Black Ops 7 patch buffs MK35 ISR, adjusts VST, fixes Warzone bugs

The latest Season 03 tuning pass is a real loadout shake-up, not a cleanup pass. Treyarch’s April 21 patch notes gave the MK35 ISR a cleaner opening shot, eased the VST’s recoil profile, and confirmed the MPC-25 is now unrestricted in Ranked Play, setting up a very different pace for the next set of lobbies.

The biggest winner is the MK35 ISR. Treyarch removed an unintended Sprint to Fire penalty from the low-recoil assault rifle, raised its maximum damage from 23 to 24, kept its 0 to 41.9 meter damage range intact, and nudged its headshot multiplier from 1.15x to 1.16x. The handling buffs matter just as much as the damage bump: Sprint to Fire improved from 253 milliseconds to 240 milliseconds, while Tactical Sprint to Fire dropped from 374 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds. In practical terms, the rifle is now better suited for the kind of aggressive, first-shot timing that decides close and midrange fights in Black Ops 7.

The VST got a different kind of help. Treyarch said it wanted the SMG to stay true to its high-recoil identity while making it more accessible, so it slightly reduced view kick and strengthened the attachments players already lean on to tame it. The Hawker Series 45 Compensator improved from 20% to 28% vertical recoil control, the Hawker Stabilizer MK.II Muzzle Brake moved from 8% to 13%, and the Redwell Shade-X Suppressor went from 11% to 15%. That pushes the VST closer to a more consistent main-SMG pick without flattening the weapon’s kick pattern into something generic.

The Strider 300 also moved in the right direction for quick-scoping fans. Treyarch said an ADS animation update is still coming in Season 03 Reloaded, but for now the sniper rifle’s fire time and ADS time were improved, with some grip ADS benefits shifted into the Fast Mag and Handling Laser. The goal is unchanged: keep it the fastest bolt-action rifle in BO7, even as the handling package gets rebalanced around its core identity.

Season 03 launched on April 2 at 9:00 a.m. PT and arrived with new maps, weapons, events, and the free-to-play Endgame mode. Its Battle Pass brought more than 100 rewards and put the MK35 ISR and VST front and center, alongside Cole “Javelin” Donovan and Valkyrie. In Warzone, Raven Software’s March 31 notes added the other side of the story: a 10-minute big-map rotation between Avalon and Verdansk, a reduced drop rate for Deployable Buy Stations, fixes for the VST SMG’s Absolute Zero mastery camo challenge, and another Deadeye Drone cleanup pass after Season 02 Reloaded already removed allied sniper glint. The new Concussion and Flashbang counter that disables placed equipment, including drones and deployables, adds one more reason to play around cover and spacing tonight.