Battlefield 3: IRNV and flashlight nerfs due in a later patch

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 24 November, 2011

They are coming.

Battlefield 3's infrared/night vision scope and flashlight will be nerfed in a future patch, DICE has confirmed.

Some fans complained after discovering that neither had been altered by the PC patch released on 22nd November.

But DICE community manager Daniel Matros reassured fans that the controversial IRNV and flashlight will be altered - eventually.

"IRNV and flashlight fixes are in a later patch," he said on Twitter. "Didnīt make it into this one. We found these changes to be more necessary than waiting."

Earlier this month Battlefield 3 senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz said DICE will tweak the tactical light attachment - used to blind enemy players.

The brightness of the light will remain untouched, but its range will be reduced. Up close, the light will continue to be as effective as it is, but at a distance it will be less effective.

The Battlefield 3 PC patch notes were released last week.

Console versions of the patch are also due, but are taking longer due to the platforms' certification processes.

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About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 6 months ago

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  • carlitoswagon #1 6 months ago

    At least Dice are listening.

    Would still be happy if the flashlight was totally removed.

  • ISmoke #2 6 months ago

    I don't understand what exactly about the IRNV is going to get nerfed. The range on it?

  • urban #3 6 months ago

    Finally! I can start using other weapons than the ones I have IRNV scopes on.

  • username84 #4 6 months ago

    Yeah so what was that last night?
    Nothing seemed to have changed after downloading.

    Flashlights are lame though.

  • mrpasser #5 6 months ago

    @EddieMink That patch was a fix at Microsofts end for bf3.

  • wyp100 #6 6 months ago

    @EddieMink That was an update by Microsoft, and not related to the patch detailed in the article.

  • dsmx #7 6 months ago

    I would simply give the IRNV more zoom so it can't be used to scan the entire battlefield in seconds.

  • WickedDeeJ #8 6 months ago

    @ISmoke Hopefully it will be made more realistic, IE if you just whip it out while running in broad daylight it blinds the crap outta you. These scopes work in low-light/no-light conditions only, and I'd be jumping for joy if the in-game version was changed to this. Right now it's just camper-vision.

  • Iain #9 6 months ago

    Love the fact that DICE are listening to the community feedback, but it does beg the question how tac-lights got implemented the way they are in the first place.

  • Davemanz #10 6 months ago

    I think it's odd that people think the tactical light needs to be nerfed. I just spray at anyone dumb enough to come at me head-on with one and get the kill at least half the time. People haven't gotten yet that the real way to use the light is to turn it on once you're close to an enemy, not just leaving it on all the time.

  • FarbrorBaku #11 6 months ago

    The IRNV is pretty much god mode, its supposed to be night vision but it works just as well in daylight and they need to nerf the range on that thing.

  • gamingdave #12 6 months ago

    At the rate I get kills, it will probably be on the day I unlock it!

  • Jimiz #13 6 months ago

    @dsmx Um, making an already overpowered attachment even *more* overpowered? Sounds reasonable to me!

  • ISmoke #14 6 months ago

    Judging from my experience but shouldn't it be fine to use in the day - I believe they use them in the army (though i'm getting this from 'Generation Kill' so it probably isn't correct) but doesn't it come up black and white? Or am i confusing it for thermal vision?

  • Davemanz #15 6 months ago

    @FarbrorBaku Definitely. I don't see much use in the tactical light, but goodness it's just not worth using a gun that doesn't have the IR sight once you get it.

  • TheEarlOfZinger #16 6 months ago

    Blinding flashlights in daylight = fucking ridiculous

    Night or the tunnel in damavand peak etc = fine.

  • dsmx #17 6 months ago

    Increasing the zoom wouldn't make it worse, right now when you use it your field of view isn't affected that much effectively you look down the scope and the entire battlefield turns green and any threats turn yellow it works at any range and because it's a 1x zoom it allows you to see a massive amount of the battlefield at once.

    If you increased the zoom it would mean you couldn't use it to quickly asses the entire battlefield for threats and it would make it less useful up close.

    Right now the IRNV has absolutely no disadvantages in it's use short of making it see through walls I can't think of anyway they could make it more overpowered then it is now.

