Black Ops 6’s overpowered SMG gets hefty nerf before weekend 2 of the open beta

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta returns today, and it comes with a new balancing patch to iron out some of the issues from the first weekend.

The BO6 beta begins again at noon CT today and is available for players on all platforms. The first weekend was for early access users who preordered or got codes early, but this time, the floodgates have opened for players on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Read on below for the patch notes for today’s update in BO6.

Black Ops 6 patch notes today: Open Beta

The biggest change for players of weekend one is undoubtedly the nerf to the Jackal PDW, marked by all as an incredibly overpowered gun for the beta’s first few days.

Treyarch has reduced the SMG’s maximum damage, near-medium damage, medium damage, and minimum damage but increased its view kick strength and view kick deviation.

“The Jackal PDW ‘s intended strength is best in class handling and decent mobility, balanced by a slower rate of fire compared to many of the other automatic weapons in the game,” Treyarch said in the open beta patch notes, published Sept. 6. “It was overperforming at medium ranges, so we’ve increased the damage falloff and pulled the ranges closer along with a slight increase to recoil. Maximum damage and CHF Barrel headshot multiplier have been adjusted to maintain the same hit to kill numbers while using the attachment.”

Elsewhere, Treyarch has made changes to movement speed while crouching for every weapon category. In general, movement speed while crouching has been increased for assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, LMGs, and marksman rifles. Crouch movement speed has been decreased, however, for sniper rifles, launchers, and pistols, with some deviations in the mix.

Another minor change came for the C9 SMG, which got a slight buff to its medium damage range. Damage now falls off at 27.31 meters, compared to 25.4 meters in weekend one.

The beta update also increases the level cap to 30, adds two new maps and guns, and makes more changes. For the full list of the patch notes, check out the Call of Duty website.