Squad Update 7.0: New Faction, Emotes, Weapon Skins, & More

(Estimated Read Time: 16 minutes)

It’s that time again with another Squad update. This time, players can choose a new faction, especially if they like to take advantage of solid infantry firepower. Aside from that, this patch has other additions, including new emotes and weapon skins. So, keep reading and dive deeper into the Squad 7.0 update.

What’s in the New Squad Update?

Squad players can now join a new military faction as of Update 7.0 – the Turkish Land Forces (TLF). This armed group leads the fields with strong infantry and good vehicles. This faction uses older equipment and vehicles from other countries, namely those from the Soviet and Western regions. However, the TLF has an extra grenadier role, a responsibility absent in other factions. Plus, it has a raider role with a modern submachine gun and more light anti-tank weapon options than any other military groups in the game at the time of writing. On the downside, the TLF doesn’t have a heavy anti-tank role. Additionally, Update 7.0 in Squad introduces a new weapon skin system, allowing players to enhance the visual appeal of their gear. Note that these skins are purely cosmetic and don’t impact their stats and handling. Moving forward, Squad Update 7.0 also adds more emotes to its gesture roster. These emote additions include the Cut Throat, Fist Pump, and Finger Guns. Aside from the additional content, Squad Update 7.0 has various system and gameplay improvements and bug fixes. One notable update is a new weapon punch animation when a player changes the magnification on an optic. Doing so adds an extra layer of realism to gunfights but temporarily throws off the sights from the center.

Squad Update 7.0 Patch Notes (FULL) – December 12, 2023

You can find the full patch notes for the Squad Update 7.0 below:

Turkish Land Forces (TLF)

Weapons

• SOR 109T Submachine Gun
• MPT-76 Rifle
• KNT-76 Marksman Rifle
• AK40-GL Underslung Grenade Launcher
• PMT-76 Medium Machine Gun
• MG3 - Iron Sights Variant
• MKE MGL Grenade Launcher
• HAR-66 Light Anti-Tank Weapon
• SOR-9 Pistol

Optics

• A940 1-4x Optic
• KESKIN Marksman Optic
• HNA Red Dot Optic

Vehicles

• BMC 185-09B Truck
• Cobra II MRAP
• ACV-15 Tracked APC/IFV
• PARS III Wheel APC/IFV
• M60T MBT
• UH1H Helicopter

Kit Roles

• Squad Leader (3 variants)
• Medic (2 variants)
• Rifleman (3 variants)
• Light Anti-Tank (3 variants)
• Automatic Rifleman
• Jandarma
• Marksman
• Machine Gunner
• Crewman (+ Squad Leader Crewman)
• Pilot (+ Squad Leader Pilot)
• Engineer

TLF Gameplay Layers

• Al Basrah Invasion v9 - TLF vs INS
• Anvil RAAS v5 - TLF vs RGF
• Black Coast Invasion v6 - TLF vs RGF RAAS v6 - TLF vs PLA Seed v2 - TLF vs VDV
• Chora AAS v7 - TLF vs MEA
• Fallujah Invasion v7 - TLF vs INS RAAS v8 - TLF vs INS Seed v2 - TLF vs MEA
• Gorodok Invasion v4 - TLF vs IMF RAAS v13 - TLF vs VDV
• Kohat Invasion v5 - TLF vs INS RAAS v5 - TLF vs IMF RAAS v11 - TLF vs RGF
• Lashkar Invasion v5 TLF vs PLA
• Logar AAS v4 - TLF vs IMF
• Mutaha Invasion v5 - TLF vs MEA RAAS v8 - TLF vs USA
• Sumari RAAS v3 - TLF vs INS Seed v4 - TLF vs USA
• Tallil Outskirts Invasion v6 - TLF vs MEA RAAS v9 - TLF vs PLA
• Yehorivka Invasion v5 - TLF vs RGF RAAS v15 TLF vs VDV

Weapon Skins

Woodland Warfare Pack ($4.99 USD)

