“Broken” MW3 Assault Rifle just got another huge buff and no one knows why

Nathan Warby
MW3 players on Invasion

The MW3 April 9 update brought another set of weapon balancing changes, and players have been left confused after an already OP Assault Rilfe was handed another buff.

Modern Warfare 3 Season 3 shook up the meta with a number of buff and nerfs, and the devs brought even more changes with the April 9 update. A number of attachments and Perks were tweaked, but the biggest winner after the patch was the SVA 545.

The Assault Rifle was handed a huge damage range buff across the board, with a 40%, 17%, and 18% improvement to its maximum, near-medium, and medium ranges respectively.

However, MW3 players have called out the decision to buff the SVA 545 again, as it was already considered one of the best guns in the game after a buff in Season 2.

Reddit user ‘birb1999’ shared a post asking, “Just why? The gun was already as fine as it could be lol,” before going on to add: “Why [do] they keep buffing the SVA? The gun is really not weak by any means, in fact, it can have a really really good TTK if you hit the first two shots, especially after its damage buff a few seasons ago, it really doesn’t make sense.

Plenty of other MW3 players responded, questioning the decision to improve the SVA 545, instead of focusing on nerfing the guns that are too powerful.

“Yeah SVA was already good, and this wasn’t just a minor buff, pretty significant. I imagine it’s the best gun in the game now apart from the broken Renetti which should’ve been nerfed today,” said one reply, before another added: “So annoying. Someone tapped me with four bullets from ~40 meters today.”

Meanwhile, others argued that there are plenty of other weapons in Modern Warfare 3 that are in desperate need of a buff, while the SVA is already a more than viable option.

“Buff all MW2 Marksman and Battle Rifles, 80% of the time they’re dogs**t and basically unusable,” said one reply, to which another responded: “They always buff the already broken guns and nerf the sh***y ones into oblivion.”

Following this buff, don’t be surprised to see the SVA 545 take over the MW3 meta during Season 3. The MCW had previously been the undisputed best Assualt Rifle in the game, but after recent updates, the gap between the two is smaller than ever.

About The Author

Nathan is a Senior Writer at CharlieIntel. He’s an expert in EA Sports FC, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, as well as superhero games, including Marvel’s Spider-Man. With a master's degree in Magazine Journalism from Nottingham Trent University, he worked as a Trainee Reporter for Derbyshire Live before moving into games media, with bylines at Dexerto, Cultured Vultures, and more. You can contact Nathan by email at [email protected].