The mid-season update for Warzone 2 brings the first dose of weapon balancing to the battle royale, much to the delight of players. The Season One Reloaded patch notes contain a wealth of information surrounding the Warzone 2 Season One Reloaded buffs and nerfs that have the potential to spice up the current meta.
Maintaining some kind of balance is no easy task, especially when there are over 50 weapons that pack a deadly punch when you drop into Al Mazrah. With certain guns dominating the Warzone 2 meta thanks to their high damage output, Infinity Ward has made some adjustments.
Before we take a closer look at the Warzone 2 Season One Reloaded buffs and nerfs, check out our guides showcasing the best Warzone 2 AR and all there is to know about the next Warzone 2 double XP event.
Warzone 2 Season One Reloaded weapon balancing
After taking a closer look at all of the buffs and nerfs affecting the Warzone 2 arsenal, the most significant change involves a major nerf to akimbo pistols. Whether you were using a pair of P890s or X12s, the akimbo attachment no longer deals huge amounts of damage against fully armoured opponents.
Here's a look at all of the changes:
General
- Akimbo P890, X12, Basilisk, and .50 GS have received a damage reduction against armored opponents
- Fixed an issue causing shotguns to inconsistently display the broken armor hitmarker
Assault rifles
Other than a slight nerf to the Kastov 74u, there are no major changes to the assault rifle category which is good news for fans of the Kastov 762 and the TAQ-56.
MX9
- Increased movement speed, ADS speed, and sprint to fire speed on the 32 round magazine
M13B
- Blocking underbarrel launcher and shotgun on 7” Bruen B-M20 barrel
Kastov 74u
- Small reduction to close damage; three hits to kill requires at least one chest hit
Kastov 545
- Increase to muzzle velocity
- Small decrease to hip spread
- Increase close damage
- Increase to chest damage multiplier
SMGs
The only SMG to receive a nerf is the VEL 46 which may come as a surprise to those who feel the Fennec 45 needs some adjustments.
VEL 46
- Reduced hip spread.
- Increased movement speed.
- Increased far damage.
Pistols
Basilisk
- Blocking Basilisk compensators and flash hider on the FTAC ARROW barrel
- Adding muzzle attachment usage on the FTAC ARROW barrel: LOCKSHOT KT85, SA LEVELER 55, CRONEN DARK KX30
.50 GS (Desert Eagle)
- Reduced hip spread
- Increased 1 hit headshot range
- Increased damage range
- Increased neck and upper shoulder location damage multipliers
- Increased bullet velocity
- Increased damage range on SA LONGSHOT – 50 and SA TYRANT FIFTY barrel
Shotguns
- Shotguns can no longer kill fully armored players in one shot
Expedite 12
- Added guard category:
- TV CF40 Guard
- AZ-40 Shotguard
- AZAROV T15
Melee
Riot Shield
- Reduced movement speed
- Reduced melee damage to 3 hit kill
- Shield movement animation improvement
- Longer switch time pulling out throwing knife when riot shield is equipped
Launchers
JOKR
- Missiles no longer land out of bounds when targeting a wall on the edge of a map
- Improved the thermal readability when aiming in
There you have it. That's the complete list of Warzone 2 Season One Reloaded buffs and nerfs. Before you drop into Al Mazrah, take a look at our guides showcasing the current Warzone 2 meta and a sneak peek at what Season Two has in store.