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DMR dominance in Call of Duty: Warzone takes a nerf

The power of battle rifles like the DMR-14 and Type 63 have been curtailed in COD: Warzone following their overpowered reign in combat.

TJ Denzer

January 6, 2021 9:18 AM

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With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War having launched, a major part of the transition to the new title has been the incorporation of Black Ops Cold War loadouts into the battle royale end, Call of Duty: Warzone. In that transition, there was bound to be a bit of lopsidedness early on, but it turns out the battle rifles of Black Ops Cold War translated a little too well to battle royale. Having dominated the playing field for quite some time now, Raven Software has finally rolled out a Call of Duty: Warzone specific patch that reduces the effectiveness of the DMR-14 and Type 63 rifles.

Raven Software rolled out the new Call of Duty: Warzone patch on January 6, 2021, as noted on the developer's Twitter. Having heard the outcry of fans regarding the sheer dominance of the DMR-14 and Type 63, Raven chose to reduce the headshot damage of both weapons, as well as increasing recoil. Also on a nerf block this time out was the first Black Ops Cold War weapon – the Mac-10 - and dual-wield pistols in general, which saw various nerfs of their own. The details can be seen below.

The time has come.

📄#Warzone update going live:

- DMR 14 - Reduced headshot damage, increased recoil
- Type 63 - Reduced headshot damage, increased recoil
- Mac-10 - Decreased headshot multiplier
- Dual pistols - Increased hip fire spread, decreased damage range

— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) January 6, 2021

It should be noted that these nerfs are confined entirely to Call of Duty: Warzone. They won’t show up in other Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War modes, but it’s still arguably a step in the right direction considering the battle rifles have been packing far too much of a punch in Warzone for quite some time. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is, by many accounts, a solid experience across the board in both multiplayer and Zombies Mode, but Warzone comes courtesy of the previous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launch, from which it has seen plenty of success throughout the previous year.

It’s likely not the last bit of troubleshooting we'll see as Raven Software, Treyarch, and Activision continue to find the sweet spot of balance in moving old game modes to the new game, but at least it should reduce the overall terror of players when looking down the barrel of an opposing DMR-14.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.