  • Wempler #18 6 months ago

    The problem with the IR sight is that the contrast between soldiers/mines/vehicles (why are mines hot..?!) and the surroundings is WAY too big.

    People light up like christmas trees in BF3 because the terrain is VERY cold, apparently.

    It's stupid, silly and lame. I don't use the sight because I think it's overpowered and not working as (I) intended.


    In my opinion they should make it work like the thermal vision for tanks/helicopters/whatever, where it's all in black and white.
    This will still make it less effective as it will all be in greys, whites and blacks - and not stupid green and yellow/orange.
    Edited by Wempler at 24/11/11 @ 16:01

  • Sildur #19 6 months ago

    I have no problems with the flashlight or IRNV scope but then I rule at this game and everyone else clearly sucks. Must be all the CoD newbs complaining about the Flashlight. :D

  • Nephirion #20 6 months ago

    Any improvements to hit detection incoming?

  • zegerman1942 #21 6 months ago

    I personaly don't have a problem with flashlight and IR sight either.

    I understand why they reduce the range on the flashlight, and i am fine with the fix, it does not bother me either way, as i only switch it on when going around a dark corner anyway. What i would prefer in terms of a fix is that the flashlight is OFF by default, so i switch it on when i want to. I would also like the flashlight not to be a global switch (i.e. i switch it on for my main weapon, switch to pistol and it's on as well).

    As for IR: it's a level playing field. 100 kills on a gun will get you the sight. How anyone can complain about it when they can use it as well is beyond me. I don't have a problem with the fix though, because again it will be a level playing field and everyone will have it the same way. So it's just something new to get used to really.

  • dsmx #22 6 months ago

    Hit detection in BF3 is fine the problem lies in the fact that it's done on the client side (the person shooting at you) so what they see is how it defines if the bullet hit you.

    There's no perfect solution to hit detection you have to pick either client side or server side either way your going to see a disparity that annoys you, your just going to have to grin and bear it.

  • DUFFKING #23 6 months ago

    The IRNV is a bit crazy at the moment, just lets you spot stuff too easily in daylight, it's something of a crutch for some players. Should either be returned to somewhere closer to the beta functionality where it was crap outdoors, or to have the zoom level increased to 4x so it's less useful.

    I like BF3 but there's a lot of little glitches in it which make the game feel less... solid. Going back and playing BF2 or 2142 feels like a more reliable experience than BF3. It's little things like trying to jump over a wall and seeing the animation for it, then staying on the same side of the wall.
    Edited by DUFFKING at 24/11/11 @ 16:52

  • Cardiff1 #24 6 months ago

    The flashlight wouldn't be so bad if people on my own side didn't spend 5 seconds checking if I was friend or foe.

  • riz23 #25 6 months ago

    I only just unlocked the IRNV for my Type-88. I better get busy killing while I can!

  • Alf-Life #26 6 months ago

    seems like DICE had a flash of inspiration

  • TagemandBagem #27 6 months ago

    How about the flight ceiling on Canals? Is that supposed to be a feature?

  • Valland #28 6 months ago

    What use is flaslight if not to blind other players with it?
    Honestly, it was barely worth using before.

  • LEONOFDEATH #29 6 months ago

    Aslong as i can stay in a goddamn squad with my friends! FFFFFFFF

  • D_arkTrooper #30 6 months ago

    Or the stupidly low ceiling level of the Bazaar market level.Trying to fly the MAV around there is silly.It needs raising a fair bit.

  • dirtysteve #31 6 months ago

    whatever happened to the button for reporting spammers?

  • LEONOFDEATH #32 6 months ago

    I know the perfect solution for weapon balancing. Give more points for stuff that is harder to use and take points away for stuff that is easy to use.

  • chrisola #33 6 months ago

    i think that you also get scope glint even when a gun doesn't have a scope -- i'm convinced on more than one occasion i've see the glint, then died, and on the kill cam the gun used blatantly doesn't have a scope..

    Could be imagining it though

  • ROCK-NYC #34 6 months ago

    @LEONOFDEATH Most people that use those OP weapons dont care about points just KILLS.

  • jumpdeveraux #35 6 months ago

    I'd be happy to see both removed tbh - I don't think either add that much to the core game.

    Given significant number of people I've seen all use IRNV on the day maps it's just a crutch to make spotting easier. Not sure how they can tone it down to the point where it's much harder to see people without making it effectively pointless to equip.

