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Assault Rifles
Submachine Guns
The Nail Gun (BOCW) is and was meant to be a lethal, highly-mobile, short-range dominator. However, its Maximum Damage range far exceeded the lethal range of Shotguns, which it is intended to contest. The Nail Gun’s (BOCW) generous range and mobility allowed it to consistently dispatch foes at the same speed or faster than Shotguns at almost twice their effective range. While the Nail Gun’s (BOCW) pick rate has remained relatively low, we believe it would have been much higher were it more easily accessible.
Barrels
We are satisfied with the overall direction of adding Recoil Control to BOCW Barrels. However, we would like the effectiveness of a Weapon to grow with the wielder as they improve. We felt with the magnitude by which recoil was being reduced, there was hardly any room left to master the control of these Weapons. We want Weapons to reward you for learning their reload timings, recoil patterns, and bullets to kill. Your proficiency with a Weapon should be a journey that is worked toward with an equivalent payoff. When we make Weapons too effective and too easy to control, there is no journey of mastery and we can become disinterested with these Weapons much quicker - which we feel can be a disservice. Even after these changes, we understand that there may still be incredibly effective and easy to control Weapons when enough Recoil Control is applied through attachments. We will continue to target these Weapons as they arise to ensure that they strike a satisfactory balance between upside and downside.
Ground Fall, a Limited-Time Event
We are exploring all avenues in terms of changes to provide ‘fair’ and 'reactable' counterplay options to Dead Silence. A decision like this must be made carefully especially considering how it may destabilize other aspects of the game. We cannot promise anything at this moment but as we close in on an appropriate solution, we will share more details. Sit tight.
Light Machine Guns
We had envisioned the MG 82 (BOCW) as a short to mid-range Light Machine Gun given its relatively fast handling, mobility, and rate of fire. However, it also retained many powerful LMG traits like damage profile, bullet velocity, and magazine size all while having negligible recoil. These factors in combination created one of the most dominant weapons to land in Verdansk. Do not be deceived by the magnitude of these changes. The damage per magazine and rate of fire is still top tier so we expect the MG 82 to remain viable.
Submachine Guns
We will be keeping a close eye on the Nail Gun (BOCW). We feel it kills about a bullet faster than we would like. With extremely low rate of fire Weapons, they can be on a razor’s edge of balance wherein missing a single shot can turn an incredibly fast Time to Kill into one of the slowest in its class. This is not the case with the Nail Gun (BOCW) now, but if it required an additional bullet to kill and nothing else changed, it likely would be. So, we may push and pull on some of its functionality to ensure that it fulfills its role as a highly mobile, close range, full-auto dominator that can rival shotgun TTKs but rapidly wanes in efficacy the further enemies are from you. They are just nails after all.
Two New Weapon Unlock Challenges
Ground Fall, a Limited-Time Event
Find and secure the new Sat-Link stations to triangulate the location of a falling satellite in Verdansk. Loot the fallen satellites to score exclusive loot and cash rewards during the game. The objectives for this event will reward you with items such as Emblems, Calling Cards, a Satellite Weapon Charm, as well as some XP. Complete all three Challenges from either Cold War or Warzone, and you’ll receive an Epic Secondary Weapon Blueprint.
Verdansk Resurgence Mini
A bite-sized FPS survival experience. In addition to the standard Rebirth Island Resurgence rules — no Gulag, extreme clarity on enemy positions upon elimination of a squad member, a Resurgence timer, and special Supply Boxes — this new playlist features lobby sizes of up to 45 Operators, depending on the squad size. The first circle is “skipped”, games are shorter in length on average, and there is higher tier loot compared to traditional BR.
These 8 cards are available in addition to the existing 6 Pride Calling Cards for a total of 14 Pride flags represented in-game Happy Pride month! As a part of our celebration, we have added 8 new flags for free for all Players! Diversity and inclusion are important, and we are excited to expand our in-game representation of LGBTQIA+ identities in honor of Pride month.
We want exciting items like the Specialist Token in Warzone. However, the ease and consistency of its acquisition was problematic. Ideally drop locations are allowed to be chosen dynamically based on several factors like circle location, infil route, and Player preference. When we introduce an exclusive, powerful item that can only be obtained at one location, it may have a warping effect on gameplay that can diminish early game strategy. We would also like to ensure there is excitement surrounding opening caches or completing Contracts no matter where you are on the map. In order to achieve that, we need to have items that are exceedingly rare but do not have targeted methods of acquisition. We may see the Specialist Token again, perhaps sooner than you might think—but it will be rebalanced in such a way that it offers neither Weapon perks nor drops on death.
