Raven Software has nerfed two of the most effective weapons in Call of Duty: Warzone in an attempt to shake up the Battle Royale goal.
In an update published this afternoon, the developer revoked the super popular AUG and FFAR 1.
Eurogamer news cast: why did Nintendo kill Mario?
First, the AUG – or as it is known in the patch notes, Cold War Tactical Rifle Charlie (well why Call of Duty insists on using this nomenclature for its weapons is beyond my comprehension).
The recoil strength has been increased in the AUG, which hopefully will calm you down a bit.
“Explosive weapons follow a fine line between inefficient and oppressive,” said Raven. “The intent of this change is to maintain the weapon’s identity as a powerhouse while making it a little more difficult to handle. At the moment, we feel that it is very easy to stay on target due to how lethal it is. We will continue to monitor the performance of the Charlie Tactical Rifle and make additional changes if necessary. “
Now we go to FFAR 1, an assault rifle that was, like the AUG, brought into the war zone as part of Treyarch’s controversial Cold War Black Ops integration. The FFAR has seen its ADS speed (aim down) reduced, which will help it feel more like an assault rifle and less like an SMG.
“FFAR is a stick for every job,” said Treyarch. “It has the damage profile and range of an AR, as well as the firing rate of an SMG. The wholesale effectiveness of the FFAR makes it surpass the SMGs in ranges that we are not satisfied with. Ideally, the FFAR fulfills the role of a dominant reach intermediary while becoming a victim of weapons that excel in close-range combat. We are aligning the FFAR a little more with what you can expect from an AR – damage and reach at the cost of handling. “
Meanwhile, the attachments have had some bug fixes. Here is the list:
- The accessories of the rear grip that showed the speed professionals of the ADS should now increase the speed of the ADS in an appropriate way.
- Fixed a bug with the Groza in which the 16.5 “CMV Mil-Spec barrel circumvented the damage drop.
- Fixed a bug with Ember Sighting Point where the XM4 and AK-47 had their ADS speed increased instead of decreased.
- Fixed a bug with Salvo Fast Mag where the FFAR 1 and M16 were not having their ADS speed slowed.
- The effects of the Pelington 703 coated suppressor should now be represented correctly in the statistics bar.
And finally, the camouflage challenges for Shadowhunter R1 now appear correctly for the Geometric, Flora and Science categories.
It’s nice to see Raven step in here to attack two of Warzone’s most popular weapons, and I hope the nerfs will somehow add variety to the meta. But these patch notes are, again, inaccurate. We don’t have exact statistics for these changes – although the regular suspects in the Call of Duty community will have a say soon, I imagine.