The AMR9 was already one of the most popular weapons in Warzone, but an additional buff just made the SMG even more lethal.
Raven Software shook up Warzone‘s short-range meta in the Season One Reloaded update by nerfing the ISO 9mm and buffing the Striker 9 and AMR9. Then, a few days later, the devs doubled down and nerfed the WSP Swarm’s near, mid, and far damage values.
Both nerfs created a power vacuum with no clear favorite for gunfights 10 meters away or closer. Some players turned to the HRM-9 SMG, which blew players away after getting introduced in the mid-season update. However, the AMR9 became everyone’s go-to choice, and those fans were gifted another treat.
Slow sprint-to-fire speed holds AMR9 back from being meta
According to WZ Ranked, the AMR9 is the most popular weapon in Warzone, with a 25 percent pick rate. The next best SMG is the HRM-9, with a pick rate shy of 10 percent.
That number might spike even higher after a buff to the SMG in the Jan. 23 update. The AMR9 had its fire rate increased from 789 rpm to 833 rpm. Sledgehammer Games only listed the change under multiplayer, but it applied to Warzone as well.
TrueGameData dove into the analytics to find out what the buff changed. Because of the increased fire rate, the AMR9’s time-to-kill (TTK) speed now leads all short-range-meta options at 576 milliseconds, and that extends out to 20 meters. Previously, the SMG’s TTK speed was around 600 ms, and that number was even worse because of the weapon’s slow sprint-to-fire speed.
The AMR9 has a 206-millisecond sprint-to-fire speed, which is the time it takes from sprinting to being able to shoot at an enemy. For comparison, other SMGs range from 80 to 110 ms. This statistic is crucial in short-range engagements because the AMR9 got outpaced by other SMGs and resulted in losing gunfights, even if you reacted first.
If you factor in the slow sprint-to-fire speed, the AMR9’s TTK slows down by 100ms, but that’s no longer that much of a problem thanks to the increased fire rate. “Despite the sprint-to-fire time being slower by default, I think it’s absolutely a meta weapon and just as good if not better than the HRM-9 after this RPM change,” TrueGameData claimed.
If you aren’t sure what attachments to use on your new close-range meta build, check out our guide on the best SMG loadouts in Warzone.
