MW4 Season 1 Patch Notes: Weapon Buffs, Maps, DMZ X01
Infinity Ward's Season 1 notes for Modern Warfare 4 run to thousands of words across five updates. Here are the numbers that change how you build a class, the new maps and modes, the DMZ rule changes in X01, and what the follow-up patches fixed through November 10.
Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 went live at midnight ET on November 6 (9 PM PT on November 5), and Infinity Ward has patched it three more times since. The official patch notes page now stacks five blocks of changes on one URL, and the weapon tuning sits inside collapsible per-weapon tables. This is the readable version: the numbers that matter for your loadout, what is new, what DMZ changed in X01, and what got fixed after launch. Every figure below is from callofduty.com's Season 1 patch notes or Activision's October 28 Season 1 blog, read on November 10, 2026.
If you want the buying side (editions, prices, platforms), that is in the Modern Warfare 4 launch guide. This post is about what Season 1 changed in the game.
The short answer
Season 1 of Modern Warfare 4 retunes 17 base weapons in the launch notes, and the large majority of those changes are buffs that extend damage ranges or raise minimum damage. The clear nerfs are the Hyeon Burst Hyperburst Apex Attachment, the VEL 46's damage ranges and the APOC-338's minimum damage and headshot multiplier. Multiplayer adds Backstab, Canyon, a reimagined Shoot House and the Kill Block: Crash combo, plus Grind and Drop Zone, and the Battle Pass brings the Cronen Osprey assault rifle and CSG-35 SMG. DMZ adds X01, an underground GRANIT Arms facility reached through Hajin. Hardcore maximum health drops from 30 to 22, and as of the November 10 update UAVs and Advanced UAVs can no longer be deployed in X01.
How the notes are laid out
The Season 1 page is one long document with the newest update on top. Reading from the bottom up, in the order they shipped:
| Block on the page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Season 1 Launch Patch Notes | The big one: Battle Pass, maps, modes, new weapons, all weapon tuning, equipment changes, bug fixes, DMZ X01 |
| Additional November 5 Updates | A second batch on launch day, including the Hardcore health change and DMZ duplication fixes |
| November 6 | The Shransit playlist, Damage Recap improvements, a DMZ UAV rule change |
| November 7 | Stability, a Map Voting update, X01 fixes, a known-issues list |
| November 10 | Instant ADS sensitivity timing, a Ghost perk fix, the DMZ Scavenger Bonus, UAVs disabled in X01 |
The page does not print build or version numbers, so I am not quoting any.
Weapon tuning: the numbers
These are the before-and-after values from the launch notes. Ranges are in metres. Only the values that actually changed are listed.
| Weapon | Class | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Axion | AR | Medium damage range 34.8 to 38.61 m; muzzle velocity 415 to 470 m/s |
| Han 86 | AR | Head multiplier 1.25 to 1.3 |
| Hyeon Burst | AR | Medium damage 24 to 25 |
| Hyeon Burst (Hyperburst Apex, spelled "Hyperbust" on the page) | AR | Max damage 30 to 23; max damage range 24.64 to 30.99 m; medium damage tier removed; min damage 25 to 20 |
| Kastov 762 | AR | Medium damage 24 to 25; medium range 40.13 to 42.16 m; head 1.33 to 1.35; neck and upper torso 1.08 to 1.1 |
| M4 | AR | Max damage range 25.91 to 27.94 m; head 1.25 to 1.3 |
| M4 (Hurricane Apex) | AR | Max damage range 10.49 to 11.68 m |
| Patriot XMR | AR | Max damage range 31.24 to 33.53 m; ADS move speed 2.22 to 2.26 m/s |
| ISO Nightshade | SMG | Max damage range 10.54 to 11.68 m; min damage 13 to 14 |
| PPSh-41 | SMG | Second medium damage 13 to 14; min damage 12 to 13 |
| VEL 46 | SMG | Max damage range 10.13 to 9.65 m; medium ranges 17.27 to 16.51 m and 25.15 to 24.13 m; min damage 13 to 14 |
| Wz.55 Striga | SMG | Max damage 26 to 27; second medium tier (18 damage) removed; min damage 17 to 19; head 1.3 to 1.4 |
| X-58 Nyx | SMG | Second medium damage 15 to 16; min damage 13 to 14 |
| APOC-338 | LMG | Min damage 33 to 32; head 1.35 to 1.3 |
| Type 73 | LMG | Max damage range 24.89 to 25.53 m; head 1.25 to 1.3 |
| Type 73 (Assault Apex) | LMG | Max damage range 22.23 to 24.13 m; medium damage 22 to 23; medium range 41.91 to 43.13 m |
| Rezi 12 | Shotgun | Medium ranges 4.57 to 4.95 m, 6.35 to 6.86 m and 8.76 to 10.29 m; min damage 14 to 16 |
| Rezi 12 (Enforcer Apex) | Shotgun | Medium ranges 5.08 to 5.33 m and 7.37 to 7.87 m; min damage 19 to 20 |
| Mosin-Nagant | Marksman | Max damage range 36.83 to 40.13 m |
| Oris 8.6 | Marksman | Max damage range 19.05 to 22.61 m; min damage 58 to 63 |
| Krait P68 | Pistol | Max damage range 8.89 to 9.4 m; medium range 20.32 to 21.08 m; lower torso 1 to 1.1 |
How I read it:
- The Hyperburst Apex takes the biggest cut. Its max damage falls from 30 to 23 and its floor from 25 to 20. A longer 30.99 m max range is a small consolation for losing 7 damage per bullet up close. The base Hyeon Burst, by contrast, got a small buff.
