Kar & Swiss Are Back! Fans Loving Warzone Sniper Rework

Remember when they nerfed all the good snipers in Warzone? Thankfully, they've just buffed them again. They aren't as amazing as they once were, but they're absolutely viable again.

Swiss Kar are back
A return to the old bolt-actions? | © Activision

The Swiss and the Kar were probably a bit too amazing compared to everything else. They dominated the sniper meta without competition. But when they did get nerfed, it was probably too much, right? We didn't want to put these beloved rifles in the bed, we just wanted to see some other weapons get a little limelight. Well, Raven have listened, and now they're course-correcting.

Sniper Buffs Make Fan-Favorite Weapons Viable Again

In a hot patch released 24 hours after Season 4: Reloaded was deployed, many of the sniper rifles received a significant range buff. This is important because since the infamous sniper nerf of Season 2, most snipers can only one-hit-down someone within their max damage range. Most of the nerfed weapons had a pitiful range, and so they were only viable within ludicrously close distances, despite being sniper rifles. Thankfully, this range has been increased to the point of making the weapons viable again, at least on smaller maps.

Here are how the two most beloved older snipers were buffed:

  • Swiss K31 (BOCW): Max Damage Range increased to 57 meters, up from 42 meters
  • Kar98k (MW): Max Damage Range increased to 49 meters, up from 36 meters

The devs explained that they wanted these rifles to perform like they once did, with guaranteed headshot downs, but only on the smaller maps in Warzone and not Caldera:

Snipers are receiving roughly a 35% bonus to their maximum damage range. Lighter rifles, with their damage range builds, will now more reliably cover the typical sight lines found in Rebirth Island and Fortune's Keep. The goal is to not return to the fastest ADS Snipers being the dominant Weapon in all scenarios - so if things begin to trend that way we will make targeted changes to other statistics of those stand-out Weapons.

That last sentence is very important, and they're right, no-one wants to see these weapons become as dominant as they once were. It was fun while it lasted but everyone and their mum was using the Kar for about 18 months. So making these weapons good again, but limiting their use to smaller maps, seems like the best solution.

What do you think? Did you like seeing these snipers replaced in the Warzone meta? Or do you just want to get back to sniping again?

These rifles didn't quite make the "sweatiest weapons in Warzone" shortlist, but can you guess what did?

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....