On December 8, Call of Duty: Warzone turns into Warzone: Pacific. A new map is set to make the battle royale shine in a whole new light. But how does it all actually work? MeinMMO answers the most important questions regarding the integration of Vanguard.
The battle royale Warzone has been successful for over 1.5 years and is heading towards the future alongside Call of Duty: Vanguard. With the launch of Season 1 of Vanguard on December 8 at 6 PM, the free Warzone will receive a massive update including a new map and graphics engine.
How this all unfolds can be reviewed here:
You will find information on:
- General information about the release
- New map “Caldera”
- Vanguard engine & cosmetics
- New gameplay options
- Almost 40 new weapons
- Anti-cheat “RICOCHET”
- Live season service
- Does the story fit together?
- What happens until the transition
- Information on new and old game modes
Update December 8 – 12:45 PM: The first gameplay of the new map and the patch notes for the Pacific update are online.
It turns out that the graphics hardly change and that the anti-cheat driver for PC will come later. We have updated the information in the article.
Pacific Update: Release, Download, Next-Gen Versions
When does the Pacific update come? The update starts on December 8 at 6 AM. You can start the download for the new map then. However, you cannot start playing yet – Warzone will be completely offline for 12 hours.
On December 8 at 6 PM it begins: Warzone comes back online and has the new map. The new map “Caldera” will first be available to Vanguard buyers:
- Caldera access with Vanguard: December 8 at 6 PM
- Caldera access without Vanguard: December 9 at 6 PM
All information about the download and the preload can be found here:
Will I not be able to play Warzone for a day? Warzone will go offline on December 8 at 6 AM for 12 hours. After that, you can play, but Caldera will be locked for 24 hours if you have not purchased Vanguard.
You will only have access to Rebirth Island and will probably have to start Warzone from the Vanguard launcher.
Do I absolutely need Vanguard? Warzone remains free-to-play and you do not necessarily need Vanguard for Warzone. However, since Warzone is switching to the Vanguard graphics, the two shooters play very similarly and if you want to train combat or level weapons, Vanguard may be worth it for you.
You do not need the new CoD to play Warzone.
Is there a next-gen version of Warzone? The developers are still tight-lipped on this topic. The same goes for the field of view settings on consoles. Whether there will be a FoV slider in Warzone is still not conclusively clarified.
Warzone: New Map “Caldera”
What is there to know about the new map? The developers proudly state that the new map Caldera only resembles the current map Verdansk in one aspect: size. Otherwise, the CoD creators promise a completely new experience based on feedback from Warzone since its release.
Caldera is a typical volcanic island in the Pacific, with small and large villages, holiday resorts, jungle areas, caves, mining economy, and of course a large volcano that towers over everything on the map. Initial leaks already hint at an event where the volcano spews fire and lava (via Twitter).
As a new element that could bring more dynamics to the game, airplanes are coming to Warzone. Mobile fighter planes will engage in exciting dogfights over the island’s skies or attack soldiers on the ground. Accordingly, an anti-air truck will also come into play, which you can use to take fire at the planes.
If you want to see all the pictures of the map, check out our overview article on Caldera or take a look at the official trailer for the map:
There is also a launch trailer for the new map:
Switching the Graphics Engine – What about my stuff?
What does the new graphics mean for Warzone? Not much, contrary to earlier beliefs. Due to developer statements, it was long assumed that Warzone would switch to the Vanguard launcher and that the graphics would lean more towards the new CoD.
However, it turns out that Warzone will remain largely unchanged – the new map is the biggest change. The weapon laying has been expanded, and you can now move on the edge. But movement and also the perks will stay as they are.
You can therefore continue to use your purchased operator and weapon skins, and accordingly, the current weapons of Warzone will also be available.
Other Gameplay Options in the New Warzone?!
What changes in gameplay? These are rather minor, such as the previously mentioned change in weapon laying.
One of the major innovations in gameplay, however, is the introduction of airplanes and anti-air weapons. However, these will initially only be available in the “Vanguard modes.” In these modes, only the Vanguard weapons will be available and other “modern” items are not allowed.
If you want to inform yourself comprehensively about the adjustments in gameplay, take a look at the patch notes of the Pacific update:
Almost 40 New Weapons are Coming to the Game – Meta Shift?
What new weapons are there? The nearly 40 weapons from Vanguard are coming to the game and drastically expand the arsenal of Warzone. With this, the battle royale not only breaks the 100 weapon mark but is on a good path to even reach 150 firearms within the next year.
