Raven Software came out swinging for Warzone’s first major rebalancing update and dropped the hammer on almost every popular weapon today.
Warzone community members quickly discovered the game’s best weapons after launch as a few options stood head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. For example, the MTZ Interceptor marksman rifle did more headshot damage and boasted twice the fire rate of a few sniper rifles.
On top of that, the BAS-B battle rifle outperformed SMGs in short-range engagements. And just like we saw at the start of Warzone 2, akimbo pistols shredded through enemies within five meters.
Besides weapon balancing concerns, players also complained about “unplayable” audio issues as silent footsteps, ladder audio, and directional gunshot glitches made it a nightmare to pinpoint an enemy’s location.
The Warzone devs swopped in on Dec. 14, though, and addressed every issue at the top of the player base’s list.
Warzone Dec. 14 patch notes
Raven Software dropped a massive weapon rebalancing update on Dec. 14 that has a lot of information to unpack, so here is everything you need to know before making new Warzone loadouts.
Weapon buffs and nerfs
According to WZ Ranked, the BAS-B is the most popular weapon in Warzone, while the DG-56 and MTZ Interceptor rank fourth and fifth, respectively. All three weapons saw nerfs in the most recent update, but content creator Warzone Loadout predicted they will all still hold a place in the top rankings.
The BAS-B’s maximum damage was reduced from 39 to 35, and the minimum damage was reduced from 27 to 25. Meanwhile, the DG-56 saw its max damage reduced from 40 to 32, and the MTZ Interceptor’s headshot multiplier was reduced to 1.8, down from 2.2.
“Looking at the breadth of Weapons and Attachments on offer, some outliers were performing above expectation,” Raven Software said.
Other noteworthy nerfs include massive damage reductions for the Akimbo COR-45, Renetti, and TYR pistols. Additionally, the Haymaker shotgun and Fennec 45 SMG also had their damage reduced.
Audio adjustments
As part of the most recent update, the devs rebalanced first-person and enemy footstep audio.
“Since the launch of Season 1 last week, we’ve been actively listening to player feedback regarding audio concerns in Warzone, especially related to footsteps,” the devs said. “This initial update is aimed at addressing part of these concerns and enhancing the overall experience before we head into the holidays.”
Raven Software also expressed its commitment to more improvements in the future and asked community members to continue providing constructive feedback.
Breacher Drone nerf
The Breacher Drone is a new lethal equipment option in MW3. The explosive drone flies straight toward wherever the player was initially aiming at and explodes in proximity to an enemy or any object blocking its path.
Players discovered that they could knock an enemy with one hit of the drone, so Raven Software responded by improving impact detection to prevent the equipment item from dealing more damage than intended.
Warzone gameplay adjustments
The most recent update made a quality-of-life change that only rewards a Blacksite key the first time a Stronghold is completed, and additional captures won’t reward more keys.
For Resurgence, the redeployment feature is now disabled at the end of circle three, and public events will no longer occur in the first two circles.
The full patch notes for today’s update can be found on the official CoD website.
