Warzone: How to Play
Your mission, survive until every other player or squad has been eliminated from the game. How you accomplish this mission is up to you and following this guide will not guarantee a win, but it will teach you what you need to know to get started. It’s time to commence your training.
Prebrief
Welcome to Call of Duty®: Warzone™, a large scale, action-packed, battleground where players drop onto the core map and must fight to survive to be the last Operator or Squad of Operators. There are many ways to play and win a match, and this guide will give you the tools to get started in learning the intricacies behind playing through Call of Duty: Warzone. From your first drop to your first win, nothing is guaranteed except for some exciting engagements and the fact that someone must win. Will it be you?
Intel Card — Call of Duty: Warzone
// INTEL CARD
- MWIII
- WZ
- WZM
Intel Card — Call of Duty: Warzone
// TRAINING // CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE
Loot up, Operator: Looting is not the only way to get weapons and cash, but it is one of the best ways to get started. When you land onto the map at the beginning of a match, you start with a pistol and a fighting chance, but looting Supply Boxes while playing will more than likely drop better weapons.
Cash is King and Queen: Cash may not be able to win the game for you, but collecting as much as possible can give you the tools you need to create your own success. When you have some cash be sure to visit a Buy Station, where you can buy a loadout, redeploy a squadmate, or keep the rest of your kit fully equipped - you will always have a better chance of survival when you have the tools to help you succeed.
Know your Loadout: Whether you’re in a squad or running solo, it’s important to know what your equipped weapons and Equipment’s strengths are before you decide to engage. Call of Duty: Warzone is all about picking your fights carefully, and part of that is not taking a long-ranged fight when you have an SMG and a Shotgun equipped.
Are you ready to get started in learning the ropes of Call of Duty: Warzone? Before jumping into a match there are a handful of tasks it’s recommended that you complete. You should build your Loadout and fine tune your settings, but you’ll also need to know what you’re building your Loadout for, exactly. There are four different modes of Call of Duty: Warzone: Bootcamp, Battle Royale, Resurgence, Plunder, and Lockdown
Available on: Urzikstan (Player Count: 44, up to 20 Players, 24 Bots).
Refine your Call of Duty: Warzone tactics in a new training mode set on a randomized slice of Urzikstan. Expanding on the Modern Warfare III “Training Course,” which launched in Season 2, the all-new Call of Duty: Warzone Bootcamp is designed to help new players build confidence for their first official drop-in.
Call of Duty: Warzone Bootcamp is a Quad-only training mode (either partied up or fill-squad) providing players a snapshot of the real-deal Call of Duty: Warzone experience, featuring up to 20 players via mode-specific matchmaking and 24 bots to test their mettle. Warzone Bootcamp is the only mode for Call of Duty: Warzone featuring bots. If this changes in the future, we’ll ensure the community is informed ahead of time.
Player, Weapon, and Battle Pass XP progression is limited in Call of Duty: Warzone Bootcamp. The new training mode will not progress Daily/Weekly Challenges, Calling Card Challenges, Weapon Challenges, or Champion’s Quest. Additionally, the new training mode will not feature public events or advanced contracts.
Drop in, learn the ropes, and get ready to take on the world.
Battle Royale is the classic Call of Duty: Warzone experience with a high risk/reward bottom line that allows you and your Squad one full round of life, which will be explained later, and ends with one winner. Battle Royale takes place on the new big map, Urzikstan.
Resurgence is a little more lenient on members of your Squad being eliminated because as long as someone in your Squad is still alive, you can redeploy back into the fight after a timer. That is until the resurgence timer is up, then free redeployment becomes impossible for the rest of the game. Normally taking place on a smaller map, Resurgence can be significantly more intense, but it is just as rewarding as Battle Royale and will also end when there is only one Operator or Squad left alive on the map. Resurgence takes place on Vondel, Ashika, Fortune’s Keep, Rebirth Island, and sometimes Urzikstan.
