Game Update: Combat Zone, Daily Challenges, & More!

See what's going into the big November update.

Welcome to the November Update for H1Z1! This update includes the Combat Zone, Daily Challenges, the start of Preseason 7, the all-new Payload Crate, and lots of tuning and quality of life updates based primarily on player feedback. 

New Feature: Combat Zone

This is an all-new game mode designed for practicing combat mechanics.

• Spawn in with a full kit ready to go. 
• Respawn after death, no parachuting.
• Game takes place on a small, more intimate map that highlights various elements of The Arena.
• Max number of players per game is 55, and games end after one hour.

New Feature: Daily Challenges

We’ve added a Daily Challenge system to the game which primarily rewards Skulls.  You’ll be given three Challenges per day; one easy, one medium, and one hard (harder Challenges reward more Skulls). You’ll be able to discard one Challenge per day and get a replacement. Challenges don’t necessarily need to be completed in a single match and won’t be replaced until you complete or discard them.

A few examples of Daily Challenges:

• Halfway There – Place in the top 75 of a Solos match (easy)
• Domed – Destroy 10 helmets worn by other players (medium) 
• One Shot.  One Kill. – Kill an opponent with the .308 Hunting Rifle (hard)

With the introduction of Daily Challenges, the Bounty System has been removed and the Skull Store has been updated with several awesome new rewards including the first ever animated Helmet! 

Combat & Gameplay Tuning

We’ve made a number of weapons adjustments based on player feedback.

• Slightly decreased AR-15 recoil reset time to give the user more responsive 2-taps.
• Reduced AK-47 fire rate to help alleviate close-quarters spammability.
• Added a fixed, non-rotating pattern for Shotgun blasts including a center pellet. 
• Shotgun damage and fall-off damage have been increased to increase its close-quarters reliability.
• Bullet drop has been reduced for pistols and rifles.  The values are now much closer to what they were before the Combat Update in August

In addition, there are several quality of life gameplay improvements in this update.

• Fall damage should be significantly more consistent now.  Height is now the only determinant of fall damage, so forward velocity will not affect you.  You should also no longer take 1-2 points of damage randomly when running and jumping over small objects.
• Explosive arrows are now very effective against vehicles.
• It is now possible to loot while reloading.
• The fifth passenger in a vehicle can now reload and shoot (careful!).
• Fuel is now consumed slightly faster than before when using turbo boost.

Match Pacing & Tuning

• First safe zone is now revealed after 45 seconds, instead of 2 minutes.
• Gas begins moving after 2 minutes and 15 seconds, instead of 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
• First phase Gas moves slightly slower over 5 minutes and 27 seconds, instead of 5 minutes.
• The first phase will be 2 minutes and 30 seconds shorter but it should be easier to outrun the gas in a vehicle.
• The toxicity mechanic has been removed.
• The gas mechanic has had its damage retuned due to the removal of the toxicity mechanic.
• The airdrop plane and drop itself now move slightly faster.
• The loot distribution system has been tuned on a per mode basis. Item spawns have been increased in Duos by approximately 15%, and Fives by approximately 25%.
• Slightly increased AR-15 spawn rate.
• Slightly decreased AK-47 and Hellfire 4-6 spawn rate.
• Slightly increased Medkit spawn rate in residential areas.
• Increased crossbow spawn rate and decreased long bow spawn rate.  There will be roughly the same number of total bows (including both types) as before.

Updates to The Arena

We revamped the lighting and colors of The Arena to be more visually appealing. This change came in part from direct player feedback during the Reverse AMA on Reddit. In addition to many general bug fixes, loot balance has been improved at The Dam, barns, and office buildings. 

 General Improvements & Bug Fixes

• We’ve made improvements to our file system that reduce the download size of the game.  This change will require that previous files are downloaded again to receive the new format; however future downloads will utilize the new format and will therefore require a smaller amount of space.
• The time of day has been adjusted to improve visibility and enhance gameplay.
• You can now enter vehicles that are moving slowly instead of only when they are completely stopped.
• Training & Skirmish have been removed from the UI.  Future Skirmishes will be presented through the Events system.
• Added a “Scrap Duplicates” button that allows you to Scrap all but one of the selected item.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Twitch Accounts to not successfully link to Daybreak Accounts.
• Shooting from a passenger seat should no longer result in hitting a teammate in the backseat.
• You will no longer get stuck after crouching in a truck bed.
• You can now consistently see other players stand up when they are in the back of a truck.
• You can no longer throw a grenade and shoot with a single click.
• Stun Grenade effect will no longer be canceled by exposure to a second Stun Grenade.
• You will no longer incorrectly go into first person if you enter a vehicle while zooming.
• AK-47 will no longer appear further from the camera than usual when going into first person while aiming down sights.
• Camera will no longer rarely veer off target when crouching and quickly switching between first and third person.
• Reticle no longer slightly shifts when punching.
• Vehicles will no longer occasionally spawn with two sets of keys.
• Backpacks that are upright (e.g. leaning against the wall) will now properly show up in proximity.
• Players will no longer occasionally enter a handgun stance when exiting a vehicle.
• Different satchel types now give the same number of cloth scraps (2).
• Leather satchels are now visually distinguishable from plain Satchels.
• Made Survivor Backpacks a bit smaller.
• Hellfire 4-6 bullets now properly go through chain-link fences.
• Fuel (Biofuel) now detonates when hit by molotovs and flaming arrows.
• One shot from a Hellfire 4-6 now brings Makeshift Armor to 16% condition instead of 0%.
• Flaming arrows now trigger the on fire animation when they successfully damage a player.
• Balanced out the effective range of various arrow types.
• Group members will no longer get stuck in queue if the leader queues while one or more group members are in an unready state.
• Fixed an issue where a player could queue for a match then join a group, and then be unable to queue for a new match.
• Fixed an issue where the end screen would not display if your map is open during a win.
• End screens will no longer display on the main menu when dying with your map open.
• Leaderboard player list and icon no longer disappear when user clicks on a player profile then switches divisions.
• Selected skins will properly load when clicking on a locked skin then back.
• Previewing a locked skin will no longer prevent you from previewing another skin afterwards.
• Mousing over new items should no longer cause customization to re-sort.
• Changed text color for carrying capacity in Inventory to be a bit easier to read.
• Canceling on “Match Found!” will no longer cause “Back” and “Exit H1Z1” buttons to disappear.
• “Crouch Blocked” message will now always properly play in the appropriate situations.
• Various anti-cheat improvements and crash fixes.