The Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play grind is officially on following the Season 1 Reloaded update, but players were quickly desperate for the removal of one specific weapon type for being too “annoying.” The devs wasted no time to address the issue, responding with a nerf.
Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 Reloaded brought plenty of content to the game, but the long-awaited addition of Ranked Play was the main event. Players now have a competitive mode to grind, with tons of exclusive rewards to work towards.
Ranked Play features the same rules and restrictions as the CDL, meaning players are limited to the same maps and modes as the pros. The same applies to weapons and attachments, as there is a much smaller pool to choose from when building a loadout.
Despite being banned by pro players, one “annoying” weapon has been available in Ranked Play, leading to players calling for a ban. However, the devs instead responded with a quick nerf to solve the issue.
MW3 devs nerf Knife in Ranked Play after player complaints
On January 18, Reddit user ‘BHRx’ urged the MW3 devs to “get the damn knife out of Ranked,” before going to explain some of their frustrating experiences.
“The TTK for most guns is slower than someone running at you with a knife. I’ve had far too many cheap deaths using the MCW without missing a shot and I’m not alone,” said the OP. “Leave that s**t for shipment or put a melee weapon that slows you down or requires two hits.”
“Practically every match I play on any map has at least one guy on c***k running around with a knife,” said one reply. “I despise it but apparently SH thinks it’s acceptable in an FPS for a knife to be the most OP weapon so you just gotta live with it I guess.”
There were plenty of other calls for the “annoying” Knives to be banned, or at least nerf them slightly to remove the one-shot capabilities. There are two melee weapons in MW3 Ranked Play, the Gutter Knife and Karambit, and it turns out the MW3 devs opted to apply one of the suggestions mentioned by the OP above.
On January 19, the devs announced that Secondary Melee weapons will now require two hits to kill in MW3 Ranked Play.
Previously, both were able to kill an enemy in just one hit, on top of offering mobility bonuses. This seemed to be the main issue for many players, but the devs were quick to respond with a solution. Now, both Melee weapons can still be used for extra mobility, but the nerf has diminished their lethal potential.
A minor update with balance adjustments to Secondary Melee weapons has been released.
▪ Secondary Melee weapons have been adjusted to require two hits to kill in Ranked Play.
— Call of Duty Updates (@CODUpdates) January 19, 2024
Before the launch of MW3 Ranked Play, CDL pros even GA’d (gentleman’s agreement) knives, meaning they are no longer used in professional matches. The devs have since confirmed that while they plan to “follow Pro GAs” closely, they will “elect to adjust or omit GAs,” like in this case with the knives.