Packing the return of the beloved Fortune’s Keep map, new weapons, and much more, Warzone Season 2 continues to bring the heat to Call of Duty’s battle royale. However, a key part of every new season is balance changes, and the Warzone Season 2 patch notes finally blows the dust off of older MW2 weapons with various buffs.
Kicking off in Warzone Season 2, nearly all the MW2 carry-forward weapons will be receiving buffs to bring them up to par with the new MW3 guns on PS5 and Xbox. In fact, all that’s left out are SMGs and shotguns in terms of primary weapons – the two categories that have managed to remain somewhat competitive in the current Warzone meta.
The official MW3 and Warzone Season 2 patch notes reveal the following changes:
- Assault Rifles: Increased movement speed while aiming down sights.
- Battle Rifles: Increased movement speed while aiming down sights and while crouched.
- Marksman Rifles: Increased movement speed while aiming down sights and while crouched.
- Light Machine Guns: Increased movement speed while aiming down sight, while crouched, and while strafing.
- Sniper Rifles: Increased movement speed while aiming down sight, while crouched, and while strafing.
In other words, the weak MW2 weapons will now be much more agile and snappy than they have been in the past – hopefully making them much more competitive. However, these patch notes don’t confirm any further buffs, leaving their increased visual recoil and inconsistent damage a continued pain point for the community of one of the best FPS games.
These widespread buffs to MW2 weapons come alongside several nerfs to the best Warzone guns and loadouts. For example, the MCW has been hit by increased aim down sight and sprint to fire time, while the BAS-B is facing reduced damage and similar hits to mobility.
Shotguns have been hit particularly hard across the board in the Warzone Season 2 patch notes, including various MW2 shotguns. The Lockwood 680, Haymaker, Riveter, Bryson 890, KV Broadside, Lockwood 300, and the MX Guardian have all had either their damage range reduced or their mobility decreased to rein them in.
Likewise, while the MW2 snipers are getting buffed on the whole, the Signal 50 and SP-X 80 are met with nerfs to compensate. The former now has decreased near-mid damage range while the latter has increased aim down sight time.
Overall, the latest Warzone patch notes finally bring these older weapons more in line with the new kids on the block. With many players already having fully leveled up weapons from last year, it could be time to put them to good use while you’re running around as Rick Grimes.
While there will undoubtedly be more fine-tuned tweaking of individual weapons going forward, it’s great to see these older guns receiving some love so they’re not completely forgotten about. Though we were certainly glad to get a break from the MW2 era, many have a soft spot for these returning weapons.
Although these patch notes mostly hit the mark, the same can’t be said for the Warzone ranked Resurgence rewards. Thankfully, this new MW3 Prime Gaming bundle does pick up the slack somewhat. On the multiplayer side of things, check out how MW3 Season 2 brings back this forgotten CoD WW2 mode at long last.