Warzone Season 4 Reloaded: All weapon balance changes

The Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update has finally arrived, and while we’ve already covered its content highlights, another important aspect for competitive Call of Duty: Warzone players is undoubtedly the balance changes. With this update, we’ve seen the biggest balance changes in Warzone history, which means the meta and the loadouts used are sure to change substantially.

Warzone S4 Reloaded balance changes

To get ahead of the competition in Verdansk, competitive players will need to study the balance changes. The developer released massive weapon balance changes, to say the least. These changes focus on increasing the average time-to-kill (TTK).

In the official patch notes, developer Raven Software explains:

“The following changes are our first major step towards increasing the average Time-to-Kill within Warzone. It is important to note that these Weapon adjustments were not made in a vacuum. 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. 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.”

Okay, so are you ready for the mammoth list of balance changes in the Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update? The biggest changes are to the Assault Rifle, SMG and LMG weapon classes. Let’s dive in!

Assault Rifles

• AK-47 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.5
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1
• AK-47 (MW)
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.1
• C58 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.58
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1
  • Lower Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
  • Maximum Damage Range increased by 8%
  • Recoil increased
• CR-56 AMAX (MW)
  • Headshot Multiplier increased from 1.5 to 1.55
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
• Assault Rifle Bravo (MW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 2.05 to 1.62
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.1
• FARA 83 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 31 to 29
  • Recoil increased
• FFAR 1 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.5 to 1.4
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 27 to 25
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 25 to 23
  • Maximum Damage Range decreased by 20%
  • Neck Multiplier increased from 1 to 1.2
• Assault Rifle Golf (MW)
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.1
• Grau 5.56 (MW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 22 to 24
• Groza (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 28 to 27
  • Maximum Damage Range increased by 4.5%
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.5
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.12
  • Lower Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
  • Recoil pattern smoothed
• Krig 6 (BOCW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 25 to 26
• M13 (MW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 19 to 20
• Assault Rifle Charlie (MW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 28 to 27
  • Minimum Damage increased from 22 to 23
• Oden (MW)
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.3 to 1.2
• QBZ-83 (BOCW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 22 to 24
  • Base Move Speed reduced by 3%
  • Base ADS Move Speed reduced by 5%
  • Upper Torso Multiplier increased from 1.1 to 1.2
  • Lower Torso Multiplier increased from 1 to 1.1
• RAM-7 (MW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 28 to 26
• XM4 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 32 to 30
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 28 to 27
  • ADS Speed decreased slightly
  • Recoil increased slightly

Light Machine Guns

• M60 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage increased from 36 to 37
  • Headshot Multiplier increased from 1.5 to 1.6
• MG 34 (MW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 31 to 29
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 28 to 27
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.5 to 1.4
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
• MG 82 (BOCW)
  • ADS Speed decreased slightly
• Light Machine Gun Alpha (MW)
  • Maximum Damage increased from 31 to 32
  • Maximum Damage Range decreased by 7%
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1

• SA87 (MW)
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.1
• Light Machine Gun Alpha (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 34 to 33
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1

Sniper Rifles

• Swiss K31 (BOCW)
  • ADS animation updated
  • Now shares a base reticle with the ZRG 20mm

Submachine Guns

• AK-74u (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 35 to 31
  • Minimum Damage increased from 25 to 26
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.6
  • Upper Torso Multiplier increased from 1 to 1.1
  • Bullet Velocity increased by 5%
• Submachine Gun Alpha (MW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 25 to 26
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.47
• Bullfrog (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 32 to 31
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.5
  • Left Upper Arm Multiplier increased from .9 to 1
  • Right Upper Arm Multiplier increased from .9 to 1
  • Left Upper Leg Multiplier increased from .9 to 1
  • Right Upper Leg Multiplier increased from .9 to 1
• KSP-45 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.57
• LC10 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 30 to 27
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 25 to 24
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.55

• Mac-10 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 24 to 23
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 20 to 19
• Milano 821 (BOCW)
  • Recoil increased slightly
  • Maximum Damage range decreased by 12%
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.38
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.2 to 1.1
  • Lower Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.1 to 1
• Submachine Gun Alpha (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 33 to 31
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 25 to 24
• Nail Gun (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 50 to 46
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.62 to 1.45
  • Upper Torso Multiplier decreased from 1.28 to 1
• Submachine Gun Echo (MW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 35 to 34
  • Minimum Damage increased from 25 to 26
• PPSh-41 (BOCW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 28 to 26
• ISO (MW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 20 to 21
• Submachine Gun Delta (MW)
  • Minimum Damage increased from 25 to 26
• Fennec (MW)
  • Maximum Damage decreased from 25 to 24
  • Minimum Damage decreased from 20 to 19

Tactical Rifles

• Tactical Rifle Charlie (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.8 to 1.7
• CARV.2 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.7 to 1.6
• M16 (BOCW)
  • Headshot Multiplier decreased from 1.8 to 1.6

That’s a whole lot to digest. With the update only releasing on 15 July 2021, there’s a lot for players to still discover. Next week, we will bring you some of the best meta loadouts to use in Warzone Season 4 Reloaded, which should give you an edge in Verdansk, so stay tuned!

Header image via Activision.