Plunder is a squad-based, respawn-enabled mode where Cash is king. The squad that collects the most Cash after a set time limit, including an overtime period once a squad hits $2 million in Cash, wins the match. Cash is earned by eliminating players and picking up their valuables, scavenging for loose Cash, and completing Contracts and in-game events. Operators can equip a custom Loadout from the start and can redeploy after being eliminated throughout the whole match.
Lockdown comes to Rebirth Island with multiple squads tasked to capture and control zones across the map, scoring points for each zone successfully held, like a large-scale Battle Royale version of Hardpoint. Total player count is adjusted due to the smaller nature of the map, allowing for balanced, but chaotic combat: Drop in with your favorite Custom Loadout – or bring a new weapon you’re wanting to quickly level up – and learn the new rotations so your team occupies as many zones as possible, accruing more points to ensure victory, rather than being the last squad standing. Respawns are active, and towards the end of a match, so are High-Value Zones that offer the chance for greater point acquisition, as well as the fiercest fighting yet experienced in this mode!
The Bootcamp, Battle Royale, Resurgence, Plunder, and Lockdown modes provide an experience like no other. No matter your style of play, there is room for everything in Call of Duty: Warzone and as long as you’re playing your best game, you always have a chance at success.
New to Call of Duty: Warzone with Modern Warfare® III Season 1, is the beautiful location of Urzikstan. Urzikstan is home to a large variety of open land and largely developed cities and towns which provide fast paced transitions from long to medium to short-ranged combat with little time between fights. The use of vehicles as well as the all-new horizontal ziplines will be crucial for your traversal of Urzikstan. It’s easy to find cover in most situations, but if you’re not careful you can also get caught out in the open. To get the general breakdown and details of each of the Points of Interest, or POIs, within Urzikstan, take a look at the Urzikstan Tac-Atlas.
Drivable Train POI
As the first mobile POI that Call of Duty: Warzone has ever seen, The Drivable Train is a completely interactable and moving Point of Interest that can almost always be guaranteed to be a hot spot at the beginning of a match. Players can affect the movement of The Train by starting and stopping it via the engine. Additionally, the caboose has a handbrake that can bring the train to a full stop which is useful for an attacking squad attempting to cease control from another squad controlling it.. Once you’re on the Train, you can run to either end and flip the lever to stop it, but remember that you can only restart the train from the front.. With this power, you can keep you and your squad inside of the safe zone and out of the gas while keeping control of an advantageous position. You may have to travel through some gas, depending on how it moves and where the railroad takes you. Navigating the strategy of when to start and stop the Train may take some practice and a bit of bravery, but once you’ve mastered the timing, this POI can be the key to your success.
Horizontal Ziplines
Horizontal Ziplines are strategically placed all around Urzikstan and provide Call of Duty: Warzone players with a new movement mechanic that will be useful for players attempting to get across large, exposed areas quickly. Using Horizontal Ziplines as a means to rotate around your enemy quickly and attack their flank should be used whenever possible. Just remember to drop from the zipline if you’ve been spotted because committing to the zip can make you an easy target.
The objective of Call of Duty: Warzone is to survive until you’re the last player or squad on the map. In phases, the map will force players into one isolated location by releasing poisonous gas from the edges of the map. You can survive in the gas for a short amount of time, and even longer if you have a Gas Mask. Gas Masks do have a durability and will break when exposed to gas for too long, however you can either equip or stow Gas Masks in your Backpack, giving you useful choice depending on the situation.
Tip: Hold or press the corresponding button/key to stow an item in your Backpack instead of the button/key to equip it. You may not want to swap out a mask that may still have some use when it’s possible to keep both.
The most important thing to remember is that survival is the key to victory, however if you’re eliminated for the first time in a match you will have a chance to earn your way back into the match via The Gulag. Every player in a Call of Duty: Warzone Battle Royale match has one opportunity in The Gulag, as long as the gulag hasn’t closed
The Gulag is a 1v1 faceoff with someone else who was recently eliminated as well. You’ll drop into a room with cover obstacles and a simple Loadout. Both players will start with the same Loadout and must eliminate the other or use the ascender to exfil that appears in the middle of the room. The winner will automatically be redeployed back into the fight where they can find a safe place to land and attempt to regroup with their Squad.
