Modern Warfare 3's best AR has been hit with 'significant' nerf
Even though Modern Warfare 3 may still be in its early stages, a weapon meta has already been established by the community in the pre-season. Specific guns like the Rival-9, Striker, BAS-B, and Longbow have all stood out from the crowd and become the default options for a lot of players.
Despite this, one AR has stood above the rest thanks to its devastating TTK and stability at mid to long-range. We're obviously talking about the Holger 556, which has quickly made a name for itself as the premium choice in MW3.
Well, the devs have addressed this in a recent patch, hitting the Holger 556 with "significant" nerfs, but is it still a powerhouse in multiplayer?
Holger 556 AR nerfed in November 21 MW3 patch
As showcased by MW3 expert TrueGameData, the Holger 556 was nerfed in the November 21 patch in an attempt to reduce its dominance in the meta.
For starters, the gun's headshot damage multiplier was reduced from 1.4x to 1.3x. On top of this, the neck, upper-torso, arm, and hand damage multiplier were decreased from 1.1x to 1x.
Finally, the Holger 556 sprint to fire time was changed from 210ms to 231ms, resulting in a roughly 10% increase.
Following tests from TrueGameData, the main shift for the Holger 556 is that its TTK now drops off at around 35m to 470ms. Previously, the gun was killing opponents at 360ms at the same distance. As you would expect, this is a pretty "significant" hit to the weapon's power.
Is the Holger 556 still strong in Modern Warfare 3?
Click to enlargeThe Holger 556 will remain a powerful AR in MW3 following the nerfs, but you will notice the gun has a slower TTK at long-range compared to before.
Luckily, the weapon's close-to-mid-range damage wasn't touched, so it's still going to obliterate foes in those enclosed spaces.
Only time will tell whether this knocks the Holger 556 off the top spot, but for now, it remains the most popular option in the game.
