Warzone players have floated the idea of nerfs for the Swiss K31 and Kar98k, as both sniper rifles duke it out for the title of best long-range weapon in Call of Duty’s battle royale.
The Kar98k has long ruled the roost in Call of Duty: Warzone, dominating the long range warfare with its fast fire rate and forgiving recoil.
Despite officially being classed as a ‘marksman rifle’ in Modern Warfare, it has found itself as the go to sniper for the player base, both casual and competitive.
While it remains just as popular as it has been in previous seasons, it has found its spot under pressure from the Swiss K31, Black Ops Cold War’s new sniper rifle. It’s not quite as quick and easy to use as the Kar98k, but it’s the closest thing to it.
Naturally, it has won some Warzone players over, but others have found it just as frustrating to come up against as the ever-annoying Kar98k. The result was, unsurprisingly, calls for a nerf on across social media.
U/Lma0-Zedong, called for a nerf to their flinch levels. Flinch is the amount of vertical kick players experience while being shot. Currently, it is not that high and skilled players can generally keep their reticle on target even when being hit.
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“It’s just ridiculous that you are shooting those players and they can just tap your head easily with the lack of flinch they have,” the Redditor said. “This is very noticeable in the new Payload game-mode, where easily 50% of the players are running those 2 sniper rifles. Their chest damage is overtuned, need a nerf in that department as well, any badly placed shot breaks all your armour plates.”
A number of players echoed the OP’s points, suggesting that it’s too easy for sniper-users to hit their shots. One said: “Flinch would just mean if you are engaged as a sniper, you have to be more intelligent about how you use it. You couldn’t just eat 5 bullets and shoot a headshot like you can now.”
However, others countered by pointing out how low-recoil ARs can be used to laser enemies a long way off, and snipers are currently designed to offer a viable counter. It stands to reason, then, that they are strong and easy to use.
Raven have done a fairly good job of keeping Warzone’s weapon pool balanced, but some believe the scales are tipped too much towards some of its better sniper rifles.