In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the riot shield is currently considered a nuisance. A nerf in the mid-season was the result. However, players are disappointed with the changes, as the weakening did not hit the target precisely.
The riot shield has a dubious reputation in Call of Duty. It is considered toxic, as it allows players to break normal gameplay patterns and approach an enemy who is firing with the trigger pulled without taking damage.
It first appeared in the original CoD MW2 from 2009. And now, 13 years later, the riot shield has reached a kind of peak. In a large number of matches, at least one player is carrying a shield.
The developers are apparently keeping an eye on this trend and thought during the mid-season: “It’s time for a serious nerf!” But apparently, they didn’t look closely enough – because the strong nerf is not bringing the desired effect for many players.
Currently, there is a free weekend in CoD MW2 including double XP until 19.12.22. Here are a few tips for leveling weapons in the video:
CoD MW2: Riot Shield Leads to Turtle Battles
How was the shield nerfed? In the patch notes of the mid-season, a pretty strong nerf can be identified:
- Riot Shield – Nerf
- Reduced movement speed
- Decreased melee damage
- Improved animations
- It takes longer to use a throwing knife
This nerfed the playstyle when using the riot shield as a primary weapon.
Why didn’t the nerf take effect? The problem is that the shield is currently used less as a primary weapon. Instead, players are using it as a back shield.
Because if you don’t have the shield in front of you, you carry it on your back, and it still prevents malicious bullets from piercing you.
Especially on the new map Shipment, the problem becomes obvious. Many players come in here to level a specific weapon or farm kills like mad.
Together with the perk “Overkill” or Akimbo pistols, the shield is set as a secondary weapon and serves as a turtle shell on the back:
It was exactly these turtle battles that annoyed many players. But the nerf went straight past the target to the back of a shield player – no effect.
The magnitude of the topic in the community can be observed on Reddit. In the CoD MW2 subreddit, currently 2 of the top 10 threads are dealing with the topic of riot shields.
A 26-day-old thread with almost 12,000 upvotes addresses the problem of back protection (via reddit.com). Also in the current nerf thread (via reddit.com), which gathered over 9,700 upvotes in 2 days, there is extensive discussion about it (as of 16.12.22 / 11:30 a.m.).
How the topic will progress from here remains to be seen. However, many players wish for a change here and fewer turtle battles.
We also want to hear your opinion on the topic. How many years has the shield been a nuisance to you? Do you play with it yourself? How would you nerf it? Leave a comment on the topic.
If you would like to read more about how the mid-season update has generally been received by players, then check this out: CoD MW2 & Warzone 2 bring an update with over 120 bug fixes – Are the shooters running smoothly now?
