Modern Warfare 2 players have demanded multiple perks, including Battle Hardened and Strong Arm, receive hefty buffs as they criticize Infinity Ward’s new Perk system.
Perks are an integral part of any Call of Duty title, but the exact way in which they’re available and slot into players’ arsenals changes year on year.
In Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward introduced Perk Packages for the first time. They allow players to select four perks, two of which players start matches with and two that they earn throughout the course of the game.
While any new system was going to take some time to bed in, players on the game’s subreddit expressed their discontent, claiming that the new system is “horrible” and lacks balance.
MW2 players want changes to “horrible” perk system
The debate surfaced when one player described Battle Hardened as “almost completely useless”. The perk, which is designed to mitigate the effects of enemy tactical equipment, reduces the period of flash or stun by milliseconds, leading to calls for it to be buffed.
However, the player also called out Strong Arm, a base perk that gives trajectories for projectiles before being thrown.
They said: “Flashes are really strong… Battle Hardened is not. Really, really, REALLY not… I feel like a lot of the Tier 1 perks are useless (looking at you Strong Arm).”
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Others flooded in to agree, arguing that for the new perk system to work properly, there needs to be far more balance between perks.
One said: “Fast hands should have been a Tier 1 perk. Buff the hell out of BH and make it a Tier 2 perk.”
Another replied: “Or just get rid of this horrible time gating perk system and just balance perks properly.”
A third commented: “To be perfectly honest I find these time-locked perks bullsh*t. It’s just weird that the HK-line and shotguns are only viable a couple of mins into the match.”
Any new system, especially one that tinkered with an established part of Call of Duty multiplayer, was bound to raise the ire of some players. However, it’s clear that a large number think Infinity Ward can improve on the system that MW2 launched with.
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