CSGO patch changes Danger Zone meta, updates Trust Factor

In a followup to Monday’s big patch, Valve has released another update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive last night that made some small changes that could have a big impact.

Valve made changes to Danger Zone and CSGO’s matchmaking trust factor while adding in two new options for reporting players and the buy menu.

CSGO’s Danger Zone paradrop nerf improves battle royale play

There was only one gameplay change in Tuesday’s patch. Valve has added the chance for late-game paradrops in Danger Zone to contain what the developer described as “a giant money bonus” instead of a rifle. Files indicate that the bonus is $4,400. While the extra money is a nice bonus, the real change is the nerf to the Danger Zone paradrop.

Danger Zone often becomes a rush for the drops when the game reaches its end stages. Here are the new drop rates for Danger Zone’s paradrops after the addition of the cash bundle:

• AK: drop chance lowered from (16.6%) to (16%)
• M4: drop chance lowered from (16.6%) to (16%)
• A1: drop chance lowered from (16.6%) to (16%)
• AUG: drop chance lowered from (16.6%) to (16%)
• SG: drop chance lowered from (16.6%) to (16%)
• AWP: drop chance lowered from (5.5%) to (5%)
• G3SG1: drop chance lowered from (5.5%) to (5%)
• SCAR20: drop chance lowered from (5.5%) to (5%)
• Mega Cash Bundle ($4,400): drop rate is (5%) 

The change is a welcome one. Careful players are often left with a Scout or Galil if they’re not chasing packages, meaning that a lucky AWP or autosniper drop for the opposing teams is basically game over. The addition of money to the drop table indirectly nerfs the drop rate of these powerful weapons, balancing out the endgame.

The patch also added some new animations when players pick up certain items when looking for the win in Danger Zone.

Requested CSGO reporting feature added to match view

In one CSGO’s most requested features has always been the ability to report a player after the game has ended. Whenever a player thinks they’re up against a cheater, reviewing the demo is always a good first step. That said, players could report others anywhere else than when in the actual match, so it’s never been helpful to do demo reviews except to confirm or deny your suspicions. 

Now, Counter-Strike players now have the ability to review the demo and then report a player directly from the match page. It’s a welcome addition, especially for newer players grinding their way to Prime status. And that’s not the only change regarding cheaters.

Valve adjusts Trust Factor rankings, asks for player help detecting cheaters

Valve has also made some adjustments to how matchmaking values Trust Factor. In practice, this means that players with a high Trust Factor should encounter fewer cheaters. In the update notes, Valve asked those players with a high Trust Factor to report any cheaters to CSGOTeamFeedback@valvesoftware.com.

Currently, there’s no way for players to see their own Trust Factor, but having an upgraded Prime account and no warnings about low Trust Factor when in a party are good indications that the account’s factor is high.

Also on the cheater front, it looks like Valve’s machine learning upgrade for VAC is in full use. The patch notes mention that players that review Overwatch cases should see fewer spinbotters, meaning that VAC is automatically filtering them out and banning them automatically.

Buy menu customization for CSGO

In the final change from yesterday, Valve added the ability to change the starting position of the user’s pointer when they open the buy menu along with the option to navigate the buy menu using the number keys. 

Under “Settings – Game – Item” there are two new options:

• Buy Menu Starting Mouse Position
• Buy Menu Number Keys

Mouse position has two options that let the user choose whether the mouse pointer starts in the middle of the screen called “Crosshair Position,” or at the center of the Buy Wheel, called “Radial Buy Wheel Center.”

The Number keys option was added to disable the use of number keys to navigate the buy menu. That dropdown choice is called “Ignored, Handled by Game.”

The patch also included a few small texture fixes for the new buy menu and a bug fix for certain CPUs. Players can find the full patch notes here on the CSGO Blog.