The new Season 2 of Call of Duty: Warzone is now online. The new update 1.53 brings extensive changes to the game, and MeinMMO shows you all the new content and highlights from the patch notes.
Here’s what’s currently going on in Warzone:
- The free battle royale Warzone has kicked off its 2nd shared season with CoD: Vanguard
- The season has been delayed by about 2 weeks due to many issues in the game
- Now Season 2 is live and brings many innovations in gameplay and balance – we are embedding the trailer for the new season here:
Update 14.02. – 6:00 PM: The new Season 2 is live, and we have adjusted the article accordingly. You will find all the info about the update, the adjustments in gameplay balancing, and highlights from the patch notes (bug fixes and weapon balancing) here.
CoD Warzone: Update 1.53 – Release and Content
When is the update coming? The new update is live and the content is available to you.
How large is the update? The developers state the following download sizes:
- PlayStation 5: 14.1 GB
- PlayStation 4: 14.1 GB
- Xbox One Series X / S: 13.7 GB
- Xbox One: 13.7 GB
- PC: 11.5 GB (Warzone only)
- PC: 15.5 GB (with Modern Warfare)
What’s new in Season 2? The list of innovations in the battle royale Warzone is relatively long. There are new gameplay mechanics and map changes:
- Gameplay adjustments
- Massive bug fixes
- Extensive weapon balancing
- “Nebula V”: Comes as a bomb and new ammunition into the game
- P.D.S.: New field upgrade that protects against gas
- New POIs: A new chemical factory and underground labs on the map
- NPCs: Soldiers of the Axis powers patrol the “Nebula V” facilities
- Transport Tanks: An armed tank vehicle rolls across Caldera (throughout the season)
- Bombers: The 2nd type of planes for the Vanguard modes
- New mode: Large deathmatch at launch
- Fresh battle pass with over 100 rewards
- Redeploy Balloon: The balloon shoots you up into the air
- New weapons: Assault rifle and LMG at launch, SMG and Ice Axe mid-season
- Rebirth mid-season: Change of the island in mid-season and Trials mode
We will break down the individual points for you further down. We start with the new content and then show highlights from the gameplay adjustments, bug fixes, and weapon balancing.
What’s up with Vanguard? Season 2 also kicks off in Vanguard tonight at 6 PM. You can find patch notes and content here.
Here you can also take a look at the extensive roadmap for Season 2:
Warzone with deadly gas and crazy bombers in Season 2
What is Nebula V? The story of the new Season 2 revolves around this deadly gas. Evidence of the production of the chemical warfare agent has been discovered on Caldera, along with indications of stockpiles from the Axis powers.
While in Vanguard you destroy the stockpiles, in Warzone it’s more about learning more about the nerve gas and preventing the Axis from producing more.
The battle royale will receive a few exciting innovations:
- Bomb (During the season): The item comes into the game as a “very rare” item and allows you to flood an area with gas for 2 minutes. Nebula V works much like the gas from the play area circle. Once the bomb is armed, it can neither be destroyed nor defused, and it explodes after the countdown in a small area. The gas area is larger than the explosion area.
- Ammunition: Similar to “special ammunition,” this field upgrade gives you a load of ammunition. However, it does not cause more damage. If you eliminate an opponent with this ammunition, the player releases gas and hinders revival.
- P.D.S.: The countermeasure for gas. You use the item like a trophy system, place it in front of you, and are protected from gas in a small area. It protects against Nebula V and also against the play area gas.
The innovations apply to both the normal battle royale and Vanguard Royale. How the gas from the story side enters the game is shown in the cinematic trailer for Season 2:
What are these new POIs? The factory between the mines and the docks in the north is changing and becoming the new chemical factory. The outlines of the building don’t change much, but inside you can discover new features. The loot in the factory is better than at other POIs.
Moreover, “bunkers” are opening on Caldera. There will be a total of 7 underground labs, and the open labs are marked in yellow on the map. Here you will find top loot, but there is only one entrance/exit. Enter at your own risk.
What are these NPCs? Also away from hostile players, there will be more dangers on Caldera in the future. NPCs, soldiers of the Axis powers, patrol certain areas, adding more action to the areas where they appear.
- Chemical factory: The factory has a personal guard unit that protects the premises.
- Weapon labs: Each underground lab has an enemy security unit.
- Tank vehicle: A large transport vehicle drives across Caldera (coming throughout the season)
Especially the tank vehicle sounds crazy. The transporter follows a set route and attacks you with machine gun positions if you get too close. If the tank vehicle is low on health, even NPC airplanes will help it.
If you take down the unruly vehicle, you can expect a nice load of loot and even a chance at the nasty Nebula bomb.
What can the new weapons do? Through the battle pass, 2 new weapons enter the game again. Both weapons are free rewards:
- Assault rifle at level 15: KG M40
- LMG at level 31: Whitley
The assault rifle is described as very stable and suitable for medium and long distances. At 600 rounds/minute, it has the 2nd highest damage among Vanguard assault rifles and offers the range of the NZ-41 with a recoil similar to that of the Cooper Carbine.
The LMG is also expected to perform well at medium to long distances. The Whitley comes with the highest damage in its weapon class in Vanguard and fires relatively slowly. However, there are also attachments that reduce damage and allow up to 1,000 rounds/minute.
