Warzone July 28 update patch notes: Sniper rifle buff, Serpentine nerf & more

The Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update launched on July 27 – yet, the developers burned the midnight oil and added a few crucial amendments on July 28.

Warzone’s Season 4 Reloaded Update received heaps of praise from the community for addressing several well-discussed issues.

Radar jammers received a nerf, the developers unlocked all previously locked Vanguard guns, and the meta underwent a dramatic overhaul.

Raven Software also promised changes to the sniper rifle class and a Serpentine nerf. Warzone players did not have to wait long, and the changes are now live.

Snipers are not currently considered meta weapons in Warzone.

Sniper rifle buff and Serpentine nerf announced

Sniper rifles used to be a go-to class in Warzone, but assault rifles took over in long-range combat efficiency. Players complained that assault rifles were too accurate and the developers addressed it in the Season 4 Reloaded patch notes.

“The current health of the Long-Range Assault Rifle category is not where we’d like it to be as it stands. The best performing builds are ones that result in the least amount of recoil.”

The NZ-41, KG m40, and Bar received drastic nerfs in response. Next up was getting the sniper rifle class back in line with assault rifles.

Activision

The Serpentine perk offers security for aggressive players.

In the July 28 update, all snipers receive roughly a 35% bonus to their maximum damage range. Raven Software stated, “the goal is not to return the fastest ADS sniper being the dominant weapon in all scenarios.”

The Serpentine perk slightly reduces all damage from ballistics and explosives while normal sprinting. It can cut damage by more than a quarter of its normal value when tactical sprinting.

Some players believed that perk made it too easy for players to escape gunfights and negatively affected the time to kill.

Damage reduction decreased to 15% down from 20% for the Serpentine Perk in the July 28 update. The developers made the change, so it is still valuable, but it makes less of an impact on average TTK.

Here are the full patch notes below….

Warzone July 28 patch notes

WEAPONS

We’ve seen a positive change in kill metrics since the update to Snipers in Season Three. The intent was to lean into smaller maps favoring the Aggressive Snipers vs Heavier being more suited for the large map. Our data shows that despite a smaller adoption rate (~9.5%) Snipers are still being accredited with a competitive amount of kills vs the more popular class of Weapons. 

However, we’d like to lean into the Weapon to map identity harder, and as such all 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. 

» Sniper Rifles « 

• Kar98k (VG)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 72 meters, up from 48 meters
• Type 99 (VG)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 50 meters, up from 37 Meters
• 3-Line Rifle (VG)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 111 meters, up from 82 Meters
• Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle (VG)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 127 meters, up from 94 meters
• Swiss K31 (BOCW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 57 meters, up from 42 Meters
• Sniper Rifle Charlie (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 117 meters, up from 87 Meters
• Sniper Rifle Alpha (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 55 meters, up from 41 Meters
• HDR (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 117 meters, up from 87 Meters
• Rytec AMR (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 80 meters, up from 59 Meters
• Pelington 703 (BOCW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 58 meters, up from 43 Meters
• ZRG 20mm (BOCW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 137 meters, up from 102 Meters
• SP-R 208 (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 45 meters, up from 33 Meters
• LW3 – Tundra (BOCW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 61 meters, up from 45 Meters
• Sniper Rifle Charlie (BOCW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 92 meters, up from 68 Meters
• Marksman Rifle Charlie (MW)
  • Max Damage Range increased to 49 meters, up from 36 Meters

PERKS

Serpentine

• Damage Reduction decreased to 15%, down from 20% 

We’ve seen a positive adoption of Serpentine in Loadouts, and as such average encounter time has crept up. We’re reducing the bonus damage mitigation so that it’s still a valuable perk, but has less of an impact on average TTK. We’ll be watching this space closely and will make further adjustments as necessary. 

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue on Fortune’s Keep causing the gas to be more difficult to see than intended.
• Fixed an issue that allowed Players to exploit Weapon Trade Stations.
• Fixed an issue causing Deployable Buy Stations to remain active in the gas – allowing  for unintended exploits.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Skål Crusher (VG) to not have a Zombies Mastery Camo section available.
• Fixed an issue causing incorrect unlock criteria to appear for the “The Vault” Vehicle skin in the Vehicle Customization menu.
• Fixed collision issues with the AI mercenaries during the Cash Extraction Event on Fortune’s Keep.