Warzone players baffled by bizarre Season 4 weapon nerfs

James Busby
Warzone Season 4 Reloaded weapon update

The Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update has brought with it the biggest weapon balance the game has ever seen, but players aren’t happy with some of the changes. 

Warzone’s massive Season 4 Reloaded update is finally live, bringing plenty of new and exciting content for fans to sink their teeth into. While the OTs 9 SMG and Mauer Der Toten Zombie map headline the update, Raven Software has also adjusted nearly every gun in the game.

It’s still early days and the meta will likely shift as players delve into the latest buffs and nerfsMany of the Warzone weapon changes have been adjusted with the hopes of increasing the average TTK across multiple weapon categories. This means that even the most dominant guns will feel a little different this season.

Despite the positive reaction surrounding the weapon meta, many players are baffled by Raven’s decision to nerf some of the weakest guns in the game

Warzone Season 4 Reloaded weapon balance

SCAR Warzone Season 4
The SCAR received a significant nerf in Season 4.

“Why did they just nerf the SCAR, MW AK47, Oden, and FAL? These guns are already some of the worst in the game and have some of the lowest pick rates of all weapons,” says TastyWhaleMeat

To suggest that these four weapons have been popular in the current weapon meta would be a huge understatement. In fact, only Modern Warfare’s AK-47 narrowly manages to break into the top 30. 

Not only do these guns provide underwhelming damage when compared to the likes of their meta counterparts, but they also come packed with some of the highest recoil skill ceilings in the game.  There’s a clear reason as to why the majority of the playerbase gravitates towards the likes of the FARA 83 and XM4

“Really bizarre changes that seem to make the worst weapons in Warzone even worse for no apparent reason,” says TastyWhaleMeat. “I liked the direction balance updates have been going, but this leads me to question how these decisions are being made.”

Well, according to Raven Software, both the balance changes were made to help increase the average Time-to-Kill within Warzone. “When evaluating an individual change, some may seem quite drastic, but they were made holistically and in a way that supported a lock-step increase in average TTK across multiple Weapon categories,” says the developers. 

“Torso Multipliers were a considerable focus of these changes with how often they would act as flat damage increases given how consistently that location could be hit. With reductions to these multipliers, we are placing a bigger emphasis on precision — a move which we feel is ultimately healthy for the game.”

Despite Raven stating that they will be “closely monitoring weapon performance”, the Warzone community is still confused as to why some of the game’s worst-performing guns were hit so hard. 

Whether the developers will go back on these nerfs remains to be seen, but for now, it’s best to stay clear of the non-meta picks.

About The Author

James is Dexerto's Associate Games Editor who joined the website in 2020. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism, before spending four years freelancing for GamesRadar+, PCGamesN, RPS, LoL Esports, Red Bull Gaming, and many more. You can find him covering everything from CoD, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Monster Hunter. Need to get in touch? Email James at james.busby@dexerto.com.