
• Light Machine Guns
  • General
    • All LMGs now deal increased damage against vehicles and Equipment.
  • Titan
    • Increased re-center speed.
    • Reduced re-center radius.
    • Increased flinch when being hit.
  • Hades
    • Reduced idle sway.
    • Reduced hip spread.
    • Increased re-center speed.
    • Reduced re-center radius.
  • VKM 750
    • Reduced re-center radius.
  • Zweihander
    • Reduced hip spread.
    • Reduced re-center radius.

Equipment

• Frag Grenade
  • Increased damage.

Gameplay

• Players can now swap weapons and attach all compatible weapon attachments on pickup with the “Swap and Attach” option.
• Added the ability to immediately equip health/Equipment upon pickup.
• Added the ability to swap health items and Equipment from the ground if the player’s inventory is full.
• Duplicate items no longer show up in the Quick Equip menu. Instead, the total number of identical items is now displayed. Updated HUD to show total number of items equipped in that slot.
• Added empty Armor Plate and Paint Can item representations to the player’s inventory to function more similarly to ammo.
• Ammo will show up as grayed out in Stashes if the player has max ammo.
• Reworked killed/downed UI elements.

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where a player’s health and Equipment would not be updated when splitting items within inventory slots.
• Fixed an issue where quickly equipping attachments could place attachments in the player’s inventory.
• Fixed an issue where the bleed-out countdown would not stop when a player was being revived.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent a player from being able to pick up an item from a Stash that they selected.
• Armory’s Blackout tab now correctly shows when a player has the maximum number of Paint Cans.
• Fixed an issue where the final stage of a Reactive Camo would be shown on the weapon on the ground, regardless of the stage it was actually on.
• Fixed an issue where weapons with unwrapped Reactive Camos would show as wrapped on the ground.
• Fixed an issue where Mastercrafts would always display the first visual stage, regardless of what stage it was on.
• Fixed an issue where picking up a weapon with an unwrapped Reactive Camo out of a Death Stash would wrap the weapon again.

General

• 9mm ammo item amount increased to 50 on pickup.
• 45 cal ammo item amount increased to 50 on pickup.

Zombies

• Additional Tier Skip
  • Additional Tier Skip added as new reward for completing Daily Callings.
  • Players can now earn up to two Skips per day in Zombies.
• Signature Weapon Support
  • Signature Weapons now available for customization in the Zombies Armory.
• Stability
  • Global
    • Addressed several high-round stability issues that could occur when playing with bots.
    • Fixed a crash that could occur when fast-forwarding a clip in Theater mode.
    • Fixed a crash that could occur when a player picked up a Nuke while having an active Special Weapon.
    • Addressed several stability issues that could occur when a player was spectating.
    • Fixed a UI error that could occur when sending an invitation from the social menu while in a match.
  • Gauntlets
    • Addressed an issue in “Veni, Vidi, Zombie!” that would cause framerate hitching during Round 10.
    • Addressed an error that could occur when a player viewed a Gauntlet in Theater mode.
    • Addressed an error that could occur when a player accepted an invite out of a Gauntlet match.
• Miscellaneous
  • Global – Addressed issues where:
    • Players were not able to see Elixir animations after using a level 3 Special Weapon.
    • The XP amount would be missing from the pause menu when a player reached max rank.
    • A Catalyst Zombie’s FX would trail to their new spawn location upon de-spawning.
    • The Blightfather’s weak points did not properly show their destroyed state when hit with a melee attack.
    • The Dying Wish cooldown meter would not be visible if the player acquired the Perk again with Perk Up or Secret Sauce.
    • The MX9 and VAPR-XKG would still play normal firing SFX after Pack-a-Punching the weapon.
    • The default weapon reticle would show instead of the one the player had selected.
    • Reactive Camos in Custom Mutations would still appear in their unwrapped state even after the unwrapping challenge was completed.
    • Attaching the Compact Scope on the Daemon 3XB would change the player’s ammo count.
    • Certain Special Weapon kills could award more points than intended.
    • The screen would flash and stay white for the entirety of the match for all players after collecting a Nuke in 4-player splitscreen Rush.
  • Gauntlets (General)
    • Addressed an issue in Gauntlets where the player would be unable to reload or swap weapons during rounds that restricted usage of bullet weapons.
    • Addressed an issue in Gauntlets where the player could lose all weapons and points if they acquired Mule Kick from the Perk Up Elixir.
  • Gauntlets: “Veni, Vidi, Zombie!”
    • Addressed an issue where players that were respawned by the Join the Party Elixir during the “…In The Room” round were not transported back to the Boss Arena.
    • Addressed an issue that could occur where the player would lose weapon functionality when using the Brazen Bull Firestorm as Round 7 transitioned.
    • Addressed an issue where players were able to hold Equipment between Rounds 2 and 3.
    • Addressed an issue where very few Tigers would spawn during “Easy, Tiger”, which was inconsistent with similar special enemy rounds.
    • Addressed an issue where the player was able to use Electric Burst on Round 8 without crouching.
    • Addressed a rare issue where players spawned on top of each other at the beginning of the match.
    • Closed an exploit where players could complete the “Perk-O-Late” round without all four base Perks active if the player was using Perk Up.
  • IX
    • Addressed an issue where the Stiletto & Bayonet attachments did not count toward knife kills for the banner challenges.
  • Blood of the Dead
    • Addressed a performance issue where the framerate would drop when players took the fast travel connecting the Warden’s House with the Showers.
  • Classified
    • Addressed an issue where the player could see their hand or gun while traveling through the teleporter.
    • Closed an exploit where players could use the Ragnarok DG-5 to jump up onto the table in the Panic Room.
  • Dead of the Night
    • Addressed an issue where subtitles were shown multiple times during the ending cinematic.
    • Addressed some streaming issues when creating the Prima Materia in the Greenhouse Laboratory.
    • Addressed an issue in Theater mode where a black screen could appear when attempting to spectate other players as they gazed into the crystal.

The following updates are live today on Xbox One and PC, with PC to follow with additional platform-exclusive updates:

Multiplayer

• Featured Playlists
  • Arms Race Team Deathmatch added as Featured Playlist.
    • Score per EKIA increased from 100 to 150.
  • Hardcore Endurance Moshpit, Pro Series Moshpit, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit, and Chaos Domination added to Featured category.

-Treyarch