MW3 & Warzone December 14 update patch notes: Audio fix, Ghost buff, BAS-B nerf & more

Since Warzone Season 1 started, players have complained about the poor state of in-game audio. On December 14 the devs have released an update that’s meant to fix the state of Warzone’s audio. Here are the full MW3 and Warzone December 14 patch notes.

Warzone and Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 is in full swing and players have their hands full working their way through the Battle Pass and unlocking new weapons along the way. Warzone players also have the brand-new Urzikstan map to discover.

The Season 1 update arrived on December 6 and the devs have given players time to explore the new features both in multiplayer and the battle royale. Now, the devs have revealed an update for MW3 and Warzone on December 14, which addresses some of the players’ biggest concerns.

Warzone devs make highly requested changes to in-game audio

Since the new Urzikstan map arrived with the start of Warzone Season 1, the number one complaint from players has been the poor audio quality. With the December 14 Warzone update, the devs decided to finally address this concern with: “Rebalanced first person and enemy footstep audio.”

Check out the full patch notes for MW3 and Warzone’s December 14 update.

Warzone & MW3 December 14 patch notes

GLOBAL

STABILITY & PERFORMANCE

• Addressed an issue experienced by some players that caused items previously unlocked to become unavailable to equip.

WEAPONS & ATTACHEMNTS

» Assault Rifles «

• RAM-7 (MWIII)
  • Speedway v5 Short Barrel Attachment is now available to equip in the Gunsmith.

EQUIPMENT

• Breacher Drone
  • Improved impact detection to prevent inflicting more explosive damage to players than intended.

CUSTOMIZATION

• Crimson Fate and Carbon Fate Laser Attachment Skins will no longer appear as default Skins when equipped to Shotguns.
• Players who purchased the GG EZ Weapon Vault Bundle will now be able to use customizations on the Houndeye Integrated Optic Attachment.
• Animated Emblems are now properly rewarded upon reaching Prestige Levels 1-5.
  • Note: In the coming days, we’ll retroactively grant these items to players who met the requirements prior to today’s fix.
• The Stormender’s Priceless and Interstellar reward Emblems will now display the correct Emblem art.

WARZONE

GAMEPLAY

Battle Royale

• Strongholds
  • A Blacksite key will only be rewarded the first time a Stronghold is completed.
  • Subsequent captures by other Squads will not reward a key.

Resurgence

• Redeployment
  • The Resurgence redeployment mechanic will now be disabled at the end of Circle 3.
• Public Events
  • Public Events have been disabled in Circles 1 and 2.
  • The chances for a Public Event to occur in later Circles has been adjusted.

WEAPONS

Looking at the breadth of Weapons and Attachments on offer, some outliers were performing above expectation. We have taken immediate steps to mitigate them to support a healthy engagement experience through the holiday break.

» Assault Rifles «

• DG-56 (MWIII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 32, down from 40.
• FR 5.56 (MWIII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 35, down from 43.
     

» Battle Rifles «

• BAS-B (MWIII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 35, down from 39.
  • Min Damage reduced to 25, down from 27.
     

» Handguns «

• COR-45 (MWIII)
  • Akimbo
    • Max Damage reduced to 30, down from 45.
• Renetti (MWIII)
  • Akimbo
    • Max Damage reduced to 22, down from 33.
    • Headshot Multiplier reduced to 1.2, down from 1.4.
       

» Marksman Rifles «

• DM56 (MWIII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 41, down from 50.
  • Min Damage reduced to 37, down from 39.
• KVD Enforcer (MWIII)
  • Headshot Multiplier reduced to 1.8, down from 2.2.
• MTZ Interceptor (MWIII)
  • Headshot Multiplier reduced to 1.5, down from 2.
• TYR (MWIII)
  • Akimbo
    • Max Damage reduced to 70, down from 120.
       

» Shotguns «

• Haymaker (MWIII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 36, down from 52.
     

» Submachine Guns «

• Fennec 45 (MWII)
  • Max Damage reduced to 22, down from 25.
  • Headshot Multiplier reduced to 1.25, down from 1.35.
  • Lower Torso Multiplier reduced to 1, down from 1.1.

AUDIO

All Modes

• Rebalanced first person and enemy footstep audio.

Since the launch of Season 1 last week, we’ve been actively listening to player feedback regarding audio concerns in Warzone, especially related to footsteps. This initial update is aimed at addressing part of these concerns and enhancing the overall experience before we head into the holidays.

