Warzone expert reveals NZ-41 “wasn’t really nerfed” in July 7 update

The NZ-41 has been the dominant weapon in Warzone for some time now, leading Raven to nerf the Assault Rifle multiple times. However, Warzone expert WhosImmortal has revealed that the latest nerf, in the June 7 update, did virtually nothing to make the NZ-41 less effective.

After being largely forgotten since the release of Vanguard, a huge buff to the NZ-41 in Warzone Season 3 Reloaded quickly saw it overtake the STG44 as the number one weapon in the game.

In fact, the gun has become so powerful, that the devs have looked to nerf it multiple times, first in the Season 4 update, then on June 30.

The most recent nerf was supposed to have come in the July 7 update. However, Warzone expert WhoIsmmortal has revealed that this isn’t actually the case.

Warzone stats show NZ-41 wasn’t nerfed in July 7 update

According to the July 7 patch notes, the NZ-41 received a 20% reduction in recoil recovery. In his July 11 video, WhosImmortal shared stats from Sym.gg that revealed the change is far less significant in practice.

Sym.gg “data mines all the stats from the game” and sees exactly how each weapon is functioning according to the files. They found that the recoil recovery of the NZ-41 has actually only been reduced by 2.78% instead of the advertised 20%.

“That NZ recoil recovery really isn’t going to feel any different than ‘pre-nerf,’ quote, unquote, because it wasn’t really nerfed,” the YouTuber explained. He went on to mention that even if the nerf had functioned as intended, the NZ-41 wouldn’t be any worse off.

“Also, recoil recovery is not a major factor in most weapons, especially the NZ. Even if the nerf was correct at 20% – nerfing 20% of nothing is still nothing.”

WhosImmortal did, however, agree the NZ-41 should be made less overpowered and even suggested how Raven could achieve this.

“The NZ needs a lot more kick, just in general, the recoil is way too easy and it probably needs a damage dropoff over range to really feel like a balanced meta weapon,” said the YouTuber. “If they were to that it’d still be a top choice, in my opinion, but not the overbearing number one choice.”

Raven is yet to comment on whether or not this was a deliberate decision or a mistake on their part, but we’d imagine that another nerf to the NZ-41 could be coming in the Season 4 Reloaded update, if not before.