MW3 Season 2 Patch Notes: Weapon Balancing, Ranked Play Changes, & More

STABILITY & PERFORMANCE

• Addressed a crash that occurred during offline play while selecting a Weapon or Operator.

MW3 Season 2 MULTIPLAYER

UIX

• Bug Fixes
  • Resolved various issues causing the player to be unexpectedly kicked back to the menu.
    • Viewing Prestige Calling Cards
    • Filtering Locked Operator Challenges
    • Removing options from Quick Settings
  • Previewing Weapon Completionist rewards will no longer cause the menu to become inoperable.
  • Addressed an issue preventing the Activate Armory Unlock prompt for Controller inputs from functioning.
  • Replaced placeholder name for the Imago RAM-9 Submachine Gun Camo.
  • Replaced placeholder reward images in the Horde Hunt Event menu.

GAMEPLAY

• Bug Fixes
  • Akimbo Weapons will now be displayed properly after infiltrating maps via an elevator.
  • Addressed an issue preventing Hybrid Optics from being toggled while a Comb Attachment is equipped on the BP50 (Assault Rifle).

PROGRESSION

• Increased XP earned for the first Challenge in Week 1 from 1,000 to 2,500.
• Increased Bonus XP per Match for using a Featured Operator Skin during an Event from 1,000 to 2,500.
• Removed aim down sight requirement from the RAM-7 (Assault Rifle) Forged Camo Challenge.
  • Get 10 Operator Kills while Sliding with the RAM-7.

MAPS

• Operation Tin Man (War)
  • Players can now respawn at Tactical Insertions placed in the South Lookout area.

MODES

• Hordepoint
  • Dying while an Insta-Kill Powerup is active will no longer cause it to deactivate.
  • Zombies will now prioritize Operators over Killstreaks and Field Upgrades.
  • Stun Grenades will now temporarily stun Zombies.
• Team Gun Game
  • Performing a Finishing Move will now deduct Score from the enemy team.
  • Melee Kills and Setbacks are now properly tracked on the After-Action Report Scoreboard.
• Private Match
  • Adjusted game rules to align with the Competitive Settings v1.1 ruleset while a CDL game mode is selected.
    • Dynamic Map Elements (Global)
    • Next Zone Reveal Time (Hardpoint)

MW3 Season 2 WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS

Submachine Guns 

• Striker 9
  • Increased enemy nameplate reveal distance from 33m to 38.1m (+15%).
  • Decreased hipfire spread while firing by 6%.
  • Decreased recoil gun kick from 54.93deg/s to 35deg/s (-36%).
  • Increased horizontal recoil from 9.70deg/s to 16.17deg/s (+67%).
  • Increased vertical recoil from 40.65deg/s to 50.93deg/s (+25%).
  • Added the ability to aim down sight while sliding.
  • Increased bullet velocity from 540m/s to 560m/s (+4%).
  • Increased maximum damage from 29 to 32 (+10%).
  • Increased near-medium damage from 25 to 28 (+12%).
  • Decreased minimum damage from 20 to 18 (-10%).
  • Increased maximum damage range from 10.7m to 14m (+31%).
  • Decreased medium damage range from 22.9m to 20.3m (-11%).
  • Decreased near-medium damage range from 35.6m to 27.9m (-21%).

The recoil pattern of the Striker 9 has been significantly adjusted, resulting in increased control while firing.

Light Machine Guns 

• TAQ Evolvere
  • Increased movement speed from 4.4m/s to 5.1m/s (+16%).
  • Decreased rate of fire from 706rpm to 500rpm (-29%).
  • Increased maximum damage from 34 to 40 (+18%).
  • Increased maximum damage range from 35.6m to 40.6m (+14%).
  • Increased medium damage range from 40.6m to 53.3m (+31%).
  • Increased head damage multiplier from 1.2x to 1.4 (+17%).
  • Increased neck, upper-torso, upper-arm, and lower-arm damage multipliers from 1x to 1.2x (+20%).
  • Increased target flinch from 0.5n to 0.8n (+60%).
  • 556 Belts (Magazines)
    • Increased movement speed benefit by 16%.
    • Added 40% hipfire spread reduction benefit.
    • Increased aim down sight time benefit by 15%.
    • Increased aim down sight movement speed benefit by 17%.
    • Added rate of fire benefit at 857rpm.
    • Decreased maximum damage from 34 to 30 (-12%).
    • Decreased medium damage from 30 to 24 (-20%).
    • Increased head, neck, and upper-torso damage multipliers from from 1.1x to 1.2x (+9%).

Our primary goal for these changes is to better differentiate the two ammunition types of the TAQ Evolvere. 7.62 is a slow, yet accurate, long-range competitor. Conversely, 5.56 favors aggression and is built for run-and-gun playstyles.

7.62 rewards accuracy and sees an increase to target flinch, allowing it to better compete with Sniper Rifles at range.

5.56 sports a significantly faster rate of fire that is both easier to handle and consistent with locational damage multipliers.

Sniper Rifles

• Longbow
  • JAK Tyrant 762 Kit
    • Increased aim down sight movement speed from 2.5m/s to 2.8m/s (+12%).
    • Added 30% hipfire spread reduction benefit.

Handguns 

• WSP Stinger
  • Increased recoil gun kick from 31.05deg/s to 57.96deg/s (+87%).
  • Decreased horizontal recoil from 28.39deg/s to 18.64deg/s (-34%).
  • Increased vertical recoil from 33.65deg/s to 35.2deg/s (+5%).
  • Increased maximum damage from 24 to 29 (+21%).
  • Increased near-medium damage from 23 to 24 (+4%).
  • Increased medium damage from 18 to 20 (+11%).
  • Increased minimum damage from 15 to 18 (+20%).

With these changes, the WSP Stinger has reduced recoil which is also easier to control, pairing well with its increased damage.

Attachments

• No Stock
  • Removed hipfire crosshair sway.

PERKS

• Assassin Vest
  • Resolved an issue preventing Lethal Equipment from being equipped.

FIELD UPGRADES

• Loadout Drop
  • Permanently disabled the ability to equip on Loadouts.

Due to limited use and often being utilized to reach exploitable locations, the Loadout Drop is no longer available in Multiplayer.

KILLSTREAKS

• Wheelson-HS
  • Zombies can now be run over and killed in Hordepoint Mode.

MW3 Season 2 RANKED PLAY

GAMEPLAY

• Maps & Modes
  • CDL Hardpoint
    • Sub Base Hardpoint has been temporarily removed from the Ranked Play map pool.
• Content Restrictions
  • Weapon Restrictions
    • Sniper Rifles
      • All

MW3 Season 2 ZOMBIES

GAMEPLAY