Modern Warfare Jan 22 update patch notes: Crossbow, weapon balancing, more

Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward have released the v1.13 major update for Modern Warfare, adding the brand new Crossbow weapon, five additional loadouts in multiplayer, buffs and nerfs for certain weapons, Capture the Flag, and more.

This January 22 update is the first major Modern Warfare patch in a while, as you have to go back all the way to mid-December since the last one went live.

Since then, Infinity Ward have released numerous minor patches and playlist updates, ones that have added to and shuffled around the modes and playlists available in multiplayer.

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That’s certainly not the case for this patch, which is one of the biggest ones released since the launch of Season 1, in terms of new content, changes made to the game, and the implementation of fixes for bugs and glitches.

• Read More: Modern Warfare devs respond to visibility complaints

It takes up a whopping 48GB of space on PC, 18.4GB on Xbox One, and 13.2GB on PlayStation 4, so players who haven’t installed it yet should expect to wait a while before being able to play.

You can find a full breakdown of everything that this update contained below, including the official patch notes.

New Crossbow weapon – how to unlock

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This January 22 update added the “super-sleek one-hit-kill” Crossbow Modern Warfare, free to everyone on all three platforms, of course, since the game does not have loot boxes or purchasable DLC.

Players will have to grind to earn the weapon, however, since it can only be unlocked after completing the specific in-game challenge: use a Marksman Rifle with a Reflex Optic and get five kills in 25 different matches.

For more information about how to complete this challenge, as well as the full list of attachments and a look at some early gameplay footage, make sure to check out our Crossbow info article HERE.

Weapon balancing

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As expected, this v1.13 update contained some weapon tuning adjustments in order to improve the gun balancing in multiplayer. Overall, there were six changes made.

The RAM-7 assault rifle, Mk2 Carbine marksman rifle, and FN Scar-17 were all buffed with this update, while the M4A1 ‘OG’ Blueprint was tweaked so that, when aiming down sights, the player’s eye “is moved forward more, so it blocks less of the line of sight.”

For a full breakdown of the weapon balancing, including specific details about all the changes, make sure to check out our buffs and nerfs article HERE.

Competitive changes

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Competitive Call of Duty is in the spotlight now more than ever with the start of the newly-formed Call of Duty League’s inaugural 2020 season just days away. As has become a sort of tradition, the developers have made some last-second changes to the competitive settings just days before the Launch Weekend.

In Domination, flags now must be neutralized before being captured again. Headshot multiplier damage has been nullified, so now torso and headshots count for the same amount of damage.

• Read More: CDL announces new competitive ruleset for 2020

A couple of changes were also made to Field Upgrades, as the charge time for both Dead Silence and Trophy System were decreased.

In addition to being used at the upcoming Launch Weekend, these changes were also implemented for the in-game competitive settings, so now applying the CDL rule format in custom/private matches will include these adjustments.

What else is new?

Aside from the topics discussed above, the patch also included several other noteworthy points, such as a playlist update that added Capture the Flag and Shoot the Ship playlists, the latter replacing Shoot House 24/7.

Five additional loadout slots were added to multiplayer, so now players can create up to 10 classes. This was a highly-requested feature since MW does not have Prestiging, and there was no way to increase the number of loadouts one can use.

The slide-cancel movement exploit has been patched, so players can no longer skip the recovery state when sliding. There were also some changes made to Trophy System, which now has an increased protection radius and decreased radius and damage taken by trophy explosions.

Modern Warfare v1.13 update patch notes

Here are the full patch notes for today’s update, as provided by Infinity Ward on their official website:

WHAT’S NEW

• Playlist Update: Added Capure the Flag and Shoot the Ship (Removes Shoot House 24/7) playlists! We also added Aniyah Palace back into rotation
• 5 additional loadout slots!
• New Weapon – Crossbow! Unlocked by using a Marksman Rifle with a Reflex Optic, get 5 kills in 25 different matches!