When making changes such as this, there’s a complex mix of variables we need to meticulously look at and consider. One of the primary factors to consider is the fidelity of the experience across our titles to avoid too large a gap between Warzone, Multiplayer, and Zombies. Beyond that, changes to things like occlusion, falloff distance, first-person vs third-party balance, or specific Perk mechanics, can have ripple effects due to the sheer number of interacting/overlapping sounds in a Battle Royale match.

Please know that we’re committed to ongoing improvements and to ensuring that players can fully immerse themselves in the game while maintaining a competitive edge. Your continued constructive feedback is appreciated, and we’ll continue to work towards making Warzone the best it can be on every front.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed collision issues with various elements across Urzikstan allowing Players to exploit/peek/shoot through them.
• Fixed an issue that allowed Players to get stuck inside locked buildings that should otherwise be inaccessible.
• Fixed additional issues with incorrect text appearing on Challenges.

MULTIPLAYER

UIX

• Bug Fixes
  • Kills column on the Scoreboard will now track properly in War Mode.
  • Conversion Kits Attachment slot for certain Weapons will no longer appear locked despite requirements being met.
  • Exiting a Blueprint Preview will no longer kick the player back to the Multiplayer menu.
  • When using a Controller, hovering the Santa’s Slayground Battle Pass sector will no longer kick the player back to the Multiplayer menu.
  • Clicking the ‘View Bundle’ button on a Battle Pass Bundle in the Operators tab will no longer kick players back to the Multiplayer menu.

PROGRESSION

• Challenges that require enemy Equipment to be destroyed will now progress upon the destruction of the following Field Upgrades:
  • A.C.S.
  • Comms Scrambler
  • Deployable Cover
  • Med Box
  • Munitions Box
  • Portable Radar
  • Suppression Mine
  • Tactical Camera
  • Tactical Insertion
  • Trophy System
• Fixed several challenges where progression wasn’t tracking.

WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS

• Ray Gun
  • Implemented measures to prevent illicit usage outside of support Modes.

MAPS

• Operation Spearhead (War)
  • Eliminated an out of map exploit in which players were able to access an unintended rooftop near the Launch Site.
  • Eliminated an out of map exploit in which players were able to get underneath the map near the Garage.

MODES

• Gunfight
  • In Private Match, split-screen play will no longer cause DEV ERROR 12744.
• Search and Destroy
  • Addressed an issue causing unintended XP rates for various match events.
• Playlists
  • Increased Team Deathmatch and Kill Confirmed score limits in certain limited-time Playlists.
    • 12v12: 150
    • 10v10: 125
    • Small Maps: 125
• Private Match
  • With CDL Rules enabled, restrictions are now accurate to the Competitive Settings v1.0 specification.
  • Training Course has returned, allowing players to learn basic movements and combat skills.

PERKS

• Ghost T/V Camo (Gear)
  • Players can now be stationary for 2s before anti-radar effects are disabled.

Based on feedback, we’ve added a grace period to the movement requirement of Ghost T/V Camo. With this change, players remain detectable by radar while not moving, but momentary pauses will no longer cause their position to be revealed.

ZOMBIES

MISSIONS

Act 4: Dead Signal

• Adjustments to the Escape: Defeat Gorm’gant step of the Dead Signal mission.
  • Light Armored Zombies enemy types have been added during this step to provide a source of Armor for players.

GAMEPLAY

Contracts

• Aether Extraction
  • Addressed an issue that would eliminate players who attempted to overload an ‘Aether Extractor’ as the contract’s time runs out.

ENEMIES

Zombies

• Aether Worm: Greylorm
  • Addressed an issue that allowed Greylorm to instantly die when spawned.
  • Addressed an issue where getting eaten by Greylorm and grabbed by a Mimic at the same time could cause players to get pushed under the map.

UIX

Weapons

• Addressed an issue that displayed incorrect Bruen MK9 attachment unlock descriptions in the After Action Report.

STABILITY

• Resolved a PC specific crash players encountered at the start of Season 1.
  • This fix was released on Monday, December 11.
• Added various crash and stability fixes.

For more Call of Duty, check out how to get the Paul Atreides Dune Operator, or the best guns in Warzone Season 1.

SOURCE: Call of Duty