It’s a big one, so we’ve gone ahead and broken down all the details that were revealed, as well as what they mean for the humble Warzone player.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Caldera map breakdown
The first thing revealed in the new blog post is a full breakdown of the new Caldera map, with each of the island’s distinct areas given their own high-resolution image and description. There are 15 areas in total, ranging from built up spots like the Naval Arsenal to the more sparsely populated regions like the Runway. This breakdown also came paired with a map of the island (embedded below) which points out the borders of each region alongside the points of interest in each one. We’ve only seen glimpses of the map until now, both from the Secrets of the Pacific event and the Vanguard premiere event jackets, so this is a great asset for those looking to see all the sights when Caldera drops.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Vanguard content integration
With the launch of Caldera season one, we’re to see much of the Vanguard content we’ve been enjoying since its launch get folded into the Warzone experience. This includes all the operators and weapons from Vanguard, as well as cross-progression between the two games so you can grind out levels regardless of which game you play. This is sure to mix up the meta for Warzone considerably, as Vanguard added a few brutal weapons in the assault rifle, SMG, and LMG slots. We’ve already seen a few of these weapons come to Warzone through ground loot, but being able to fully customize them is sure to reveal their true potential.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Vanguard Royale
Alongside your standard battle royale experience where guns across all your modern Call of Duty games will be usable, Caldera season one will be launching alongside Vanguard Royale playlists, which limit the weapons available to ones included in Call of Duty: Vanguard. We’re also getting new vehicles - including fighter planes that can be piloted by players on the tropical island and a whole new all-terrain car that should help you and the squad make your way through both city street and rough hillside. As a final adjustment, matches on Caldera will have different circle radii and closure times than Verdansk, so the pacing for the new map is just right. This opens the door for events that take place with each new circle, such as bombing runs.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Rebirth Island in Vanguard season one
Rebirth Island won’t be initially playable once Caldera launches, seemingly to allow players to focus their time on the newer and more exotic of the two islands. However, it will return later in the season, with playlists specifically for the map, so fans of this smaller and more hectic brand of Warzone shouldn’t worry. Rebirth Island is getting its own special mini-event before it gets temporarily shelved. Right at the start of season one, we’re getting Resurgence and mini Royale come back for one day only before everything shifts over to Caldera.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Gulag changes
With the launch of Caldera season one, we’re getting some huge changes to how the Gulag works. For one, when you win a fight in the Gulag, you get to keep the arsenal you used to win as you drop back into the fray. This will include any lethal or tactical equipment too! This means that players dropping down into highly contested areas of the map will be far less helpless, and will be able to defend themselves from decked out players. This was previously tested out in the Iron Trails ‘84 playlist we got earlier in the year, and must have made a good enough impression to the team and community to warrant a permanent inclusion.
Call of Duty: Warzone - New Caldera contracts
There’s a range of new contracts coming to Caldera, including the Supply Drop Contract that will airlift a supply crate to the map that anyone can access but only contracted players can see coming. There’s also Big Game Bounty, which places a target on the back of the highest kill-count player. A great way to keep things challenging for the better players out there. Finally we have [Redacted] contracts coming, which are hidden until you pick them up. Completing these will provide even greater rewards to players willing to take a leap of faith.
Call of Duty: Warzone - fantastic balance changes
This section will bring a lot of joy to Warzone players who have felt the brunt of some of the more cheesy aspects of the battle royale game. First things first, Dead Silence is getting a fat nerf, while Stopping Power Rounds are being removed altogether. There will also be nerfs to two more overpowered items - stun grenades and heartbeat sensors - both of which have been incredibly powerful for a long time. Dual-wield melee weapons - the Kali Sticks and Sai - are being looked at too. This is honestly great news, and a massive blow to the pillars of hugely powerful items in Warzone. These changes have been requested for ages, and it’s great to see them come through with Caldera. Rest in piss to the stun grenade and Kali Sticks combo. Gun butting is getting a look too! Those who have ever dropped Supermarket or another highly-contested area will know how powerful beating up enemies is as opposed to just shooting them, so this is a good change to the initial moments of a Warzone game. Lethal and tactical equipment will be getting some love, which is sorely needed. Most lethal equipment will deal more damage, stims will grant a small movement speed boost, and decoy grenades will shoot out rubber bullets which should make it harder to discern whether a threat is real or not. Good stuff! If you’ve ever been screwed over by gas mask animations mid-firefight, those are getting addressed with Caldera. It should be easier to plate up, reload, and fight while going from gas to safe areas. However, you’ll still be at a disadvantage to those already inside, so be aware of that. Finally for balance changes, Loadout Drop Markers can now only be bought after the Loadout Drop event happens in-game. This is bad news for Warzone demons or those who focus on money-making early game rather than getting into fights. However, this does make ground loot more important, so it’ll be interesting to seehow the best players adjust to this change.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Ricochet Anti-Cheat coming in Caldera season one
The long-awaited kernel-level driver Ricochet Anti-Cheat will be deployed to PC players when Caldera season one drops. Vanguard players on PC will also have to install this software at a later date. This will hopefully deal a big hit to the notoriously large population of cheaters in Warzone, but we’ll have to wait and see just how effective it will actually be. What are you thoughts on all these changes? Let us know what you think and whether you’re excited to jump into Warzone December 8. Activision Blizzard, the publisher of Call of Duty: Warzone, is currently in the middle of a huge sexual miscoduct controversy following reports of rampant cultural issues within the company. The most recent update to which being Nintendo of America CEO Doug Bowser commenting on the controversy, via an internal company email.
