Warzone 2 Assault Rifle still most popular weapon despite back-to-back nerfs

Warzone 2 Season 3 Reloaded brought a host of weapon balancing changes to the game, but one Assault Rifle is still dominating the pick rates despite being hit with its second nerf in a row.

The release of Warzone 2 Season 3 Reloaded shook up the meta in a number of interesting ways, thanks to the arrival of two new Handguns, as well as a ton of balancing changes to the existing lineup of weapons.

A number of less-popular guns were buffed in an attempt to push them into the meta-conversation, such as the BAS-P, while others were made less powerful to try and prevent them from dominating lobbies.

The most popular Warzone 2 weapon in Season 3 was the ISO Hemlock, and many players were desperate to see it lose its crown in the mid-season update. However, while the Assault Rifle was hit with its second major nerf in a row, it’s still comfortably at the top in terms of pick rates.

Season 3 Reloaded saw the Hemlock’s maximum, mid, and minimum damage all decrease, along with the damage multipliers when hitting arms and legs. This came after all of its damage ranges were nerfed at the start of Season 3.

Despite these major changes, the ISO Hemlock still boasts a pick rate of 19.2% in Warzone 2 according to WZ Ranked. This makes it easily the most used gun in the game, beating out the Vaznev-9K on 11.3%.

The differences are even more glaring when comparing it to the other weapons in its category, as the Lachmann 556, which is ranked as the next most popular Assault Rifle, features a pick rate of just 6.8%.

Ever since making its debut in Season 2, the ISO Hemlock has been one of the go-to weapons in both Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2. In fact, its dominance led to it being banned in Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play.

While players may have hoped that its most recent nerf would knock it off its perch, it appears that the Assault Rifle is going nowhere after already emerging as one of the best weapons in Warzone 2 Ranked Play as well.

With Warzone 2 Season 4 on the horizon, only time will tell if the devs hit the ISO Hemlock with another nerf to end its reign and make the Assault Rifle meta more competitive.