Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 Season 2 Reloaded patch notes: Weapon balancing, new map, new marksman rifle, and more

Call of Duty’s seasonal content schedule gives players something to look forward to every few weeks, with multiple updates per season in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.

Each season, players can expect some new content at the halfway point. In MW2’s Season Two, the Season Two Reloaded update is here to reinvigorate the game with new content such as a new weapon, a new map, big weapon balance changes, and more.

Here’s the full list of patch notes and everything coming in season two’s midseason update in MW2.

MW2 Season Two Reloaded global patch notes

Weapon Balancing

» Assault Rifles «

• STB 556
  • Added minimum damage against Armor (limits bullets to kill at furthest range)

» Light Machine Guns «

• RAAL MG
  • Reduced far range damage
  • Small increase to close range damage
  • Reduced headshot damage
  • Reduced upper torso damage
  • Increased recoil
• RPK
  • Reduced walking speed
  • Reduced muzzle velocity
• Sakin MG38
  • Reduced damage range

» Marksman Rifles «

• Crossbow
  • Increased time period to trigger double kills for challenges

» Submachine Guns «

• MX9
  • Increased mid damage ranges
• BAS-p 
  • Increased sprint to fire time
  • Increased damage ranges
• PDSW 528
  • Slightly offset weapon while ADS using iron sights to improve visibility
• Vel 46
  • Increased close damage ranges
  • Fixed attributes on 30 round magazine to improve handling and mobility
• Lachmann Sub
  • Reduced movement speed
  • Reduced aim down sight speed
  • Improved recoil control
  • LM Nebula Barrel
    • Improved damage range
    • Improved recoil control

» Shotguns «

• KV Broadside
  • Reduced lower torso damage
  • 12 Gauge Ammo
    • Reduced damage ranges
    • Reduced close range damage
  • Dragon’s Breath Ammo
    • Reduced damage ranges
    • Reduced close range damage
    • Global reduction to 12 gauge Dragon’s Breath maximum residual damage
• Bryson 800 and Bryson 890
  • Increased headshot damage on all slugtype ammo
  • Added minimum damage against armor

Attachments

» Global «

• Flinch
  • Reduced recenter speed for Flinch
  • Minor increase to Flinch on ARs, SMGs, LMGs, and Shotguns

» Ammunition «

• Hollow Point Rounds
  • Removed bullet velocity penalty
• Frangible Rounds
  • Changed healing delay timer to set from last bullet’s impact (lengthens the overall delay on a Player)
  • Removed damage range penalty
• Overpressure Rounds
  • Removed recoil penalty
  • Increased flinch imparted on Players
• 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath
  • Reduced residual damage while burning
• 12 Gauge Slugs and HE Slugs
  • Added minimum damage against armor

» Underbarrel Launchers «

• Removed movement penalty from Grenade Launchers 
• Added recoil control bonus to Underbarrel Grenade and Shotgun Launchers
• Added one extra ammunition stock to Grenade Launchers 

» Stocks «

• Reduced flinch received on no stock modifications 

» Bipod Grips «

• Reduced ADS penalty for the Bipod V9 grip
• CORE BP2 Bipod Grip:
  • Fixed bug in stat reporting 
  • Added hip recoil control
  • Reduced hip walking speed
  • Removed ADS penalty 
  • Added grip to compatible LMGs and Marksman Rifles 

» Underbarrel Grips «

• Reduced ADS penalty on all under barrel grips
• Reduced movement speed penalty for all vertical grips 

» Muzzle Attachments «

• Breachers
  • Greatly reduced ADS penalty
  • Added hip movement speed buff
• Flash Hiders
  • Reduced ADS penalty 

» Optics «

• Reduced ADS penalty on holo optics
• Removed movement penalties on holo optics
• Reduced ADSand movement penalties from all thermal, hybrid, and variable zoom optics
• Reduced ADS penalty on shotgun scopes

» Comb Attachments «

• Fixed Handling stat UI on:
  • Shlager TTF3 Riser
  • FSS Ammo Sleeve
  • PD-A40 Sleeve
  • Wingman Comb
  • FSS EL-T Pouch

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where equipping some attachments to the KV Broadside shotgun would cause Players to not be able to Infil into DMZ
• Fixed Heartbreaker Crossbow Blueprint’s reticle appearance in Killcams
• Fixed an issue that prevented Crossbow bolts from penetrating water

