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Warzone Season 5 Reloaded buffs and nerfs

How will this update affect the Warzone meta?

An operator in black military gear draws his weapon. Behind him, another operator is driving a buggy, and players are firing weapons from on top of a stack of red shipping containers

Big seasonal Call of Duty: Warzone updates will, more often than not, feature a lot of buffs and nerfs to some of the game’s weapons. With Season 5 Reloaded, things are no different. 15 guns have been tweaked by developer Raven Software for the second half of Season 5, including some of the most popular picks for players’ loadouts during the season so far.

Arguably the most notable change is a nerf to the Krig 6 assault rifle. The Krig has risen to the top of the Warzone meta during Season 5 due its decent damage and low recoil, making it a strong pick for players of all skill levels. Prior to today’s update, the it boasted the highest usage rate of any Warzone gun, with around 18% of players using a Krig Warzone loadout, according to stats from WZ Ranked. Raven has modified its damage numbers to increase its time to kill.

For higher-skill players, the C58 was often the go-to assault rifle. While it was much harder to control than something like the Krig, Raven has deemed it worthy of a nerf as well. The C58 has had its recoil adjusted to be more unpredictable.

Elsewhere, one of the top SMGs in Season 5, the OTs 9, is getting a nerf too. Raven has decreased its maximum damage range to prevent it from being so effective at longer distances.

There’s also a nerf for the Type 63 tactical rifle, which last week was exposed for having a broken attachment that resulted in crazy time to kill stats. Consider those damage numbers slashed.

It’s not all about the nerfs though. The Groza gets a sprint to fire speed buff to bring it closer in line to SMGs, and there are recoil adjustments for three tactical rifles:

You all remember that terrifying period of Warzone where you couldn’t go two minutes without being lasered by a tactical rifle? Well, after a mass clamp down on the weapon class, usage rates have dropped. In an attempt to boost them again, Raven has adjusted the recoil on the AUG, the M16, and the DMR to hopefully make them a bit easier and more enjoyable to use. These are only small differences, though, and it’s unlikely that another tactical rifle reign of terror will begin.

While there are no drastic changes, the nerfs to popular guns such as the C58 and the Krig could certainly get people to change up their best Warzone loadouts. We’ll keep you posted with how the meta settles following this update.

Check out the full rundown of Warzone Season 5 Reloaded weapon buffs and nerfs below.

Buffs

  • Groza
  • DMR 14
  • AUG (Black Ops Cold War)
  • M16

Nerfs

  • Krig 6
  • C58
  • FAL
  • MP5 (Modern Warfare)
  • Stoner 63
  • OTs 9
  • Type 63

Balanced

  • EM2
  • PPSh 41
  • Swiss K31
  • ZRG 20mm

Here are the detailed changes for the Warzone Season 5 weapon buffs and nerfs:

Assault Rifles

C58

  • Recoil adjusted

High damage Weapons like the C58 (BOCW) tend to adhere to a lower Rate of Fire and higher Recoil, which generally balances out their hasty Time to Kill potential. Much like the Krig 6 (BOCW), the C58 (BOCW) was a tad easier to control than we feel is appropriate for a Weapon with its damage profile. While “Recoil adjusted” can be rather nebulous, the exact details of these changes can often be difficult to quantify with numbers alone. While the C58’s (BOCW) Recoil has been increased slightly, the majority of this change will be felt in the Recoil Pattern deviation. When this deviation is increased, it can create subtle shifts which become increasingly difficult to compensate for given distance from the target.

EM2

  • Base Optic eye position retracted

The EM2 (BOCW) is not receiving a direct reduction to its efficacy with this change. However, it will result in the Base Optic being a less suitable substitute for higher magnification optics. This, however, in conjunction with the changes to Recoil Control barrels will make the EM2 a slightly less viable option to lesser skilled marksmen.

FAL

  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1

To the dismay or surprise of some, our data suggests that the Assault Rifle Bravo (MW) is an absolute monster. The Assault Rifle Bravo (MW) will still be capable of achieving an extremely low Time to Kill, though that speed will now be locked behind an additional Headshot. Changes like these align more closely with our goal to shift consistently acquirable TTKs out of the 300ms range.

Groza

  • Sprint to Fire Speed increased by 15%

The Groza (BOCW) has not yet fulfilled the role we had intended for it. As a more ‘bruiser’ oriented, AR-SMG hybrid, its slow base Sprint to Fire Speed has continued to hold it back considerably. With this change, it will be able to more reliably contest SMGs in short-range engagements.

Krig 6

  • Maximum Damage decreased from 30 to 29
  • Mid Damage now 25
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 25 to 23
  • Weapon Kick adjusted

The vast majority of kills with the Krig 6 (BOCW) take place within its Max Damage Range, which unsurprisingly, is the longest of all BOCW Assault Rifles. This change will affect most Time to Kill breakpoints within its Maximum Damage Range by one bullet. Additionally, we have added a third Damage Range. Which is a change we do not suspect to be immensely impactful, as builds that extend Damage Range could push the Mid Damage Range out to nearly 100 meters — which is well beyond the average kill distance for the Krig 6 (BOCW). Though, it is not all bad for the Krig 6 (BOCW); we have reduced some of the Weapon’s ‘bounciness’ while firing which we feel makes it more enjoyable to use.

