Call of Duty: Warzone is headed to the Pacific on December 8 with Vanguard’s Season 1, and Activision has provided new details to further showcase the new Caldera map’s points of interest and highlight what players can expect at launch. The November 30 blog post reveals some lush island settings, new modes, and much needed changes to overpowered weapons and equipment.
Caldera is Warzone’s first brand-new map since the game launched in March 2020, and players can expect a completely new change of scenery with this Pacific island setting. The fictional island of Caldera features a volcano, waterfalls, and cave exploration for the nature enthusiasts, but there is added variety with buildings like the airport, beach resort, and industrial docks. The full Caldera map is now revealed to have 15 main points of interest.
With the launch of Vanguard integration on December 8, players can expect all of Vanguard’s weapons and operators to be available in Warzone. This includes the core 38 weapons from Vanguard’s launch, plus two free weapons arriving in the Season 1 battle pass.
Also available at launch, Warzone Pacific will feature the new Vanguard Royale playlist in addition to standard battle royale. Vanguard Royale is Warzone’s new dogfighting mode that will allow players to take to the skies or maneuver AA guns to combat aerial attacks. Vanguard Royale will only feature loadouts and operators from Call of Duty: Vanguard. Circle collapses will be altered to offer a different pace of play with the dogfighting mechanics.
Caldera Capital City
Warzone’s smaller Rebirth Island map will remain as a secondary map to Warzone Pacific’s main Caldera map. Players can also use all their Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War weapons for both Rebirth Island and standard modes on Caldera. Only the Vanguard Royale playlists will limit the weapon pool.
The Gulag returns to Caldera to give players a second chance at life in the 1v1 arena, but now any player who wins their Gulag will drop back in the match with the weapon loadout provided during their duel. Previously, players returned from their Gulag with just their starter pistol.
Other changes players can expect include nerfs to the Dead Silence field upgrade, a buff to make lethal equipment more powerful, and tweaks to the gas masks. Previously, the gas mask animation led to many untimely deaths as the gas caused the operator to automatically put on or pull off the mask, but Activision says the mask won’t interrupt as many actions as it did previously, making it easier to pull the mask off or on, as well as plating up or reloading a weapon while fleeing the gas.
Overpowered weapons and equipment like the Kali Stick melee weapons and the Heartbeat Sensor equipment have been vaguely nerfed to be less potent. And the controversial Stopping Power field upgrade is completely removed from Warzone, which was a random loot drop that increased the damage dealt by bullets and reduced the time to kill.
For players hoping to go for a swim, the blog post does confirm only shallow water will be available to cross through, as Warzone still doesn’t feature the swimming mechanic found in Black Ops Cold War. However, it does introduce some perks of traversing through water. Walking within water will make it harder to see footsteps, even to operators with the Tracker Perk equipped. Crouching in knee-high water will provide the effects of the Cold Blooded perk, which prevents detection from thermal scopes and enemy equipment, but players cannot go prone to hide in the water.
Caldera’s volcano peak
Warzone’s Contracts feature and public events will carry over to Caldera. Warzone Pacific will feature new Contracts for players to complete, which includes the Supply Drop Contract that will airlift a valuable crate onto the map for anyone to pick up, but only has its exact location revealed by the contracted squad. Another is a Big Game Bounty, which targets the operator with the highest kill count. A third Contract is vaguely listed as the Top Secret Contract. This appears to be an objective that isn’t revealed until after a player has selected the Top Secret Contract.
As previously detailed for the Season 1 update, Call of Duty’s new Ricochet Anti-Cheat will deploy a new, internally developed kernel-level driver on PC to assist in identifying cheaters in Warzone. This is just part of Call of Duty’s new anti-cheat initiative.
This new Warzone Pacific map arrives on December 8, but everyone who owns Vanguard will get a 24-hour head start to play Caldera, while everyone else can start playing the new map on December 9. For those who don’t own Vanguard, Warzone’s Rebirth Island map will still be available to play.
Players can currently learn more about the Caldera map and earn calling cards and other cosmetic rewards themed around Warzone Pacific by participating in the ongoing Secrets of the Pacific event in Warzone and Vanguard.
Activision Blizzard is continuing to add content to Call of Duty as the publisher faces lawsuits and other investigations related to alleged sexual harassment and discrimination against women. Most recently, Kotick reportedly said he will consider stepping down from Activision Blizzard if issues aren’t fixed quickly.
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Source: Gamespot
