Sniper Rifles receiving major buff with Call of Duty Warzone Season 5: Flinch Reduction, weapon balances, and more

With Season 5 of Call of Duty Warzone and Vanguard finally here, an epic finale between the forces of good and evil has begun with the arrival of Task Force Tyrant, led by Call of Duty Black Ops II’s major villain Raul Menendez.

The latest season also features new weapons, operators, and map changes as well as various weapon adjustments and rebalancing to shift the ongoing weapon meta. Sniper rifles, in particular, have witnessed some major buffs, following the recent changes on July 28 with the Season 4 Reloaded update.

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All sniper rifles receiving major buff to Flinch Reduction with Call of Duty Warzone Season 5

The Sniper class has always been a popular weapon class in Call of Duty, but it has had very little impact in Warzone. Fortunately, the Season 4 Reloaded update brought a resurgence to the sniper weapon class with a nearly 30% increase to the maximum damage range, allowing sniper rifles to be more competitively viable on maps such as Fortune's Keep and Caldera.

Following this trend, Season 5 of Call of Duty Warzone, titled Last Stand, will bring in another positive adjustment to one of the sniper rifle attributes. This time, the focus is on reductions to weapon flinch, following the update to Vanguard weapon optics. The changes are as follows:

• Flinch Decreased on Heavy Sniper Rifles by 11%
• Flinch Decreased on Light Sniper Rifles by 40%

Flinch occurs when players receive damage while ADS-ing, resulting in a loss of accuracy and potentially misaligning shots. However, with the recent changes, players should be careful when facing off against snipers during gunfights.

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LW3 - Tundra (Black Ops Cold War)

Some available blueprints for the LW3 - Tundra (Image via Activision)

The LW3 - Tundra is a bolt-action sniper rifle from COD Black Ops Cold War with the potential to eliminate opponents with a single shot to not just the head, but also the upper chest, neck, and shoulders. The following changes are being made to the LW3 - Tundra:

• Damage Range Increased to 69 meters, up from 61 meters
• Upper Torso Damage Multiplier increased to 1.52, up from 1.1
• Lower Torso Damage Multiplier increased to 1.3, up from 1.05
• Extremities Damage Multiplier increased to 1.0, up from 0.9
• ADS Transition In Time decreased to 430ms, down from 460ms

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Type 99 (Vanguard)

Some available blueprints for the Type 99 (Image via Activision)

The Type 99 in Call of Duty Vanguard is based on the Arisaka bolt-action sniper rifle from COD's previous titles. It is a powerful bolt-action sniper rifle used by Japanese forces during World War 2. The Type 99 has received the following changes:

Shiraishi 712mm Sniper (Barrel Attachment)

• Neck Damage Multiplier scale increased to 1.62, up from 1.0
• Upper Torso Damage Multiplier decreased to 1.1, down from 1.181
• Sprint to Fire Penalty decreased to -15%, up from -18%

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3-Line Rifle (Vanguard)

Some available blueprints for the 3-Line Rifle (Image via Activision)

The 3-Line Rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle in Call of Duty Vanguard that is commonly used for its impressive 20-round magazine attachment. Originally called the Mosin-Nagant, the 3-Line Rifle is easily one of the meta sniper rifles of the current season. The following adjustments have been made to the 3-Line Rifle:

30-06 20 Round Mags

• Damage Bonus decreased to 7%, down from 10%
• Rate of Fire Penalty decreased to -6.5% , up from -10%

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Call of Duty Warzone and Vanguard Season 5 Last Stand is currently live and can be played on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.