Call of Duty: MW3 Update Released for Season 2, Patch Notes Revealed

The first new update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has gone live in the wake of Season 2 beginning. Last week, Season 2 of MW3 kicked off and brought with it a ton of new content for Call of Duty players to dig into. For the most part, Season 2 has gone off without a hitch so far and has been generally well-received by fans. Now, Activision is looking to improve Modern Warfare 3 just a bit with a new patch that brings some important fixes. 

Downloadable at this moment across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, the latest Season 2 update for Call of Duty: MW3 is aimed at bug fixes and stability. Activision has rectified certain errors tied to gameplay, weapons, specific modes, and Zombies. Perhaps the most notable alterations, though, are tied to balance changes for a handful of guns. Specifically, MW3 has now buffed a notable pistol and shotgun while nerfing a key sniper. 

To get a look at everything that has been altered with this new update, you can find today’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 patch notes attached below. 

Call of Duty: MW3 Update Patch Notes

GLOBAL

STABILITY & PERFORMANCE

• Addressed a crash that occurred during offline play while selecting a Weapon or Operator.

MULTIPLAYER

UIX

• Bug Fixes

  • Resolved various issues causing the player to be unexpectedly kicked back to the menu.

    • Viewing Prestige Calling Cards

    • Filtering Locked Operator Challenges

    • Removing options from Quick Settings

  • Previewing Weapon Completionist rewards will no longer cause the menu to become inoperable.

  • Addressed an issue preventing the Activate Armory Unlock prompt for Controller inputs from functioning.

  • Replaced placeholder name for the Imago RAM-9 Submachine Gun Camo.

  • Replaced placeholder reward images in the Horde Hunt Event menu.

GAMEPLAY

• Bug Fixes

  • Akimbo Weapons will now be displayed properly after infiltrating maps via an elevator.

  • Addressed an issue preventing Hybrid Optics from being toggled while a Comb Attachment is equipped on the BP50 (Assault Rifle).

PROGRESSION

• Increased XP earned for the first Challenge in Week 1 from 1,000 to 2,500.

• Increased Bonus XP per Match for using a Featured Operator Skin during an Event from 1,000 to 2,500.

• Removed aim down sight requirement from the RAM-7 (Assault Rifle) Forged Camo Challenge.

  • Get 10 Operator Kills while Sliding with the RAM-7.

MAPS

• Operation Tin Man (War)

  • Players can now respawn at Tactical Insertions placed in the South Lookout area.

MODES

• Hordepoint

  • Dying while an Insta-Kill Powerup is active will no longer cause it to deactivate.

  • Zombies will now prioritize Operators over Killstreaks and Field Upgrades.

  • Stun Grenades will now temporarily stun Zombies.

• Team Gun Game

  • Performing a Finishing Move will now deduct Score from the enemy team.

  • Melee Kills and Setbacks are now properly tracked on the After-Action Report Scoreboard.

• Private Match

  • Adjusted game rules to align with the Competitive Settings v1.1 ruleset while a CDL game mode is selected.

    • Dynamic Map Elements (Global)

    • Next Zone Reveal Time (Hardpoint)

WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS

» Submachine Guns «

• Striker 9

  • Increased enemy nameplate reveal distance from 33m to 38.1m (+15%).

  • Decreased hipfire spread while firing by 6%.

  • Decreased recoil gun kick from 54.93deg/s to 35deg/s (-36%).

  • Increased horizontal recoil from 9.70deg/s to 16.17deg/s (+67%).

  • Increased vertical recoil from 40.65deg/s to 50.93deg/s (+25%).

  • Added the ability to aim down sight while sliding.

  • Increased bullet velocity from 540m/s to 560m/s (+4%).

  • Increased maximum damage from 29 to 32 (+10%).

  • Increased near-medium damage from 25 to 28 (+12%).

  • Decreased minimum damage from 20 to 18 (-10%).

  • Increased maximum damage range from 10.7m to 14m (+31%).

  • Decreased medium damage range from 22.9m to 20.3m (-11%).

  • Decreased near-medium damage range from 35.6m to 27.9m (-21%).

The recoil pattern of the Striker 9 has been significantly adjusted, resulting in increased control while firing.» Light Machine Guns «

• TAQ Evolvere

  • Increased movement speed from 4.4m/s to 5.1m/s (+16%).

  • Decreased rate of fire from 706rpm to 500rpm (-29%).

  • Increased maximum damage from 34 to 40 (+18%).

  • Increased maximum damage range from 35.6m to 40.6m (+14%).

  • Increased medium damage range from 40.6m to 53.3m (+31%).

  • Increased head damage multiplier from 1.2x to 1.4 (+17%).

  • Increased neck, upper-torso, upper-arm, and lower-arm damage multipliers from 1x to 1.2x (+20%).

  • Increased target flinch from 0.5n to 0.8n (+60%).

  • 556 Belts (Magazines)

    • Increased movement speed benefit by 16%.

    • Added 40% hipfire spread reduction benefit.

    • Increased aim down sight time benefit by 15%.

    • Increased aim down sight movement speed benefit by 17%.

    • Added rate of fire benefit at 857rpm.

    • Decreased maximum damage from 34 to 30 (-12%).

    • Decreased medium damage from 30 to 24 (-20%).

    • Increased head, neck, and upper-torso damage multipliers from from 1.1x to 1.2x (+9%).

Our primary goal for these changes is to better differentiate the two ammunition types of the TAQ Evolvere. 7.62 is a slow, yet accurate, long-range competitor. Conversely, 5.56 favors aggression and is built for run-and-gun playstyles.

7.62 rewards accuracy and sees an increase to target flinch, allowing it to better compete with Sniper Rifles at range.

5.56 sports a significantly faster rate of fire that is both easier to handle and consistent with locational damage multipliers.

» Sniper Rifles «

• Longbow

  • JAK Tyrant 762 Kit

    • Decreased aim down sight time from 470ms to 390ms (-17%).

    • Increased aim down sight movement speed from 2.5m/s to 2.8m/s (+12%).

    • Added 30% hipfire spread reduction benefit.

» Handguns «

• WSP Stinger

  • Increased recoil gun kick from 31.05deg/s to 57.96deg/s (+87%).

  • Decreased horizontal recoil from 28.39deg/s to 18.64deg/s (-34%).

  • Increased vertical recoil from 33.65deg/s to 35.2deg/s (+5%).

  • Increased maximum damage from 24 to 29 (+21%).

  • Increased near-medium damage from 23 to 24 (+4%).

  • Increased medium damage from 18 to 20 (+11%).

  • Increased minimum damage from 15 to 18 (+20%).

With these changes, the WSP Stinger has reduced recoil which is also easier to control, pairing well with its increased damage.» Attachments «

• No Stock

  • Removed hipfire crosshair sway.

PERKS

• Assassin Vest

  • Resolved an issue preventing Lethal Equipment from being equipped.

KILLSTREAKS

• Wheelson-HS

  • Zombies can now be run over and killed in Hordepoint Mode.

MWIII RANKED PLAY

GAMEPLAY

• Maps & Modes
  • CDL Hardpoint
    • Sub Base Hardpoint has been temporarily removed from the Ranked Play map pool.
• Content Restrictions
  • Weapon Restrictions
    • Sniper Rifles
      • All

ZOMBIES

GAMEPLAY

• Perk-A-Colas
  • PHD Flopper
    • Addressed an issue that prevented PHD Flopper from protecting players against various damage sources

KILLSTREAKS

• Sentry Turret
  • Adjusted the amount of active Sentry Turrets players can place at a single time to three to improve server stability.

STABILITY

• Added various crash and stability fixes.