AMAX Nerf Inbound: Warzone Season 3 Balance Patch

Warzone season 3 weapon balancing - Amax Nerf
Raven are looking to disincentivize passive play encouraged by weapons like the streetsweeper. (Credit: Activision Blizzard)

We're now well into Warzone Season 3 and it looks like Raven wants to try and stamp out certain playstyles, namely AMAX users. Among other balance updates, the devs are really cracking down on those rapid TTK weapons, they want to raise the TTK across the board and reach what they call 'balance homeostasis' - basically making every gun viable. So, let's see what they've done.

Now before we start losing it, they did add that when fan favourites are nerfed "it pains us [the devs] just as much". Regardless of how much sympathy you have, you're still likely going to be raging when you find out you can't throw a skeletal stock on an AR and get the ADS of John Wick.

Weapons

Assault Rifles:

CR-56 AMAX:

  • Minimum Damage decreased from 32 to 31 (Warzone Only)

FARA 83

  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.5 to 1.35
  • Base ADS Move Speed decreased by 7%

Shotguns:

Streetsweeper:

  • Base Hip Spread increased
  • Recoil increased slightly
  • ADS speed reduced slightly

Submachine Guns:

Bullfrog:

  • Maximum Damage decreased from 34 to 32
  • Maximum Damage Range increased by 11%
  • Base Move Speed increased by 1%
  • Sprint Out Speed increased by 13%

PPSh-41:

  • Maximum Damage Range increased by 4%
  • Open Bolt Delay decreased by 80%
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Attachments

Barrels

Combat Recon (Snipers):

  • Bullet Velocity multiplier increased by 12%
  • ADS Idle Sway multiplier decreased by 33.3%

Optics

Axial Arms 3x (Cold War AK-47):

  • Optic behavior improved

Stocks

Raider/KGB Skeletal Stock (Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, Shotguns, Snipers)

  • ADS Firing Speed multiplier decreased by 75%
  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 10%

Raider/KGB Skeletal Stock (Submachine Guns)

  • ADS Firing Speed multiplier decreased by 50%
  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 10%

SAS Combat/Spetsnaz Stock (Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, Shotguns, Snipers)

  • ADS Firing Speed multiplier decreased by 75%
  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 10%

SAS Combat/Spetsnaz Stock (Submachine Guns)

  • ADS Firing Speed multiplier decreased by 50%
  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 10%

Tactical Stock (Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, Shotguns, Snipers)

  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 75%

Tactical Stock (Submachine Guns)

  • ADS Move Speed multiplier decreased by 50%

READ MORE:

Gameplay

Streetsweeper:

  • Common variant removed from ground loot
  • Uncommon variant removed from ground loot
  • Rare variant removed from Supply Boxes
  • Epic variant removed from Supply Boxes

Hauer 77:

  • Common variant added to ground loot
  • Uncommon variant added to ground loot
  • Rare variant added to Supply Boxes

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed additional map locations in Verdansk that allowed players to reach out-of-bounds areas. This is on top of the locations that we addressed last week.
  • Fixed a bug causing Player models to initially load as low resolution at the start of a BR match.
  • Fixed a bug with the Cold War AK-47, FARA 83, XM4, and RPD where they were having their ADS Move Speed and Firing Move Speeds decreased with the Tactical and SAS Combat/Spetsnaz Stocks rather than increased.

That should give you some food for thought over the weekend, and as much as the balances are needed, don't worry you aren't alone in your fury. For more of the latest and greatest join us at EarlyGame, or why not share your thoughts over on Facebook and Twitter

Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....