New Weapons (BOCW)
In a future patch, we will be making sweeping balance changes to Weapons. Let us take a moment to discuss the philosophy behind that decision. At a high level, Warzone is a game about engagements. The more time we allot to mechanical and strategic expression within engagements, the higher the ‘skill ceiling’ and the longer our personal journey of mastery. We believe the frequency of those engagements and how we navigate them heavily contributes to the overall level of fun. We want to enable more escapes from impossible situations, moments of finesse, epic outplays, and opportunities to flex exquisite marksmanship. Due to some Weapons being far more lethal than others in their class, we feel a reduction in the efficacy of those outliers is necessary. We expect these changes will bring the average Time to Kill up by approximately 60 to 100 milliseconds. These changes will not only increase the overall capacity for skill expression, but should also introduce some Weapons into viability that have not yet had a chance to shine.
We will begin laying the groundwork for the upcoming balance overhaul with the following adjustments:
Assault Rifles
The real strength of the CR-56 AMAX (MW) layed in its long-range viability and the consistency of its Time to Kill. While we have made several moves to reduce its power level, the third time is in fact, the charm. We love the CR-56 AMAX (MW) and we will likely see it return in the future when the massive balance overhaul takes place. Though for now, we would like to shake up the long-range space and see what rises to the top.
As a relatively slow-firing, low damage Assault Rifle, it is no surprise that the Groza (BOCW) has underperformed since its preemptive balance adjustment at the beginning of Season Three. This tune up should put it in a solid position in short to mid-range mobility based AR builds.
We would like to avoid increasing the power level of a Weapon to a point where we would need to reduce it shortly after in the following balance overhaul. With that being said, the Assault Rifle Golf (MW) may soon see another power increase in the near future, but we think an improvement to its average Time to Kill is a good place to start.
We consider increases to Neck Damage Multipliers a small buff realistically, as they make landing headshots only slightly more likely. We feel the XM4 (BOCW) is close to being in a great spot and we are aiming for this change to get it there.
Handguns
The AMP63 (BOCW) did not have its fastest Time to Kill improved by these changes. Rather, its TTK breakpoints were shifted around and its Second Damage range was pushed out. A move we felt was necessary to help offset its limited magazine capacity and rate of fire. These changes should provide another compelling Secondary Weapon option alongside the Sykov (MW) to complement non-Overkill loadouts.
Melee
The Ballistic Knife will become a desirable selection for melee aficionados following these changes. With additional mobility, improved Projectile Velocity, and more generous locational multipliers—letting someone wielding the Ballistic Knife get too close is a mistake you will only make once… or twice per game.
Shotguns
The Streetsweeper (BOCW) has one of the best short-range kill death ratios of any Weapon in Warzone. The issue is with the right Attachments that lethal range could be stretched out further than we would like. The Streetsweeper (BOCW) will still be very deadly, but will now require you to be a few steps closer to your target to maximize its effectiveness.
Sniper Rifles
In a previous patch, the Sniper Rifle Charlie (BOCW) underwent a change to its identity. Now, as a slower firing Sniper Rifle, we feel it is necessary to increase its Damage and Bullet Velocity to compensate more adequately. We will be keeping a close eye on it to ensure it occupies this role successfully.
Submachine Guns
The Submachine Gun Alpha (MW) has a ludicrously fast Time to Kill when landing all headshots within its Maximum Damage range. However, outside of those two conditions, it performed far less reliably than its peers. While we do not expect this change to jettison the Submachine Gun Alpha (MW) to the top of SMG viability, we are positioning it to excel in our upcoming balance overhaul.
These changes should allow for better ADS visibility without optics.
The KSP 45 (BOCW) has a fast Time to Kill potential. Insomuch that when considering how to increase its effectiveness, we were concerned not to push it too hard, for fear of making it dominant. It is understandable why one would steer clear of a short to mid-range burst-fire Weapon considering how low the margin for error is in that engagement range. However, two well placed bursts with the KSP 45 (BOCW) will put someone out of commission faster than you might expect.
The Milano 821 (BOCW) needed a lot of love for it to reach a semi-viable state. We will see how it shapes up over the first half of Season Four and make any necessary changes at that time.
Much like its BOCW counterpart, the Submachine Gun Echo (MW) relies heavily on well-placed shots. These changes should make it a tad more forgiving.
Tactical Rifles
Even after its falling out, the DMR 14 (BOCW) is still a respectable choice with the right Attachments. A little bump to help stay on target at a distance should help the DMR 14 (BOCW) hold its own in the face of fierce mid to long-range competition.
Barrels
These changes will bring the longest BOCW Sniper barrels much closer to parity with Modern Warfare equivalents.
Recoil Control has long been a detractor to the long-range viability of BOCW Weapons. These changes will help alleviate that and provide a more diverse selection of Weapons in that engagement space.
Optics
Underbarrels
The Season Four update will have a download size of approximately 12 GB for those who own the free-to-play Warzone and are current on the latest updates.
Notes & reminders:
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*Game features described above are based on current in-development features that are subject to change based on final development changes and/or game tuning or updates that may remove or modify some or all of the above features.
- Raven Software