Hello Operators!

It has been an awesome few months of the DMZ Beta with the arrival of the Koschei Complex in Season 03 Reloaded. With the mysteries of Al Mazrah brewing just under its surface, we have loved seeing Players take on new challenges with this space. In case you missed it, here’s a look at the making of Koschei Complex in a recent Intel Drop.

As we look ahead to Season 04, we are bringing another Exclusion Zone online with the arrival of our new medium-sized map Vondel. More details about Vondel and the different modes and experiences it will offer can be found in both the Season 04 Announcement, and the Vondel Tactical Preview Blogs.

With the arrival of a Vondel, we will be resetting DMZ (much like Season 02 for the addition of Ashika Island) to include this new destination.

New DMZ Content Coming to Season 04

We are excited to introduce a number of updates this season, including a revamp of the DMZ menus for improved navigation and additional brand-new features.

The new DMZ menu will contain the following areas:

• Missions Objectives (mission select)
• Location Objectives (map challenges)
• Forward Operating Base (upgrade objectives)
• Notes (collection)

Forward Operating Base

Consider the Forward Operating Base (FOB) a central hub for DMZ. Here, Operators will complete objectives to unlock upgrades across DMZ.

Unlike Faction Missions in previous DMZ Seasons, the FOB upgrade objectives are passive and do not require Players to equip them to make progress.

The FOB is divided into four categories of upgrades (elements of which are shown in the image above, for exemplary purposes only):

• Weapons Locker
  • Insured Weapon Slots
  • Insured Weapon cooldown time
  • Contraband weapon stash size increases
• Stash
  • Wallet Unlock
  • Wallet capacity
  • Key and Contraband Stash Size increases
• Bounty Board
  • Personal Exfil
  • Barter recipes
  • Buy Station discounts
• Communications Station
  • Urgent Missions access

We believe the new upgrade infrastructure will eliminate the friction we felt between Operators and high-tier mission objectives. For example, instead of Faction Mission progress, Insured Weapon Slots can now be unlocked through passive objectives in the FOB.

This change will allow Players to progress through DMZ more efficiently than the previous Faction Mission-only structure. Faction Missions are still available in the Mission Objectives menu and will be integral to earning new Faction Reputation (see below).

Urgent Missions

For those wishing to grind out even more Faction Reputation, we are introducing Urgent Missions in Season 04. These limited-time missions are unlocked through upgrade objectives in the FOB. Urgent Missions will rotate and offer rewards for eager and efficient Operators on a daily basis.

Wallet

Another much-anticipated new feature is the Wallet, which provides the ability to exfil and store cash outside of the world. This means Operators can keep cash they exfiltrate with and opt to utilize it for another infiltration. Cash inside the Exclusion Zones can be spent or used to complete missions/objectives.

The Wallet is unlocked and expanded through FOB objectives, and accessible in your loadout selection prior to infiltration.

New and Refreshed Missions

New mission sets are designed to work across multiple Exclusion Zones in the DMZ. Season 04 will contain new and reworked missions as well as the inclusion of always active objectives in the FOB. Story missions are now unlocked by earning Faction Reputation through standard mission completion or urgent mission completion.

New Exclusion Zone: Vondel

An all-new Exclusion Zone brings new rewards and Challenges to Operators, including a new boss and Weapons Case. Prepare to strike with speed if you’re seeking The Bullfrog…

While Vondel is slightly larger than the Shadow Company site Ashika Island, Vondel will support infiltrations of the same size - 18 Operators or six total squads.

Vondel also has an exclusive new DMZ contract available, Signal Intelligence. Operators will hack phones to gain access to cash rewards from other contracts in the area.

Dynamic Fog (Vondel)

As mentioned in the Season 04 Announcement Blog, our dynamic fog system will arrive with Vondel.

The fog only exists in Vondel, given its location below sea level and abundance of canals. DMZ Operators should be prepared to face volatile conditions as visibility may quickly deteriorate or improve.

New Faction: Phalanx

With Season 04 comes the arrival of a new faction, Phalanx. Meanwhile, the REDACTED faction whom we met in Season 03 has unceremoniously disappeared from operations in the DMZ. No further intel is available on their whereabouts…

Station Chief Kate Laswell is conducting operations with Phalanx directly as she has an interest in the unknown enemy faction that has invaded Vondel. Phalanx and Black Mous will execute on missions together, gaining intel to uncover the force’s identity.

Faction Reputation

As mentioned above, Faction Reputation will arrive within the Faction Mission menu in Season 04. Faction Tiers are still a set of Missions with a Story Mission at the end. In Season 04 the Story Mission in each Tier is now unlocked when enough Faction Reputation has been earned. Players can complete both Standard Missions and Urgent Missions to earn Faction Reputation. This gives more flexibility in how Factions are progressed.

Reset, Revisited

As previously announced, we will be resetting Faction Mission progress and your DMZ inventory in order to bring all these features online with a new map.

With the reset:

• Contraband Weapon Inventories will be rolled back to the starting weapons.
• Key and Mission Inventories will be emptied.
• Faction Missions and mission progress will be reset to make room for an updated mission set.

What about my loot?

• Insured Weapons Slots unlocked through previous Faction Mission progress will be reset for all-new ways to unlock these slots.
• For clarity on any previous progress:
  • All previous mission and boss enemy rewards – for example previously acquired Weapons Case rewards – will not be reset, apart from Contraband and Keys.
  • Any earned Blueprint rewards unlocks will still be available in your Loadout select.

Looking Ahead

As we look to future seasons of DMZ and the ongoing Beta, we have many exciting, as well as [[REDACTED]] content ahead. Thank you for playing, and we hope to see you on Vondel soon!