Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 update breaks assault rifles so badly, they're pretty much useless now

No, it's not just you - it looks like the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 update has nerfed assault rifles.

As spotted by our friends at Digital Foundry, "assault rifles effective ranges have been accidentally nerfed, causing much lower damage at most ranges".

That's not all, either. It seems the Ghost perk - which hides you from UAV and scout pulse - cannot be equipped at all anymore (although it can be duplicated from a class that already has it equipped).

The issue with assault rifles is that the damage you mete out is extremely low as the effective range has seemingly dropped from 40+m to 5.7m and 10.9m - which means you're essentially tickling enemy players to death.

FYI Black Ops 6 players, S1 Battle Pass has two major bugs! 1️⃣ Assault rifle effective ranges have been accidentally nerfed, causing much lower damage at most ranges. 2️⃣ The Ghost perk can't be equipped, but can be duplicated from a class that already has it equipped. Spread the word!

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— Will Judd 威廉 (@wsjudd.bsky.social) November 14, 2024 at 8:03 PM

"So it seems they botched the damage ranges for a lot of Assault Rifles with this update," opined Camocheese on the subreddit. "I was wondering why the AK felt so weak, so I looked at the advanced stats, and it says like damage beyond effective range 5.7 meters so it's now dealing its MINIMUM damage past barrel stuffing ranges. The AMES, Model L and Goblin also seem to be broken. Good stuff.

"Also the patch broke Ghost for me. I'm level 21, but Ghost is still locked despite unlocking at level 17.

"It's the usual shit with modern live-service CoDs," they finished. "Patches breaking stuff in unexpected ways. Nice."

A lot of ARs are broken right now
byu/Camocheese inblackops6

Although Treyarch has noted and is "investigating" an issue where "Ghost remains locked despite meeting requirements to unlock it", it has not yet formerly acknowledged the problem with assault rifles.

Yesterday, we reported Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is clamping down on what it calls "disruptive behaviour" - specifically, players going AFK to boost account levels without playing, or playing on alternative servers via VPNs.

"For a series built on high-octane thrills and explosive gratification, its withdrawal to the well-trodden formula echoes the wider industry's continued allergy to risk," Chris Tapsell wrote in Eurogamer's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 review.