  • Trigg3rHippie #36 6 months ago

    What about another flashlight (sniper scope glint)? Tehran Highway, night, dark room and my scope flashes! Come on...

  • Uncompetative #37 6 months ago

    How about... you know... making it fun?

  • sjmlondon #38 6 months ago

    There is nothing wrong with the IRNV scope. It is just Dice giving into the moans and wining of noob snipers who just want to sit at the back of the play area and take pot shots without actually contributing to the arming and disarming of objectives in Rush mode, ie actual teamplay
    Edited by sjmlondon at 24/11/11 @ 22:19

  • Pacman8MyGhostkart #39 6 months ago

    Next patch can't come soon enough, since this new patch release I can't stay on a server longer than 3 min without dropping (PC version)

  • MattyD #40 6 months ago

    I'm glad the IRNV is getting patched, it's no better than using an ESP hack.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #41 6 months ago

    @carlitoswagon well its annoying but a great technically feature and I dont want them to remove it. But I more or less just blast the light and more often then not got kills.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #42 6 months ago

    aye duffking that really pisses me off more when the animation spazes out, really glitchy game. But it is a great game but I agree also it does seem like it was rushed out more than the other versions, wonder if it was because they had PC as the leading machine, that due to the huge gap with consoles it has given them more glitches.

  • BigDannyH #43 6 months ago

    @zegerman1942
    Problem is, if everyone is using the exact same attachments then;
    a) they must be overpowered
    b) you lose some of the variety available in a match, people stop experimenting and potentially lose interest.

    Plus, the flashlights are pretty lame. Were funny at first though.

  • johnw100 #44 6 months ago

    My God , the flash light would take a coder 5 minutes to fix. I`m not a coder but i`d imagine something like max radius = 5 instead of 30 would do the job.

  • neems #45 6 months ago

    I don't have any great issue with enemy flashlights (as somebody else said, if you see a light, keep shooting until one of you is dead), it's friendly flashlights that are annoying. I get constantly blinded by team mates, even when we're all running the same way - the light shines sideways and swings back and forth when you sprint.

    In the end I took it off everything - if you have it on your pistol, if you get revived you'll be shining it directly into a friendly face more often than not. Just take it out completely, or have it work just as a torch instead of a weapon.

  • Lukree #46 6 months ago

    Irnv is kinda annoying as it really doesn't pick any other heat spots than humans and vehicles. At one match I was happily shooting people who were behind burning car, the flames don't have any effect in IRNV.

    Another issue is that I hate when you are forced to play the game in some sort of "secondary display mode" which shows something else than "the reality". Batman Arkham Asylum and detective mode - I'm looking at you as well!

  • KayTannee #47 6 months ago

    @Lukree Yeh that my issue with that view aswell. Why are mines roasting hot and kickinh out all sorts of heat, when they're sat on floor and should cool to ambient temprature. Yet, apparently fire is ice cold.

  • th3duckst3r #48 6 months ago

    you can press up on your d-pad to turn them off anyway.either that or dont attatch them to your guns.
    they are a pain in the neck though,as if a flash light would blind me in the daylight.

  • cyber_nicco #49 6 months ago

    WTF are they doing to the IRNV?

  • cyber_nicco #50 6 months ago

    Damn, I better start using it if they are going to "nerf" it... As soon as I've been getting 100 kills on a weapon (where it seems one usually gets it on American weapons), I go and start building up another weapon.

    Might as well try to enjoy it while it lasts. :)

  • PatTheMav #51 6 months ago

    @sjmlondon I so agree with you - the IRNV is THE most effective way to spot all those campers that drop off choppers on otherwise unreachable spots.

  • ctankep #52 6 months ago

    I actually think the tac-light creates much more interesting close -up game options. Especially for the kind of 1 vs. 2 / 3 match-ups that you get in 24 player mode. Can see how this gets annoying with larger player counts and in congested areas though.

    As for the IRNV, well that just seems a bit cheap and the only counter being tac-lights just makes it all worse ..! Be much happier if they could come up with an alternative to the awful looking FP10 flash light dithering on X360.



    -- Chuan
    Edited by ctankep at 28/11/11 @ 01:06