Equipment

• Frag Grenade
  • Damage against armor increased
• Claymore
  • Damage against armor increased
• Semtex
  • Damage against armor increased

Audio

• Submix fixes that were affecting enemy footstep volume
• Equalized sand footsteps to better cut through the mix similar to dirt & concrete
• Fixed an issue that caused War Tracks to randomly stop playing when in active in a vehicle
• Fixed an issue preventing the War Tracks of a Patrol Boat’s driver from being heard while in the Patrol Boat turrets

UI/UX

• Update Requires Restart
  • If the title requires a restart due to an update, it will restart automatically
• New Menus
  • All new menus for Weapon and Camo Challenges
  • Added a Store tab for Players to see all available bundles for a specific weapon
• New Party Queuing
  • Party queuing allows players to automatically join a friend’s party once they are finished with their active match. Just like inviting friends to a party or channel, you can access party queuing via the in-game social menu.

Bug fixes

Global

This update contains several fixes to reduce the number of known crashes. We continue to prioritize increased stability and crash fixes across all platforms.

• Fixed issue where Players were hearing incorrect team faction voiceover  on certain maps
• Fixed an issue where a Player’s squad number would appear inside a ping for a vehicle
• Fixed an issue where the Last Stand revive was not interrupted when a Player was hit with a Shock Stick
• Flash and Stun grenade blast will no longer kill Players at low health
• Fixed a handful of issues that would cause the target marking feature of the Spotter Scope to persist when not aiming down sights
• Throwing Knives can now kill Recon Drones and Bomb Drones
• Fixed an issue with the Gus Operator sometimes appearing without a full character model during a match

Killstreaks

• Fixed an issue where the Player would lose a placed Sentry Gun if they try to pick it up while diving
• The Player’s field of view will now reset properly when transitioning to a new round if they were in a Cruise Missile sequence when it happened
• Killstreak command actions from the Wheelson and VTOL are now disabled when a Player is in Last Stand
• Fixed an issue that prevented Players from marking a Mortar Strike and Precision Airstrike position through certain fences
• Fixed an issue causing Care Packages to time out while a Player is using it
• Fixing an issue that played an incorrect voice over when pinging an Overwatch Helo
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Player’s view to be looking downwards after using a Cruise Missile

Equipment

• Fixed an issue preventing the Drill Charge from eliminating Agents in Battle Royale and DMZ

Field Upgrades

• Fixed an issue where enemy C4 models destroyed by a Trophy System would not delete
• Fixed an issue preventing the Trophy System from destroying Cluster Mines as they are being deployed
• Fixed an issue where DDoS was not working properly on the Recon Drone and Bomb Drone
• Adjusted the deployment position for the Recon Drone and Bomb Drone within a train so they will no longer destroy themselves immediately afterwards 
• Fixed a duplication issue with the Deployable Cover when picking up another Field Upgrade on the ground in Battle Royale and DMZ

UX/UI

• Fixed an exploit where Players could sometimes equip two of the same weapon
• Fixed an issue where changing the receiver in Gunsmith on the Blissful Ignorance Blueprint (SP-X 80) would kick a Player to the previous menu
• Fixed an issue where the weapon preview camera sometimes pointed at the Secondary weapon when the Primary was selected
• Fixed an issue allowing Players to access the Loadout Drop menu after the game has ended 
• Fixed an issue causing Navigation bar headings to be cut off in some languages
• Fixed an issue causing Private match menu headers to occasionally overlap in some languages
• Fixed an issue where a Player’s full ATVI ID was not showing in Play of the Game
• Fixed an issue where some Players would display a garbled clan tag
• Fixed an issue where the Gus Operator would sometimes appear without a full character model
• Fixed an issue where some Players’ Operator would disappear in the pre-game lobby
• Fixed an issue where the background would not load when backing in and out of Showcase

Social

• Fixed various issues affecting Social notifications
• Fixed an issue where splitscreen was displaying channels incorrectly
• Fixed an issue where the Friends List scroll bar would sometimes disappear while scrolling 
• Fixed an issue affecting the displayed Lobby elapsed match time
• Fixed various issues affecting Displayed Party Members
• Fixed an issue where Queued Party Members display when they are in a Private party but not in Lobby
• Fixed an issue affecting Queued Party Members in View Party Panel
• Fixed an issue causing Members in Voice count to appear incorrectly
• Fixed an issuing causing “Join Player” option to appear for people that are already in the Player’s Party Queue
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the “Invite to Party” option to not appear while in a Lobby
• Fixed an issue causing Party member client search states to not appear correctly on screen when the Party leader initiated a queue
• Fixed various issues with Party Queuing, including Party Members Join/Invite availability 
• Fixed an issue causing Players in a Party that are kicked for inactivity to be removed from the group
• Fixed an issue to improve Social Hub Tile actioning
• Fixed an issue affecting Queued Party Members in Game Chat
• Fixed various issues affecting Game Chat in Parties

