Major Nerfs And Buffs To These Weapons

Season 3 of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2 lands today and with it a ton of new content, bug fixes, map changes, a brand new Battle Pass and a host of weapon balancing changes.

You can read the full patch notes right here. For the purposes of this post, I’ll be highlighting what I believe are the most significant changes to weapons, weapon-tuning, attachments and so forth.

There are two new weapons being added in the Season 3 update which can be unlocked in the Battle Pass:

Cronen Squall Battle Rifle

• “A bullpup, semi-automatic rifle chambered in 6.8 Wrath and designed for distance shooting and exceptional damage output.

FJX Imperium Sniper Rifle

• Engineered destruction at its finest, this anti-personnel, bolt-action Sniper Rifle intervenes in tense situations with hard-hitting .408 rounds.

New Weapon Challenges

For three of the weapons added in the Season 2 Battle Pass, new Unlock Challenges are available. To unlock the Season 2 guns complete these challenges:

• ISO Hemlock – Get 20 Longshot kills with Assault Rifles
• KV Broadside – Get 10 one-shot kills with Shotguns
• Dual Kodachis – Get 20 kills with Melee weapons

General Changes

• Pro-Tuning is no longer removed from all Attachments when altering a Pro-Tuned Blueprint
• Visual feedback adjusted to increase visibility when taking damage
• Diving fire delay reduced
• Sliding speed slightly increased

Weapon Balancing

Other than crucial bug fixes and brand new content, weapon balancing is the most important change in any major update. This can fundamentally alter the game’s meta and either improve or devastate your favorite loadouts.

Some of the most significant changes in this section include a significant nerf to the excellent and extremely popular ISO Hemlock Assault Rifle which has seen all damage ranges reduced and lower torso damage reduced. Meanwhile, the extremely popular TAQ-56 has been given a buff, increasing head damage.

The once-meta RPK LMG has been further nerfed with some slight damage decreases and the new Tempest Torrent Tactical Rifle has seen its damage range reduced, its close-range damage reduced and its headshot damage reduced. Not great for fans of this rifle.

The popular Vaznev-9K and the VEL 46 SMGs have seen headshot damage nerfs as well.

Meanwhile, almost all attachments have been buffed. This mainly comes in the form of reduced penalties. Equipping attachments like stocks, larger capacity will have reduced penalties.

Perhaps the biggest change for Warzone players is the return of one-shot sniper rifles. Bolt-action sniper rifles equipped with explosive ammunition can now down players in one-shot with headshots.

Weapon Patch Notes

Here are the patch notes:

Season 03’s changes add more responsiveness to movement and the fluidity of combat including a reduction to the intensity of damage feedback (e.g., camera shake and HUD overlays). We have also decreased the magnitude on some of the more punitive Attachment cons. We feel this will result in an expansion in Attachment viability that will enable a broader spectrum of playstyles to excel—Including a change to Explosive Ammo, which allows Bolt-Action Sniper Rifles to down players in one shot. As we head into Season 03 Reloaded, we will be keeping a close eye on Weapons, Equipment, Killstreaks—among other mechanics, to ensure fair, fun, and strategically rich gameplay.

NOTE: Updates listed below that have certain impacts listed for Armor are only present in Warzone 2 and are indicated with: “Warzone 2.0 Only”

In the context of the below changes—when a Minimum Armor Damage value is added to a Weapon or Attachment, it is an increase to effectiveness. When a Maximum Armor Damage value is added, it is a decrease to effectiveness.

