Treyarch Made 'Call of Duty' Blackout's Strongest Armor 75% Harder to Find

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout beta now over, Treyarch shared a recap of how Armor changed during the test and said it's continuing to evaluate the mechanic.

From the beta's start till its end after a two-hour extension, players voiced concerns about the Armor in the battle royale game mode, specifically regarding how much of a difference it made in firefights. Going up against an enemy with even the most basic Armor made a significant difference in the "Time to Kill" stat that's often looked at in shooters with one of the more common complaints being that Armor made too much of an impact.

Level 3 Armor was mentioned most often in these discussions with players comparing its users to walking tanks. Wearing no Armor and going into a fight by comparison made it seem like no-Armor players died extremely quickly as well, but Treyarch heard players' feedback and made changes accordingly throughout the beta. Now that it's over, a recap of the state of Armor has Treyarch explaining why it cautiously changed it during the beta.

"Armor's role in Blackout is inherently unique compared to its role in MP. You only live once in Blackout, and you're rewarded for scavenging in areas that often put you in perilous positions, especially as the Collapse gets smaller in the late game," Treyarch said in its beta recap. "For this and other reasons, we've been cautious about making sweeping changes to the way Armor works, though we've made some tweaks during the Beta and continue to evaluate how Armor will work at launch."

As for how Armor changed throughout the beta, Treyarch compiled all the changes into the recap to show how Level 3 Armor was nerfed and how the overall mechanic will be better at launch. Though the Armor will continue to be evaluated until Blackout's October launch, here's what players can expect to see changed from what was seen in the beta.

• Spawn frequency of Level 3 Armor has been reduced by 75% compared to its initial spawn rate in the Beta.
• Level 3 Armor will now most frequently be found in Stashes and Supply Drops, though it may occasionally spawn in the world.
• Level 3 Armor now breaks sooner and passes more damage to the player wearing it, and still offers headshot and other types of damage mitigation. We've heard your concerns that Level 3 Armor was still perhaps too powerful by the end of the Beta, and will be evaluating the data to see what other tweaks may be required.
• Level 2 Armor was also minorly adjusted during the Beta and will potentially be tweaked further in time for launch.
• Players will see an indicator of the condition of their own Armor, and those of their teammates, in the HUD. This provides a more granular indicator of the damage that your Armor has taken beyond the Armor icon and will let you know if it's time to seek out a replacement.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and its Blackout game mode launch on Oct. 12.