Vehicles

• Fixed an issue causing vehicles to sometimes run over enemy combatants after unloading them
• Fixed an exploit where Players could use an ATV to push teammates into the ceiling of some buildings
• Fixed an issue causing neutral vehicles to crush Players resulting in death,  instead of moving them out of the way
• Fixed an issue causing some vehicles to get stuck under the Exfil chopper in DMZ
• Fixed an issue causing the vehicle explosion danger indicator to disappear when a Player was still in range of the vehicle explosion
• Fixed an issue making vehicle explosive damage too high in Battle Royale and DMZ
• Fixed an issue preventing Players from deploying a Claymore on the Heavy Chopper
• Fixed an issue causing the Heavy Chopper to take damage from explosions far away from it
• Fixed an issue preventing windows on vehicles from breaking if the Player enters from the roof through that window
• Fixed an issue causing vehicles parked at extreme angles to become unusable
• Fixed an issue causing the Inflatable Decoy to not stick to the train when it inflates
• Fixed an issue where the Player would be instantly killed when colliding with a vehicle at the top of an ascender

PC settings

Audio

PC users will have an audio update allowing Players to select stereo or surround outputs. This option will default to stereo if not set. We have been investigating clips which appear to only include the front left and right channels, when the output on some PCs may default to surround – resulting in missing channels of audio.

Gyro Aiming Ratcheting

A “Gyro Ratcheting” setting has been added in the Controller category (Advanced tab) for Season 02 Reloaded. This option improves the Player experience by allowing a Player to disable manually the Gyro function by pressing a specific button, that can be chosen by the Player among several options, to be able to reposition the controller as desired. Players looking for more controls regarding the Gyro Aiming experience should customize this setting.

Accessibility

Inverted Flash

An “Inverted Flash” option has been added as an accessibility option in the Interface category for Season 02 Reloaded with two values: Off (default behavior) and On (added behavior). This option allows to change the color of the flash effect of the flashbang tactical grenade from white to black. We recommend adjusting this option for Players who feel discomfort when affected by the full white screen effect of the flashbang tactical grenade. Duration and visual are at parity between the two values of the option, providing no competitive advantage.

Special Ops

General

• Added a new fill bar for Last Stand and Dog Tags to match Battle Royale and provide additional clarity for downed teammates
• Added new challenges to the Co-op Pool of Daily Challenges
• Fixed an issue where equipment UI could appear as orange or flicker white

Low Profile

• Fixed an issue allowing Players to use aerial equipment during Infil
• Fixed issue that could cause Player to become temporarily invincible

Defender: Mt. Zaya

• Fixed an issue preventing Players from driving enemy vehicles
• Fixed an issue where enemy pilots could be seen floating in the sky
• Fixed bug that would prevent Players from restarting the mission if the bomb goes off
• Fixed an issue with map borders so Players can no longer exit map while in vehicles

Atomgrad raid episode

• A Weapon XP token is now unlocked for each completion of the Raid
• Added 1 Camo to the regular loot pool
• Added additional clarity in the AAR for all Raid related unlocks, including, Operator unlocks, Veteran completion unlocks and the random rewards
• Added a Kit Select to allow players to modify their kits in-game if needed
• Added clarity to which rewards are unlockable and which rewards are already unlocked via a list in the lobby
• Removed Raid Assignment requirement so Players can easily queue through the Party Finder with no barriers
• Added unique [CLASSIFIED] Reward Type
• Added “Special Ops Kit Boost” to Raid Store Bundles which allows Players to gain 10 stars per Kit and instantly unlock all Kits upon purchase
• Added “Vote to Skip” functionality for in-game intro cutscenes
• Fixed an issue where an extra oxygen tank icon could appear on the screen of the equipped Player