Contains three cosmetic items for use on Woodland maps

• Rainforest: Factory camo for the QBZ95-1 Assault Rifle and the QBZ95B-1 Carbine (PLA and PLANMC)
• Shade: Spray paint for the M4A1 and M4 Carbine (USA and USMC)
• Tree Line: Trusty camo paint for the AK74M Assault Rifle (RGF)

Desert Warfare Pack ($4.99 USD)

Contains three cosmetic items for use on Desert maps

• Gobi: Special camo order for the QBZ95-1 Assault Rifle and QBZ95B-1 Carbine (PLA and PLANMC)
• Black & Tan: Classic color scheme for the M4A1 and M4 Carbine (USA and USMC)
• Dust: Slightly worn camo paint for the AK-74M Assault Rifle (RGF)

• Legacy Weapon Skins
• Updated existing founder and reward weapon skins to use the new skin system:
• Moved legacy skins from the Steam Inventory section in Settings to the new Weapon Skins tab on the Customize screen
• Legacy skins don’t have biome restrictions as they didn’t before
• Added some of the existing skins to new factions that are thematically appropriate
• RPG7 Veteran can now be used by VDV faction
• RPG7v2 Veteran can now be used by VDV, MEA, and the new TLF faction

Emotes

Stand Off Pack ($3.99 USD)

• Cut Throat (Gesture)
• Fist Pump (Gesture)
• Finger Guns (Emote)
• Can’t See Me (Gesture)
• Stop (Gesture)

System & Gameplay Updates

• Integrated Epic Online Services: We have replaced all Steam backend calls with Epic Online Services backend calls. This will still use your Steam account to authenticate to the backend, as was done previously.
• Integrated the Nvidia DLSS plugin as an upscaling option in the settings menu
• Players who press their VOIP key without an audio device connected will now see a "no input device" notification
• Adjusted all LAT minimum arming distance to 15 meters
• Adjusted all HAT minimum arming distance to 20 meters
• Helicopter pilots will no longer be affected by suppression
• Added a weapon punch animation when changing magnification on variable magnification optics. This will momentarily throw off the sights when adjusting the magnification
• Increased the land speed of PLANMC ZBD05 chassis vehicles [*] Updated BMD wheels and BTR-D chassis to feel better with speed turning and reduce the nose dips at top speeds.