- The VEL 46 trades range for a better floor. All three range bands shrink by roughly 4 to 5 percent while minimum damage goes up by one. It loses a little at mid range and gains a little at the edge.
- Of the two LMGs tuned, the APOC-338 went down, on both minimum damage and headshot multiplier. The Type 73 and its Assault Apex both went up.
- Two marksman rifles reach further. The Oris 8.6 gets the biggest max-damage-range increase of any base weapon in the notes (19 percent) and a 5-point minimum damage increase.
- Shotgun players get a quieter buff. The Rezi 12's third medium range goes from 8.76 to 10.29 m, which is the largest single range change for that weapon.
One oddity on the official page: the Mosin-Nagant's damage rows are printed in metres (for example "Maximum Damage 2.36 m"), which looks like a formatting error, so I have listed only its range change.
Equipment, killstreaks and Hardcore
The launch notes also retune a few non-gun items:
| Item | Change |
|---|---|
| Argonaut (killstreak) | Health 800 to 1,200 |
| Crossfire (killstreak) | Spawn protection added; bullet radius cut 25%; bullet damage cut 50%; less camera shake while flying |
| Proximity Mine | Arming time 1.5 s to 0.75 s |
| Claymore | Arming time 1 s to 0.75 s; forward trigger range 2.29 m to 3.18 m; trigger cone 60 to 80 degrees |
The Claymore change is the one to remember: it now arms faster, triggers from further away and covers a wider cone, so checking corners matters more than it did before Season 1.
Separately, the additional November 5 notes reduce maximum health in Hardcore modes from 30 to 22. On the console side, Performance Mode (120Hz) is now open to all PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players with 120Hz displays whether or not the display supports VRR (Infinity Ward still recommends VRR). The notes also say players running Warzone Agent, a paid third-party lobby-assessment app, are blocked from Multiplayer modes until they close it, and that people who try to get around the block may face temporary or permanent account or hardware bans.
New maps, modes and weapons
Maps. The patch notes list four Season 1 additions:
| Map | Type | Notes from Activision |
|---|---|---|
| Backstab | New, 6v6, medium | A snow-covered, war-torn town with abandoned tanks; long sightlines in the streets, close fights inside |
| Canyon | New, 6v6, medium | Sun-scorched terrain with towering rock walls, a river, a northern cave and a central mesa |
| Shoot House | Reimagined, 6v6, medium | The familiar three-lane layout, now set in North Korea in light snowfall |
| Kill Block: Crash | Featured combo, 6v6 | All three slabs stay static between rounds; added to other core playlists including Search and Destroy |
Shipment (remastered, on a Russian harbor) already arrived in preseason on October 27. Activision's Season 1 blog lists Ministry and Overflow for Season 1 Reloaded, plus more maps it has not named yet.
Modes. Grind (bank collected Dog Tags to score) and Drop Zone (hold a rotating objective that receives Killstreak airdrops) return at launch. Gauntlet 1v1, a winner-stays Gunfight playlist, is tied to the Wager Match Event and is marked "coming soon" in the patch notes. Counter Attack and an unnamed Team Deathmatch variant are listed for mid-season. The November 6 update added the Shransit playlist, which rotates Shipment, Shoot House and Transit 213, and put Hardcore into Quickplay.