Warzone 2 Season Two Reloaded patch notes

Quality of life

• Killstreak Availability
  • The existing “Airspace is too crowded” message will now have a trailing “for X seconds” attached to it to add better context for players.
• Cluster Strike & Precision Airstrike Improvements
  • Improved the Airstrike danger notification to be more consistent based on each damage location.
  • Improved directional tracing to prevent the Precision Airstrike targeting from sometimes landing behind the Players.
  • Players will now be notified when calling a Cluster Strike or Precision Airstrike if they are too close to the affected zone.
• Give-Up Timer Consistency
  • The give-up timer while downed is now more consistent across modes and will last at least 3 seconds.
• Navigation Pings
  • Increased the scale of navigation pings on the Tacmap and Mini-Map for improved readability.
• Armor Break
  • The text has been removed from the Armor Break notification (when breaking all of an opponent’s Armor Plates) for improved clarity, whilst the icon has remained.
• Auto-Looting Armor Plates
  • As Armor Plates are a critical part of the gameplay loop, Players will now automatically pick up Armor Plates as long as they have available inventory or Backpack space.
• Spawn Protection
  • Spawn Protection will now disable at 25 meters, up from 19 meters, from the ground or a grounded player in Battle Royale modes.
  • We will continue to refine as we move forwards given the importance of this feature to redeploying players.
• Resurgence Killfeed
  • The killfeed will now display who is about to redeploy when their Resurgence timer reaches 0.

UI/UX

• Spectating
  • Friendly pings and splash screens are now visible to spectators.
• Gas Mask
  • Loot cards for gas mask now more accurately reflect their damage amounts.

Bug fixes

• Fixed some issues causing rainbow glare to appear on the horizon in Al Mazrah (Xbox only).

Tac Map & Minimap

• Fixed an issue preventing elevation arrows on map icons not accurately indicating their position.
• Fixed an issue causing the Counter UAV to affect Player maps even while outside of the effective range.

Battle royale

Al Mazrah

• Standard
  • Solos
    • Max Players: 150
    • Assimilation: Off
  • Duos
    • Max Players: 150
    • Assimilation: Refill
  • Trios
    • Max Players: 150
    • Assimilation: Refill
  • Quads
    • Max Players: 152
    • Assimilation: Refill

Ashika Island

• Resurgence 
  • Solos
    • Max Players: 52 
    • Assimilation: Off
  • Duos
    • Max Players: 52 
    • Assimilation: Off
  • Trios
    • Max Players: 52 
    • Assimilation: Off
  • Quads
    • Max Players: 52 
    • Assimilation: Off

All squad sizes for Resurgence will be available through Season 02 Reloaded!

For regular updates about the Playlist and other Scheduled Events, check out the dedicated Warzone Trello Board.

Events

Warzone’s 3rd Anniversary!

To celebrate three years of Warzone, Players will be able to redeem a new free gift each day via the in-game Store that are symbolic of memories made since its surprise launch on March 10, 2020.

Rewards:

• Verdansk Anniversary Calling Card
• Verdansk Emblem
• Caldera Anniversary Calling Card
• Blacksite Completionist Calling Card
• Blacksite Sticker
• Blacksite Emblem (Animated)
• Stronghold Calling Card

General

• Bomb Drones
  • Bomb Drones have been temporarily removed while we fine tune them.

Gameplay

General

• Pacing Balancing
  • As a team we are focused on two core areas of the pacing of Battle Royale:
    • The combat engagements in the mid-game
    • The regain opportunities in the late game
  • We will be addressing this across Season 02 Reloaded and going into Season 03, with the first change being a guaranteed “Restock” Public Event in the 4th Circle.
  • Future improvements will include:
    • More ground loot Supply Boxes, especially in the North of the map
    • Resurgence Supply Boxes being sprinkled throughout the map
    • Additional Ammo Caches
    • And more…

Gameplay Adjustments

Al Mazrah | Battle Royale

• Light Helo
  • The Light Helo has been disabled in Solos. We are protective of the Solos squad size being a fair and balanced experience, and the Light Helo went against that ethos.
• Contract Availability
  • Increased the number of Contracts revealed over the course of the match to increase their availability in later circles.
• Final Circles
  • We are temporarily disabling final circles in the north-western section of the map while we work on improvements for upcoming seasons.

Ashika Island | Resurgence

• Redeployment Drones
  • Redeployment Drones are currently active across Ashika Island and will remain live as part of the Resurgence experience.
• AI Combatant Departure
  • As the Path of the Ronin event comes to an end, the Shadow Company operatives that have occupied the island will depart in pursuit of their next mission.
  • Players will now be public enemy number one for Search & Seizure Contracts and the Data Heist Public Event.
• Circle Balancing
  • The first circle will be approximately 20% larger, and more likely to be on land, to better enable a successful Infil.
• Pacing Balancing
  • Actions that affect the Resurgence Countdown have been adjusted to allow for more windows of opportunity to Team Wipe the opposing team.
• Buy Station Availability
  • Improvements have been made to better spread the Buy Stations more evenly through the map.

