MW3 & Warzone February 21 update patch notes: RICOCHET anti-cheat, SR changes, more

Since the start of Season 2, plenty of MW3 and Warzone players have been left frustrated by encounters with cheaters, and the devs have finally issued a response with an update on February 21. The patch notes provide an update on RICOCHET anti-cheat in MW3 and Warzone.

Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone players have had one major complaint since the start of Season 2 about the number of cheaters they’d run into in each game. Whether playing matches of MW3 Ranked Play, Warzone Ranked Resurgence, or standard public matches, players noticed that more and more players were using cheats.

With the uptick in cheaters having an impact in both games, players questioned whether RICOCHET anti-cheat was still up and running. On February 21, the devs released an update on the situation, confirming their aim to crack down on cheaters.

Check out the full statement as well as the MW3 and Warzone February 21 update patch notes.

Warzone & MW3 February 21 patch notes

GLOBAL

RICOCHET ANTI-CHEAT

The RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team has been tracking a spike in cheating reports within the community. We are currently in test for additional security updates; however, the following updates have just been deployed:

• Disabled game code for limited-time perks (Ex. super speed)

As part of ongoing security updates, a single telemetry system was taken offline for upgrades over the weekend. This action resulted in cheat developers claiming RICOCHET Anti-Cheat was offline. It was not. As a result of monitoring activity over the weekend and the purposeful reactivation of this upgraded system, Team RICOCHET was able to identify and ban over 6000 accounts for cheating and hacking from February 16 – February 20.

Our team continues to work on security updates for issues across various modes in Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare III.

CUSTOMIZATION

• Bug Fixes
  • Relocated Dragon Scales Camo from the Special category to the Event category.
  • Corrected placeholder Tracer name for the TAQ Evolvere Crocodile Blueprint.
  • Addressed an issue preventing the Fire Breather skin for the Wheelson-HS (Killstreak) from appearing.

MULTIPLAYER

UIX

• Bug Fixes
  • Resolved various issues causing the player to be unexpectedly kicked back to the menu.
    • Viewing the Horde Hunt Event.
    • Editing Custom Mods in the Gunsmith.
    • Equipping Emblems at the last-chance Battle Pass prompt.
  • Saving a Custom Mod in the Gunsmith will no longer remove certain Camos.
  • Killstreak icons on the HUD will no longer turn red after dying to a Cruise Missile.

GAMEPLAY

• Bug Fixes
  • Field of View will no longer be set higher than intended upon map infiltration.

PROGRESSION

• Bug Fixes
  • Corrected criteria for multiple Challenges to properly track progression.
    • JAK Ferocity Carbine Kit unlock challenge.
    • “Operator Kills without the enemy damaging you” camo challenge.

MAPS

• Sub Base
  • Further refined Hardpoint objective boundary in the Warehouse (P3) to prevent capture from an unintended location.
• Underpass
  • Adjusted spawn points to prevent players from respawning outside of the playable area in Headquarters.

MODES

• Control
  • During the transition period to the Final Round, the incorrect team will no longer be displayed as Defending.
• Cutthroat
  • Resolved an issue preventing the flag capture point from spawning in overtime.
• Team Gun Game
  • Addressed an issue causing players to become stuck without a Weapon.
• War
  • Fixed an issue causing the player to lose control after using a Turret and Smoke Airdrop simultaneously.

WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS

» Assault Rifles «

• MTZ-556
  • Decreased initial gun kick while firing.
  • Decreased recoil while firing.
  • Increased near-medium damage range from 34.3m to 36.8m (+7%).
  • Increased medium damage range from 41.9m to 41.9m (+12%).

» Shotguns «

• Haymaker
  • JAK Maglift Kit
    • Decreased aim down sight spread by 20%.
    • Increased rate of fire from 357rpm to 500rpm (+40%).
    • Decreased damage pellet count from 8 to 5 (-38%).
    • Restricted the use of Ammunition Attachments.

» Sniper Rifles «

• Longbow
  • Pro-99 Long Barrel
    • Increased aim down sight time from 550ms to 580ms (+5%).
  • JAK Tyrant 762 Kit
    • Restricted the use of Magazine, Ammunition, and Bolt Attachments.

These Attachments were not intended to be compatible with this Conversion Kit and were thus non-functional when equipped.

» Handguns «

• TYR
  • JAK Beholder Rifle Kit
    • Decreased movement speed penalty from 10% to 8% (-2%).
    • Decreased sprint speed penalty from 20% to 8% (-12%).
    • Decreased bullet velocity benefit from 100% to 50% (-50%).

» Attachments «

• Canted Lasers
  • Canted aiming will no longer remove all pellet spread on Shotguns.

EQUIPMENT

• Shock Stick (Tactical)
  • Tactical Camera and Portable Radar Field Upgrades are now affected by enemy Shock Sticks.

FIELD UPGRADES

• Trophy System
  • Ally Bomb Drones will no longer be targeted and destroyed.

