Sometimes Raven Software, the administrator of "Call of Duty: Warzone," has to shed a tear and make guns a little worse for the wear. In today's patch, the popular CR-56 AMAX assault rifle has been taken down a notch. In the War Zone, the assault rifle's minimum damage has been reduced from 32 to 31 (Cold War is different).

This is a conservative change, but not entirely unimportant. At minimum damage at range, players will need to fire one extra shot at AMAX to get a kill. However, the fastest kill time at max damage has not been changed, and Raven feels that the risk/reward balance of AMAX has been maintained.

The FARA 83 and Streetsweeper shotguns have also been nerfed in this patch. Aside from the increased recoil and hip spread, the Streetsweeper has been wiped off the ground. Common and uncommon variants were removed from the ground loot pool, and rares and epics were removed from supply boxes; Raven feels that the gun's early availability encourages "passive play."

The Bullfrog SMG also received some offsetting adjustments that Raven does not consider a "nerf." Its maximum damage was reduced from 34 to 32, but its maximum damage range was increased by 11% and its movement speed was slightly increased.

"This change reduces the bullfrog's ability to consistently achieve extreme TTKs, but does not remove it entirely," the developer wrote. Rather, the new stats "require a bit more accuracy in exchange for the bullfrog's attractive stat line."

The only weapon that is not a problem is the PPSh-41 submachine. The patch's other big buff is given to an attachment, the Combat Recon Barrel, which has been improved as part of an effort to "assess the Cold War sniper's position within Warzone."

On the other hand, the increase in movement speed with the stock has been significantly nerfed, which Raven says is intended to prevent the assault rifle from behaving like a submachine gun." The studio writes, "Even with such a significant reduction, these stocks remain a solid choice.

Reaction from Warzone players seems mostly positive. Some players are particularly excited about the comment at the end of the patch notes that Raven will "take a closer look at some of the weapons in Modern Warfare that are struggling." In general, however, players are appreciative of the developer's explanations and excuses for today's changes.

In a pleading preface to the notes on gun balancing, Raven states that he recognizes how disappointing it is to have a favorite gun demoted, but that they are only trying to make it harder to get extremely fast kills. The developer writes, "We ask that you consider these changes not as targeted attacks, but rather as part of a larger effort to raise the skill ceiling."

"This is a great and refreshingly honest patch note." Raven has really impressed me lately."

There are also bug fixes, including the addition of map coking for locations where players are out of range, a recurring problem in Warzone. The full patch notes can be read here.