All weapon buffs & nerfs in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 Season 1 Reloaded

Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 Season 1 Reloaded nerfs Akimbo pistols & the Riot Shield and buffs the Kastov 545 and Vel 47.

Season 1 Reloaded marks the first major weapon balance update for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. In previous CoD titles, multiplayer and Warzone had separate weapon balance updates. However, Infinity Ward made balance changes universal across both games in the mid-season update.

The meta for MW2 and Warzone 2 is slightly different, but a few weapons emerged as go-to options. CoD content creator JoeWo claimed the Akimbo X12 is the best weapon in WZ2, and TimTheTatman unearthed a one-shot kill shotgun loadout.

The Riot Shield is always a cult favorite on the multiplayer side of things. Season 1 Reloaded re-introduces Shipment, and the developers aptly used it as an opportunity to nerf the popular weapon.

Here are all of the weapon balances coming to Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 in Season 1 Reloaded.

Akimbo pistols and Riot Shield nerfed in Season 1 Reloaded

Akimbo Pistols were a go-to secondary for the first few weeks of Warzone 2. Infinity Ward responded by reducing damage against armored opponents for the AkimboP890, X12, Basilisk, and .50 GS. The phrase “armored opponents” implies the nerf only impacts WZ2.

The update also nerfed Riot Shields, making them require three hits to kill an enemy. It also takes longer to pull out a throwing knife when a Riot Shield is equipped.

The Vel 47, Kastov 545, and MX9 all received much-needed buffs. The Kastov-74u received a slight damage reduction, but it will still be an extremely popular choice for multiplayer and Warzone.

Season 1 Reloaded weapon balance update

Here are the full Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 weapon balance 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

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

VEL 47 SMG

• Reduced hip spread.
• Increased movement speed.
• Increased far damage.

Basilisk Revolver

• 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 Pistol

• 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 Shotgun

• 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