BOCW Season 5: Balance Changes Revealed

BOCW Season 5 Weapon Tuning
You can see the new TEC-9 above, with lower recoil we might be in for another Milano (if we're lucky) | © Activision Blizzard

Treyarch just shared the patch notes for Black Ops Cold War Season 5, and they includesome pretty extensive weapon tuning. It looks like ARs are going to be buffed to become easier to use over range, while SMGs are being nerfed out of the mid to long-range conversation. A radical departure from Warzone's recent balancing philosophy.

Only a few short hours after the bombshell dropped that Season 5 is being delayed, Treyarch decided to release the Season 5 patch notes. An odd move, but their prerogative. The balance changes are surprising too. In BOCW they seem to be aiming at making the game more forgiving - a lot of already easy-to-use ARs are getting recoil reductions for instance - which is the complete opposite of Raven's current approach in Warzone, where higher skill is being increasingly rewarded. What this suggests for Call of Duty Vanguard, and the future of Call of Duty's arcade modes in general, is quite interesting. Perhaps the traditional multiplayer mode will become more of a training ground.

BOCW Season 5: Weapon Tuning

Assault Rifles (All)

  • Reduced Bullet Velocity penalty on Agency Suppressor attachment from -30% to -15%.
  • Reduced Bullet Velocity penalty on Suppressor attachment from -15% to -8%.

XM4

  • Increased Reload Quickness from 2.6 sec to 2.5 sec.
  • Increased Vertical Recoil Control bonus on Infantry Compensator from +12% to +15%.
  • Reduced Horizontal Recoil Control penalty on Infantry Compensator from -8% to -5%.
  • Increased Reload Quickness on Jungle-Style Mag from +20% to +30%.
  • Removed ADS Time penalty from 40 Rnd Speed Mag.
  • Reduced extra ammo of 40 Rnd Speed Mag from +10 to +5.
  • Changed Salvo 50 Rnd Fast Mag attachment to 45 Rnd Fast Mag.
  • Reduced ADS Time penalty on 45 Rnd Fast Mag from -25% to -12%.
  • Replaced SAS Mag Clamp with unique "B-Ops Mini Clamp" attachment. This attachment increases Reload Quickness by 50%, improves ADS Time by 10%, and provides an additional starting magazine, but reduces magazine ammo from 30 to 25.

QBZ083

  • Reduced vertical recoil by 10%.

FFAR 1

  • Now deals 30 damage out to 12.7 meters for higher damage at short range.
  • Increased Hip Fire Accuracy by 14%.
  • Reduced Sprint to Fire Time penalty on Tiger Team Spotlight from -10% to -5%.
  • Reduced Aim Walking Movement Speed penalty on 21.2” Ranger Barrel from -20% to -5%.
  • Reduced Effective Damage Range bonus on 19.5” Reinforced Heavy Barrel from +100% to +40%.
  • Reduced Effective Damage Range bonus on 19.5” Task Force Barrel from +50% to +20%.
  • Reduced Effective Damage Range bonus on 20.3” Takedown Barrel from +150% to +80%.

Groza

  • Reduced vertical recoil by 15%.
  • Reduced weapon movement when walking in ADS.
  • Moved Iron Sights view farther away from the player camera.
  • Increased Horizontal Recoil Control bonus on Spetsnaz Grip from +17% to +25%.
  • Increased Vertical Recoil Control bonus on Spetsnaz Grip from +7% to +15%.
  • Increased ADS Time bonus on Spetsnaz Field Grip from +15% to +30%.
  • Reduced Flinch Resistance mitigation on Spetsnaz Field Grip from +80% to +70%.
  • Increased Sprint to Fire Time bonus on KGB Pad from +30% to +50%.
  • Reduced Hip Fire Accuracy penalty on KGB Pad from -30% to -20%.

FARA 83

  • Reduced initial recoil when firing the weapon.
  • Moved Iron Sights view farther away from the player camera.

C58

  • Overhauled recoil system.
  • Improved weapon visibility when initially firing.
  • Increased Effective Damage Range from 25.4m to 30.48m.
  • Reduced Effective Damage Range penalty on Suppressor attachment from -15% to -8%.

As you can see from the above the ARs are getting a huge amount of love, and really, one's forced to question why. The ARs were in solid place and now they just got that little bit easier to use still.

Like keeping up to speed with all things Call of Duty? Then you've come to the right place, here are some of our recent articles:

SMGs

KSP 45

KSP 45

  • Reduced Effective Damage Range from 25.4m to 22.86m.
  • Slowed burst fire delay from 0.066 to 0.083.

LC10

  • Reduced medium damage range from 50.8m to 45.72m.
  • Increased recoil on the first and 12th bullets.

Pistols (All)

  • Dual Wield
  • Reduced movement speed by 5%.
  • Reduced strafe speed by 5%.

The SMGs have been restricted to within their range. Let's all hope that they don't emulate this stupidity in Warzone and knock the Milano out (which is, at present, one of the few SMGs we've ever had that can properly fill the role of Sniper Support). The akimbo nerf is more obvious, they were infuriating to go up against in confined environments.

When Will Warzone & BOCW Season 5 Launch?

Warzone Season 5 will be released on Friday, August 13 at 00:00 ET (05:00 BST, 06:00 CEST). This is exactly 24 hours after the normal seasonal release, as it was delayed for an unknown reason a few hours ago.

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Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....