» Assault Rifles «

ISO Hemlock

• All Damage Ranges reduced
• Lower Torso Damage reduced

M13B

• Headshot Damage slightly reduced
• Lower Torso Damage increased
• Mid-range Damage distance increased
• Upper Torso Damage slightly reduced

STB 556

• Headshot Damage increased
• Leg Damage increased
• Lower Torso Damage increased
• Mid-range Damage distance increased
• Mid-range Damage reduced

TAQ-56

• Headshot Damage Increased

» Battle Rifles «

FTAC Recon

• Movement Speed increased
• Semi-Auto Leg Damage increased
• Semi-Auto Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Semi-Auto Upper Torso Damage increased

Lachmann 762

SO-14

• Movement Speed increased
• Semi-Auto Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

TAQ-V

• Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Movement Speed increased
• Semi-Auto Lower Leg Damage increased

» Handguns «

Basilisk

• Minimum Armor Damage reduced | Warzone 2.0 Only

» Light Machine Guns «

• RAAL MG
• Headshot Damage reduced
• Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Semi-Auto Headshot Damage increased
• Semi-Auto Upper Torso Damage increased
• Semi-Auto Lower Torso Damage increased

RPK

• Close-mid Damage slightly reduced

» Marksman Rifles «

Tempus Torrent

• All Damage Ranges reduced slightly
• Close-mid Damage reduced slightly
• Headshot Damage reduced

» Submachine Guns «

• Submachine Gun Hip Spread accuracy increased

BAS-P

• ADS Move Speed increased
• All Damage Ranges increased
• Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only

Lachmann Sub

• Headshot Damage decreased
• Burst-Fire Leg Damage increased
• Burst-Fire time between shots decreased
• Burt-Fire Torso Damage increased

MX9

• Sprint to Fire Speed increased

Vaznev-9K

• Headshot Damage decreased

VEL 46

• Headshot Damage decreased

ATTACHMENTS

Ammunition

Basilisk

• .500 Snakeshot
• Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Explosive

• Bolt-Action Weapons equipped with Explosive Ammunition are now able to down fully armored Players in one shot | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Explosive Ammunition has been added to the MCPR-300 progression tree

ISO Hemlock

.300 Blackout (All Types)

• Headshot Damage increased
• Hip Spread accuracy while prone increased
• Initial Recoil increased slightly
• Long-range Damage decreased
• Mid-range Damage increased
• Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Recoil violence increased

Barrel, Stock, and Magazine Attachment stats are affected according to how ‘Large’, ‘Small’, ‘Heavy’, ‘Light’, ‘Long’, or ‘Short’ they are relative to other Attachments. In essence, the below changes increase the upsides of most Attachments stats while decreasing their downsides—resulting in an overall increase to Attachment power level.

Barrel

Heavy Barrels

• ADS Speed penalty slightly reduced

Light Barrels

• Muzzle Velocity penalty reduced

Short Barrels

• ADS Speed benefit increased
• Damage Range penalty reduced
• Hip Spread accuracy benefit increased while moving and firing
• Hip Spread accuracy penalty for Shotguns decreased while moving and firing

Bipod

• ADS Speed penalty reduced

Laser

• Laser brightness increased

Magazine

Large Magazines

Light Machine Guns (Global)

• Handling and Movement penalties reduced

Kastov 545

• 60 Round Magazine
• Handling penalty reduced

Kastov 762

• 40 Round Magazine
• Handling penalty reduced

Lachmann Sub

• 50 Round Drum
• Handling penalty reduced

M13B

• 60 Round Magazine
• Handling penalty reduced

M16

60 Round Magazine

Vaznev-9K

45 Round Magazine

VEL 46

50 Round Magazine

60 Round Magazine

Small Magazines

• Movement Speed increased
• Sprint to Fire Speed increased

Fennec 45

Fennec Double Tap Mod (Benefits from Small Magazine buffs)

• Damage increased
• Damage Ranges reduced
• Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Time between bursts reduced

STB 556

Single Tap Mod (Benefits from Small Magazine buffs)

• Damage increased
• Mid-range Damage distances increased
• Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
• Time between shots increased

Rear Grip

Basilisk

Akimbo Basilisk

• Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Stock

Heavy Stocks

• ADS Move Speed penalty reduced
• Aiming Stability benefit increased
• Aim Walking Steadiness benefit increased

As you can see, tons of changes to weapons with this update. I’ll be very curious to see how this affects the meta in both Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2. For the full patch notes go here.