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Battlefield 1 Devs Talk Weapon Changes

Achtung!

Abandoning modern warfare for the brutality of World War I was a bold move for Battlefield 1 [official site], and now developers DICE have revealed more details on how that change in setting will affect what Battlefield does best: shooting. Along with a small teaser trailer earlier this week, DICE have posted a Q&A with weapon designer Julian Schimeck hinting at some of the more nuanced changes.

"The weapons of Battlefield 1 are a bit more specialized," Schimek said. "To get the most out of them, you have to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and use the right one in the right situation."

While many wrongfully think that World War I was an era of crude bolt-action rifles, heavy machine guns, and little more, DICE are really pushing to emphasize the diversity of weapons that will be present in Battlefield 1. So far, they've said that we can expect everything from shotguns to sniper rifles, but also submachine guns, light machine guns, semi-automatic, and a host of new melee weapons to boot.

Weapon customization will also be making a return: "Most weapons will allow you to equip bayonets or alter their handling, as well as changing your weapons sights’ magnification," says Schimek. DICE have stated that these mods are intended to be more meaningful and focused than the shotgun blast of granular decisions present in Battlefield 4, which sounds great to me.

Interestingly enough, one of the key changes across all guns is an increase in bullet velocity because it "speeds things up and makes the gunplay feel more authentic."

Another intriguing change is coming to sniper rifles, with Schimek explaining that "the biggest change is that you will actually be the most effective when you stay at the right distance to your target. It's not all about being as far away as possible. You'll want to make sure you're not too close, but also not too far away."

The Q&A also dives into melee weapons, talking about how Battlefield 1 will be doing more with them than ever before. Schimek says that there will be multiple types of melee weapons to use each with their own attack speeds and damage output. Some will also double as tools to let you cut through barbed wire or even damage light vehicles.

If you're interested, there's some more broad strokes comments about gadgets and smaller changes to gunplay in Battlefield 1 that you can read in the Q&A. Otherwise you can wait to see how it all comes together on October 21 when Battlefield 1 releases.

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