KILLSTREAKS

• Guardian-SC
  • Addressed an issue preventing the movement speed penalty from properly applying to affected players.

MWIII RANKED PLAY

Gameplay

• Killstreaks
  • Addressed an issue where Cruise Missiles would explode mid-air if the player controlling the missile was killed.

ZOMBIES

ENEMIES

• Zombies
  • Aether Worms
    • Addressed an issue where players would become stuck in the air if they were tossed by an Aether Worm as it was defeated.

WEAPONS

» Wonder Weapons «

• V-R11
  • Addressed an issue that prevented XP from being granted when killing specific Zombie enemy types with a Pack-A-Punched V-R11.

» Melee «

• Tonfa
  • Addressed an issue that unintentionally prevented the Pack-A-Punched Tonfa from dealing its intended damage.

UI/UX

• Addressed an issue that forced players into a loop when selecting the ‘Full Stop Blackcell’ TAQ Evolvere or ‘Grume Blackcell’ DM-56 Blueprints in Insured Weapon slots.
• Addressed an issue that removed attachments with Skins from weapons in Insured Weapon slots when players added them to a loadout.

STABILITY

• Added various crash and stability fixes.

WARZONE

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay Adjustments

• Advanced UAV
  • The size of an Advanced UAV has been increased by 2.5 times. 
  • This ensures all of Urzikstan is within view for the player that calls it in.
• Shock Stick
  • Tactical Camera and Portable Radar Field Upgrades are now affected by enemy Shock Sticks.

WEAPONS

» Assault Rifles «
 

• MTZ 556 (MWIII)
  • Decreased initial gun kick while firing.
  • Decreased recoil while firing.
  • Max Damage increased to 27, up from 25.
  • Max Damage Range increased to 35.56 meters, up from 24.13.
  • Near-Mid Damage increased to 24, up from 22.
  • Near-Mid Damage Range increased to 48.26 meters, up from 35.56.
  • Min Damage increased to 22, up from 20.

» Shotguns «
 

• Haymaker
  • JAK Maglift Kit
    • Decreased aim down sight spread by 20%.
    • Increased rate of fire to 500rpm, down from 357rpm.
    • Decreased damage pellet count to 5, down from 8.
    • Restricted the use of Ammunition Attachments.

» Sniper Rifles «
 

• Longbow
  • Pro-99 Long Barrel
    • Increased aim down sight time to 580ms, up from 550ms.
  • JAK Tyrant 762 Kit
    • Restricted the use of Magazine, Ammunition, and Bolt Attachments.

These Attachments were not intended to be compatible with this Conversion Kit and were thus non-functional when equipped.

» Handguns «
 

• TYR
  • JAK Beholder Rifle Kit
    • Decreased movement speed penalty to 8%, down from 10%.
    • Decreased sprint speed penalty to 8%, down from 20%.
    • Decreased bullet velocity benefit to 50%, down from 100%.

» Attachments «
 

• Canted Lasers
  • Canted aiming will no longer remove all pellet spread on Shotguns.

WARZONE RANKED PLAY: RESURGENCE

Gameplay Adjustments

• Redeploy Drones
  • The total number of Redeploy Drones have been reduced from eight to five.
• Killstreaks
  • Players will now encounter less CUAVs in loot.
• Warzone Ranked Play: Resurgence Restrictions
  • Killstreaks
    • Mosquito Drones

• Kill & Assist SR
  • Only the following players will receive Kill & Assist credit when a player is eliminated:
    • The player who downed the eliminated player.
    • Players who damaged the eliminated player shortly before they were downed.
  • Players who didn’t damage the eliminated player shortly before they were downed will instead earn Squadmate Kill SR when their teammates down and eliminate an enemy.

This change is being made to ensure the competitive integrity of Kill & Assist SR by removing the ability for players to “tap” downed enemies to overinflate their SR gains.

This change will also help streamline gameplay by preventing disruptions rooted in prolonging eliminations to “tap”.

With these changes and our increase to Squadmate Kill SR in Season 2, gameplay should feel just as rewarding and much smoother.

• Squadmate Kill SR
  • Players will now earn Squadmate Kill SR regardless if they are dead or alive.

• Addressed an issue where players were incorrectly shown a penalty screen when disconnecting from matches.
  • Players that disconnect from matches forfeit their SR Entry Fee and should not expect additional SR penalties.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue preventing a normal Gas Mask from replacing a Durable Gas Mask.
• Fixed an issue causing the plating animation to continue on an ascender or zipline.
• Fixed an issue causing custom loadout perks to disappear after stowing another perk pack.
• Fixed an issue preventing the Ray Gun from appearing after completing the puzzle.
• Fixed collision issues with various elements allowing Players to exploit.
• Fixed an issue preventing a Player from using a backup pistol underwater while having a melee weapon equipped.

For more Call of Duty, check out how to get Barebones kills in MW3, or the best guns to use in Warzone Season 2.

Source: Call of Duty