What can the new mode do? Right at the start of the season, a new mode is available: Caldera Clash.
48 players divided into 2 teams fight for the most points and the victory. You start with your own loadout, can complete contracts and challenges for more points, and spend your cash at the buy stations for killstreaks.
Clash is a large team deathmatch with respawns, where you can collect many kills. There have been similar modes in Warzone before.
What is the redeploy balloon? The balloons will be shown on the map and offer a way to move quickly over long distances.
Attach yourself with your team to the rope, get lifted into the air, and find a new place to land on the map.
What’s in the new battle pass? In addition to the weapons, the battle pass offers you a lot of cosmetics and new operators. Anne Drake you get immediately upon purchase.
The battle pass costs 1,000 CoD points (about €10) and can deliver you more than 100 items if you level it up to the end. Included are:
- A total of 1,300 CoD points
- New weapons
- Limited-time extra XP
- Many cosmetics
- General XP boost
Also included is a “sticky bomb” – a sticky grenade. However, it is still unclear whether the grenade will also come to Warzone. The last battle pass grenade was only for Vanguard.
If you want to know more about the new battle pass, check out the English blog on the pass (via callofduty.com).
Rebirth to Mid-Season with Trails and Changes
What happens to Mid-Season? In the mid-season, 2 more weapons will enter the game:
- Armaguerra 43 – prototype submachine gun
- Ice Axe – melee weapon
Moreover, exciting changes to Rebirth Island will occur in the mid-season. The popular map, which makes the battle royale of Warzone a bit smaller, will receive some significant changes.
The developers are not going into detail yet, but the changes should be extensive.
Furthermore, the popular Iron Trials will start on Rebirth Island in the mid-season. The Trials modes provide you with different rules and come, for example, with a higher time-to-kill. You can read here how the mode played out in Verdansk ’84:
An overview of the entire season, including Vanguard content, can be found in English on callofduty.com.
Highlights from the Patch Notes – Bug Fixes and Weapon Balancing
What has changed in gameplay? The balancing in Season 2 is not limited to just the weapons. There are also some exciting changes beyond the firearms that affect the gameplay experience:
- You generally find less cash
- Loot on the ground and from chests has been overhauled in all modes
- You now always equip a full armor plate, and only at the end do you refill a broken armor segment
- The gas mask no longer activates when aiming through the sights, and you take damage in gas. Only when you exit the sights do you put on the mask.
- In the Gulag, the steps of the spectators are now quieter. Further adjustments are forthcoming.
- Parachutes now have the same speed whether you are flying straight or sideways.
- Parachutes can be deployed at lower heights and cut off.
- Planes are now significantly weaker – easier to destroy and without auto-aim
Overall, some interesting, minor changes. Particularly the overhaul of general loot and planes was overdue. The adjustment of the cash economy also sounds reasonable. Caldera was very generous in this regard.
What important bug fixes have occurred? The list of general bug fixes is quite long. Here’s an excerpt of the most important points:
- Issues with texture streaming on consoles resolved
- Broken graphic elements removed on all platforms
- Many causes of game crashes fixed
- Invisible skins fixed
- The 2nd loadout drop is fixed – now comes in the 5th circle
- Players can no longer exit the Gulag with a full loadout
- Many broken attachments repaired
- Inverted mouse control is working again
It remains to be seen whether Warzone runs better on consoles. However, many of the issues mentioned in the bug fixes have been raised by the community in recent weeks.
If you want to know what other issues the developers are working on, you can take a look at the English Trello board (via trello.com).
What has happened with the weapons? The list of balance adjustments is almost exclusively focused on Vanguard weapons. Only the C58 from Cold War has also been affected:
- C58 – Nerf
- Recoil deviation and recoil strength increased
At the start, the developers write: “The ballistic behavior of all Vanguard weapons has been adjusted to better match MW and BOCW weapons.” How this will be affected remains to be seen.
However, many adjustments have also been made, of which we will show you the most important ones here:
- STG 44 – Nerf
- Slower aim down sights and several attachments nerfed
- Volksgewehr – Nerf
- Slower aim down sights
- Bren – Nerf
- Less damage to limbs, many barrel attachments nerfed/adjusted
- MP40 – Nerf
- Less range, meta barrel and magazine nerfed
- Welgun – Nerf
- Less range, strong attachments nerfed
Almost all weapons that are currently very popular with players and are considered too strong have been affected. However, this list is only a small excerpt from the balancing.
The changes are so extensive that it is difficult to predict how this will affect the weapons meta. You can find more on MeinMMO soon.
If you want to see the complete adjustments in bug fixes and weapon balance, check the English developer blog at ravensoftware.com.
- If you’re looking for alternatives for the nerfed top weapons, check here: CoD Warzone is nerfing its best weapons – 5 alternatives that will bring you success in Season 2.
Season 2 brings a lot of content for Warzone and Vanguard. However, many players wish that the current bugs in the game would first be removed. It remains to be seen whether that will succeed.
After all, Season 2 was even delayed because of this.
Meanwhile, many CoD soldiers are already looking forward to the release of the next Warzone. Apparently, it’s going to happen next year already: CoD Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2 have been officially announced – here’s what we know so far