The new weapons will be fully available at the start of Warzone: Pacific. If you play the regular “Battle Royale” mode, you will have access to the complete arsenal from 3 CoDs. Additionally, there will be a “Vanguard Royale” after release, where you will only have the weapons from the new CoD at your disposal.
The weapon meta of Warzone is very likely to experience a shake-up. The new weapons come with 10 attachment slots, and all of them can be filled. This gives you many more options, and in the multiplayer of Vanguard, the weapons can be radically changed through attachments. Find out here which 5 Vanguard weapons you should level for Warzone.
If you want to take a look at the complete list of Vanguard weapons, you can find it here:
Anti-Cheat RICOCHET as the “Savior” of Warzone
What is RICOCHET all about? One of the most important innovations is the anti-cheat system. Call of Duty improves its security infrastructure with the launch of Vanguard to trace more cheaters and hackers. RICOCHET consists of 4 components:
- Server-side analysis tools
- Improved investigation processes
- Increased account security
- Kernel driver on PC
However, the important kernel driver for PC will now only come later to Warzone. On day 1 of the Pacific update, the driver will only be online in the “Asia-Pacific” region. There is currently no date for its introduction in Europe.
The driver analyzes the interactions of CoD programs with other applications on the PC and is intended to help better trace the processes on a cheater’s PC, thus catching other cheaters as well.
More information about RICOCHET and answers regarding the kernel driver can be found here:
Live-Season Cycle Resumes – With Battle Pass
What’s next for Warzone? The live seasons of the last years will resume with Vanguard at Season 1, and Warzone will also receive new content over this season cycle such as:
- Live events
- Map adjustments
- Cosmetics
- Weapons
The new engine of Vanguard should also make it possible to initiate entirely new types of events in Warzone, possibly offering more than 2 minutes of disappointing work.
The battle pass is also back and allows you to earn around 100 items in exchange for 1,000 CoD points (approx. €10) and playing time.
You can also still level up the battle pass and your account level across multiple CoDs. Vanguard will join the CoD level system with the launch of Season 1, and you can then grind experience points for your prestige level and the battle pass in a total of 4 CoDs:
- Modern Warfare from 2019
- Black Ops Cold War from 2020
- Vanguard from 2021
- Battle Royale Warzone
If you want to know more about the first season and how Vanguard benefits from it, it’s worth taking a look at the following article:
Story about Nazi Hunters in the Pacific
How do the stories fit together? Through a trailer, the background stories of Cold War, Warzone, and Vanguard have already been connected.
The heroes from Black Ops, Adler, Mason, Woods, and Hudson meet the World War veteran Captain Butcher, already known from CoD WWII from 2017. Butcher explains that as part of a task force, he hunted Nazis all over the world after the fall of Berlin in World War II. And this hunt began in the Pacific: on the island of Caldera.
If you want to watch the cinematic that connects the stories, we’ll embed it here:
Playlists and Events Until the Transition
What do the last days of the old Warzone look like? Three events are planned for the last two weeks, with which you can celebrate the farewell of the old but tried and tested map:
- Operation Flashback – November 18
- Secrets of the Pacific – November 24
- Last Hours of Verdansk – December 6
Operation Flashback and Last Hours of Verdansk each bring new game modes to the playlist. Secrets of the Pacific is an event with challenges that lets you win exclusive cosmetics and shows new information about the Caldera map. You can find the solutions here.
More details and which playlists you can play in the last days of Verdansk have been summarized here:
What happens to Verdansk, Rebirth Island, and Plunder?
What happens to Verdansk? The city will be gone after the transition and is not expected to return quite so quickly. However, in a blog post, the developers provide a rather open statement: “[…] while we bid farewell to the castellated city … Forever?” (via callofduty.com). A return does not seem to be excluded.
What happens to Rebirth Island? The small Warzone map will remain in the game even after the transition to Vanguard graphics and will be available with changing modes.
What about Plunder? Plunder will also remain in Warzone and will then play on Caldera. A Vanguard version has already been announced, where you can only use the new weapons.
How do Battle Royale and Vanguard Royale differ? In the normal Battle Royale, you play Warzone on Caldera, including the new Vanguard weapons. However, airplanes and the anti-air truck are still missing.
In Vanguard Royale, the new vehicles are already available, but you only play with Vanguard weapons.
Playlist for the release of Caldera
- Vanguard Royale – Solo, Duo, Trio, 4-man
- Vanguard Revival – 4-man
- Battle Royale – 4-man
- Plunder – Trio
- Rebirth Island (for 24 hours)
These were all the known details about the major transition of Warzone to the Vanguard graphics. If you have any questions, feel free to leave us a comment. We will gladly share what we know and try to bring a little clarity to this still somewhat unclear topic.
