Is the NZ-41 still a meta weapon after its nerf in Warzone Season 4?

Right before the weekend kicked off, developer Raven Software decided they wanted to change up the meta in Call of Duty: Warzone Season 4. They attempted to do this by further nerfing the NZ-41 in the July 7 update, decreasing its recoil recovery by 20%.

Since the middle of Season 3, the NZ-41 assault rifle from Vanguard has dominated the killfeed in Warzone. It didn’t matter which map players were on, as chances were they were going to run into several NZ-41s over the course of the match. Raven made an effort to change this by nerfing the NZ-41, but Warzone fans are convinced they didn’t do enough.

Over the weekend, fans had time to test out the newly nerfed NZ-41. While there are some clear differences when shooting the rifle after the nerf, not much else has changed. The main issue with the NZ-41 before the update on July 7 was its recoil control. Players barely had to move their aim when firing with the rifle because of how accurate it was. This, paired with a high damage range and fire rate, made the NZ-41 one of the most dominant weapons Warzone has ever seen.

While Raven attempted to fix this by nerfing its recoil recovery, fans and content creators hardly noticed it. Creator @Warzone_Loadout on Twitter tested out the NZ-41 before and after its nerf. In a side-by-side comparison, it’s clear that the Vanguard rifle is still deadly accurate and has the same damage range it always had.

Quick and dirty NZ41 test.

Look at the few seconds after the mag is empty and screen is centering again, this is where the recoil recovery is most visible.
Also between each shots that makes it a little bit more shaky visually.

Damage & recoil untouched = still absolute meta. pic.twitter.com/8mUjNnqPeE

— Warzone Loadout – CODMunity (@Warzone_Loadout) July 7, 2022

The only noticeable difference post-nerf is that the gun is a little shakier, which results from the recoil recovery decrease. However, that doesn’t appear to have been enough to reduce the overall effectiveness of the NZ-41.

This is slightly disappointing to fans who wanted to see a true shake-up in the Season 4 meta. For now, it seems that the NZ-41 will still reign supreme atop the meta until Raven can possibly deliver another nerf. For fans who want to try another assault rifle, we have dozens of loadout guides on off-meta ARs that can give an NZ-41 a run for its money.