Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s new update just nerfed the game’s best weapons

By Joseph Yaden May 31, 2023

Characters on Ashika Island in Warzone 2.0. — Activision Blizzard

Activision has released a new Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 update that nerfs the game’s best long-range weapons: the Cronen Squall and the ISO Hemlock. Specifically, the damage across both weapons has been reduced, making them both less effective in all situations.

The news comes from the battle royale game’s latest round of patch notes, which outlines the new changes to the weapons. There are some major implications to those changes, though the updates aren’t as devastating as they might initially seem. Here’s every tweak that was implemented in the new patch.

ISO Hemlock

Reduced damage to armor using all 5.56 ammunition (Warzone 2.0 only)

Cronen Squall

Reduced damage range
Reduced headshot multiplier
Small increase to recoil in semi-auto mode
Small reduction to rate of fire in semi-auto mode
Reduced maximum damage per shot against armor (Warzone 2.0 only)

While the ISO Hemlock was never the strongest weapon, it was easily the most accurate, making it great for players who struggle to hit their shots. The update has now reduced the damage to armor when using 5.56 ammo, which makes it even less powerful than before. It still retains its ease of use.

The Cronen Squall was effectively the most powerful weapon in the game when switched to semi-auto mode. This new update actually addresses this by increasing its recoil and reducing its fire rate in semi-auto mode.

However, the Cronen Squall is still one of the best weapons in the game, even when utilizing its semi-auto fire mode. This is because the weapon was so grossly overpowered before that a small nerf still doesn’t change much about how it performs. It will likely receive another nerf, possibly as early as Season 4, to bring it in line with the other rifles in the game.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…

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