PUBG Update 4.3 brings Survival Mastery and new shotgun – patch notes

PUBG Update 4.3 is live for PC now and brings the new Survival Mastery feature, the powerful DBS shotgun, and a host of other notable changes.

Since March 2019, the PUBG development team has had different leadership which seems to have made updates more substantial. This was evidenced by Update 4.1 which came back in July.

That update was particularly significant as it introduced the Erangel visual update and changed the loot distribution of the iconic first map – two updates which the community felt were overdue. A storyline was also added to the battle royale game, although there are still a lot more questions than answers about this as it feels like there’s more to be revealed.

Survival Mastery provides some clear and interesting statistics.

Update 4.3 continues in this vain whereby each update brings more than just a couple of features but something actually noteworthy.

DBS shotgun

Firstly, the DBS shotgun is a major weapon addition in terms of the how games will play out. It is a double barrel pump-action bullpup shotgun capable of producing immense damage in a short space of time.

The new weapon comes alongside some important tweaks to how shotguns will work in general. This could potentially alter the meta of the game, making the sparsely used shotguns (at least in the late-game) a now viable option.

Survival Mastery

Elsewhere, Survival Mastery is, as a lot of you guessed, similar to Weapon Mastery. Like the previous mastery system, this one won’t be affected by seasons either.

Perhaps more excitingly for some players, it will not only give another progression system in PUBG, but provide clear stats for you and your squad members. So, whether you are interested in your in-game tendencies or just want to compete against your team, you now have a direct comparison.

Kills, damage, time alive and your ‘top’ weapon can all be seen at the conclusion of every game. A long-term view of this data can also be accessed within the menus.

Update 4.3 full patch notes

In addition to the DBS shotgun and Survival Mastery, weapon effectiveness has also been overhauled alongside changes to the sound. This, and more, can be found in the full patch notes below.

New Feature: Survival Mastery

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’ dat

• 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 DPS on the DBS is OMG!”

• 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

• 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 change to live servers which mitigates an issue which can cause 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. Please share feedback on your experience with us through official platforms.

Custom Match

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

Matchmaking
Implemented a system to prioritize matching players who speak the same language together in Squad mode

• Due to this change, it may be more likely to occasionally be placed on a team of only 2 or 3 players when playing Squads.

Dev Note: We’re making this change in response to player feedback and frustration to being placed in a Squad with players who speak a different language, making it difficult to communicate properly. For many players, this change will not be noticeable, but in regions such as Europe, with multiple countries in close proximity speaking many different languages, we expect ease of communication to be noticeably improved. As the goal of this change is to improve your gameplay experience, please share your feedback and let us know your thoughts. We will actively monitor player feedback and make additional changes if required.

Skins & Items

The following items are now available 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 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