Warzone Season 5 Reloaded weapon buffs & nerfs: ARs, Krig, M16, SMGs, MP5, more
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 Reloaded is here, and the team at Raven Software have included made some major changes to the weapons and weapon balancing within Verdansk, with buffs and nerfs for a number of guns across Modern Warfare & Cold War weapons.
Raven Software has ben keeping the weapon meta fresh in Warzone as part of different updates, allowing a better balance of the overall weapons.
With the launch of the Season 5 Reloaded patch in Warzone on September 8, Raven Software has made a number of adjustments to the weapons in the game, across both Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare weapons.
Raven’s patch notes describes how they decided to make changes for Season 5 Reloaded:
“While assessing the power level of BOCW Weapons, we have observed some disparities between ease of use and efficacy. The Krig 6 (BOCW) has shown an impressive performance at just about every engagement range. While we believe it is important to have a wide array of Weapons which can be utilized by players of all skill levels — it is critical to the health of the game that their effectiveness scales appropriately with the skill required to wield them.
If players can be as effective with a Weapon that is pinpoint accurate that has a marginally slower Time to Kill potential than the hardest to wield Weapons, why would they choose another? As we continue to address these Weapons, we will also be making adjustments to BOCW attachments that offer Recoil Control. We feel these changes will provide a fairer, more diverse long-range landscape.“
Warzone Season 5 Reloaded Weapon Changes
Assault Rifle updates in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded
Raven has made numerous changes to assault rifles, with emphasis on changes to Cold War’s ARs, in the Season 5 Reloaded update.
The newest update includes updates for Modern Warfare’s AR Bravo and a nerf for the Cold War’s C58 rifle.
Other Assault Rife changes in Season 5 Reloaded include updates for the Groza, Krig, and EM2 in game. There’s a buff included for the Krig, which stabilizes its recoil pattern.
Here’s the full list of Assault Rifle Changes:
- C58 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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.
- Assault Rifle Bravo (MW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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.
SMG changes in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded
Raven Software has made certain adjustments to Warzone’s SMGs to allow for better balance set between the weapons in the category.
The SMG changes in the Season 5 Reloaded update effect both Modern Warfare & Cold War weapons, including the OTs 9 & PPSH. Another nerf for Modern Warfare’s MP5 also included in the update.
Here’s the full changes for SMGs in Warzone with Season 5 Reloaded:
- Submachine Gun Charlie (MW) 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 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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.
Tactical Rifles updated in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded
Season 5 Reloaded weapon changes continued with changes to the Tactical Rifles weapon class in Call of Duty: Warzone.
This update includes changes to Black Ops Cold War’s Tactical Rifles, including M16 and DMR. The balancing was a fix of nerfs and buffs, depending on the weapon.
Check the list to see all the Tactical Rifle updates:
- Tactical Rifle Charlie (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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.
Additional Weapon Changes – Snipers & LMGs
The Season 5 Reloaded update also includes some minor changes to the Cold War’s Sniper Rifles, along with smaller changes for one LMG.
Here’s the Sniper Rifle & LMG changes in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded:
- Swiss K31 (BOCW)
- 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 (BOCW)
- 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.
Light Machine Guns
- Light Machine Gun Alpha (BOCW)
- Recoil increased slightly
And that’s a wrap on the weapon changes as part of Season 5 Reloaded. The variety of weapons and meta continues to shift as Raven Software looks to balance out the offering in game.
For more information on the all of the changes included in the update, check the Warzone Season 5 Reloaded patch notes and stay tuned for updates.
Image Credit: Activision / Raven Software