On the evening of May 7, Call of Duty: Warzone received a new update. This time, the focus was on changes to weapon balance, bug fixes, and changes to ground loot. Let’s take a look at the patch notes.
What’s the new update about? With the start of Season 3, there have already been numerous changes to weapon balance, and now further adjustments to the arsenal follow. With the new update, the developers are nerfing some of the strongest weapons in Battle Royale, making changes to ground loot, and addressing annoying map exploits. Here are the key adjustments in detail.
Warzone update from 07.05. nerfs one of the strongest weapons
Changes to the CR-56 Amax: After numerous buffs and nerfs at the beginning of Season 3, the assault rifle CR-56 Amax quickly became one of the best options for Warzone. While it was relatively uncomfortable to control, with some practice, one could really dominate with the weapon even at long ranges. In short: The weapon was very strong, having an extremely low time to kill (TTK) even over long distances.
Some people considered it OP, and the developers also found the weapon too dominant in its current form. Now, the Amax is getting adjusted:
- The minimum damage has been reduced from 32 to 31 (only in Warzone)
Especially at a distance, this is likely to reduce the weapon’s effectiveness. The fastest TTK at minimum damage increases by about 17% due to the changes.
The patch notes reveal even more
In addition to the Amax, the also strong FARA 83, the Streetsweeper, and the Bullfrog are getting adjusted. Additionally, the mobility of numerous Cold War weapons has been generally reduced.
Weapons
FARA 83: Especially in combination with a mobility-based stock, the FARA was able to achieve extremely fast ADS speed. The developers found this too much at this point. To increase the general TTK, the fastest possible TTK of the weapon has now been increased by 16.6% – compensating for the already generous fire rate and recoil control.
- Headshot multiplier has been reduced from 1.5 to 1.35
- The base speed during ADS has been reduced by 7%
Shotguns: The Streetsweeper shotgun was found to be slightly too effective compared to other representatives of its kind – especially considering its fire rate and magazine capacity. Therefore, it was decided to slightly reduce its lethal range and punish inaccurate sustained fire.
- The base hip spread and recoil for the Streetsweeper have been increased, and the ADS speed has been slightly reduced
Submachine guns: There was a nerf for the Bullfrog and a buff for the PPSh-41.
Bullfrog: The Bullfrog was able to consistently achieve one of the fastest TTKs in the game. This will still be possible – although not in its previous form. Additionally, it now requires more precision.
- Maximum damage reduced from 34 to 32
- Maximum damage range increased by 11%
- Base movement speed increased by 1%
- Sprint-out speed increased by 13%
PPSh-41:
- Maximum damage range increased by 4%
- Open-bolt delay reduced by 80%
Attachments
Barrels: For the Combat Recon barrel (Sniper), the following changes were made:
- Bullet speed multiplier increased by 12%
- The ADS movement sway multiplier decreased by 33.3%
Sights: The behavior of the “Axial Arms 3x” sight has been improved.
Stocks: There were massive changes to the stocks. The adjustments have reduced the ADS movement speed multiplier of numerous weapon classes – as well as the ADS fire rate multiplier.
- Plunderer/KGB Skeleton Stock (Assault Rifles, LMGs, Shotguns, Snipers)
- ADS fire rate multiplier reduced by 75%
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 10%
- Plunderer/KGB Skeleton Stock (Submachine Guns)
- ADS fire rate multiplier reduced by 50%
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 10%
- SAS Combat/Speznas Stock (Assault Rifles, LMGs, Shotguns, Snipers)
- ADS fire rate multiplier reduced by 75%
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 10%
- SAS Combat/Speznas Stock (Submachine Guns)
- ADS fire rate multiplier reduced by 50%
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 10%
- Tactical Stock (Assault Rifles, LMGs, Shotguns, Snipers)
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 75%
- Tactical Stock (Submachine Guns)
- ADS movement speed multiplier reduced by 50%
Other changes
Ground Loot: Loot that spawns on Verdansk and Rebirth Island has been overhauled as follows:
Streetsweeper shotgun:
- Common variant removed from the ground loot pool
- Uncommon variant removed from the ground loot pool
- Rare variant removed from crates
- Epic variant removed from crates
Hauer-77 shotgun:
- Common variant added to ground loot pool
- Uncommon variant added to ground loot pool
- Rare variant added to crates
The widespread availability of the Streetsweeper led to increased passive gameplay, rewarding this style of play. The developers want to prevent this with the aforementioned changes.
Map Exploits: Further locations have been fixed where players were able to reach areas outside the actual game world on the Verdansk map.
Other bug fixes:
- A problem was solved that caused player models to initially load at low resolution at the start of a BR match
- A problem with the Cold War AK-47, the FARA 83, the XM4, and the RPD was fixed, which incorrectly reduced the ADS movement speed and movement speed while firing with certain stock attachments (instead of increasing them)
Official patch notes at a glance
You can find the full official patch notes here on the Raven Software page:
Planned: The developers of Raven Software also address the concerns of some fans in the patch notes, stating that they will also take a closer look at weapons from the Modern Warfare arsenal in the future that are lagging behind in performance.
What do you think of the latest changes? Are they sensible adjustments, not enough, or completely excessive? Let us and other readers of MeinMMO know in the comments.
By the way, if you have PS Plus: CoD Cold War & Warzone: Secure new free DLC for Season 3 with PS Plus
