The first major update for Warzone following the return of Verdansk lands this Thursday. While there aren’t any major gameplay changes in store, there are some new modes as well as big map changes coming to the free-to-play Call Of Duty Battle Royale.
While most of the update is geared toward Verdansk, Activision notes that players can “expect continued support for Rebirth Island Resurgence and the Battle Royale Casual mode on Verdansk introduced at the start of Season 03.”
Hopefully no major changes are coming to Casual Mode, which has become a new favorite for many gamers looking to enjoy a more lowkey gameplay experience and grind out some challenges and camos.
The Season 3 Midseason Reloaded update goes live Thursday, May 1st at 9am PT / 12 noon ET.
Here’s what to expect once the update goes live.
Map Changes And New Contracts
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The biggest map change coming to Verdansk this week is the return of Train Station and the moving train. The train can get you across the map now, but don’t expect to ride without a fight.
High Loot Zones are also being added to the map. It’s a risk vs reward situation. These zones will have the best ground loot available, but also the most players dropping in to fight over it, so expect these areas to be hot drops.
Two new Contracts are also coming to Verdansk. The Big Game Bounty places a Bounty on the player with the highest number of eliminations in the match. The Train Recon Contract requires players to board the train for a chance at future circle intel.
The Triumph TF 250-X dirt bike is also coming to Verdansk. Players have been able to ride this already on Rebirth Island, but this should add some fun vehicular chaos to the Big Map.
The new Ladra SMG is also coming to both Warzone and Black Ops 6. The weapon is described as: “Full-auto submachine gun. Extreme rate of fire, excellent range, and low recoil. Headshots can help offset lower base damage.”
And finally, the Goblin Mk2 7.62 Mini-Rocket Conversion attachment converts the single-fire AR into a fully automatic weapon with explosive rocket ammunition. So that will be . . . interesting.
The Return Of Ranked Play
Ranked Play finally returns to the Big Map. This will be the first time we’ve been able to play Ranked on Verdansk. Once again, this will be Trios but this time 150 players will contend for top honors. Everyone is starting back at Bronze this season, which is a little frustrating for those of us who ranked up in Seasons 1 and 2.
SR is earned for eliminations, which will be adjusted based on player and enemy rank, as well as outlasting players, getting top spots and completing challenges. A number of rewards will be available for ranking up, getting wins and so forth.
New Limited-Time Modes
Two new modes are coming to Verdansk. The first is High Trip Resurgence, which spawns players with a random weapon and introduces Shades, which are effectively powerups giving players Super Speed, no fall damage and other perks.
The other mode is Massive Resurgence, which pits 120 players against one another on Verdansk with the Resurgence respawn mechanic in play.
Beyond this, expect plenty of bug fixes and other smaller rebalancing changes to go into effect with the midseason update. There should be plenty to keep players occupied over the next few weeks before Season 4 lands this summer. Black Ops 6 will be getting two new maps, a trippy new version of Nuketown and a bunch of Zombies updates as well.