Quality of life

• Spawn Protection
  • Spawn Protection will now disable at 25 meters, up from 19 meters, from the ground or a grounded player in Battle Royale modes.
    • We will continue to refine as we move forwards given the importance of this feature to redeploying players.
• Resurgence Killfeed
  • The killfeed will now display who is about to redeploy when their Resurgence timer reaches 0.

Bug fixes

• Redeploy Token
  • Fixed an issue allowing Redeploy Tokens to appear in Buy Stations even after the Gulag had closed.

DMZ Season Two Reloaded patch notes

Gameplay

• We have updated the usage requirements for Building 21 Access Cards:
  • Players no longer need to bring Building 21 Access Cards into the match by equipping them prior to infiltration
  • At least one Player in a squad must  have a Building 21 Access Card in their Inventory to allow infiltration
  • If a Player does infil to Building 21 with an Access Card in their Backpack, they will lose that card if they do not extract with it
  • This change only impacts Building 21 Access Cards and not the Access/Key  Cards for locked spaces inside Building 21, as those must still be equipped in your Backpack prior to infiltration
• Enemy combatants in DMZ can now operate or arrive in a variety of vehicles, not just the Armored Truck
• We have added some variations to infiltration and exfiltration points
• The Destroy Supplies Contract has been updated to reveal the 4 closest safes, instead of revealing all safes within a distance of the Contract 
• Reduced the total number of vehicles in Modern City for more even distribution of vehicles throughout Al Mazrah
• Enemy combatants now have a small chance to drop upgraded weapons upon death

Bug fixes

• Fixed several Stronghold access issues across DMZ
• Fixed an issue where the Secure Nuclear Material contract could select a locked toolbox on Ashika Island
• Increased minimum distance between Secure Nuclear Material contracts on Ashika Island so they do not overlap
• Fixed Favor for a Friend Mission having an incorrect location description
• Fixed description for Stronghold Reacquisition Mission incorrectly stating that the Legion Deal Intel must be extracted
• Fixed an issue where taking a weapon directly from an enemy’s Backpack wouldn’t register it as an enemy weapon for some Missions
• Fixed issue where the Overlord voiceover would fade out improperly when extracting
• Fixed issues where certain Missions weren’t sharing progress with squadmates, including missions that have you use field upgrades and killstreaks such as Death From Above
• Fixed issue where Key Elimination wasn’t giving progress for unlocking a cache instead of a locked door
• Fixed an issue where some Players did not get credit for the final exfil due to timer
• Fixed an issue where match search would stop if the party leader left the group
• Fixed an issue that would prevent the Player from using their Armor temporarily, when trying to use Armor and the Radiation Blocker at the same time

New map in MW2 Season Two Reloaded

One of the main additions to MW2 is a new Core map, Himmelmatt Expo.

“Get your winter jacket and prepare to deploy to the Himmelmatt Expo, an idyllic company retreat nestled in the Swiss Alps,” Activision said. “Attendees for the upcoming Oil & Gas Summit 2023 will have to delay their arrival, however, as combat breaks out on the site between SpecGru and KorTac forces.”

The launch of Season Two Reloaded comes with featured playlists that contain the new map, which will also join the Quick Play map rotation.

Related: Everything to know about MW2’s new map, Himmelmatt Expo

“Tromp through the snowy streets, past the saunas and pool, and go for a drink — or better yet, a solid vantage point — in the Restaurant & Bar,” Activision said. “Head into the main event center to shake off the cold and heat up in battles taking place across the lounge and terrace and in the enclosed theater below.”

New weapon in MW2 Season Two Reloaded

The Tempus Torrent marksman rifle is being added to MW2’s ever-growing list of weapons. It’s a part of the M4 Platform, so if you’ve unlocked attachments for other weapons within the platform, you could have a near-full suite ready to go on day one.

Related: How to unlock the Tempus Torrent in MW2 and Warzone 2

“This weapon offers impressive damage and a fast-firing mechanism, making it a great primary weapon choice when deploying to the new Himmelmatt Expo Multiplayer map or to Ashika Island,” Activision said.