Hunt: Showdown is finally nerfing the Dolch 96, the game’s most hated weapon

Crytek is granting Hunt: Showdown entire playerbase a wish they have been hoping for roughly since the game launched back in 2018. In the test server update notes for the upcoming Update 1.6, the developers reveal a sweeping nerf to the Dolch 96 line of guns.

The Dolch 96 is part of a triad of highly-priced, deliberately overpowered weapons that form the high end of Hunt: Showdown’s arsenal, the other two being the Crown & King Auto 5, and the Nitro Express. The Dolch shoots fast, hits hard, has excellent ballistics and piercing, comes with a big magazine and a decent ammo reserve, and even reloads fast. The weapon has been historically considered over-tuned by the game’s community, and consequently reviled as soft cheating.

Some Hunt: Showdown players take their hatred of the weapon to the point of in-game activism. Players sometimes take Dolch 96 weapons from fallen opponents, only to discard them permanently from the game, effectively thinning the weapon’s presence in Hunt Showdown’s persistent economy.

Crytek acknowledges that the Dolch 96 has “performed slightly too well in certain areas” in the patch notes. Judging by the degree to which they are nerfing the weapon, the Dolch has been performing slightly too well in all areas. The full list of changes includes:

• Decreased damage from 110 to 97. This reduces the effective range from 86 to 78 meters.
• Decreased handling for the Dolch 96 from 72% to 61%, and for the Dolch 96 Precision from 80% to 69%.
• Increased partial reload time from 1 second to 2 seconds, and full reload time from 5 to 6 seconds.

Aside from the well-deserved Dolch 96 nerf, Hunt: Showdown is also buffing medium and long ammo guns and several custom ammo types, and increasing the Bornheim Match’s damage from 76 to 80, which finally makes it a two-tap weapon. Update 1.6 is currently live on the Hunt: Showdown test server, if you would like to test the new changes hands-on.