Light Machine Guns

Stoner 63

  • Recoil increased slightly

The Light Machine Gun Alpha (BOCW) had already been an incredibly accurate LMG prior to the changes which added Recoil Control to the Task Force and Match Grade barrels. With a baseline increase to Recoil and a reduction in the total amount of Recoil Control the aforementioned barrels offer, it will be harder to stay on target with Light Machine Gun Alpha (BOCW) at longer ranges.

Tactical Rifles

AUG (Black Ops Cold War)

  • Recoil decreased

The Tactical Rifle Charlie (BOCW), and many other Tactical Rifles have remained out of the spotlight for nearly three seasons. Given that, we feel now is a good time to reassess their effectiveness, cognizant of the razor’s edge of balance on which Burst Weapons exist. While this change will make the Tactical Rifle Charlie (BOCW) far easier to stay on target with, the reduction in effectiveness to Titanium barrels remains intact, which heavily contributed to the dominance of the Tactical Rifle Charlie (BOCW) and M16 (BOCW) several seasons ago.

DMR 14

  • Recoil adjusted

Rather than an outright ‘decrease’ to Recoil, this change is more of a rework. The DMR 14 (BOCW) has languished since its changes in season one, but it has not been forgotten. Expect the DMR 14 (BOCW) to feel like a new Weapon. Semi-auto Weapon enthusiasts rejoice, as the DMR 14 (BOCW) may see a real resurgence following this change.

M16

  • Weapon Kick decreased

Of the Tactical Rifles adjusted in this patch, the M16 received the smallest change. This is partly because we feel the M16 (BOCW) is already in an acceptable spot for Burst Weapons.

Type 63

  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 2.1 to 1.58
  • Neck Multiplier increased from 1.2 to 1.58
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1
  • Lower Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
  • Weapon Kick decreased

The Type 63 (BOCW) has become quite infamous recently — and for good reason. With a single Headshot, Time to Kill could be reduced to 332ms and with two, a mind boggling 166ms. A speed which only Sniper Rifles could compete with a TTK of 0 (only the travel time of the bullet). This should put into perspective how out of line the Type 63 (BOCW) was. While these changes seem extreme, a TTK of 332ms is still possible, it will just require three headshots instead of one.

Submachine Guns

MP5 (Modern Warfare) with 10mm Auto 30-Round Mags

  • Maximum Damage decreased from 34 to 31

This Maximum Damage change mirrors the adjustment to the base Submachine Gun Charlie (MW) made earlier this season.

OTs 9

  • Maximum Damage Range decreased by 6.2%

The OTs 9 (BOCW) might be a bit stronger than we would like, but we would first like to see how this change broadly impacts the Weapon’s viability. The OTs 9 (BOCW) was always intended to be the quintessence of barrel stuffing Submachine Guns. A Submachine Gun that was intended to challenge Shotguns within their Effective Damage Range. We believe it is achieving that, but its Maximum Damage range, while shorter than each other BOCW SMG, might still be too long. We will continue to closely monitor the performance of the OTs 9 (BOCW) following this change.

PPSh-41

  • Weapon Kick adjusted
  • ADS Sway adjusted

While firing the PPSh-41 (BOCW), the Weapon could kick in a manner that would make it difficult to gauge bullet directionality. This is a subtle change that will have a significant impact on the ability to reliably line up shots.

Sniper Rifles

Swiss K31

  • Recoil adjusted

We have improved the firing Recoil behavior for the Swiss K31 (BOCW). We expect this change to go largely unnoticed as it does not have a measurable impact on the Weapon’s effectiveness but should improve its overall feel.

ZRG 20mm

  • Recoil adjusted

Much like the Swiss K31 (BOCW), the ZRG 20mm (BOCW) has received some changes to its firing Recoil behavior to ensure that it looks, sounds, and most importantly feels like one of the baddest Sniper Rifles in Verdansk.

Barrels

Assault Rifles

Ranger/Liberator/GRU Composite

  • Vertical Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%

Reinforced Heavy/VDV Reinforced/Contour

  • Horizontal Recoil Control decreased from 5% to 4%
  • Vertical Recoil Control decreased from 5% to 4%

Takedown/Contour M2

  • Horizontal Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%

Task Force/Spetsnaz RPK/CMV Mil-Spec

  • Horizontal Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%
  • Vertical Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%

Light Machine Guns

Match Grade

  • Horizontal Recoil Control decreased from 5% to 4%
  • Vertical Recoil Control decreased from 5% to 4%

Task Force

  • Horizontal Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%
  • Vertical Recoil Control decreased from 10% to 8%

As we settle on the proper magnitude of Recoil Control for these barrels, we expect this to impact individual Weapons differently. Weapons that more heavily rely on the Recoil Control they received from these barrels may need to be addressed independently to ensure they align with our Weapon mastery goals.

Tactical Rifles

DMR 14 – 16.3” Titanium

  • Damage Range decrease reduced from 25% to 20%
  • Rate of Fire increase reduced from 16.7% to 15%

With the aforementioned changes to the DMR 14 (BOCW), we felt it was necessary to make an adjustment to one of the most powerful attachment stats.

Rear Grips

Assault Rifles

Groza – Serpent Grip

  • ADS Speed increase reduced from 9% to 7%

To ensure the Groza (BOCW) does not cross too far into Submachine Gun territory following the increase to its Sprint to Fire Speed and given its already SMG-like ADS Speeds, we are reducing the effectiveness of its Serpent Grip.