The latest patch for Call of Duty: Warzone takes aim at the cargo trucks meta that has dominated its solo mode for months. Essentially cargo trucks are... well, they're trucks. They can absorb tonnes of fire, there are loads of them about, and so players have unsurprisingly opted to try and run over their opponents rather than fighting them: resulting in the end of matches turning into some sort of destruction derby between multiple trucks rather than a shootout.
The patch notes say that the cargo truck spawn rates in Verdansk, in the solo BR mode, has been reduced from a range of 16-20 to a flat five per match. "In Solos, players are not keen to unload a considerable amount of their resources into the removal of Cargo Trucks, which would often result in a significant number of them in final circles," writes developer Raven Software.
"The ensuing gameplay allowed players to skirt traditional engagements and created a crutch that put less of an emphasis on end game positioning and gunplay. A substantial reduction in the number of Cargo Trucks in Solos will make whittling them down over the course of the game a feasible and attractive option given their considerably reduced map presence."
Raven had previously teased the change.
🤔 pic.twitter.com/6urlUNo0VjMay 26, 2021
The Warzone audience, known for its calm and collected approach towards the game's problems, has been going crackers about cargo trucks for many months now: not least because, in addition to their impact on the solo game, there were also various bugs that resulted in static vehicles downing and/or killing players. This has also been addressed: "Fixed a bug where vehicles could down or kill squad mates."
Warzone's most famous player, Dr Disrespect, has been moaning about them for ages, so at least he'll be happy.
Other elements of the patch include a minor nerf to the CR-56 AMAX, one of the assault rifles that tends to dominate. It's had a slight reduction in headshot damage over range, though the interesting nugget of information here is Raven's ambition to make guns in general slightly less deadly: "As we continue our efforts to slowly raise the Time to Kill, we feel the best course of action here is to reduce the power level of outliers rather than increase others to meet it."
Amusingly enough, it was only a few weeks ago that the AMAX was nerfed by one whole damage point. Guess it wasn't enough!
It's interesting times for Warzone, not least because Activision has been getting serious about wielding the banhammer against the nastier elements of its massive audience. The full patch notes are here.
