The 7.2 Squad update has dropped, bringing a ton of new content to the tactical first-person shooter that fans have been waiting for since the game was released in 2020.
Among the highlights of this patch, there are two new vehicles for the US Army and USMC factions respectively, and the ability to vote on upcoming maps and factions to play after a round ends.
With the voting system, a few changes were made to both factions and layers. The factions have been broken down into units with different specialities, in terms of layers, now you won't need new ones for multiple faction match-ups.
With that said, let's take a look at everything the Squad 7.2 update brings to the game.
Squad 7.2 patch notes
In short, the big highlights of the patch are the two new vehicles and map voting system, plus proper support for manual bolt-action rifles, quality-of-life improvements to gunplay, UI improvements, and a new pack of weapon skins.
New units
- M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS): This armored vehicle features a 105mm cannon that can effectively damage enemy armor, while still being highly mobile on its M1126 chassis. It is designed to work alongside other wheeled vehicles and infantry operations and will be a part of the 2nd Cavalry Stryker Brigade Motorized unit of the USA Faction
- Quad Bike: The quad bike is a highly agile and stealthy vehicle that can be used to quickly traverse and flank enemy positions, but it is also highly vulnerable if spotted. These vehicles are now available for use by US Army and USMC Light Infantry units
Map voting system
At the end of a round of gameplay, players will be prompted to vote on the following layer and faction that their team would like to play.
The voting step is concluded when the voting time is up or when all the players have voted. When the layer and faction voting steps are completed, the next gameplay layer will be loaded based on the results.
Server owners can customize the voting system by setting the time limit, number of options, and which layers and units can appear. They can also determine how many rounds of gameplay must pass before the same options can appear again, or disable the voting system altogether and stick to a set rotation.
Bug fixes
- Reduced and smoothed out apparent movement stutters and hitches on helicopter movement when flying close to busy areas.
- Fixed an issue where explosion SFX, VFX, and damage could be desynced from one another or playing out of order
- Fixed an issue where RPGs are sometimes not loaded following the reload animation
- Fixed an issue where patches equipped on the player’s character appeared with a broken texture in first-person view
- Fixed an issue that could lead to IEDs being detonated multiple times
- Fixed an issue with the vehicle passenger list where players who weren’t in the vehicle were listed as passengers
- Fixed an issue where vehicles with turrets could take double damage from projectiles penetrating the hull and turret components
- Fixed an issue with the server browser where Maximum Ping shows the incorrect UI value
- Fixed an issue with the server browser where empty servers were still visible after unchecking the “Show Empty Servers” filter
- Fixed an issue where living players could appear dead on the map, scoreboard, and squad list
- Mines will now despawn when an individual changes team
Gameplay and system updates
- With the addition of the voting system, factions have been broken down into units with their own specialties. These specialties are represented by a unique vehicle lineup and FOB emplacements. In the future, this may be expanded to include unique weapons, roles, and commander abilities. These different units can appear in the voting options for which team to play
- With the addition of the voting system, the amount of gameplay layers has been consolidated. New layers are no longer required for different faction match-ups (down from 453 to 203). Additional unique layers will be introduced in future updates
- Added support for manual bolting: When using Bolt Action Rifles, firing will no longer automatically cycle the bolt. Players must press the fire button again to manually cycle the bolt and load a new round into the chamber
- Aim sensitivity is reduced when using Steady Aim (holding shift while aiming down sights). The sensitivity multiplier can be adjusted or disabled in the Game Settings menu.
- Reduced scope bobbing from weapon sway. This makes keeping the target in view through the scope easier and can help prevent motion sickness in some players.
- The “clear sights” iron sights perspective offset now only occurs when higher sway levels have been reached, typically after sprinting or using stamina. This is intended to make the perspective shift feel more intentional and predictable while keeping the iron sights ADS view usable when the sway is high
- Adjusted recoil on the SV-98, Mosin, and C14 rifles to ensure players can see the point of impact of their round at the highest magnification setting to support the manual bolting feature
- Completely reworked sway on G3, FAL, SKS, and Mosin rifles
- Completely reworked sway on Minimi and RPD squad automatic weapons
- Reduced hip fire recoil on SKS
- Improved the view through the M4/M16 carry handle Ironsights for easier spotting
- Reduced the DOF blur on QBZ95 iron sights for easier spotting
- Increased the suppression power and radius of the BM-21 rocket
- Increased suppression from 40mm AGL, UGL, and FAL rifle grenade projectiles
- Shoulder-fired and gun-launched smoke rounds now cause a small amount of suppression at the impact point
- Helicopter respawn time has been increased from 6 minutes to 10 minutes
- The starting tickets for AAS and RAAS have been unified (reduced in most cases) to 250
- The starting tickets for Invasion have been unified to 200 for attackers and 800 for defenders
- The number of starting tickets for the attacking team on amphibious assault invasion layers has increased from 200 to 250
- The number of starting tickets for Skirmish has increased from 100 to 200.
- Tank SABOT projectiles now correctly apply suppression as they pass by players, and we have increased the level of suppression they apply at the area of impact.
- Increased traverse range for emplaced M2 and Kord heavy machine guns to 170 degrees for tripod mounts and 130 degrees for bunker mounts.
- Increased Helicopter, Simir, and RHIB-mounted machine gun traverse range.
- Reworked binocular sway to be more forgiving
- The side armor of the USMC AAVP7 APC now acts as add-on armor, reducing the damage done by rounds that pass through it
- Adjusted the armor of the BTR80 & BTR82 chassis to no longer take damage from fragmentation rounds and adjusted the rear armor to no longer be vulnerable to HE rounds
- Slightly increased the max land speed, water speed, and acceleration of the USMC AAVP7 APC
- Made improvements to the reticle of the CAF Leopard 2A6M MBT that focus on a better user experience
- The TLF faction now uses iron sight variants of the M2HB heavy machinegun emplacements
- Added the M2HB variant of the Browning M2 machine gun that’s more appropriate for Turkish, Insurgent, and Militia forces
- Updated the Chinese text on the PLA Air Assault Unit patch
- Made improvements to the third-person animations of characters using vehicle weapons, including helicopter turrets
- If a player has audio input issues, they will see an alert icon when attempting to use VOIP.
- Several improvements were made to the Server Browser search bar
- A splash screen was added to describe the game’s key characteristics. After seeing it once, it will not appear again
- Reduced the volume of the Offworld splash screen audio
- Made improvements to the Store and Customize menus
- Server owners and admins can now rename squads
Weapon skins
Jungle Pack - $4
The pack can be applied to the QJB95-1, QBZ95B-1 Carbine, and PF98 skins. Check it out in the store!
Update to Existing Skins
- Owners of the QBZ-95, AK74M, and M4A1 skins will now have access to “worn” variants of those skins