Every weapon buff & nerf in Warzone 2 & Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 Reloaded

❘ Updated: 2023-05-10T14:49:55

Activision

Each major Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2 update introduces a host of weapon balancing changes, and Season 3 Reloaded is no exception. Here’s a breakdown of every buff and nerf in Warzone 2 & Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 Reloaded.

Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 Reloaded has finally arrived, bringing a ton of exciting new content to both games. Battle royale players are finally getting the Warzone 2 Ranked Play beta, while multiplayer fans have a new Raid and 6v6 map to get stuck into.

The devs are also shaking up the weapon meta, not only by introducing the new FTAC Siege and GS Magna Handguns, but also by buffing and nerfing plenty of the existing guns. This is set to disrupt the most popular weapons across both games.

Here’s every weapon buff and nerf that arrived in the Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 Reloaded update.

ISO Hemlock receives second nerf in Warzone 2 & MW2 Season 3 Reloaded

The ISO Hemlock was the go-to Assault Rifle before the mid-season update.

Following its nerf in the Season 3 update, the ISO Hemlock has been hit once again with Warzone 2 & MW2 Season 3 Reloaded. The Assault Rifle has seen its minimum and maximum damage decrease, as well as an adjustment in the amount of damage done when hitting arms and legs.

Despite being nerfed once already in Season 3, the Hemlock was still comfortably the most popular Assault Rifle prior to the mid-season update. With these latest changes, we’ll have to wait and see if the AR continues to dominate matches.

All weapon buffs & nerfs in Warzone 2 & MW2 Season 3 Reloaded

Here’s a look at every weapon that was either buffed or nerfed in the Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2 Season 3 Reloaded update, as detailed in the official patch notes:

First Raise

The delay between first equipping a Weapon and being able to fire it has been decreased across numerous Weapons.

Quick Raise and Quick Drop

Quick Raise and Quick Drop speeds have been uniformly increased, allowing for more rapid deployment of equipment—which is further improved by Fast Hands.

Armor Damage

Maximum Armor Damage values have been added to all Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, Submachine Guns, and Light Machine Guns. These values will assist in slowing down close-range time-to-kill.

Minimum Armor Damage has been adjusted or added to several Weapons to increase their viability at longer ranges. See Weapon changes below for details:

» Handguns «

Basilisk
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
P890
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
X12
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
X13 Auto
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

» Submachine Guns «

BAS-P
- ADS Speed increased
- Headshot Damage Multiplier decreased
- Maximum Damage increased
- Maximum Damage Range increased
- Mid-far Damage increased
- Mid-far Damage Range increased
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Minimum Damage increased
- Minimum Damage Range increased
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

Lachmann Sub
- Burst-fire Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

Minibak
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

MX9
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Vaznev-9K
- Maximum Damage Range decreased

» Assault Rifles «

Chimera
- Semi-auto Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

ISO Hemlock
- Maximum Damage decreased
- Mid Damage decreased
- Minimum Damage decreased
- Lower Torso Multiplier increased
- Extremities Multipliers decreased

Kastov 545
- Close-mid Damage Range decreased
- Mid Damage Range decreased
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Kastov 762
- Semi-auto Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Extremities Multipliers decreased

Kastov-74u
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Lachmann-556
- Close-mid Damage increased
- Maximum Damage Range increased
- Mid Damage Range added
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Semi-auto Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Upper Torso Multiplier increased

M16
- Close-mid Damage Range increased
- Maximum Damage Range increased
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Cooldown time between bursts decreased
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

M4
- Semi-auto minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

M13B
- ADS Speed increased slightly
- Damage Ranges increased
- Hip Spread Accuracy increased slightly
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

TAQ-56
- Maximum Damage Range decreased

» Battle Rifles «

FTAC Recon
- Auto-fire Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

Lachmann-762
- Auto-fire Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

SO-14
- Auto-fire Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Lower Torso Multiplier increased
- Maximum Damage increased
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

TAQ-V
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Semi-auto Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

» Shotguns «

Bryson 800
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Mid Damage increased

Bryson 890
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Mid Damage increased

Lockwood 300
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

» Light Machine Guns «

HCR 56
- Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
RAPP H
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time
SAKIN MG38
- Reduced ‘First Raise’ animation time

Attachments

» Ammunition «

Explosive
- Bullet Velocity decreased

.500 Snakeshot
- Tuning enabled

.300 Blackout (All Types)
- Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

» Laser «

Laser visibility decreased
Canted Vibro-Dot 7
- Now blocks Core BP2 Underbarrel

7mW Canted Laser
- Now blocks Core BP2 Underbarrel

» Magazine «

Fennec
- Fennec Double Tap Mod
  - Maximum Ammo Reserves increased
  - Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
  - Minimum Armor Damage decreased | Warzone 2.0 Only
  - Starting Ammo increased

STB 556
- Single Tap Mod
  - Cooldown time between shots decreased

The Magazine adjustments below apply to all Attachments depending on whether they are larger or smaller relative to a Weapon’s base Magazine capacity. These changes will mean, on average, larger capacity Magazines are considerably less punitive, and smaller capacity Magazines offer substantially more upside.

Large
- ADS Speed penalty decreased
- Movement Speed penalties decreased
Small
- ADS Speed benefit increased
- Movement Speed benefits increased
- Sprint to Fire Speed benefit increased

» Muzzle «

Lockshot KT85
- Horizontal Recoil Control decreased
- Vertical Recoil Control increased

» Optic «

Kazan-Holo
- Reticle visibility improved

» Stock «

FJX Imperium
- FJX Lux-7
  - Aim Walking Speed benefit increased
  - Aiming Idle Stability penalty increased
  - Sprint Speed benefit increased

RIB400
- Recoil Control benefit increased
- ADS Speed penalty increased

X12
- XRK Pistol Stock
  - Movement Speed penalities decreased

X13 Auto
- XRK Bar Stock
  - Movement Speed penalties decreased
- XRK Dynamic Precision Stock
  - Movement Speed penalties decreased
- X13 Coachwhip Stock
  - Movement Speed penalties decreased

» Underbarrel «

Corvus Masterkey
- ADS Speed increased
- ADS Pellet Spread decreased
- Ammo Reserve increased
- Mid Damage Range increased slightly

For more on Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2, be sure to check out our other guides: