Warzone’s worst Sniper Rifle was nerfed in Season 3 and players are baffled

Luca Di Marzo
Warzone Dragunov nerf

Several weapon balancing changes arrived with the Warzone Season 3 update, including major nerfs to meta Sniper Rifles. However, it seems the decision to also nerf the worst Sniper in the game has left players baffled.

Keeping Warzone weapons balanced and fair is a major responsibility of the battle royale’s devs. When a weapon dominates for a long period of time, it’s likely to receive a nerf somewhere down the line.

This was the case with several Warzone Snipers like the Kar98k and Swiss that ran rampant for too long. Following the Season 3 update, most would agree that the nerfs were justified, except for one weapon that was hit with a nerf that has left players baffled.

Dragunov Warzone Sniper

The major result of the nerfs was that the Kar98k and Swiss could no longer one-shot kill to the head from any distance. Instead, these weapons would only one-shot kill within their max damage range. Remarkably the devs issued an even greater nerf to the Dragunov Sniper Rifle.

The Dragunov is widely considered the worst Sniper Rifle available in Warzone. It has never so much as got a glimpse at the Sniper meta, which makes the decision to nerf it to oblivion a strange one.

The Dragunov had its max damage range decreased to 1375, down from 2500, which means it cannot one-shot kill to the head from any distance. A post on the Warzone subreddit makes light of the baffling decision with a hilarious meme.

As the post details, players already viewed the Dragunov as a “clown gun” before the update, and the most recent nerfs to the weapon have transformed it into an “entire circus.” Players in the comments voiced their disbelief at the seemingly random nerf, “I’ve never seen the dragunov used against me ever.”

The Dragunov has an abysmal Warzone K/D of 0.40 which is the lowest of any Primary weapon in the game. In addition, the weapon also boasts a 0.11% pick rate, which is yet again one of the worst in the game. It’s safe to say that the recent Dragunov nerf is not going to increase its viability or popularity any time soon.


For more Warzone Season 3 news, check out how the devs responded to a frustrating issue making guns impossible to level up.

Image Credit: Activision

About The Author

Luca is an Associate Editor at CharlieIntel. An accomplished, writer with interests in sports and gaming alike, Luca is focused on Call of Duty and FIFA as a content creator. After earning his BA in English Literature at Concordia University, he began writing for Gamelevate, OddsShark, and H4X. Luca joined CharlieIntel in 2021. You can reach Luca at [email protected], or via X @TheLucaDiMarzo.