Weapons. Two Battle Pass weapons arrive at launch, with two more promised later through events:
| Weapon | Type | How you get it | Key stats (Activision) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cronen Osprey | Assault rifle | Battle Pass tier 16 | 882 RPM, 30-round magazine; Apex Attachment Cronen Helix Mk. II fires on trigger pull and release |
| CSG-35 | SMG | Battle Pass tier 36 | 1,200 RPM, 28-round magazine; Apex Attachment CSG Crossfire gives akimbo |
| JAK 12 | Full-auto shotgun | Event reward, later in season | 8-round magazine, 323 RPM |
| ZLR Talonhawk | Melee (combat axe) | Event reward, later in season | 10 weapon levels |
Activision describes the CSG-35's 1,200 RPM as the highest fire rate in its class and the Cronen Osprey's rate as rivaled only by the M4.
Battle Pass changes
The Season 1 Battle Pass is a linear 100-tier track. The premium pass costs 1,100 COD Points (or 2,400 for the bundle). The notable new rule is a catch-up system: premium owners who fall behind are automatically moved up to the reward matching the current day of the season, up to day 50. Activision says premium buyers who finish all 100 tiers will get a chance at additional bonus rewards later in the season, which its blog says will be eight Operator Skins.
DMZ: X01 and the rule changes
X01 is a new DMZ location discoverable within Hajin: a GRANIT Arms black site that Activision describes as cargo bays and vehicle depots leading down to underground labs, production lines and a sealed Deep Vault. Ghost is the Watcher for X01 and guides the new DMZ Orders tied to it. The Boss Board adds two Lieutenants, Tae-Hyun ("Knuckle") and Chol-Min ("The Wrench"), and two Commanders: The Captain (a Juggernaut with an elite guard) and an autonomous patrolling Wheelson. The FOB Vendor also gets an update: Season 1 BlackCell owners can buy additional weapons and gear there with DMZ Cash.
The launch notes also change several DMZ rules:
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Possum trait lockout radius (killing squad must be this far away) | 1x | 2.5x |
| Possum activation failsafe timer | 4 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Supplied Drops chance of an extra container | 25% | 50% (now also applies to Dynamic Operations crates) |
| Weapon XP from vehicle kills on AI | Previous rate | Lowered (Operator-kill XP unchanged) |
| Crossfire damage vs vehicles | Previous rate | Increased, more so against tanks |
The DMZ event list for the first part of the season includes Threat Briefing: Battle Tank (destroy NK tanks in Hajin and exfil with parts), Threat Briefing: The Captain (gather pieces of his helmet in X01), and Resupply Run.
The November 6, 7 and 10 follow-ups
November 6. Thermal Padding, Thermal Padding Pro and the Sedative Inhaler now correctly hide you from UAVs and UAV Towers that have the UAV Upgrade direction trait; the AUAV Fire Support still detects you. Infinity Ward says the goal is to keep those items strong stealth tools against standard UAVs with the AUAV as the counter. Multiplayer got the Shransit playlist, and the Damage Recap now shows extra detail such as damage through surfaces, Quick Fix healing and Bomb Squad reduction.
November 7. Map Voting now supports playlists with three map and mode combinations (Shransit is the example given). In DMZ, player kills in X01 were raising your Bounty Level more than intended, and that is fixed; so is a bug that let The Captain and Colossus finish players in Last Stand who could still be revived. Known issues at that point included the Warfighter and Warfighter Prime skins being temporarily disabled and a crash at launch for some Steam players after the Season 1 update. Activision's suggested fix is to verify game files first, and as a last resort uninstall and delete the Call of Duty folder in steamapps common before reinstalling.
November 10. The biggest gameplay change is in X01: Infinity Ward first cut the duration and range of UAVs and Advanced UAVs there, then updated the note to say both are now disabled in X01 and can no longer be deployed. The Mini Tracker trait's radius was slightly reduced. DMZ also gets a Scavenger Bonus: if you fail to exfil, you now get cash based on the value of the items you looted and your total deployment time (it does not apply to Story Missions). In Multiplayer, Instant ADS sensitivity now hands back to hip sensitivity earlier when you leave ADS, the Ghost perk no longer sometimes hides players firing unsuppressed weapons, and Free for All and Gun Game get match-wide chat. The page also lists the Cronen Osprey and CSG-35 Platinum camo tracking bug as recently addressed.
What the notes do not tell you
- Build numbers. The official page does not print a version or build number for any of the five updates.
- Whether Warfighter skins are back. They were listed as temporarily disabled on November 7; the November 10 notes do not mention them either way.
- Warzone-specific tuning. This post covers the Modern Warfare 4 notes for Multiplayer and DMZ. Warzone has its own Season 1 notes and its own changes.
- Mid-season dates. Activision names Ministry, Overflow, Counter Attack, the JAK 12 and the ZLR Talonhawk for later in the season, but the pages I read give no date for Season 1 Reloaded.
- How the meta settles. These are the stated number changes, not a tier list. Time-to-kill depends on attachments, armor rules and mode, and I have not tested them.
