With a day delay, Season 5 2021 went live for Call of Duty: Warzone. It features new locations, weapons, a fresh Gulag, and unique perks just for the Battle Royale. MeinMMO presents the patch notes highlighting the most important changes.
Call of Duty is making a comeback, bringing a wave of free new content for the Battle Royale Warzone. Here’s an overview for the start of the season:
- Update information
- New perks and adjustments to old perks
- Mobile locations & mysterious containers in Warzone
- 2 new weapons in the Battle Pass – EM2 and TEC-9
- Fresh Gulag – Rush
- Bug fixes and minor adjustments
- Preview for the rest of Season 5
MeinMMO goes through the patch notes with you, showcasing the most important changes.
All information about Update 1.40: Download, Trailer, Release
When does Season 5 start? The new season is already online and you can start after downloading the update.
What’s the size of the update? It depends on your platform. The developers provide the following update sizes:
- PlayStation 5: 13.7 GB
- PlayStation 4: 13.7 GB
- Xbox One Series X | S: 13.2 GB
- Xbox One: 13.2 GB
- PC: 19.3 GB (Warzone only)
- PC: 21.7 GB (with Modern Warfare)
What about Cold War? Season 5 is also live in the current premium title of Call of Duty. For insights into the content for Zombies and Multiplayer, check our overview of Cold War in Season 5.
We’ll embed the trailer for Season 5 here:
The new perks shake up the balance
What should you know about the new perks? There are two new exclusive perks for Warzone:
- Combat Scout: Yellow perk – Hit enemies are marked and highlighted
- Hardened: Red perk – You only need 2 armor plates for full armor
Both perks have the potential to become part of the gameplay meta in Warzone. With Combat Scout, you mark every enemy who takes a bullet from you, and it remains to be seen whether any of the other yellow perks can keep up. Hardened competes as a red perk with Ghost, but armor plates are very important in Warzone, especially for aggressive players seeking combat. More details about the perks can be found here.
In addition to the new perks, there are also adjustments for old ones:
- Cold-Blooded: Counters Combat Scout and Alarmed – both do not trigger for you
- Alarmed: You can hear enemy footsteps with Dead Silence activated – Not yet in the game
Alarmed was supposed to get the new function as a Dead Silence counter at the start of the season. However, even though the description in the game has been changed, it still doesn’t work. The developers have confirmed they are working on it.
Mobile locations & mysterious containers in Warzone
What should you know about the new locations? As new “Points of Interest,” Warzone gets mobile transmission stations. In each match, the trucks with mounted cell towers are located at a different point on the Verdansk map.
How many different locations there are is still unclear. However, you should be cautious when approaching the stations. They seem to emit some kind of signal that could potentially attract other teams.
Additionally, there is again a cryptic hint at another possible location in Verdansk. The patch notes on this remain mysterious:
[[ANONYMIZED]] has gone offline, and reports indicate that [[ANONYMIZED]] is doing [[ANONYMIZED]] in Verdansk – what it is, we don’t know. This is an unauthorized [[ANONYMIZED]] that could endanger our [[ANONYMIZED]] in discovering and stopping Stitch.
Presumably, these are shipping containers now found all over Verdansk. However, their purpose is still unclear:
Weapons and Battle Pass – The assault rifle looks good
What should you know about the new weapons? At the start of the season, there are 2 new weapons that you can unlock through the Battle Pass:
- Level 15: Assault Rifle EM2
- Level 31: Submachine Gun TEC-9
On Twitter, the first clips with the weapons are already available. Particularly, the assault rifle stands out, providing good and pleasant handling:
Whether the damage is enough to make it into the best weapons of Warzone remains to be seen. But the handling is on point, which is already half the battle in Warzone.
The submachine gun TEC-9 could be exciting as it allows for two different playstyles. The developers mention in the patch notes that the muzzle makes the difference – either the TEC-9 gives you high range or strong hipfire. Your preferences and muzzle attachment will determine which one you get.
In addition to the two guns, there is also a new melee weapon in the game: the cane. You can find an overview of all new weapons with unlocking requirements here:
And what about the Battle Pass? As in every season, you can unlock 100 tiers of the Battle Pass. For 1,000 CoD Points, you can unlock many cosmetics in exchange for XP and playtime. Even without the nearly 10 Euros, you can obtain some of the cosmetics for your collection through the free path, and both weapons are free. Find out here if it’s worth it for you. We’ll embed the trailer for the Battle Pass here:
Here you can find the complete overview of the Battle Pass with a look at all the content.
New Gulag focuses on paintball
What should you know about the new Gulag? A new Gulag each season is slowly becoming a tradition in Warzone. Season 5 also see changes in the respawn arena, aligning with the classic map “Rush”. This is a map that resembles a paintball arena, and the Gulag will also be more colorful in the future.
More adjustments in the Battle Royale
What else should you know? Besides the new content, there are some minor adjustments, including a list of bug fixes. If you want to see the bug fixes in detail, check out the English patch notes on ravensoftware.com.
Moreover, there are 2 interesting changes that will make your life in the game easier. First, the symbol for the armor plate box now looks different and is easier to distinguish from the ammunition box.
Additionally, you can now control the “hold your breath” mechanic while aiming with large scopes differently. In the menu, you can now set whether you want to keep holding the button for holding your breath, or whether you want to press once and go into the mode and stay in it until you run out of breath.
At the start, there is also a balance adjustment for the weapons. Four magazines of the automatic pistol AMP63 are now larger:
- 20-round mag now has 25 rounds
- STANAG 25-round now has 30 rounds
- 20-round speed mag now has 25 rounds
- Salvo 23-round now has 30 rounds
Beware of the ingame patch notes: If you look closely in the game, you can find additional patch notes showing more weapon adjustments. Initial tests, however, have shown that these adjustments are not yet in the game. It is suspected that these adjustments will come later and that the display in the game is a mistake.
Further innovations: Ground loot in the game has been overhauled and you will now find new weapons in matches. The new weapons EM2 and TEC-9 are also included. The random weapons in the Gulag are now different as well.
Adjustments have also been made to the Red Doors. Apparently, the red doors now do not always send you to the loot room, but you can also land at the mobile transmission stations, the new locations in Season 5.
In addition, there are new options for texture streaming on consoles and an expiration date for Windows 7 on PC:
- Texture streaming now brings the best textures into the game on demand on consoles
- Support for Windows 7 for CoD MW and Warzone ends on September 8
Season 5: Content for later and important leaks
What else should you know about Season 5? Throughout the season, you can expect another weapon:
- The ancient pistol Marshal
However, there is no date for the introduction of the Marshal. However, we already know that a mid-season event is launching – The Numbers. Through the event, CoD is advancing the backstory, and you will likely unlock thematic cosmetics again.
What rumors are circulating? Season 5 sets several things in motion in the Battle Royale Warzone, but if you believe the rumors and leaks, it doesn’t end with the points in this article.
It is possible that the new CoD 2021 will have its reveal in Warzone. It is reportedly called Vanguard and is set during World War II – check here for the first promo images.
Warzone could also get a next-gen version and be upgraded to the level of PS5 and Xbox Series.
Both pieces of information remain rumors for now, and it remains to be seen whether Season 5 will actually benefit from these two highlights. Until then, you can enjoy the new features of Season 5. What are your first impressions?
