Meta MW3 AR now dominates in Warzone too after getting “overbuffed”

Kurt Perry
MCW with Jak Raven conversion kit in Warzone Season 2 Reloaded.

Metaphor has recommended an assault rifle that has dominated MW3’s multiplayer since launch but struggled to find its place in Warzone, that is before it received a huge buff in Season 2 Reloaded.

It’s no secret that some weapons that excel in MW3 struggle to find their place in Warzone. The opposite is also true with top-tier Warzone options like the Bruen Mk9 and KATT-AMR hardly featuring in multiplayer at all.

This is something Sledgehammer Games has to consider when balancing weapons to avoid making a gun too strong in one mode when balancing it for another.

According to one Warzone expert, the Modern Warfare 3 developers may have made a mistake in Season 2 Reloaded by giving a meta MW3 assault rifle a big buff that has led it to prevail in Warzone too.

Best MCW loadout for Warzone in Season 2 Reloaded

Warzone veteran Metaphor has recommended fans use the MCW, an assault rifle that despite dominating MW3 has never caught on in Warzone. That is until the recent changes in Season 2 Reloaded that he believes have led to the AR being “overbuffed,” and becoming meta.

This follows a buff to the MCW that saw its Near-Mid Damage increase from 24 to 26 and its Mid Damage increased to 23 from 19. This provided a huge boost to its TTK and overall lethality.

Here is Metaphor’s recommended MCW build to best take advantage of the buffed AR:

  • Barrel: Orchestra-40 Short Barrel
  • Laser: Verdant Hook Box Laser
  • Underbarrel: Bruen Bastion Angled Grip
  • Magazine: 40 Round Mag
  • Conversion Kit: JAK Raven Kit

Praising the gun’s potency when used in Tactical Stance, Metaphor expressed, “I think this is the one and only true tactical stance meta gun at this point. I know other people are using other things but they just don’t hit the same.”

Though Metaphor would concede that when using the MCW you are “not getting the movement speed,” of other Tac Stance weapons, this is outweighed by the AR’s “unbelievable,” accuracy and damage with it being competitive at both close and mid-range.

As expected of any good MCW build, he also complimented its “laser accurate” recoil with the ACR-inspired rifle having some of the lowest gun kick of any weapon in MW3 and Warzone. This makes it extremely easy to use while still dealing a lot of damage to enemy players.

About The Author

Kurt Perry is a British games writer who started at Dexerto in April 2023. He graduated from Staffordshire University in 2019 with a BA in Games Journalism and PR. Prior to joining Dexerto, Kurt contributed 900 articles for PC Invasion including over 350 guides. He's an all-rounder who is particularly knowledgeable about Call of Duty, Destiny, and Pokemon.