Recently, DICE published a complete list of every vehicle, weapon, gadget, and more which will feature in Battlefield 5 when the game launches in November. The full list contains around melee weapons, sidearms, towable weapons, and the seven different categories of primary weapons. One notable omission, however, was the mortar. A fan posed the question of whether mortars will feature to the game’s Multiplayer Producer, who explained why they won’t be. At least, not yet.
Why There Won’t be Battlefield 5 Mortars
The earliest mortars were originally developed from cannons in the mid-1400s, and they were mainly used in sieges for centuries. It began to see some use in field combat in the early 1700s, but fell out of use throughout the Napoleonic Era. The weapon didn’t see a resurgence until the American Civil War, where they were widely used. However, it was during the First World War that the weapon really came into its own. For the first time, the mortar could be carried and deployed by a single soldier. More advanced mortars, such as gun-mortars and mortar carriers were in use by WWII. Indeed, the weapon was a feature of Battlefield 1.
As such, mortars certainly could have a place in Battlefield 5. However, the weapon will not be featuring in the game, at least not at launch. The reason for that was explained by David Sirland, the game’s Multiplayer Producer. According to Sirland, the mortar is a problem when it comes to balancing the game’s combat due to the fact that it is an indirect explosive weapon; “it’s a very problematic thing when scaling up to 64 players,” explains Sirland; “We’ll have some in the end, but expect a skill based firing method before we go for these.”
We've minimized indirect explosives in BFv for a reason (it's a very problematic thing when scaling up to 64 players). We'll have some in the end, but expect a skill based firing method before we go for these.
— David Sirland (@tiggr_) October 6, 2018
Sirland’s comments suggest that mortars are something that DICE has actively considered and chose not to focus on for launch. However, his comment that; “we’ll have some in the end,” seems to be a strong indication that players will see Battlefield 5 mortars eventually. Whether they’ll come through periodic post-launch updates in Tides of War, or as part of a larger content expansion is unknown.