Call of Duty Warzone Season 3 is here, and the big update will implement some previously teased (and rather significant) changes to sniper rifles. With the battle royale’s recent base health increase, snipers that offered one-shot headshot kills (which was basically all of them) became rather useful – some, a little too useful.
The Warzone meta has consistently included the Modern Warfare Kar98k and the Black Ops Cold War Swiss K31, even before the base health increase, mainly due to their fast movement and ADS speeds which favour aggressive players (and montage makers). Now though, these two excellent snipers have been reeled in as part of Raven Software’s massive overhaul to the weapon class.
The TL;DR is this: snipers are now split into three categories: those that can one-shot kill at any range, those that can do it within their individual max damage range distance, and those that can’t do it even if the muzzle is an inch from your noggin.
These are the snipers that can still one-shot kill with a well-placed headshot at any range in Warzone Season 3:
- HDR (MW)
- AX-50 (MW)
- ZRG 20mm (BOCW)
- 3-Line Rifle (VG)
- Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle (VG)
And here are the snipers that can one-shot kill to the head, but only if it’s in their max damage range distance:
- Kar98k (MW)
- SP-R 208 (MW)
- Pelington 703 (BOCW)
- Swiss K31 (BOCW)
- Type 99 (VG)
- Kar98k (VG)
And then the remainders, such as the Druganov or the Rytec, cannot one-shot kill at all.
If you’re worried that these changes will mean your best Kar98k Warzone loadout and Swiss K31 Warzone loadouts are now redundant, then be rest assured that, on paper at least, these weapons still seem viable at most distances. Despite the cap on their one-shot kill potential, their overall damage output is being buffed. For those of you cracked little gamers wanting to slide about quick-scoping people to the Gulag at close range for TikTok clips, you’re beloved snipers should still do the job.
For long-distance sniping though, you’re going to want to look at that first group of guns. The AX-50 and the HDR were both popular picks in the old Verdansk days, so we may see a resurgence there. This also gives Vanguard’s snipers a fair shot, as they’ve been completely irrelevant since the Warzone Pacific era began.
For the exact numbers and every change being made to each sniper, head over to the Warzone Season 3 patch notes.
So, is our list of the best Warzone guns about to get a shakeup? Most likely. As well as the radical sniper changes, there are buffs and nerfs aplenty in those patch notes.