Black Ops 7 received a sizable preseason update on Nov. 21, 2025 that rebalances aiming, scorestreaks, and nearly every weapon class. The headline moves are a stronger long-range aim assist, a meaningful nerf to the Drone Pod, and broad SMG improvements aimed at mid-range fights.
The update lands after Activision confirmed Black Ops 7’s November 14 launch and expands on tuning Treyarch previewed in its Nov. 20 developer talk. Players can also read the full technical breakdown on Activision’s official patch notes post for precise numbers and edge cases.
Aim assist
This patch reduces the minimum rotational aim assist penalty from 35% to 25%. That change strengthens aim assist at longer engagement ranges while the system now varies rotational strength depending on right stick movement. The intent is to make controller tracking smoother without letting aim assist dominate close quarters.
Drone Pod nerf
The Drone Pod is significantly slower to cycle and weaker on impact. Charge time for the Drone Pod now takes 3 minutes up from 2.5. Each drone’s active time is down to 8 seconds from 10 and damage per drone fell from 60 to 50. Those changes reduce how often teams can rely on repeated Drone Pod pressure in a match.
SMG buffs
SMGs were given a broad set of buffs to lift their effectiveness at medium ranges. Final damage ranges were extended across the board and several attachments now grant larger damage range and recoil control bonuses. The received flinch when hit is reduced from 0.17N to 0.12N for SMGs. Some models also gained base recoil improvements and quicker ADS on key barrels and grips.
Specific examples include the Ryden 45K and RK-9 which saw better ADS speeds and cleaner recoil, plus attachment upgrades that favor mid-range fights. The Razor 9mm and Dravec 45 gained attachment damage range boosts and slight recoil reductions. Movement and ADS speeds for SMGs were trimmed slightly to balance those gains.
Assault rifles and marksman rifles
Assault rifles received wide tuning to damage curves, range, mobility, and recoil. The M15 MOD 0 lost some raw damage but gained a larger maximum damage range and stronger mid to long distance falloff. Mobility was reduced in multiple areas to make its power harder to abuse. The AK-27 keeps its high recoil identity while taking new long range falloff and small handling slowdowns.
Marksman rifles such as the Warden 308 and M34 Novaline keep potent damage but see handling penalties. The Warden loses one-shot potential on upper arms but retains upper torso kills. Sprint to fire and ADS times were increased and received flinch was raised so landing shots requires steadier play.
LMGs and pistols
LMGs received modest aim-down-sight speed improvements. The MK7.8 and XM325 saw slight ADS time reductions and the MFS Heatshield Belt Fed attachment was adjusted to allow longer continuous fire before overheating while increasing the overheat penalty to encourage tactical bursts.
Pistols were generally strengthened but rebalanced. The Jager 45 Prestige Barrel now fires slower but does more base damage and extends range. Headshot multipliers were lowered and sprint to fire penalties were eased. The Velox 5.7 was tuned so a headshot is needed to reliably finish very close targets.
Multiplayer, scorestreaks, and challenges
The UI now offers 10% more minimap viewable area on top of a previous 15% increase. Scorestreak adjustments include the Hand Cannon Akimbo Overlock now carrying 7 rounds per gun and a 44 percent reduction in hipfire spread for better accuracy. Its Extended Mag Overclock variant lost capacity from 12 to 10 rounds.
Free for all spawn influencer sizes were adjusted to reduce bad spawns across maps. A camo challenge that requires killing enemies affected by Tactical Equipment now counts non lethal scorestreak effects. A bug that prevented the Popcorn Medal when chaining Needle Drone or Semtex kills was fixed.
Zombies tuning
The Ashes of the Damned map got several difficulty adjustments. The Hoard Husk boss regenerates health faster and has more overall health. Missile effectiveness was reduced and missiles are disabled during the Beam Attack charge phase. Interrupting the Beam Attack no longer lowers its cooldown before round 100 and several boss and vehicle damage behaviors were altered to be less punishing.
Some UI and spawn bugs were fixed and one obscure challenge was made much harder. The DS20 Mirage Pathfinder camo now requires 300 Dead Wire Ammo kills rather than five.
Co-op campaign and endgame
Endgame content was unlocked for all Black Ops 7 owners. A persistent issue where weapon builds lost attachments on load has been addressed.
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