General Bug Fixes

• Fixed a rare client crash related to taking damage
• Fixed a rare client crash related to stamina debuffs on modded clients
• Fixed an exploit related to server security
• Fixed an issue that could allow non-admins to use announcement features
• Fixed a bug that could cause players to get stuck on an infinite loading screen (“running man”) after joining a match on a modded server
• Fixed a bug that could cause players to get stuck on an infinite loading screen (“running man”) after joining a server and selecting a team
• Did an optimization pass of our textures to reduce VRAM usage. This should improve performance and reduce visual issues, especially on GPUs with less VRAM.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from using their mic after changing audio input devices or reconnecting a previously used audio input device
• Fixed a bug that could cause the view through a picture-in-picture scope to render at a very low pixelated resolution
• Corrected the zeroing on the QBZ95-1 scoped grenadier variant
• Corrected the zeroing on the DZJ08
• Corrected the zeroing on the F89 Minimi + Specter
• Fixed a bug that could cause part of the BAF Elcan LDS scope to appear to detach when aiming down sights
• Fixed several small issues that could prevent players from crouching after interacting with menus
• Fixed a bug that caused the equipped weapon to sway while using freelook
• The soldier sensitivity slider now correctly impacts both weapon and screen movement
• Suppression now works as intended for players in vehicles and emplacements
• Improved the muzzle flash effect for vehicles with infantry weapons on them
• Fixed a bug that allowed anti-tank rifles to be fired before fully aiming down the sights
• The Z-point reticle will no longer break after players change their FOV setting to 120
• Fixed a bug that caused the AS-VAL to sound louder in single-fire mode than in auto-fire mode
• The “falling” gun animation no longer plays when the player gets stuck between two objects
• Fixed a bug that could cause the “falling” animation to continue playing after a player has landed
• Fixed a bug that could cause the soldier to appear to “disappear” momentarily when climbing high walls
• Fixed a bug that could cause the soldier’s hand to appear to clip into the FN FAL Rifle (grenade variant) on certain FOV settings
• Fixed a bug that caused the eye cup of the M3 MAAWS to clip into the camera while aiming down sights
• Fixed a bug that caused the US Army medical bag to appear brighter than the rest of the soldier’s uniform
• Fixed a bug that could cause the camera to get stuck inside the soldier character model when exiting Admin Cam
• Fixed an animation issue that could occur when exiting vehicles
• Fixed a bug that could cause the camera to zoom out farther than players should be able to see if a player spammed their ADS input
• Smoke from Commander Barrage Abilities no longer flickers
• Made improvements to memory usage related to changing maps
• Fixed a bug that could occasionally cause helicopter instrument panels to be blank when in the pilot’s seat
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to zoom out and dramatically adjust their weapon’s orientation by spamming lean inputs
• Fixed a bug that could prevent players from drowning if they had already drowned and been revived earlier in the match
• Players will no longer get stuck after exiting the commander seat of the ZTZ99A MBT
• Players will no longer get stuck after spamming the “swap seat” key in a vehicle
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to reload and shoot the main turret of the Sprut, BMD1, BMD4, and ZTD05 while the ammo rack was cooking.
• Fixed a bug that caused the SFX and damage values of the BTR-D PKM APC to be the same as the BTR-D KORD APC instead of its unique values
• Fixed a bug that caused the veteran weapon skin to appear incorrectly when using the IMF HAT role
• Underbarrel grenade launchers no longer have a visible round in the chamber
• Improved the appearance of the ZiS-3 Field Gun Emplacement
• Filters no longer apply to the Favorites or Recents server browser pages
• Players in seats four and five of the BRDM-2 Armored Car will no longer be able to see outside of the viewport while driving on uneven terrain
• The RGF Kornet ATGM emplacement is no longer indestructible
• Exiting the Customize menu via the escape key while not connected to a server no longer brings up the “quit game” prompt
• Fixed a bug that prevented vehicles destroyed by IEDs from being removed from the map and respawning
• Fixed a bug that could cause helicopter passengers to appear to float in the air after being damaged

Map Updates & Bug Fixes

• Al Basrah Invasion v8 - All RHIB boats are now reachable from the dock
• Belaya Fixed a bug that prevented IMF-specific fortifications from being placed on Belaya map layers
• Black Coast Invasion v4 - All RHIB boats are now reachable from the dock
• Jensen’s Range BAF-IMF - Fixed a bug that caused the pre-placed M2HB emplacement to appear with an identical M2HB stacked on top of it CAF-INS - Fixed a bug that caused LUV-A1 vehicles to spawn upside-down
• Tallil Outskirts RAAS_v3 - The USA's M1A2 tank will now correctly spawn after the spawn timer finishes
• Pacific Proving Grounds USMC-PLA - Fixed a bug that caused the ammo crate at F7-3-9 to be unusable USMC-RGF - Fixed a bug that caused the ammo crate at F7-3-2 to be unusable
• Mod SDK Update Updated the mod SDK to v7.0 Updated mod versioning to v7.0. This means that all mods will need to be re-cooked with the v7.0 SDK to be compatible with the updated version of the game.

Known Issues

• We are aware of an issue that allows players to “aim down sights” while equipped with a melee weapon. While we work on a fix for the issue, please be aware of this and consider it if you run into any issues while holding a melee weapon. Some features like the emote and interaction wheels are not accessible when aimed down sights, so keep that in mind.
• The “Find Match” feature is not currently working. We are working on a fix for this that we will provide in an update soon after the release of v7.0.
• Occasionally, a server that is not live may appear in the server browser. This is specific to servers running in a Windows environment that have been restarted recently. It resolves itself in a couple of minutes. The issue is not present when a server is run in a Linux environment.
• When using DLSS with Frame Generation Enabled, the stat fps command will not show the correct FPS. This is due to how stat fps works by relying on the number of frames requested by the CPU. The Nvidia Overlay will show actual FPS. We have a fix for this slated for a future release.