Black Ops 6 Season 04’s weapon tuning arrived in two stages: the season-launch Multiplayer balance pass and the July 2, 2025 Season 04 Reloaded update. The launch pass sped up burst-fire marksman rifles, adjusted selected assault rifles and improved LMG handling. Reloaded made the Kilo 141 and CR-56 AMAX harder to control through increased view kick, while improving several attachments. Zombies received a separate set of weapon buffs. These are historical Season 04 changes, not a guide to the live weapon meta in October 2026.
Season 04 launch: Multiplayer weapon changes
The official Season 04 notes framed the launch pass as a way to help burst weapons and LMGs keep pace with faster play, alongside targeted assault-rifle adjustments. The developers described assault-rifle balance overall as being in a good spot, so the changes were selective rather than a class-wide overhaul. The same notes also included attachment tuning; attachment effects below are distinguished from changes to a weapon’s base stats.
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Assault rifles
| Weapon | Change | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| AK-74 | Maximum-damage range increased from 38.1 m to 40.6 m. CHF Barrel vertical recoil penalty fell from 50% to 35%, and its horizontal penalty fell from 20% to 10%. | The base weapon keeps its maximum-damage profile over a longer distance; the CHF Barrel’s recoil penalties are less severe. |
| GPR 91 | The middle damage range was removed. | According to the patch notes, two headshots improve time-to-kill at all ranges, or one headshot with the CHF Barrel. |
| AS VAL | Mid Damage Range 1 damage increased from 18 to 19. | The stated aim was to reduce the number of headshots needed for a faster time-to-kill. |
Other launch-pass rifle changes affected attachments rather than base-weapon stats. The notes list, among other adjustments, stronger flinch reduction for Heavy Stock and Combat Stock on several weapons, and improved Marksman Foregrip recoil reductions on named rifles. Those changes can alter a build’s handling but should not be read as a direct base-weapon buff.
Burst-fire marksman rifles
The SWAT 5.56 and AEK-973 received shorter burst cooldowns, letting each fire its next burst sooner. The tradeoff is that Rapid Fire now adds more recoil, which can make its faster cadence harder to keep on target.
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| Weapon | Base burst cooldown | Rapid Fire cooldown | Rapid Fire recoil penalties |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWAT 5.56 | 0.22 s to 0.19 s | 0.17 s to 0.16 s | Vertical and horizontal: 30% to 50% |
| AEK-973 | 0.325 s to 0.29 s | 0.295 s to 0.26 s | Vertical and horizontal: 50% to 60% |
The patch notes identify burst timing and recoil consistency as important controls on one-burst kill potential. In practice, the cooldown reductions favor quicker follow-up bursts, while the steeper Rapid Fire penalties put more pressure on recoil control.
Light machine guns
LMGs received reduced view kick and movement improvements. The developers said ADS movement while firing improved by about 10% in most cases; their stated goal was to make the class fit the game’s pace without removing its higher-recoil and lower-mobility tradeoffs.
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| Weapon | Movement | Sprinting | ADS movement | ADS movement while firing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PU-21 | 4.5 to 4.6 m/s | 6.1 to 6.2 m/s | not stated in the launch patch notes | 2.1 to 2.3 m/s |
| XMG | 4.3 to 4.4 m/s | 6.0 to 6.1 m/s | 2.4 to 2.5 m/s | 1.7 to 1.9 m/s |
| GPMG-7 | not stated in the launch patch notes | not stated in the launch patch notes | not stated in the launch patch notes | 1.9 to 2.1 m/s |
| Feng 82 | Movement improved; exact value not stated in the launch patch notes | not stated in the launch patch notes | not stated in the launch patch notes | not stated in the launch patch notes |
LMG values in the table are developer-published patch figures. The notes also report reduced view kick across the class, but the figures summarized here do not give a numerical view-kick change for each model.
Season 04 Reloaded: Kilo 141, CR-56 AMAX and attachments
Season 04 Reloaded was announced for July 2, 2025 at 9 a.m. PT. The update’s stated attachment strategy was to improve lower-use attachments and make targeted changes that could support new builds.
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| Weapon or attachment | Reloaded change | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Kilo 141 | View-kick strength increased. Marksman Foregrip reductions while focused improved to 30% for both view kick and gun kick. | The base weapon’s recoil behavior became more demanding; the foregrip offers a stronger way to counter it. |
| CR-56 AMAX | View-kick strength and deviation increased. Marksman Foregrip reductions while focused improved to 30% for both view kick and gun kick. | The notes explicitly describe the base-weapon change as a recoil nerf. The foregrip adjustment is an attachment benefit, not a reversal of the base change for every build. |
| Other attachments | Portfolio-wide improvements included Short Barrel, Lightweight Foregrip, Precision Foregrip, Fast Motion Laser, Target Laser and Combat Stock; C9 Tactical Laser also received a targeted improvement. | These adjustments vary by attachment and weapon. They do not mean every attachment is stronger on every weapon. |
The development team explained the approach this way: “Our focus in Season 04 Reloaded is attachment tuning. When it comes to attachment balance, our goal is not for every attachment to be viable on every weapon. That said, we want every attachment to have a place across the many builds and playstyles in Black Ops 6.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Zombies weapon changes
The following changes are specific to Zombies. They should not be treated as Multiplayer buffs or as changes to the weapons’ Multiplayer stats.
| Weapon | Zombies change |
|---|---|
| Stryder .22 | Pack-a-Punch damage increased by 100%; ammo increased from 360 to 440; penetration damage falloff reduced by 40%. |
| 9mm PM | Pack-a-Punch damage increased by 50% and Pack-a-Punch damage range by 100%; ammo increased from 320 to 360; gun and view kick scaled down by 20%; penetration damage falloff reduced by 40%. Pack-a-Punched penetration improves further with FMJ. |
| Grekhova | Damage increased by 150%, while damage range decreased by 30%. The developers described the goal as strengthening its close-range identity and making long-range dropoff clearer; this is a damage-for-range tradeoff rather than an unqualified buff. |
| Tsarkov 7.62 | Pack-a-Punch critical damage increased by 50%; ADS speed increased by 50%; gun and view kick lowered by 80%. |
| DM-10 | Pack-a-Punch critical damage increased by 60%. |
| TR2 | Damage increased by 40%; critical damage increased by 90%; gun and view kick lowered by 40%. |
How to read the Season 04 changes
- Separate the update stages: The launch balance pass and Reloaded were distinct updates, so Reloaded’s Kilo 141 and CR-56 AMAX changes are not launch-pass adjustments.
- Separate base weapons from attachments: A stronger foregrip or stock can change a build’s handling without changing the weapon’s underlying stats.
- Keep game modes distinct: Zombies damage, Pack-a-Punch and ammunition changes do not establish equivalent Multiplayer changes.
- Read tradeoffs together: Rapid Fire’s shorter cooldown comes with higher recoil penalties; the Grekhova’s damage increase comes with reduced range; and the Reloaded rifle recoil nerfs coexist with attachment improvements.
All figures and descriptions above are the developers’ published Season 04 tuning, not independent measurements of usage, win rate or present-day strength. They document what changed in that season and do not establish which weapon is strongest in the live game in October 2026. See the official Black Ops 6 Season 04 patch notes for the complete weapon-specific and attachment lists.
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