Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
Call of Duty: Warzone's Season Five patch notes include moderate to substantial nerfs to three of the best assault rifles in the game: the C58, EM2 and Krig 6 from Black Ops - Cold War, among other changes. The developer has made a habit of releasing very powerful weapons before taking in player feedback to nerf said weapons accordingly. The beta version of Cold War sniper rifles took this approach, analyzing player stats in what amounted to a trial period and tweaking the weapons afterward.
Activision Studios has increasingly doubled down on cheaters in the free-to-play battle royale shooter, releasing details of an official anti-cheat system coming to Warzone, which a leaker posted about prior to the reveal of Call of Duty: Vanguard in early August. The system comes as a welcome means to balance a game that has frustrated players since launch for its volume of cheaters using exploits like silent aim or wall hacks to give themselves an unfair advantage. Warzone has also changed its kill feeds to display the usernames of cheaters, publicly shaming them and deterring them from foul play in the future. This system looks to continue into Vanguard following its planned release in early November.
ModernWarzone on Twitter has posted a screenshot of the changes to the three assault rifles in Warzone. At least some of the changes likely stem from the new anti-cheating system, the Season Five patch marks a concerted effort to balance the Warzone frustration among Black Ops Cold War players with the balance of guns like the EM2. Among the most significant nerfs, the EM2 now has its Base Optic ADS Speed, aim-down-sight, reduced by 21 percent. This constitutes a major disadvantage against players with better aim-down-sight, meaning they have more time to execute a killing shot. Raven also decreased the damage multiplier for upper torso shots using the EM2. Other changes significantly affect the C58, which now has increased recoil, making it harder to aim at enemy players. Raven also nerfed its Max Damage Range by 7.4 percent and its Bullet Velocity by 8.1 percent, meaning that both the trajectory and overall damage of the rifle have gotten worse. The changes may appear small, but they visibly add up to the point where it may take an extra bullet to make up the difference. Raven nerfed the Krig 6's Max Damage Range by 7.2 percent as well, but the rifle remains mostly the same otherwise. Check out the patch notes below, courtesy of Raven Software.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 Patch – Gameplay
- High Alert - Slot 2 (Red) will now allow the Player to hear the footsteps of enemies using the Dead Silence field upgrade.
- This change applies only to Warzone.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 Patch – Bug Fixes:
- Fixed additional collision issues with various elements across Verdansk allowing Players to exploit/peek/shoot through them.
- Fixed an issue causing the ZRG 20mm (BOCW) scope glass to appear white while held in idle position.
- Fixed an issue preventing Players from accessing the Store Tab while using the Warzone client in languages other than English.
- Fixed an issue related to the “Puncture Wound” Nail Gun (BOCW) Blueprint dynamic icon.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Fennec (MW) to ignore its proper ballistics trajectory.
- Fixed an issue that prevented Players from applying a sticker to the Cane (BOCW).
- Fixed various issues related to gifting the Season Five Battle Pass.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 5 Patch - Weapon Changes
- C58 Recoil increased
- C58 maximum damage range decreased by 7.4%
- C58 ADS speed decreased by 3.4%
- C58 Bullet Velocity decreased by 8.1%
- EM2 Reduced Base Optic ADS Speed penalty by 21%
- EM2 Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
- Krig 6 Minimum Damage decreased from 26 to 25
- Krig 6 Maximum Damage Range decreased by 7.2%
In conjunction with Raven Software's patches, new policies like calling out cheaters through Warzone's kill feed mark a concerted effort to improve the gameplay experience. Some players will undoubtedly dislike the nerfs to weapons like the EM2 and C58, but the changes fall in line with COD's recent practice of responding to player feedback. Data taken from gameplay then informs developers how to balance the weapons accordingly in Warzone. Time will tell whether or not the nerfs go overboard in diminishing the viability of these assault rifles in the game's meta.
Part of the appeal of Call of Duty: Warzone stems from the fact that newer mainline games in the series see an assortment of their vehicles, weapons and map updates ported over to Warzone. It only adds to the longevity of the 2018 game. The release of Vanguard looks to continue this trend of refreshing the free-to-play game, and hopefully, future weapons patches will strike a balance of keeping the game competitive while not making fan-favorite weapons completely obsolete. Game balancing is not always an easy task for developers to undertake.
Source: ModernWarzone/Twitter, Raven Software