Modern Warfare 3 November 21 patch notes: Mercenary damage nerf, weapon balancing, and more

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 underwent another big change on November 21, and the developer has tweaked plenty of things in this update. After players complained for a long time, Sledgehammer Games has finally nerfed the Mercenary damage against player armor in MW3 Zombies. Furthermore, the new update has also buffed and nerfed some meta weapons, such as the Holger 556 and the DG-58.

Here are the detailed Modern Warfare 3 November 21 patch notes.

Modern Warfare 3 November 21 patch notes

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This part of the article will contain all the global changes in Modern Warfare 3.

Stability and performance

Resolved a crash that could occur while viewing Weapon Challenges.

UIX

Bug Fixes

Closed an exploit that allowed players to equip Weapon Camos they have not yet unlocked.
Addressed an issue that prevented players from equipping the Borealis Weapon Camo once it has been unlocked.

Cosmetics

Dragonfly Blueprint for the M4 (MWII) will now appear as expected across all platforms.
Addressed an issue that prevented the appearance of the Io Operator (MWII) from dynamically changing as expected.
Adjusted the Ghoulie Camo (MWII) to prevent it from becoming overwhelmingly bright in dark environments.

Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer changes in November 21 update

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The changes to MW3 multiplayer in the current update are listed below.

UIX

Wins will now progress Armory Unlocks without first completing Daily Challenges.
Today’s update includes UI modifications to reflect this previously-implemented change.

Bug Fixes

Players will no longer experience graphical corruption when transitioning between the Field Upgrades and Social menus.
XP requirements in the Progression menu will no longer display as negative values under certain conditions.
Attachments that are incompatible with the current selection can no longer be equipped to a Weapon.

Progression

Challenges

Updated the description of the Gilded Camo challenge for the MTZ-556 (Assault Rifle) to accurately reflect the intended requirements.
Weekly Challenges requiring Triple Kills and Quad Kills will now properly track completion.

Maps

Derail

Adjusted environmental fog to increase contrast, improving visibility.

Estate

Decreased grime on windows of the Lodge to improve clarity.

All weapon changes

Holger 556 (Assault Rifle)

Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.3x.
Decreased neck, upper-torso, arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1.1x to 1x.
Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).

DG-58 (Assault Rifle)

Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 40 (-9%).
Decreased medium damage from 35 to 33 (-6%).
Decreased neck damage multiplier from 1.4x to 1.1x.
Increased burst delay from 100ms to 120ms (+20%).

FR 5.56 (Assault Rifle)

Decreased maximum damage from 44 to 43 (-2%).
Decreased near-medium damage from 40 to 36 (-10%).
Decreased minimum damage from 36 to 33 (-8%).
Decreased headshot damage multiplier from 1.5x to 1.4x.
Decreased leg and foot damage multipliers from 1x to 0.9x.
Increased aim down sights time from 240ms to 260ms (+8%).
Increased sprint to fire time from 210ms to 231ms (+10%).

Striker (Submachine Gun)

Increased maximum damage range from 9m to 19m (+114%).
Increased near-medium damage from 33 to 36 (+9%).
Increased far-medium damage from 27 to 33 (+22%).
Decreased aim down sights time from 240ms to 230ms (-4%).

AMR9 (Submachine Gun)

Increased lower-torso, lower-arm, and hand damage multipliers from 1x to 1.1x.
Decreased sprint to fire time from 294ms to 206ms (-30%).

Striker 9 (Submachine Gun)

Decreased maximum damage from 32 to 27 (-16%).
Decreased aim down sights time from 275ms to 225ms (-18%).

The developer's notes on the official website state:

"The highlight of this balance pass is a reduction to the lethality of the FR 5.56 and DG-58. Both Weapons will now require two headshots to kill an enemy with a single 3-round burst fire. Additionally, these changes aim to improve the consistency and viability of Submachine Guns to the intended target for the class."

Perks

Ordnance Gloves

Removed undocumented reduction to the cook duration of Frag Grenades.

Modern Warfare 3 Zombies changes

This part of the article contains all the Zombies specific changes in Modern Warfare 3's November 21 update.

Gameplay changes

Missions

Storm the Castle

Warlord kill credit is now squad-based, and the required mission item will now spawn when a member of your squad kills the target in Modern Warfare 3.

Interceptor

Destroy Mercenary Convoy now accurately tracks completion.
Picking up a Keycard from a mercenary at the convoy will always count toward mission completion.

Perk-A-Colas

Tombstone Soda
Tombstones will no longer appear in the next session if a player exfils while in last stand.

General

Essence can no longer be stowed.
Addressed an issue where newly stowed items, acquisitions, or schematics would be replaced, and therefore lost, with previously sold items that underwent a swap item menu interaction.
Closed various exploits related to the use of Cymbal Monkeys.
Closed an exploit that permitted duplication of scorestreaks.

Enemies

Zombies

Zombie spawn priority has been adjusted to favor increased ground spawning.
Players can expect fewer ambient Zombie spawns on rooftops and higher elevations.