Netcode and lag are part of the problem, of course, but another major contributor is the game’s excessive random bullet deviation, which makes it so bullets don’t always land where the reticle suggests they should. But there appears to be another layer to this lack of accuracy, and it has to do with Specialist hitboxes. Reddit user NickelFPS performed some testing with the player models of Falck, and Sundance. By shooting around the target, they were able to see which parts of the 3D model register a hit and which do not. For Falck, her hitbox appears to be a little wider than her character model. As you can see in the video below, shooting around the character can still result in a hit. This is the opposite for Sundance, whose hitbox looks to be much smaller than her character model. In their case, you can shoot through the shoulder and not get a hit - which could explain why it’s so hard to hit Sundance players consistently. Battlefield 2042 is not the first fps to suffer from mismatched hitboxes, of course. Apex Legends had its own troubles with inconsistent hitboxes on a number of occasions. Hitboxes are one of the trickier things to get right in a shooter, particularly if you’re trying to offer soft aim assist to make players feel good about their shooting skills. Hopefully this isn’t a widespread issue with all/most Specialists, or at least, it’s something DICE can get to fixing fairly quickly. The last thing Battlefield 2042 needs right now is yet another problem making gunfights inconsistent.
