MW3 preseason buffs and nerfs heavily tip the scales in favor of one weapon category

Activision and Sledgehammer Games’s extensive batch of preseason buffs and nerfs are here, and the latest update has heavily tipped the scales in favor of one weapon category: SMGs. Despite the fan-favorite Striker receiving a significant damage reduction from an earlier patch, the game’s developer has decided to revert these changes to make it more viable in multiplayer. Unfortunately, those who prefer using ARs will be chagrined to know that a few Assault Rifles have taken heavy hits in turn.

With the MW3 Season 1 start date set to launch in a handful of days, it stands to reason that Sledgehammer Games is beginning to release extensive weapon balance changes to shape the opening season’s meta. Of course, nerfs to specific fan-favorite weapons are rarely welcome in any game, let alone one with a massive following like CoD. Luckily, the changes made shouldn’t be too noticeable based on the blog post the developer provided.

According to Sledgehammer Games’ latest list of MW3 buffs and nerfs, the ARs that will be taking hits include the Holger 556, the DG-58, and the FR 5.56. Now, if you’ve been playing multiplayer matches since launch, you probably already know that the Holger 556 and the DG-58 are arguably some of the game’s best and most used weapons. So, to make other guns more viable, the MW3 developer has slightly reduced the damage these rifles deal.

Conversely, two weapons in the SMG category, such as the Striker and the AMR9, have seen noticeable damage buffs, which should immediately translate to an uptick in usage for these guns. As always, these aren’t the only changes that have been made with the latest patch, so if you want to learn what the rest of the MW3 buffs and nerfs are, we’ve covered them all below.

MW3 preseason buffs and nerfs

Here are all of the balance changes included with the latest MW3 patch:

WEAPONS

• Holger 556 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.3x.
  • Decreased neck, upper-torso, arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1.1x to 1x.
  • Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).
• DG-58 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 40 (-9%).
  • Decreased medium damage from 35 to 33 (-6%).
  • Decreased neck damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.1x.
  • Increased burst delay from 100ms to 120ms (+20%).
• FR 5.56 (Assault Rifle)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 43 (-2%).
  • Decreased near-medium damage from 40 to 36 (-10%).
  • Decreased minimum damage from 36 to 33 (-8%).
  • Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.5x to 1.4x.
  • Decreased leg and foot damage multipliers from 1x to 0.9x.
  • Increased aim down sights time from 240ms to 260ms (+8%).
  • Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).
• Striker (Submachine Gun)
  • Increased maximum damage range from 9m to 19m (+114%).
  • Increased near-medium damage from 33 to 36 (+9%).
  • Increased far-medium damage from 27 to 33 (+22%).
  • Decreased aim down sights time from 240ms to 230ms (-4%).
• AMR9 (Submachine Gun)
  • Increased lower-torso, lower-arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1x to 1.1x.
  • Decreased sprint to fire time from 294ms to 206ms (-30%).
• Striker 9 (Submachine Gun)
  • Decreased maximum damage from 32 to 27 (-16%).
  • Decreased aim down sights time from 275ms to 225ms (-18%).

PERKS

• Ordnance Gloves
  • Removed undocumented reduction to the cook duration of Frag Grenades.

You can also check out these MW3 preseason buffs and nerfs through Activision’s official announcement. Alternatively, you can take a look at our guides on the best Renetti loadout in MW3, the best Striker loadout in MW3, and the best AMR9 loadout in MW3 so you can complement these balance changes with ideal builds.