Toughness hasn't been a perk in the multiplayer portion of the Call of Duty series for as long as other perks. It wasn't around in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, for example, and only made its first appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Since then, it's been a big part of the experience. However, given that the upcoming Black Ops 3 is giving the multiplayer mode some huge overhauls, Toughness isn't making the cut this time around.
Speaking on Twitter, Treyarch's David Vonderhaar said that Toughness is out, Scavenger is in, and that the Lightweight perk is "not applicable." All of these details, he said, are subject to change as the game remains in "pre-pre Alpha" at this point in time and that the systems are still being worked on. Still, it's interesting that they've opted to remove Toughness, which has been a staple of the multiplayer experience for all this time.
Ever since its inclusion in the series, Toughness–a perk that reduces your flinch when hit–has been what players would call a crutch perk that you'd have to use unless you wanted to be at a significant disadvantage to other players with it.
Given that Toughness is out, players have asked how flinch will function in the upcoming game, to which Vonderhaar replied that the game mechanic exists to "about" half the amount between having Toughness and not having it. This too, is subject to change.
Needless to say, this is a good compromise for the studio to make given that flinch in Black Ops 2 and other COD titles totally wrecked aiming.
What are your thoughts on the removal of the Toughness perk in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3? Tell us in the comments below.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 comes out for the PC, Xbox One and PS4 on November 6, 2015.
