Black Ops 4 Patch 1.11 is live — this large update brings along improvements to the core multiplayer, Blackout, and Zombies. Treyarch is finally acknowledging the Zombies community (which has been craving new content for a long time) by giving them their own double XP weekend, new elixirs and a new game type known as Gauntlets.

There are also some minor changes to the Multiplayer —including another nerf for Zero. Blackout will also have a new limited time mode. However, the most significant news for Blackout was the announcement of a free trial for players who do not own the game.

*PS4 receives all content updates a week before Xbox One and PC

Zombies

115 Day Celebration Event (all platforms)

• Zombies 2XP, Zombies 2X Weapon XP, and 2X Nebulium Plasma live 10AM PT Jan. 15-18.

Fun Fact: This event started on January 15th, which translates to 1-15. This is now known as 115 Day by Treyarch — this relates to Element 115 in the Zombies lore (the element which basically created the Zombies). Now living dead fanatics can go celebrate this Zombies holiday by getting some sweet double XP.

Gauntlets (PS4)

• “Unsinkable” Gauntlet live inVoyage of Despair.
• 30 rounds of challenges with unique rules for each round.
• Players earn medals and tiered rewards for completing rounds 10, 20, and 30, as well as an additional reward for completing round 30 without failing a round.
• Players are issued a Strike by failing a round, with the game ending after three Strikes.
• All matches are timed for competitive speed-run support.

This game mode will give players the opportunity to earn a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal based on their performance after completing rounds 10, 20, and 30. Each round has different rules — such as limiting what weapons you can use for that specific round.

The ruleset for all 30 rounds is not random, so every player will compete under the same circumstances. Finally, every match is timed — this will certainly create a lot of competition among Zombies players looking to achieve the fastest Gauntlet completion time.

New Elixirs (PS4)

• Perk Up (Epic):Gain 4 additional random Perks that are not in your loadout.
• Refresh Mint (Epic):Refreshes the cooldowns for Equipment, Perks, and Special Weapons for your entire team.
• Conflagration Liquidation (Epic):Spawn a Bonfire Sale power-up.

Black Ops Patch 1.11 adds some new elixirs to Zombies. These new single-use potions are extremely rare, so they will be hard to earn, but they will greatly benefit players looking to survive the higher rounds by allowing them to get extra perks or use their specialist weapons more often.

Multiplayer

Nerfs (PS4 and Xbox One)

Zero

• Hacking an enemy no longer prevents Specialist Weapon or Equipment usage.

Another patch, another nerf to Zero. This latest change continues to take away from her identity as the anti-specialist character —now specialists can just ignore the duration of her hack and unleash their unique abilities at any time.

Currently, Zero’s sole purpose is to do the one thing the Blacks Ops 4 community cannot stand about her — easily take away your scorestreaks with her hack. So Treyarch did not address the main issue with Zero in Black Ops Patch 1.11. Instead, they went a different direction with their latest nerf.

Buffs (PS4 and Xbox One)

Perks

• Improved Cold Blooded’s enemy Scorestreak targeting delay from 5 to 7 seconds.
• Improved Team Link’s circular vision radius by 9%.

These are some nice mini-buffs to perks not frequently used in multiplayer. Increasing Cold Blooded’s duration will greatly assist a player looking to escape the wrath of a scorestreak. Though Team Link probably won’t see much play, it will help those team players looking to track ally movement.

Blackout

Nerfs (PS4 and Xbox One)

Concussion Grenade

• Reduced Concussion grenade stack count to 1.

This is an overdue change that will prevent Blackout players from abusing the overpowered stun effect of these menacing grenades.

Other Blackout Changes

Later in the week, Treyarch will release details on a limited time mode coming to Blackout known as Down but Not Out — right now they have only revealed that players will be able to respawn after a circle collapses in this game type. Also, Treyarch is allowing players who do not own Black Ops 4 to try Blackout on a one-week free trial that starts on January 17th! Be sure to watch the official trailer below.

General Updates (All Platforms)

Here are the featured playlists in Black Ops Patch 1.11: Chaos Control, TDM 100, Mercenary Hardcore Moshpit, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit, and Team Tactical Moshpit. Also, Elevation and Madagascar have been added to all playlists for Black Ops 4 pass owners.

For a more detailed look at Black Ops 4 Patch 1.11 check out the official patch notes.