Training day in Playerunknown's Battlegrounds plus tuk-tuks, lasers and a new rifle
The ultimate weapon has been deployed
A bundle of new stuff has arrived on Playerunknown's Battlegrounds's test servers today. Heading up Update 21 (find the full notes here) is Training Mode, a small practice map for up to 20 players where nobody dies (even if you kill them), and there's plenty of toys to test this newfound immortality on friends and strangers alike.
There's a new assault rifle - the 7.62mm MK47 Mutant - and a new laser sight attachment to boost accuracy in close quarters combat. Plus, Alice's beloved scooter has been dethroned as Plunkbat's ultimate weapon. Bow down, as the growing juggernaut that is the Tukshai rolls on through.
The big addition this update is Training Mode. A small but densely packed map full of parachuting targets to practice landing on, firing ranges, race-tracks, ramps to practice your driving skills on and more. Death holds no sway over this small and idyllic land of learning, so if someone cheekily shoots you in the face, the lowest you can hit is one health. Training Mode is joined through matchmaking and supports 5-20 players, so expect antics, but nothing that you can't survive.
Less dramatic but still interesting are a new gun and attachment. The MK47 Mutant is a mid-range rifle with a 20-round magazine, and no full-auto mode. You can fire single rounds or two-shot bursts, but no spraying allowed. It has an integrated stock so there's no replacing that, but it otherwise is as upgradeable as any other AR. Laser sights are the other big shooty addition. Slap one onto a weapon and it becomes far more accurate when hip-firing and soft-aiming. I'm hoping for a pistols-only warzone event with laser sights for all for some high-agility play.
But absolutely most important this update is the Tukshai. Exclusive to Sanhok (and thus making it the only good map in the game), it's a 3-person vehicle that can replace UAZ, Dacia and Minibus spawns. It's slow, it provides effectively zero protection and it looks funny, which speaks to the massive confidence and prowess of anyone seen driving one around. There's a special place in heaven reserved for crews that roll together in one of these beauties.
There's a mess of smaller updates in this patch too, including a new cosmetic reward system, an enhanced map-marker system to make team coordination easier, a more visible Bluezone wall-of-death and some general UI tweaks. But all of this pales in comparison to the might of the Tukshai. Respect it. Update 21 is live on the Plunkbat test servers now. See the patch notes here.