(Pocket-lint) – Call of Duty: Warzone has well and truly settled into Caldera now, after it waved goodbye to the original map, Verdansk, upon the launch of 2021’s mainline game, COD Vanguard.
Now there’s a new season on the way with the launch of a new map, Fortune’s Keep. Find out all the key details right here.
When does Warzone Season 4 launch?
If you’re a big Warzone player you’ll have noticed that your current battle pass is on the way to expiry – Season 4 is on the way, and it launches today, on 22 June 2022.
#Warzone Season Four launches at 9AM PST!
New Map – Fortune’s Keep, Mercenaries of Fortune Event, new POIs – Storage Town, new Modes, Gameplay updates, new Weapons & adjustments, new Operator, and more!
The Patch Notes are available at:https://t.co/K9Mn58Ses6 pic.twitter.com/vcM5lvWVBN
— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) June 22, 2022
We know the title of the season is Mercenaries of Fortune, and that it’s bringing a new map with it.
What’s new in Warzone Season 4?
We now know plenty about Season 4 including one big headline – it’s dropping an entirely new map into Warzone. You can find out more below, or check out the official blog post for more details (the patch notes are also now out, and have things down to the percentage point).
New map – Fortune’s Keep
A new map arrives for the first time since Caldera, and Fortune’s Keep looks like it’s a bit bigger than Rebirth Island, but therefore still way smaller than the main Battle Royale map.
It’s a vibrant-looking criminal haven with a few main zones including a vineyard, a castle and a quaint coastal town for us to rampage through.
We now know that it will host Resurgence game modes like Rebirth Island, with the same player counts at first. Raven will experiment with higher player counts once we’ve had time to learn the map a little more.
Caldera map changes
A frequent gripe among dedicated Warzone players since Caldera launched is that the amount of vegetation can make it really challenging to work out where you’re being shot from at key times, especially in between points of interest.
That’s been listened to, seemingly – Caldera is getting a once-over that’s shaving away 50 per cent of all of its vegetation.
Battle Royale players – we got you
A few of next season’s updates to the Caldera include:
New micro-POIs and more looting
Secret underground Mercenary Vaults
50% less vegetation & better visibility
Plenty more surprises in-store pic.twitter.com/Ux3kR69RX3— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 15, 2022
The image of the map shows it drained of much of its water, too, with a few changes to points of interest and the addition of some new areas, albeit not huge ones for the most part.
One very welcome return comes in the form of Storage Town, which is dropped in near Mines and Dig Site, letting veterans of Verdansk tear up a point of interest they know like the back of their hand.
This all means that the main battle royale mode hasn’t been ignored for this season’s update. You can check out a really detailed showcase of all the changes, as well as details of Fortune’s Keep, on the Call of Duty blog here.
New weapons
As always there are some new weapons to unlock and explore, this time in the form of the Marco 5 SMG and the UGM-8 LMG.
The Marco 5 is highly mobile (like that was an issue on other Vanguard SMGs!), and will be the first Vanguard SMG that you can use akimbo. The UGM-8 sounds like it could have massive magazine sizes, and seemingly will also be more mobile than most LMGs.
New items
We know some new items are entering the game, and they sound really interesting. There’s a new EMP grenade to scramble enemies’ vision and disable vehicles for a short amount of time, as well as a portable redeploy balloon field upgrade, which could be a huge boon if you need a rapid relocation.
When did Warzone Season 3 Reloaded launch?
The mid-season update for Warzone’s third season of Vanguard content came out on 25 May 2022, and brought with it a surprisingly deep set of changes to how the game plays.
There’s a new way to get around Caldera faster than ever before
Study up on #Warzone’s new Underground Transit System, plus learn about all the new changes coming to #Vanguard and #Warzone in Season Three Reloaded https://t.co/XSH0dlifbN pic.twitter.com/PS3GU8Gmj8
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) May 23, 2022
You can read the full details in the patch notes, but we’ll also break down the key additions, below.
What’s new in Warzone Season 3 Reloaded?
There were plenty of changes in this mid-season update – here are the key ones.
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New fast-travel
There is now a range of tunnels under Caldera that will allow you to quickly travel around the map, freeing up more ways to rotate away from the gas. Be warned, though – they’re all accessed by a single ladder, so can easily be ambushed.
New squad HUD
An all-new look has been added to the squad HUD in the bottom left of your screen when playing with teammates – you can now see how many plates they have, whether they have a gas mask or killstreak, and whether they’ll go to the Gulag when they die or not. It’s a huge amount of new information that you no longer have to call out to discover.
H4 Blixen SMG
There’s a new SMG to unlock, with a slightly onerous requirement that you get three sliding kills in 15 different matches to get access to it. It’s a slower-firing SMG that can also be made to use a burst pattern.
New perk – Serpentine
Another perk comes across from Vanguard to Warzone, reducing incoming damage by 20 percent if you’re sprinting, which is great for getting away from snipers and covering fire. It takes up a blue perk slot, though, so you’ll have to sacrifice something like Cold Blooded.
New items
There are four new items to find in loot boxes and on the ground – a Gulag Entry Token, Redeploy Extraction Token, Speed Boost and Radar Jammer. The first two give you another opportunity to fight back into the game, or an automatic immediate redeploy.
Speed Boost gives you a short period of super-speed, which is always a bonus, while the Radar Jammer makes everyone’s minimaps go screwy, albeit in a way that signposts you’re in the area.
Gameplay tweaks
Alongside these additions, there are some seriously big changes to gameplay that are more miscellaneous. For example, buying a player back now only costs $3,000, while everyone also moves more quickly once they’ve been downed.
You’ll keep 80 percent of your money when you die, so getting back into the game is a little easier from a few angles, while Self-Revives are also more commonly found now. Lethal equipment like grenades and throwing knives have been buffed in the damage department to keep up with raised player health totals.
When did the Godzilla vs King Kong event end?
The long-awaited and much-rumoured arrival of Godzilla and King Kong on the island was part of a limited-time event called Operation Monarch. The mode saw both monsters roaming the island while players peppered them with damage to unlock items and killstreaks.
You can find full details on Operation Monarch in the official blog post about it, here. It was a fun game mode to try out, changing up the pace of Warzone a great deal.
The event started on 11 May, and it ran for a full two weeks before it ended on 25 May.
When did Warzone Season 3 launch?
Season 3 of Warzone, subtitled Classified Arms, launched on 27 April, so you can tuck into it in-game now.
This monster-sized season is now declassified
Here’s everything coming to Season Three of #Vanguard and #Warzone: https://t.co/xsn4yK1UU5 pic.twitter.com/tdxCejh5hn
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) April 21, 2022
There’s a bunch of detail in the above image about what’s arrived in the season, but we’ve broken it down below.
What’s new in Warzone Season 3?
There are a host of changes as part of the season, so we’ve separated them out into sections for you. You can check out the update’s full patch notes to get all the granular detail.
New weapons – M1916 and Nikita AVT
There are four new weapons for Warzone and Vanguard. A new marksman rifle, the M1916, is joined by the Nikita AVT assault rifle and you can get both for free by levelling up your battle pass.
Later in the season, a new melee option will appear, in the form of a hammer called the Junkyard Jet, likely inspired by King Kong’s brute strength. Finally, an SMG called the H4 Blixen will also appear at a certain point.
Map changes
Some changes have come to Peak, the top of Caldera’s central volcano, finishing off the in-progress building work and turning it into a more complete fortress. This should make it even more of a hot drop-spot than it already was.
Also new is a point of interest called Dig Site, where huge skeletons hint at a crazy past for Caldera, while the Runway and Lagoon areas are getting more points of cover added to them, to make them a little less open and vulnerable.
New gulag
The gulag, Warzone’s last-chance saloon, has received a new map, seemingly set in the hold of a cargo ship. It’s been a while since the gulag got a new rotation, so this could be welcome for those who tend to die a lot as they play.
When did Warzone Season 2 Reloaded launch?
The previous update for Warzone came out on 23 March after a few days of teasers from Raven Software about what it would entail.
#Warzone Season Two Reloaded launches at 9AM PST
A new LTE – Rebirth Reinforced, Weapon Trade Stations, Deployable Buy Stations, new Modes, a new Weapon, new Operators, new Gameplay, and more!
The Patch Notes are available at: https://t.co/oX0RLkVUU1 pic.twitter.com/GJZBHH2Xiv
— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) March 23, 2022
That means if you haven’t played since before the update, you’ll want to ensure you get the patch downloaded regardless of what platform you’re on.
What’s new in Warzone Season 2 Reloaded?
This update for Warzone was mainly focussed on Rebirth Island, the smaller map that plays host to some of the game’s less time-consuming and more casual playlists, but there were a fair few telling changes that apply to Caldera as well.
Arms Race, Rebirth Reinforced, and the COD-Father
Check out everything coming to #Vanguard and #Warzone in Season Two Reloaded.https://t.co/6N7IqzBbYk pic.twitter.com/7adVQ7uZRj
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) March 21, 2022
Rebirth Island refresh
The Alcatraz-flavoured island has been a mainstay since it launched alongside Verdansk a couple of years back, and this is the biggest set of changes that have hit it since then. There are a fair few new points of interest to help add cover to spots like the prison courtyard that were previously very open.
The map’s lighting has also changed substantially, while the decor all over the island has been updated to reflect the supremacy of Stitch’s Nova 6 gas manufacturing bad guys, in the slightly complicated canon of the Call of Duty world.
New weapon – Armaguerra
There’s a new SMG to try out, the Armaguerra, which hits nice and hard at close range but also seems to have manageable enough recoil to work at slightly farther out distances, too. It’s also in the ground loot rotation for both Rebirth and Caldera, so you can try it out there.
Deployable buy stations
You can now find very rare drops that let you spawn in an air-dropped buy station that sticks around for a few minutes – a hugely useful option if you need to buy someone back into the match or get your loadout but you don’t have a buy station within range.
Armour satchel and gas mask changes
Small tweaks to gas masks mean you can now drop a mask for a teammate, while armour satchels now display the number of plates they contain, making it easier to manage your armour once you already have a satchel.
Balance changes
There are a few balance tweaks to weapons and their attachments, although these are granular enough that they’re not causing a dramatic shift in the meta at this point – you can find out more detail in the full patch notes here.
When did Warzone Pacific Season 2 launch?
The last season of Warzone got extended by a few weeks to give Raven and the other development teams more time to get the next one ready, but Season 2 debuted on 14 February.
The best defense is a heavily-armored offense. See what’s rolling into #Vanguard and #Warzone in Season Two—coming February 14th.
Learn More: https://t.co/SQzphcLEAX pic.twitter.com/nTtawCL34m
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) February 8, 2022
That means you can dive into Caldera right now and check out all the new content and adjustments.
What’s new in Warzone Pacific Season 2?
This is a seriously big set of changes for Warzone, even by the standards of a new season. You can find all the detail on the Call of Duty blog here, but we’ve pulled out the highlights below.
New weapons
There are four new weapons to unlock and use during the course of the season, including the KG M40 Assault Rifle and Whitley LMG on day one, both of which apparently pack high damage outputs and manageable recoil.
The ice axe will debut in a bundle mid-season, while the Armaguerra 43 SMG will also come out as part of the mid-season update.
Nebula V gas
Part of the ongoing story of Warzone involves the discovery of Nebula V gas on Caldera, and it’s going to play a big gameplay role. New field upgrades around the gas are here.
Firstly, Nebula V Ammo adds a clip of toxic ammo to your gun, dealing no extra damage to players but adding an effect if you down them – they’ll be surrounded by a gas cloud to hinder those trying to revive them like the circle gas does.
Even more potent are Nebula V Bombs, super-rare items that let you set off a timed explosive to set a spreading two-minute mini-circle of the gas on an area, blocking off flankers or trapping people in a building.
Finally, the addition of Portable Decontamination Stations counters this a little – they let you create a safe haven in either Nebula V or circle gas, giving you critical time to heal up and re-plate your armour before moving on.
Bombers and armoured transport
New vehicles have arrived in Vanguard Royale modes, although you can only drive one – the new bomber.
This four-man plane can drop payloads that destroy loadout boxes and inflict massive damage on players and vehicles, so teams may look to focus on bringing them down from AA Guns and Trucks. The standard planes can do significant damage to bombers, too, although they’re getting their health pool thankfully reduced.
Also new are armoured transport trucks which drive along set routes and defend themselves with machine guns. They’re tough to take down but will drop top-tier loot including the chance for a Nebula V bomb.
New PvE locations
For the first time outside of limited-time modes, Warzone has got PvE scenarios (or, more accurately, PvPvE). Two new location types are guarded by enemy AI for players to clear out in fights that could alert other teams to their whereabouts.
The first is a Chemical Factory, near Mines and Docks, expanding on a refinery that was already there. It has patrolling guards, and high-value loot along with some sort of trap that players can deploy. Additionally, seven new underground labs have opened up – we’ve seen various hatches and bunker doors around Caldera, so you might already know where they are, although circles on your map will make things more obvious.
They, too, are guarded by squads of AI soldiers, but hold loot including Durable Gas Masks and potential Nebula V Ammo.
Redeploy balloons
Taking a note from the books written by Apex Legends and PUBG, these new balloons dotted around the map let you zipline up to a height and then jump off for a parachute glide to a new locations hundreds of metres away, giving you a way to quickly outrun the gas or get out of an engagement.
Warzone Pacific loadout changes
After a huge amount of consternation, Raven recently announced that it was making a major change to balance in Warzone, effective immediately. Whereas when Pacific launched the schedule for buying a loadout changed, to make players wait longer before they were available, that’s being revoked.
A #Warzone update has gone live!
Loadout Drops are now available for purchase via Buy Stations from the get-go in Battle Royale. No more waiting!
The Season One Patch Notes have been amended (see Feb 3rd): https://t.co/c5RLdmMEW6 pic.twitter.com/oZUUBORvkW
— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) February 3, 2022
This means that from now on, the second you have $10,000 collected you can buy a loadout drop, regardless of when in the match that might be. The community has rejoiced after demanding the change for weeks, although we’re a little worried it’ll just mean the best teams in each lobby will get their best guns even more quickly.
Warzone Pacific Season 1 mid-season update
Raven recently released a mid-season update for Caldera, adjusting a load of weapons and fixing a range of bugs, although the game still has plenty of issues including a really frequent freeze when you open a Buy Station.
It’s a pretty low-key update compared to mid-season launches from the months gone by, without a major theme or new map events, but if the developers are focussing their energy on fixing bugs and exploits we’re not complaining.
New weapon
The one major addition in this update is a new SMG, the Welrod Gun, which Raven says is a short-to-mid-range option, like most SMGs. You can unlock it by getting kills while aiming down sights on SMGs, and it shouldn’t be too onerous to get hold of.
Weapon adjustments
Also included in the new update are a host of adjustments to weapons and their attachments, focussing in particular on the Bren, STG44 and MP40, all of which have been perhaps a little too easy to use since Pacific launched.
They’re a bit too detailed to go into fully but, in general, more recoil should be present when using meta attachments like the Carver Foregrip on these weapons, making them at least a little more challenging in some engagements.
You can find full details of all the changes, right down to the percentage, in the patch notes that Raven has posted right here.
Warzone Pacific launch date
Warzone Pacific (as it is now called) is live right now, after launching for everyone on 9 December 2021.
That means you’re free to explore the new map, Caldera.
marks your drop.
Where will you be dropping? #Warzone pic.twitter.com/F9btJRH0Q0
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) November 30, 2021
You can get a sense of the new map thanks to the Tweet above from Call of Duty, which reveals its main regions and areas, which you can also check out in motion thanks to the trailer below. Now that the game is fully out in the wild, though, you’ll be able to see loads more gameplay footage on YouTube, too, or jump in yourself
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills.
