PUBG's Survival Mastery system rewards players for their non-lethal skills
It's not all about those kills. Just mostly.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds 4.3 update is coming to the PC test server soon, bringing with it another progression system. While the Weapon Mastery system let players level up their guns by scoring kills and doing damage, Survival Mastery focuses on all the other stuff.
Looting, using items, getting into scuffles and reviving your mates will earn you XP, netting you rewards whenever you level up, mostly for the new PUBG ID. The ID lets players "express themselves", which means showing off stats and gussying the ID up with backgrounds, emblems and poses. For levels where you don't get a PUBG ID reward, you'll get BP instead.
I usually forget about all that stuff after I tweak it once, so I'm more interested in the match summary timeline and playstyle data. The timeline recaps all the survival activities players performed in a match, and it's possible to view previous matches, so you can track your habits. An analysis of your recent matches can also be viewed from the Survival tab, revealing your most prominent traits.
The update will also introduce a new shotgun, the DBS, which will only be available via care packages at first. PUBG Corp has also made tweaks to shotguns generally, as well as the S686, S1987 and the sawed-off shotgun.
Check out the patch notes here.
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Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.