In recent updates, Raven Software has (finally) been trying to perfect and balance Call of Duty: Warzone’s meta and fix long-standing issues with some of the game’s guns and attachments. The Season 3 Reloaded update is no different and brings numerous changes to Cold War-era sniper rifles, balancing tweaks to two SMGs, and reworks to a few attachments.
While Rambo and the new Nakatomi Plaza vault easter egg are headline news at the moment, this latest batch of weapon buffs and nerfs will likely take over once players discover their favourite gun is feeling a little different than they remember.
While there’s nothing particularly meta-breaking here (none of the changes affect any weapon on our list of the best Warzone guns) it could see some usage rates increase. The changes to attachments may also alter the best Warzone loadout for particular guns, so keep an eye on our specific loadout guides to make sure the strongest builds haven’t changed.
One of the most talked-about changes so far is a generous buff to the PPSh-14. While the MAC-10, LC10, MP5, and Bullfrog rule the roost in the SMG meta at the moment, Raven clearly wants the PPSh to become more viable. It has increased the gun’s maximum damage from 27 to 28 and also improved its maximum damage range by 3.8%. We’ll have to wait for the dust to settle to see if the best PPSh Warzone loadout can now rival the top SMGs.
Meanwhile another SMG has also received changes: the AK74u. While it has got a buff to its neck damage multiplier, its bullet velocity, sprint to fire speed, and maximum damage range have all been nerfed. Raven says this is essentially to make it perform more like an SMG, and be the lead candidate in its class for “high risk, high reward” gameplay.
All of the Black Ops Cold War snipers in the game have also been tuned, but the standout change looks to be the Swiss K31. While on paper this was always going to be the Cold War equivalent of the Kar98k – the number one pick for most snipers in Warzone – it could never match it. Now though, it has been buffed in areas such as ADS speed and flinch resistance, which could make all the difference.
In the attachments department, there’s an intriguing change being made to the standard Suppressor. This relatively low-level attachment will now provide boosts to bullet velocity, ADS speed, and sprint to fire speed, and only penalise damage range. While the Agency Suppressor has been the go-to muzzle attachment for all weapon classes, the standard Suppressor is now likely going to be the most popular choice for SMG players.
Laser attachments on sniper rifles also now offer more sniper-specific benefits.
To see the full list of changes, check out the official patch notes here.