CoD: Modern Warfare 3 Patch Notes Reveal Spawn Upgrades and Extensive Weapon Adjustment

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's full release is just one day away, and the patch notes for the November 9 update have confirmed all the changes players can expect. This update brings improvements to spawns, movement, and weapon balancing. Here's a breakdown of everything you need to know before the game's launch.

The spawns in Modern Warfare 3's beta were quite chaotic, but the developer has made several changes for the official release. In Team Deathmatch, spawn selection now gives more preference to team-owned areas, making them less susceptible to enemy pressure. In Domination, spawn selection has been improved to better withstand enemy pressure on flags, resulting in more consistent play by favoring owned flags. Additionally, spawn anchors have been placed in many maps to guide the flow of combat in line with each map's intended design.

The movement mechanics have been adjusted in the patch notes. Now, when sliding, sprint input will cancel the slide animation. Additionally, the penalty for aiming down sights while jumping has been reduced by 20%.

In terms of gun changes, players can expect some differences with many of the guns from the beta. The MCW assault rifle, which is quite popular, has received a 13% decrease in minimum damage range and increased recoil during sustained fire. However, the bullet velocity of the gun has been buffed by 18%. The overpowered Striker submachine gun has also been nerfed. It now has a decrease in maximum damage range, near-medium damage, fear-medium damage, and minimum damage, as well as a decreased aim down sights time.

The ammo types in Modern Warfare 3 have undergone balancing changes. High Velocity ammo now has a reduced bullet velocity multiplier, going from 1.2x to 1.15x. Additionally, the sniper rifle bullet velocity multiplier has been decreased from 1.3x to 1.17x. On the other hand, Low Grain Rounds ammo has received decreases in the penalties for damage range, bullet velocity, and recoil control advantage. As for High Grain Rounds, they now have a reduced recoil control penalty, an advantage in bullet velocity, and an advantage in damage range.

Furthermore, there have been some other modifications in the game. Attachments in the Gunsmith now come with more detailed stats, providing players with additional information. Moreover, a kill counter has been added to the HUD. This counter keeps track of a player's current streak, updating after each kill.

The publisher has shared the full patch notes below.

For our comprehensive review of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign, click here. Call of Duty is continuously unveiling a wealth of new information before the launch, including the complete weapon list for Modern Warfare 3, details about a new method to unlock attachments, and changes to Gunsmith.

CAMPAIGN

STABILITY & PERFORMANCE

Offline play will not be hindered once an Activision account is initially set up.

The integrity of saved data has been evaluated and any issues with loading checkpoints have been resolved.

Fixed multiple UI-related crashes that occurred while navigating menus.

Resolved several crash bugs when loading into some missions.

Fixed an issue in which some players experienced an excessive load time after the opening title splash.

Fixed several graphical bugs that resulted in hitching after a melee kill.

Fixed a graphical bug that resulted in assets loading in low quality.

GAMEPLAY BUG FIXES

Resolved a bug that resulted in low audio, audio skipping, and missing dialogue in some cutscenes.

Addressed areas in multiple maps in which players could use vehicles and helicopters to access out of map locations.

Enemies should no longer stay in cover more often or longer than intended.

Fixed a bug in which certain command inputs unintentionally reset loadout selection.

Players can now toggle the Optic for the silenced M4 and the Cronen Squall.

Fixed a bug in which players became immune to damage from Gas and Equipment.

Fixed a bug in which Supply Boxes will not open on first attempt.

Fixed a bug in which weapons were missing from orange Supply Boxes.

Fixed enemy clipping through objects in the environment on death or in combat.

Fixed warning message for areas where the player could only crouch.

MULTIPLAYER

UIX

Visual ChangesAdded a stroke to player nameplates to improve visibility.

Adjusted font and contrast of the score event text on the HUD to be less obstructive.

New FeaturesAdded a HUD element that displays the player’s current streak after each kill.

Event popups for matches now show the Calling Card that the respective player has equipped.

The player's HUD will now show a Medal splash to highlight their achievements, such as Kingslayer or Collateral, for displaying skill.

The Tac-Stance toggle state is now displayed by a widget located in the lower-right section of the HUD, replacing the previous indicator that appeared while aiming down sights.

During gameplay, players can now access Match Stats through a newly added tab in the Scoreboard. This allows the player to compare their current performance with their average performance throughout their gaming career.

Detailed Statistics are now viewable while choosing an Attachment in the Gunsmith.

Bug FixesPlayers will no longer be unexpectedly prompted to choose a Loadout after earning multiple rewards.

MAPS

Made adjustments to several maps by incorporating spawn anchors to strategically guide combat flow according to each map's intended design.

In Team Deathmatch, spawn selection now heavily favors team-owned areas and offers increased resistance against enemy pressure.

Spawn selection in Domination has been enhanced to withstand enemy pressure on flags, resulting in improved consistency by giving preference to owned flags. Additionally, in Estate, frontline logic has been included to prevent unintended frequent spawn flips.

FavelaDecreased the priority of spawn points near the Shacks and Construction Site.

HighriseDecreased the priority of spawn points in the Actibase and Phonic Tunnels.

GAMEPLAY

Adjusted footstep volume to further distinguish enemy and friendly players.

Added an option to double-tap the aim down sights button to activate Tac-Stance.

Refreshed Default Loadout options with a widened range of content.

MovementSprint input while sliding will now cancel the slide animation.

Decreased aim down sights time penalty while jumping by 20%.

SettingsAdded an option to double-tap the aim down sights button to activate Tac-Stance.

Added new options to Slide/Dive Behavior.Tap to slide, disables the dive.

