Frying pans now literally save your ass in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds got its first major update today. The patch mainly addresses performance issues, but it also makes a significant change to the gear meta: frying pans now block bullets. With a satisfying metallic clang, no less.

PUBG players have already put the pan through rudimentary ballistic tests. "It blocks shotgun blasts. It also blocks while in the hand, making it a tiny shield. It blocks from both sides," reports a top comment on Reddit. "Blocks AWM rounds too," comments another, referring to PUBG's most powerful sniper rifle. "I am one with the pan, the pan is with me, I am one with the pan, the pan is with me, I am one with the pan, the pan is with me," chants evpangelist fuckward_mobility.

On its iron surface, this change seems trivial. But the pan, like all unequipped melee weapons, is positioned just above a player's left butt cheek, protecting a not-insignificant amount of body, especially when you're fleeing in fear.

Considering there's little reason to grab a melee weapon in Battlegrounds right now (in the early-round rush for guns, your fists work about as well as a crowbar or sickle), adding a bit of defense to an item that previously had such low utility gives players a reason to grab it, and it produces funny clips like those embedded here.

Give it another day or two, and I guarantee we'll be seeing players wielding the pan defensively like Captain America's shield.

"New level four vest leaked," writes Redditor Ninjaassassinguy.

Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer way back in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are Hunt: Showdown, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Counter-Strike. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging.