Activision has revealed the Call of Duty Season 1 roadmap for both Vanguard and Warzone Pacific, and players can expect plenty of new content for this first season. Season 1 will arrive on December 8 packed with new operators, weapons, perks, battle pass, and the brand-new Caldera map for Warzone.
Following updates to Vanguard and Warzone, Season 1 will start on December 8. Vanguard’s update is scheduled for December 6 at 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET. Warzone’s update is scheduled to happen during the server shutdown from December 7 at 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET to December 8 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET to prepare for Warzone Pacific.
Now Playing: Call of Duty: Vanguard & Warzone – The Pacific Launch Trailer
New Seasonal Battle Pass
Season 1’s battle pass will include 100 tiers, with over 30 items offered in the free tiers. Free items will also include the important bits of the battle pass, which are the three DLC weapons, two new perks, and added equipment. The premium paid pass will include the new seasonal operator, Francis “Kai” Lanakila.
Battle pass weapons:
- Cooper Carbine is an assault rifle unlocked at tier 15
- Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle is a sniper rifle unlocked at tier 31
- Sawtooth is a melee weapon unlocked at tier 37
In addition to the three free weapons in the battle pass, the Katana melee weapon and the Welgun submachine gun will become available later in the season. These new weapons will be available either through an unlock challenge for free or with purchase of a store bundle.
Vanguard Multiplayer
Season 1 of Vanguard will add some familiarities for longtime players, including Modern Warfare 3’s small Dome map arriving as a Pacific-themed remake called Radar. Paradise is a brand-new medium-sized and three-lane-style map set at a weapons testing site somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Both maps will arrive with the launch of the season.
The Control game mode will make its Vanguard debut later in season, which is an objective respawn mode with a set amount of lives for each team. The goal of Control is to capture or defend two zones without running out of team lives. A second game mode is teased to also be coming later in season, and it’s described as a respawn-heavy mode also from Modern Warfare 3.
This season’s battle pass includes new perks and equipment for Vanguard’s multiplayer:
The new tier 1 perk Serpentine Perk is unlocked at tier 21 of the battle pass. Equipping the Serpentine perk allows Sprinting to reduce incoming damage. Activision describes this as “breaking out into a regular sprint slightly reduces all damage from ballistics and explosives, while Tactical Sprinting can cut damage by more than a quarter of its normal value.”
Intuition, which is also a tier 1 perk, is unlocked at tier 44 of the battle pass. With Intuition, a player’s vision pulses when enemies are nearby, even through walls. Activision says this perk works similar to High Alert in previous games, but with shorter range, Intuition allows players to perceive threats before they round corners or burst through doors. This is done without the need to suppress them like the existing Piercing Range perk, making it a more passive option for those looking for close-range engagements.
The Special Incendiary Grenade is new lethal equipment earned by reaching tier 39 of the pass. The Incendiary Grenade works to deal a small burst of damage within a large radius at the detonation point, then deals burn damage every second to those who stay within its range.
Zombies
Season 1 for the Zombies mode is set to add in a new objective, new Covenants, new portal location, and 20 new seasonal challenges to Der Anfang.
Purge is Der Anfang’s new objective. Purge requires players to eradicate the Augmentors, which are described as aethereal worms that feed on the dimensional energy that powers Kortifex. These worms can only be stopped by capturing powerful Control Runes, but the Augmentors will spawn waves of enemies as a defense mechanism as players attempt to purge them from the map.
The update also adds 14 new Covenant upgrades across five new Covenants:
- Brimstone: Deal damage to nearby enemies (Rare/Epic/Legendary Rarity)
- Deadshot: Aiming down sights snaps the crosshairs to headshot location on enemies Bonus damage on first crit for each enemy. Removes weapon sway (Rare/Epic Rarity)
- Dead Wire: Stuns enemy (Rare/Epic Rarity). Stuns enemy and nearby enemies (Legendary Rarity)
- Scrapper: Gain more Salvage from pickups (Rare/Epic Rarity). Gain more Salvage from pickups and Objective rewards (Legendary Rarity)
- Swift Vengeance: Deal more damage the faster you move. Activates shortly after you start moving. Fire while sprinting (Rare/Epic Rarity). Activates immediately upon moving (Legendary Rarity)
Later in the season, Treyarch is preparing new Zombies updates for after the new year:
- The Tome of Rituals. Your Artifacts will be able to grow in power through the Tome of Rituals, offering greater Dark Aether abilities to aid in your survival
- Von List’s Office. Few know what Von List is hiding in his personal quarters, but it may offer clues as to Kortifex’s plans. Dark secrets may also be waiting beyond a mysterious new portal
- Support Killstreaks. The devastating Warmachine and Deathmachine will be ready to help you fight the rotting masses, so long as you have the Salvage to spare at the Crafting Table (or get lucky at the Mystery Box)
- Additional Features. New weapon unlock challenges, Mystery Box weapon updates, Server Pause functionality, and more are planned for later in Season One, including festive new holiday theming in Stalingrad
There is also a brief mention of a Festive Fervor seasonal event, which Activision says it will reveal more details on the event at a later date.
Warzone
For Warzone, Activision only highlights the ongoing Last Hours of Verdansk limited-time mode that’s currently available to play. Here’s everything we know about Warzone Pacific’s new Caldera map, including new game modes and features.
Warzone servers will “go dark” on December 7 at 9 PM PT/12 AM ET and remain unavailable until Caldera’s Early Access for Vanguard players begins on December 8 at 9 PM PT/12 AM ET. During this exclusive access, Warzone’s smaller Rebirth Island map will remain unlocked for everyone else to play. Caldera will become available for everyone to play on December 9.
Call of Duty content continues as a number of employees at Raven Software take part in a walk-out in protest of surprise contract terminations within the QA team that began late last week. Call of Duty content continues as Activision Blizzard faces lawsuits and other investigations related to alleged sexual harassment and discrimination against women.
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