Warzone players demand changes for “unusable” Automaton following major nerf

Joe Craven
Automaton with Warzone Pacific logo

Players are calling on Raven to buff the Automaton in Warzone Pacific Season One, after nerfs left the newly-added Vanguard assault rifle “unusable”. 

Warzone Pacific Season One, after months of anticipation and fan excitement, finally dropped on December 8. Amongst other things – like the Caldera map and gameplay changes – the update brought all of CoD: Vanguard’s multiplayer weapons into Warzone.

Whilst the meta is still sorting itself out, one of the earliest frontrunners was the Automaton. The Vanguard AR only boasts moderate damage, but its lack of recoil and incredibly fast fire-rate made it an instant fan favorite.

Unfortunately, the powers that be at Raven decided it was too strong and quickly handed out a hefty nerf. Emphasis, there, on ‘hefty’.

Below, thanks to YouTuber TheXclusiveAce, is a look at the Automaton’s new recoil compared to other weapons in Warzone.

Automaton recoil patter from TheXclusiveAce
The Automaton’s recoil is now incredibly hard to control.

As a result of its incredible recoil, many have deemed the weapon “unusable” and are calling on Raven for a swift buff. Whilst there is general acceptance that its pre-nerf recoil was insufficient, making the weapon completely impossible to control is not what players had in mind.

Redditor ‘MiFeyz‘ described it as “unusable”, saying: “It literally breaks your back I’m not kidding. This gun sucks. Don’t say its because I have it level one I have it level 70 gold and its all no recoil attachments and the thing goes straight up to the sky.”

A number of other players chimed in, suggesting that Raven’s nerf went overboard and that a counter-buff would be useful.

One said: “They definitely went over the top with the nerf, its damage was already ass and the no recoil was all it really had going for it.” Another simply commented: “Yeah that nerf was heavy handed.”

The nerf undoubtedly did its job of weakening the Vanguard AR, but it has also driven players to use pretty much anything else.

Hopefully Raven can find a sweet spot, somewhere in the middle.

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About The Author

Joe is a former writer for Dexerto, who focused on Call of Duty, FIFA, Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege.