SMGs Buffed, Payloads Hit Hard In Latest Infinite Warfare Patch

A new patch for Infinite Warfare has just gone live on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it looks like it’s a big one for the Call of Duty esports community.

SMGs – previously absent in the competitive meta – have been buffed. The hip aim assist range has been increased to 800 inches, and the ADS aim assist range has been increased to 1400 inches.

Payloads have been substantially nerfed. Use durations for Active Camo, Bull Charge, and Reactive Armor have been substantially cut. Active Camo has been lowered from 10 seconds to five seconds, Bull Charge has been reduced from 6.5 seconds to five seconds, and Reactive Armor has been decreased from nine seconds to six seconds. Reactive Armor also received a second nerf – the amount of damage that it can absorb while active has been reduced. Overdrive and Rewind received health-related nerfs; Overdrive no longer restores any health when it is triggered, and Rewind now only restores part of the player’s health. These Payload changes appear to be exclusive to the CWL ruleset only, though. However, there was one fix that somewhat resembles a buff; holding the drone in Uplink or planting/defusing the bomb in Search and Destroy no longer drains your Payload use time at a faster rate.

Among the multiple major bug fixes in this patch, there are fixes for three of the most high-profile bugs reported by the competitive community: the issue where the player couldn’t capture a hardpoint if they are using a scorestreak, the issue where the hardpoint was being contested but the icon was in a red capture state, and the exploit where the killstreak map could be used every round as a free UAV. Additionally, the B bomb site on Scorch has been moved to the back of the drill (from the attacker side) and the killcam now shows traits, lethals and tacticals.

There were other small tweaks and bug fixes in this patch, but the ones discussed above are the most notable changes (at least as far as the esports community is concerned). In case you’d like to read the update notes yourself, here they are, courtesy of Infinity Ward representative /u/ashtonisVULCAN_IW on Reddit:

1/13/17 – Patch General Fixes

• Slight increase in Black Hole radius
• The map Grounded has been added back into rotation
• Competitive playlist rules and maps have been adjusted to match CWL (PS4/Xbox)
• Added the map Grounded back into rotation
• Players who deploy a Black Hole will receive assists if an enemy is killed while being pulled in
• Players receive assists if the enemy the Seeker Grenade is tracking is killed
• Increases to Micro Turret health, ammunition, and fire rate
• Infected: If a player waits to spawn in to avoid being the first Infected, they’ll be forced to Infected
• Infected: Fixed an issue where the first Infected wasn’t getting the proper score or XP for the first kill
• Infected: Kills/Deaths are no longer stored after a match so KD is not affected
• Infected playlist now includes shotguns, SMGs, ARs, and snipers
• Infected: Boost jump recharge is now slower
• Gun Game: Increased the throw distance for the Bio Spike
• Gun Game: Kills/Deaths are no longer stored after a match so KD is not affected
• Fixed an issue where the player couldn’t capture the next Hardpoint if they are in a Scorestreak
• Fixed an issue where the Hardpoint was being contested but the icon was in a red capture state
• Howitzer headshots were not counting towards camo unlocks. This has been fixed
• Fix for available Payloads such as Reactive Armor requiring another score update after round switch to re-earn • Killcams now show Traits, Tacticals, and Lethals
• Reduced recoil of the R3K when zoomed in using the VMC
• Slight increase to Quick Draw speed with snipers
• OSA Launcher: Updated inner and outer damage, and damage radius to reduce lethality in Tactical TDM
• Howitzer: slight adjustment to increase lethal radius and overall radius. Increase projectile speed and reduced projectile up velocity to help with targeting
• Fix for the Hit ad Run Gun Perk on the Epic Kendall-44 showing as an attachment in the weapon name
• SMGs: Increased hip aim assist range to 800 inches. Increased ADS aim assist range to 1400 inches
• FHR 40 and RPR Evo: Increased ADS aim assist range to 1200 inches
• MacTav-45: Increased ADS aim assist range to 1500 inches
• Shotguns: Increased hip and ADS aim assist ranges to 600 inches matching the max damage range
• Fix for an exploit where using the Killstreak map could be used every round as a free UAV
• Fix for the “A” bombsite on Retaliation that would cause a player to unintentionally move when next to the bombsite
• Fix for the “Out of Bounds” that would trigger when near the theater and bowling alley on Throwback
• Updated the start spawn for Precinct Hardpoint and Uplink
• 15 spots on Rooftop near Drop Pods and Construction have been fixed in Precinct
• Scorch “B” bombsite moved to the back of the drill (from attacker side)

 CWL/CODCASTER

• Fix for an error when attempting to change team colors, name, and icon

Removed Payload delay at the start of a round

• Active Camo duration has been reduced from 10s to 5s
• Reactive Armor duration has been reduced from 9s to 6s
• Bull Charge duration has been reduced from 6.5s to 5s
• Reactive Armor value slightly lowered
• Rewind: Only Rewinds a portion of the player’s health. Still rewinds full ammo
• Overdrive: No longer restores player health on activation
• Holding the Uplink drone or planting/defusing in CWL rulesets no longer drain your Payload faster as the base duration times have been adjusted
• Removed Killstreak spawn protection

In conclusion, this seems like a solid update, but only time will tell how it will affect play in the CWL. Will you be trying the newly buffed SMGs in your next GB or UMG match? Do you think this will help balance the gameplay a bit more and make the game more entertaining? Let us know in the comments section below or by tweeting us @GAMURScom.