Tap to dive, disables the slide.

WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS

SVA 545 (Assault Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 19%.

Increased rate of fire from 632 RPM to 682 RPM (+8%).

Increased lower-torso damage multiplier from 1x to 1.1x.

Decreased recoil to veer less to the right.

MTZ-556 (Assault Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 18%.

Increased maximum damage range from 23m to 27m (+17%).

MCW (Assault Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 18%.

Increased recoil during sustained fire.

Decreased minimum damage from 24 to 21 (-13%).

Striker (Submachine Gun)Decreased maximum damage from 42 to 36 (-14%).

Decreased near-medium damage from 33 to 27 (-18%).

Decreased fear-medium damage from 27 to 25 (-7%).

Decreased minimum damage from 21 to 20 (-5%).

Decreased aim down sights time from 250ms to 240ms (-4%).

Holger 26 (Light Machine Gun)Increased bullet velocity by 13%.

Pulemyot 762 (Light Machine Gun)Increased bullet velocity by 16%.

Decreased maximum damage from 47 to 45 (-4%).

JAK Annihilator Bullpup Kit (Conversion Kit)Increased bullet velocity by 29%.

Decreased rate of fire from 666 RPM to 571 RPM (-14%).

MTZ Interceptor (Marksman Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 15%.

Increased hipfire spread during sustained fire.

Decreased aim down sights time from 330ms to 265ms (-20%).

MCW 6.8 (Marksman Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 12%.

Increased hipfire spread during sustained fire.

Decreased aim down sights time from 260ms to 245ms (-6%).

Longbow (Sniper Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 13%.

Swapped full-auto crosshair for expected semi-auto crosshair.

Increased flinch when shot by an enemy player to align with other Sniper Rifles.

Increased hipfire spread while moving and during sustained fire.

KV Inhibitor (Sniper Rifle)Increased bullet velocity by 5%.

Increased hipfire spread while moving.

Increased flinch when shot by an enemy player by 18%.

WSP Stinger (Handgun)Swapped semi-auto crosshair for expected full-auto crosshair.

Decreased maximum damage from 25 to 24 (-4%).

Decreased maximum damage from 27 to 25 (-7%).

Decreased maximum damage range from 12m to 6m (-50%).

Decreased upper-torso damage multiplier from 1.1x to 1x.

Decreased hipfire spread during sustained fire.

Renetti (Handgun)Swapped semi-auto crosshair for expected burst-fire crosshair.

Slightly increased recoil during sustained fire.

Decreased minimum damage.

JAK Ferocity Carbine Kit (Conversion Kit)Swapped semi-auto crosshair for expected full-auto crosshair.

Increased aim down sight time 200ms.

Increased sprint to fire time from 80ms to 100ms (+25%).

COR-45 (Handgun)Decreased maximum damage range from 9m to 6m (-33%).

Decreased near-medium damage range from 20m to 10m (-50%).

High Velocity (Ammunition)Decreased bullet velocity multiplier from 1.2x to 1.15x.

Decreased Sniper Rifle bullet velocity multiplier from 1.3x to 1.17x.

Low Grain Rounds (Ammunition)Decreased damage range penalty.

Decreased bullet velocity penalty.

Decreased recoil control advantage.

High Grain Rounds (Ammunition)Decreased recoil control penalty.

Decreased bullet velocity advantage.

Decreased damage range advantage.

Optics (Attachment)Decreased aim down sights time penalty across multiple Optic types.Dots & Holographics: 30ms to 0ms (-100%).

2.5x: 70ms to 15ms (-79%).

4x & Hybrids: 40ms to 20ms (-50%).

Scopes: 100ms to 50ms (-50%).

Muzzles (Attachment)The aim down sight penalty for Flash Hider, Compensator, and Muzzle Break types has been moderately increased.

PERKS

Demolition VestBattle Rage (Tactical) will now only refill a maximum of 1 use.

Tactical Pads (Boots): Enhances slide velocity, eliminating the advantage of increased slide distance.

Note: Perk description will be updated in a future release to reflect this change.

Tac Mask (Gear): Provides immunity to Tactical Flash Grenades thrown by the player themselves.

FIELD UPGRADES

The Trophy System has been updated. The Mosquito Drone (Killstreak) will no longer be targeted and destroyed.

Med Box functionality has been improved. Deploy a box of medical supplies to reduce healing delay for you and your teammates.

KILLSTREAKS

Enemy Killstreak activations will now invoke announcer voicelines as expected.

Guardian-SCDecreased volume of Guardian-SC’s owned by teammates.

Increased environmental audio occlusion.

Addressed an issue that caused a player’s HUD to disappear until respawn after being stunned.

Counter UAV activation in interior areas will no longer result in an error message stating "Insufficient space to initiate."

The magazine capacity for Juggernaut Recon has been reduced from 20 rounds to 8 rounds, resulting in a 60% decrease.

VEHICLES

NSTVIncreased traction to improve handling on slippery surfaces.

Editor's P/S

As an enthusiastic fan of the Call of Duty franchise, I am thrilled about the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 3. The patch notes reveal a plethora of exciting changes that will enhance the overall gameplay experience. The improvements to spawns, movement, and weapon balancing are particularly noteworthy.

The enhanced stability and gameplay fixes will make the game more enjoyable, while the revamped weapons, perks, killstreaks, and UIX will add depth and variety to the multiplayer experience. I am also excited about the addition of a kill counter to the HUD, which will allow players to keep track of their current streak. Overall, these patch notes suggest that Modern Warfare 3 is shaping up to be a must-play for fans of the series.