COD Mobile Season 1 2026 Meta Shift: All Buffs, Nerfs & Wildcard Changes

Call of Duty: Mobile Season 1 2026 Frozen Abyss gives preference to tuning over adding new content pressure. The balance changes in Call of Duty Mobile Season 1 Update focus on flinch control, damage drop-off and operator skill pacing, which had started to determine battles very early.

Now, ranked matches depend more on positioning and timing. Below is a complete breakdown of the test server update and how the COD Mobile S1 2026 Balance Changes affect real matches.

COD Mobile S1 2026 Balance Changes

Here are all the weapon nerfs and buffs in the COD Mobile S1 balance changes you need to know:

Weapon Nerfs

XM4

• Hit flinch increased: 0.6 → 0.9.
• Serpent Wrap flinch reduction: -50% → -15%.

The XM4's ability to shoot at an angle has been completely restrained. The exchanges of fire at mid-range on maps such as Crossfire are leaning towards controlled shooting instead of continuous spraying, akin to the new risk setup in COD Mobile S1 2026 Draws, where the consistent performance takes over the value guaranteed.

PKM

• OWC Marksman Barrel: -3% sprint speed.
• MIP Light Stock: +5% hit flinch.

PKM setups still work for lane control, but late rotations and close pushes suffer. Movement mistakes cost more under the current COD Mobile S1 2026 Balance Changes.

Machine Pistol

• Damage: 22-17-13 → 19-16-13.

Backup swaps lose reliability. In Search & Destroy, committing to fights matters more than panic-firing.

Weapon Buffs

There are all the weapon buffs you must know about, and change your loadout as soon as possible.

KN-44

• Damage: 29-24-19 → 29-24-21.
• Lower arm multiplier: 1.15x → 1.2x.

KN-44 is effective at lower hit landing. It is consistent without reducing to the other AR levels.

AGR 556

• Damage: 25-23-19 → 27-25-22.

AGR is the one to beat if mixed fights are the scenario. It helps to apply the pressure from the hill without forcing headshots.

M4LMG

• Damage ranges adjusted with stronger mid values.
• Spawn holds on Raid or Standoff feel viable without extreme distance play.

Koshka

• Fire interval: 1180ms → 1120ms.
• Missed shots recover faster. Re-peeking lanes carries less downtime.

Arctic .50

• ADS: 440ms → 420ms.
• OWC Stopping Power ADS penalty removed.

Sniping feels responsive again. It competes without sacrificing reaction time.

SKS

• Damage: 60-58 → 60-59.
• Hit flinch: 1.4 → 1.1.

Tap-fire duels reward tracking. Flinch no longer decides fights alone.

Shorty

• Range: 3m / 6m / 10m.
• Fire interval: 300ms → 260ms.

Close clears enhance, but the range limits remain as strict as before.

Crossbow

• The damage caused by the Sticky Bolt's explosion has increased.
• The burn damage of the Thermite Bolt has been increased.
• Area denial has become more effective in bomb plants and hill breaks.

S36

• The damage curve has been adjusted.
• The headshot multiplier has been changed from 1.3x to 1.4x.
• Correct headshot tracking is now more crucial, while uncontrolled spray is losing its value.

BK57

• The initial damage range has been increased from 10m to 12m.
• 7.62 reload: lower arm multiplier has been increased from 1x to 1.1x with +15% range added.

BK57 is now better at handling misses, making it more suitable for different ranges under the COD Mobile S1 2026 balance changes.

MAC-10

• Sprint-to-fire time has been reduced from 200ms to 160ms.
• The hipfire spread has been tightened.

It feels like there are quicker entries, but poor spacing is still punished.

Operator Skills, Scorestreaks, Perks, and Wildcards

Buffs

• Ballistic Shield: lower energy cost.
• Reactor Core: faster passive charge.
• Bomb Drone: minimum damage 60 → 100.
• Guardian: damage 15 → 20.
• Underkill (Wildcard): faster activation, higher health, slower decay.

Objective play gains options without forcing Overkill. These COD Mobile S1 2026 balance changes encourage flexible loadouts.

Nerfs

• Sparrow: arrows 9 → 6, duration 29s → 20s.
• Napalm: duration 12s → 10s.
• Skill Overdrive (Wildcard): added charge penalties.
• Skill chaining drops off. Timing replaces spam.

The past seasons counted on the introduction of new operators or the release of overpowered guns to change the meta, resulting in very fast nerfs and bans. The balance changes in COD Mobile Season 1 2026 do it the other way around, more gradually.

This switch in game design changes the pace of content released in updates like COD Mobile S1 2026 Battle Pass, where the time frame for competitive play is no longer determined by progression rewards.