South Korean video game company Bluehole announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has released Season 5 to test servers. With this update, existing maps like Miramar have gone through edits and new features have been added. Some of the new additions to PUBG include vending machines, throwable supplies and weapons, a new Survivor Pass, the Badlands, and other balancing changes.
PUBG Season 5
“To start, Season 5 will focus on a much-requested rebalance of Miramar, in addition to features that influence combat tactics and team cooperation,” says TS Jang, the Executive Producer for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. “The Miramar rebalance will feature adjustments to item spawn rates and the Blue Zone […] and some fun new ways to navigate the map.”
The first major update is to the 8×8 kilometer city-centric map Miramar, most known for its open desert environment. A racetrack has been added in the LA Muerte Vamos Track, along with new objects like ramps, loops, jumps, and signboards for motorcycle action. In addition, a new Gold Mirado sedan vehicle has been added to Miramar, which can be found in the Hacienda del Patron garage. Only one Gold Mirado will spawn per match. Small objects have also been removed from the map to make movement easier. There are balancing changes to weapons and spawn rates for helmets, bags, and vests as well.
Vending machines
The vending machines are most likely inspired by games like Fortnite and Radical Heights. These are placed in maps Miramar and Camp Jackal to give players another way to loot items like Painkillers and Energy Drinks. The vending machines are always set to spawn in specific locations, like the warehouse and gas station on Camp Jackal.
In Miramar, the machines instead spawn in the Arena, Casino, gas stations, motels, and commercial buildings. However, even in such an apocalyptic environment, the vending machines are protected by anti-theft technology and will sound out if you damage them.
Badlands Survivor Pass
Like usual, the Survivor Pass comes with in-game cosmetic rewards, missions, and systems. The system this season is the Community Mission. Players will contribute to a Community accomplishment gauge by finding mystery collectibles. There will be cardboard boxes around the map, wherein players can find disc pieces, broken discs, and old DVDs. These have point values attached to them.
There are two types of missions this season, with the Melee Track and the Badlands Track. The Melee Track consists of two missions combined together, where players use melee weapons and receive melee weapon skins. The Badlands Track has missions that consist of four missions together, and it rewards two Miramar-related skins instead. There are also the traditional PUBG Progression and Challenge Missions, which have certain tracks available to players with the Premium Pass. By earning experience and completing missions, players will earn rewards at certain Survivor Pass levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25).
Survivor Title System
The Survivor Title System in PUBG Season 5 changes how Survivor Points work. After Season 4 rewards have been granted, the SP will go through a soft reset. For those between 1 and 5000 points, they will be classified into the Beginner category, where they can climb titles easier. There will also be an increased amount of SP gained, and players cannot lose points.
Those with more than 6000 points will find themselves in the Survivor bracket, which comes with punishments for losing. Placing in the bottom 30% will cause the player to lose SP. This is to combat players that achieved the Lone Survivor rank simply by playing many matches even if they had poor results. This could work before because players in Season 4 didn’t lose Survivor Points, even if they consistently lost.
PUBG throwable items
While only listed at the bottom of the Season 5 release description, throwable items are a huge update. If players request healing or ammo items through the mouse wheel radio message, teammates can now throw items over. Once requested, an icon will show up which players can interact with, and they can then throw the item up to 15 meters away. The teammate that the item is thrown to will automatically pick it up unless their inventory is full.
Melee weapons are also now throwable as a tool. Melee weapons like Machetes, Crowbars, Sickles, and Pans can be stacked in the inventory and thrown at enemies as an attack. There is a maximum throwing distance of 40 meters for the first three melee weapons, and 30 meters for the pan. Attack damage also changes depending on the range. Throwing these is similar to throwing grenades, with a trajectory arc highlighted in red.
The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds 5.1 update is now live on the testing server. Other updates and information can be found in the PUBG changelog regarding bug fixes, custom match updates, and UI/UX changes. Will you be checking out the new PUBG update, even if you’ve been playing another battle royale game as of recent? Let us know what you think about it, and keep up with Daily Esports for all of your PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds coverage.