GENERAL

• In some cases, players could hit an invisible kill trigger in a bush that would cause them to die instantly while near A Flag on Port. This has been fixed.
• Fixed an out of bounds exploit on Aniyah Palace
• Temporarily removing Krovnik Farmland out of rotation while we work on a few bugs
• Fix for a bug that could lock a PC player’s FOV at 60 until they respawn while in Ground War
• The “Stand Together” calling card (3 Wins in Team Deathmatch) was being awarded even though this calling card is earned by default. This has been adjusted to the “Redemption” calling card.
• The Daily Challenge for getting “10 Claymore Kills” was awarding the “One Shot” spray which is unlocked by default. This has been adjusted to the “Soft Serve” spray.
• Fix for an issue where the playlist filter would not switch game modes, even with multiple modes selected
• Adjusted the damage threshold for “Get X Kills while Injured” challenge to make it a bit easier to obtain
• Various out-of-map exploit fixes
• Fix for a few graphical errors that could occur on Ground War maps
• Infected: Fixed a bug where the Nuke effects and audio will interrupt and overlap the final killcam if called in after death of the final survivor
• Fixes to the Recent Players list appearing incorrectly on Xbox
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to capture the Hardpoint while in the hotel on St. Petrograd
• Adjusted the obituary to remove the oldest items first
• Fixed a bug that would reset Voice Chat settings after the application was hard closed
• Fix for a bug that allowed player collision. This has been fixed
• Players can no longer cancel their recovery state when sliding, but will always incur the standard fire delay (visually the player will still respond)
• On Shipment, players are able to set Care Packages on spawn points, causing players to die instantly when spawning in on these points. This has been fixed.
• Fixed an issue where the Elite Xbox One controller had a slight bounce back with the analog sticks
• Fixed a bug that could give players invincibility
• Fix for some Officer Progression emblems not displaying the correct rarity
• Fixed an issue that would lock Operator missions despite having the correct Battle Pass Tier

Field Upgrades:

• Fixed a bug where using the ‘Stopping Power Rounds’ Field Upgrade with an empty C4 slot would cause the C4 detonator to appear before reloading with the Stopping Power Rounds
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to reach unintended locations while manipulating the Weapon Drop Field Upgrade
• Fixed a bug that allowed the Recon Drone to fly into geo if C4 was thrown onto it
• Fix for Stopping Power Rounds not applying the correct damage boost to headshots

Trophy System:

• Increased protection radius
• Decreased the radius and the damage taken by trophy explosions
• Fixed a bug where the explosion damage and effects wouldn’t trigger for the third explosion

Killstreaks:

• Fixed a bug that allowed the Cruise Missile to kill players while out of bounds on Shipment

WEAPONS

• Fixed a bug where the 1mW Laser would not appear equipped on the 1911 pistol while in the Gunsmith menu
• M4A1 Blueprint “OG” ADS position moved forward; the viewmodel or gun’s position relative to the  camera or player’s eye is moved forward more, so it blocks less of the line of sight
• Changing the magazine capacity from 45 to 50 for the RAM-7 extended magazine.
• Increasing the bullet penetration of the MK2 Carbine
• Less horizontal recoil on the initial bullets of the FN Scar-17
• Changed the way stats are displayed for stocks to be more consistent with other attachments (this is for the graphs only, not the actual stats)

CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE

• Domination: Flags must be neutralized before being captured again. Settings for neutralization timing are now available in settings
• Decreased charge time on the Trophy System
• Headshot multiplier damage has been clamped; torso and headshots are now the same
• Removed lightweight boost and decreased charge time on Dead Silence

COD Caster

• Reworked minimap visuals (removed outside map background, removed minimap frame)
• Improved readability of the killfeed and nameplate colors
• Improved the quality of the colored arrows shown under players when using the Aerial Camera
• Data View feature has been temporarily removed

PC

• Tweaked parts of the Battle Pass UI in order to better support higher Aspect Ratios
• Fixed an issue with the sound effects on the Support Helo
• Several fixes to prevent crashes and improve stability