In a blog post previewing some of the changes coming soon to Battlefield 4, DICE has detailed the balance changes it will be making to shotguns, DMRs, and other weapons and attachments. Designated marksman rifles, or DMRs, will have their damage bumped up at all ranges. Long-range damage in particular has been increased (making three-hit kills possible at long range), and the accuracy penalty suffered when firing repeatedly has been decreased. "The amount of the damage increase varies from weapon to weapon, according to its intended range, rate of fire, and damage," DICE explains. "We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of DMRs in combat, and determine if additional action is needed to make DMRs a viable mid to long range weapon." Pump-action shotguns will also be improved by enhancing their accuracy when aiming on the move. "These weapons did not have any available barrels or grips that would allow a player to enhance their aimed accuracy," the blog states. "This change should make the use of pump action weapons with slugs much more viable at medium and close range by allowing more accurate fire." Other changes include reducing the MTAR's long-range damage (so that it's closer to that of other carbine), allowing a portion of the heavy barrel's accuracy bonus to apply when moving, and adjusting the amount of time before a sniper offers full accuracy when zoomed in. This patch will also change the way accuracy is handled when aiming down the sights of a weapon after beginning to fire it from the hip. "Previously, if a player began firing before aiming, he would keep his hip inaccuracy while aimed, until he stopped firing. This was especially obvious with LMGs on the move. Players will now only be subject to the maximum aimed inaccuracy after the transition. While still terribly inaccurate, this allows for substantially more accurate fire than the old method and should allow players with LMGs to panic fire in close quarters, provided they are aiming." There's no specific word on when the patch containing these changes will be released as of yet. The most recent announcement regarding the release of the next update came earlier this week when DICE said it was shooting for a late January or early February launch on all platforms. During February, DICE will be hosting a player appreciation month to reward players for having to deal with the wide range of issues the game has suffered from since launch. Source - IGN
