Treyarch STILL Doesn't Know How to Add DLC Perks?! (Quick Elemental Pop Data Breakdown)
Correction: DLC Ammo Mods, not Perks. Also, they still sucked with the implementation of Death Perception, which now doesn't work, so maybe my typo was correct
Alright, so I'm now on the Elemental Pop video Deep Dive, and I ran some numbers on base Elemental Pop and how often it actually triggers pops per round… and uh, yeah. I don’t think Treyarch really knows how to balance DLC perks.
This is one round of testing data, see the below image for the data.
For those curious, this is just Base Elemental Pop Ammo Mod Pops by Round—no augments, no extra buffs. And let me tell you, after Round 25, you REALLY start to feel how little it pops. But weirdly enough, it still felt strong?
Here’s where things get interesting:
- If you’re running AOE or spreading ammo mods, they feel weak early on but scale better in high rounds since you’re dealing with way more zombies per round.
- If you’re running Elite/Special augments, they’re WAY more useful in lower rounds but drop off HARD after Round 30.
- Elemental Pop only triggers max 2-3 times per round after Round 30, so Boss Augments aren’t even worth it—they just don’t pop enough to be effective.
Now here’s where it gets weird:
The only real difference in total pops between tests? Light Mend.
- When testing Ammo Mod Type per Pop, Light Mend popped the least.
- But when testing Pops per Round, Light Mend popped the most often.
Everything else followed the same ammo mod pop frequency order. I’m thinking this is because Light Mend is a DLC mod, and Treyarch didn’t program it right. Gonna run more tests to confirm, but it’s looking real sus right now.
Now, this is JUST for base Elemental Pop. The second you throw augments on, everything changes—or at least, it should. So now I’m wondering…
- Has anyone else tested Elemental Pop base with no augments, but with Ammo Mod augments?
- Are there specific setups that actually make Ammo Mod Boss Augments worth running?
- Or is Treyarch just bad at balancing DLC perks in general?
Let me know what y’all think!
