Sledgehammer Games reveals buffs for two perks in Vanguard

For over two months, fire grenades have reigned supreme in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Their dominance has led Sledgehammer Games to come up with several ways to nerf them. This starts with buffing two perks in Vanguard multiplayer.

As of right now, there are no counters to fire grenades in multiplayer, which has led to a massive uptick in their usage. If players hop into a match on Shipment or Das Haus, all they’ll see is fire grenades littering the battlefield. More specifically, they’ll see the Incendiary Grenade, which was introduced with the Season 1 Battle Pass. While the Thermite Grenade is also popular, it’s not nearly as strong as the Incendiary.

After an outcry from the community, Sledgehammer is nerfing the Incendiary Grenade and overall fire damage in an update that’s releasing soon.

Vanguard nerfing fire damage by buffing two perks

Sledgehammer Games wrote a lengthy Twitter thread explaining exactly how the developers are dealing with fire damage in Vanguard. The thread began by stating that the dev team plans to nerf the overall effectiveness of the Incendiary Grendade. Players in Core modes will now be able to survive if they run into the fire set by the grenade. This doesn’t apply if players are hit directly by the grenade, though.

Next, the developers explained what they’re doing to counter fire damage as a whole. Two perks, Fortified and Dauntless, will be receiving new additions to fight fires in multiplayer. Those additions are viewable below.

• Fortified: Significantly reduce incoming fire damage, including the initial effects of getting hit with a Molotov.
• Dauntless: Grant immunity when moving through fire. It will not protect against initial impact, like direct damage from the Flamnaut.

Finally, the devs explained that the Incendiary Grenade will also see a reduction in the area that its smoke and flames take up. The goal of the Incendiary Grenade now is to block off sight lines and lanes from enemies. This specific change is coming in a different update, however.

For now, players can expect all of the other changes to arrive in next week’s Vanguard update. Season 1 Reloaded should release early next and introduce new content to Vanguard, including the Zombies mode. It will also introduce the perk buffs, fire damage nerfs and weapon balancing for snipers and shotguns, among other things.