Modern Warfare 3 Season 2 finally buffed the worst weapon in the game

The weapon that was universally criticized as the worst in multiplayer received a huge boost in Season 2 of MW3, making it not only viable but even one of the best options in its category.

It’s no secret that most players prefer to use powerful weapons that dominate the Modern Warfare 3 meta. These primary weapons give you an objective advantage, whether through their excellent TTK, exceptional maneuverability, or their ease of use.

Likewise, certain weapons are almost abandoned outside of the Mastery Camouflage quest because they are far from being competitive. One of the best examples of this was the Sidewinder which many fans had long deemed to be the worst weapon in MW3.

However, a huge strengthening in Season 2 allowed the Sidewinder to become not only relevant but even a truly powerful option.

The Sidewinder is now a great option in Modern Warfare 3

As part of the Season 2 update, MW3’s worst weapon received a huge boost that propelled it from irrelevance to legitimate competitiveness.

As detailed in the patch notes, the base Sidewinder has received the following reinforcements:

Increased bullet velocity to 600m/s, up from 540m/s.
Significantly reduced weapon recoil and hit.

The increased bullet velocity is useful, but it’s the “decreased recoil and weapon swing”that truly transformed the Sidewinder. Its extreme recoil was by far the battle rifle’s biggest drawback, but it is now relatively accurate given its high firepower.

Call of Duty expert TheXclusiveAce showed this in action in his preview of Season 2’s weapon balance changes. In this video, he compared the Sidewinder’s recoil before and after the update, and the difference is staggering, with post-update dispersion much more clustered and easier to predict.

Another change that has benefited the Sidewinder is the overhaul of Inactive Aimed Swing. Since Season 2, Idle Swing is much more predictable and does not trigger immediately upon aiming but rather briefly afterward.

This greatly benefits slow-firing weapons as accuracy is much greater since missing shots with them is less forgivable. This is especially true for those who enjoy using the Sidewinder in semi-automatic, which has historically been the preferred method of operating the battle rifle.