After the War in the Pacific update dropped, Battlefield 5 was finally starting to look like it had turned things around. The game had been through a long period of lows, with missing features, lackluster content, and delayed updates, but players felt the game was finally reaching its potential after Chapter 5 released. That all changed with update 5.2. DICE made dramatic Battlefield 5 TTK changes, completely altering the way many of the game’s weapons feel and perform, and the player base is not happy. Read this guide for a breakdown of Battlefield 5’s BTK weapon balance changes and the TTK controversy they created.

Battlefield 5 TTK Controversy | Why are players angry about update 5.2?

In Battlefield 5 update 5.2, DICE increased the BTK (bullets to kill) values for many weapons at long ranges, significantly reducing damage and increasing TTK (time to kill). DICE made these changes in an effort to diversify the viable weapons at different ranges, but don’t feel this was a good decision. When DICE detailed these changes in a mid-November Reddit post, players immediately pushed back, saying TTK was one of the only things the community didn’t have a problem with. Now that the update is out, the community’s fears have been proven real, and players are confused as to why these changes were made in the first place.

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Many players report the update has completely screwed up weapon balance, breaking guns and making Battlefield 5 feel like a totally different game. Reddit user Teh_W4rhe4rt, for example, shared a clip of an close-range duel between a player with an assault rifle and one with a pistol. The pistol-wielder was able to take multiple assault rifle shots in the face and survive, following up with a few pistol shots that quickly killed the assault rifle user. Another Reddit user, DalkerPL, shared a video of a medium machine gun laying into enemies across a city canal. Despite many direct hits with the relatively heavy weapon at medium range, it proved ineffective. User jamnewton22 summed it up this way: “The guns feel so weak and barely even feel like guns anymore. […] I feel like this is a ww2 paintball simulator.”

Making matters even more perplexing is the fact that almost the exact same thing happened a year ago. Near the end of 2018, DICE increased TTK values in an effort to make Battlefield 5 more approachable for new players, but the TTK changes were quickly reverted after outcries from the community. The fact that this is the second time the developer has made such a drastic change, especially after the community predicted the changes would be detrimental, has some players saying “we told you so” and others saying goodbye.