The 1.49 update of Call of Duty: Warzone brings many weapon changes to the game shortly after the launch of the new map. MeinMMO shows you the complete patch notes in English.
The main points at a glance:
- Call of Duty: Warzone launched with the Pacific update on a new map – the volcano island “Caldera”
- However, the update came without significant balance changes to the weapons
- With update 1.49, Warzone takes care of this, weakening the strongest meta weapons of the pre-Caldera era and bringing the Vanguard weapons to their “state 1.0”
CoD Warzone: Update 1.49 on December 10 – Patch Notes
Which old weapons were weakened? Mainly affected are the weapons that were used by high-skill players in the weeks and months before the launch of the Pacific update.
These include the two over-snipers Kar98k from CoD MW and the Schweizer K31. But also the assault rifle powerhouses AK-47 from Cold War, the EM2, and the popular submachine guns OTs 9 are included. The two MP5s from Cold War and CoD MW as well.
This is a list of the most important weapons of recent times and should generate buzz in the weapon meta.
Here are the changes in detail:
- Kar98k from CoD MW
- Flinch resistance reduced by 62%
- Schweizer K31
- Flinch resistance reduced by 62%
- AK-47 Cold War
- Initial recoil increased
- EM2
- Neck multiplier reduced from 1.2 to 1.1
- Horizontal recoil increased
- Vertical recoil increased
- OTs 9
- Base damage reduced from 31 to 30
- Headshot multiplier reduced from 1.52 to 1.33
- MP5 Cold War
- Base damage reduced from 31 to 30
- Headshot multiplier reduced from 1.45 to 1.41
- MP5 CoD MW
- Fire rate reduced from .08 to .075
- Sprint-to-fire speed reduced by 2.6%
- Gallo 12
- Movement speed reduced by 1.2%
- ADS movement speed reduced by 8.6%
For firearms, these were initially the only weaknesses, but two strong attachments from Cold War also got affected:
- Looting Stock
- Movement improvements reduced by 25%
- SAS Combat Stock
- Movement improvements reduced by 25%
There were also a few nerfs for melee weapons from Cold War – with some representatives of the brutal weapon class, you no longer make such a strong step forward with an attack:
- Baseball Bat
- Range reduced by 47%
- Combat Axe
- Range reduced by 38%
- Cane
- Range reduced by 46%
- Mace
- Range reduced by 42%
Were any of the old weapons strengthened? There were some buffs for the “classics” as well, but mainly for niche weapons like crossbows and the ballistic knife:
- Crossbow Cold War
- Neck damage increased from 200 to 250
- Chest damage increased from 200 to 240
- Stomach damage increased from 200 to 220
- Crossbow CoD MW
- Neck damage increased from 200 to 250
- Chest damage increased from 200 to 240
- Stomach damage increased from 200 to 220
- Ballistic Knife
- General increase in damage values in all hit zones – but still no one-shot kills (except headshots)
These were all the specific weapon changes of update 1.49. If you want to see the English patch notes yourself in detail, you can find them on the developer Raven Software’s website (via ravensoftware.com).
Vanguard weapons now at “State 1.0” – But few details
What happened to the Vanguard weapons? At the launch of the Pacific update, the Vanguard weapons largely came to Warzone in the form they also have in multiplayer. Attachments and values were only slightly different, aside from the ammunition conversions that differed significantly from the multiplayer version.
This led to the new Vanguard weapons not being able to compete with the existing weapons from Cold War and CoD MW. Besides some submachine guns, almost no weapon was convincing compared to the “classics”.
This is now different. However, the developers do not reveal exactly which adjustments were made. On Twitter, Raven Software writes:
Translation of the tweet: The adjustments [to the Vanguard weapons] were significant. However, do not see this as a change, but as the planned “State 1.0” for the Vanguard weapons. Further adjustments are underway, which we will elaborate on in future patch notes.
What is different now? There are still no comprehensive evaluations of the changes. However, adjustments to magazine sizes have already been noticed.
Many assault rifle magazines are now larger and thus better suited for a Battle Royale.
How the Vanguard weapons perform in their “State 1.0” remains to be seen in the coming days. We will keep you updated on what happens to the weapon meta after update 1.49 at MeinMMO.
Is there anything else to know about the update? In addition to the balance adjustments, several bugs were fixed, as well as exploits on the new map. The developers are also not going into further detail here but say that they are still working hard on fixing the issues in the game.
If you have problems with bugs or crashes, check the developers’ Trello board to see if the problem is already known and if there is perhaps already a solution for it (via trello.com).
Otherwise, feel free to share your first experiences on Caldera with us. What weapons were you using in the first matches? Do you think the new adjustments are right?
If you would rather read more about the new Pacific update, you can find my personal assessment of the update with the tropical island here: I love and hate the Pacific update of CoD Warzone – Why do you do this to me?