Intel Card — The Gulag
// INTEL CARD
- MWIII
- WZ
- WZM
Intel Card — The Gulag
// TRAINING // CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE
Learn the layout: There are three variants of The Gulag, but they are easily learnable after a few sessions of fighting for your life. Once you get the hang of which obstacles exist, you can use this knowledge to outsmart your opponent.
Check your weapon: Make sure you pay attenticon to the weapon that you’ve given for The Gulag, not every weapon is the same and you don’t want to get caught using it improperly in the middle of battle.
Gather info and use your equipment: Opponents can be elusive in The Gulag, be sure to use everything at your disposal to help you defeat them or at the very least tell you where they are.
On the most technical basis, Cash is not a totally required element to win a Call of Duty: Warzone match, but it does make it extremely difficult if you are not collecting Cash and spending it on tools to support your success. Cash can buy you almost everything you would need to succeed in a match, including the redeployment of fully eliminated teammates.
Supply Boxes
All over each map are many different Supply Boxes that contain a variety of different type of loot. Emitting a unique sound, Supply Boxes are located mostly in buildings and semi-secure locations. If you listen closely, you can tell when you’re in close proximity to one, you’ll just have to look for them. When you open a Supply Box, out will pop a handful of items which can but is not guaranteed to include weapons, ammo, killstreaks, gas masks, and most importantly cash.
Supply Boxes are not the most lucrative form of gaining cash, but they are the easiest and will still net you enough to get you started. Be sure to pick up the cash as it does pop out the front of the box which means if you’re not standing in the right spot, you can walk away from it without having collected your loot.
Reminder: There is much more to the usefulness of a Supply Box than just earning cash, like the possibility to upgrade gear, replenish armor plates, stock up on ammo, etc. Just because there are better ways to gain a cash stockpile, this method has many other advantages.
Contracts
The most lucrative task to increase your cash flow is to complete Contracts. Contracts must be started by interacting with physical laptops located all over the Call of Duty: Warzone map. To find these laptops, bring up your Tac-Map and look for a Contract Icon near you. You can select it via your Tac-Map to tag it so that it shows up on your HUD, as well. There is a variety of Contracts that you can choose to begin such as Scavenger, Bounty, Intel Station Upload, and a returning favorite that veteran players of Call of Duty: Warzone may remember, Big Game Bounty. Some Contracts task you with interacting with other players and some don’t, however because this is Call of Duty: Warzone there is always a chance that completing a Contract will place you into a firefight with a Squad or two. Once you’ve completed a Contract, you’ll be automatically rewarded with a significant amount of cash, giving you the resources you need to equip yourself properly.
Buy Stations
Buy Stations are the only spots where you can spend your Cash in Urzikstan. Due to this, they have a significant chance to have enemy players nearby. Indicated by the Shopping Cart on the map, Buy Stations are where you can buy items like Armor Plates, Killstreaks, loadout weapons and perks. Some of these items you can find by looting Supply Boxes, however they can be rare so a Buy Station is where you can guarantee you’re equipped with a proper setup so long as you have the Cash.
Tip: Look for an deployable Buy Station, which is a Buy Station that you can call in at any point during a match. This is a safer way to use a Buy Station but remember that you cannot pick it back up once it has been deployed and there’s always the possibility that another squad shoots it down before it arrives, claiming it for themselves.
Redeploying Teammates
When your teammate is eliminated for the first time, they do get the chance to earn their way back via The Gulag, however if they do lose their 1v1 fight or have been eliminated before, they will have to be redeployed. To redeploy your teammate, you must find a Buy Station, indicated on the map by a Shopping Cart, and purchase the redeployment for each individual teammate that had been eliminated. It can get expensive, so be sure to collect as much Cash as possible.
Tip: When a player is redeployed, the Buy Station in which the redeploy was purchased from will launch a red flare. This flare will be visible to anyone in visual range and is an indicator that players are likely nearby.
If you have played Call of Duty multiplayer, you may be familiar with the general idea of how a Loadout is setup. In Call of Duty: Warzone Loadouts are slightly different, both in how they’re setup as well as how to equip them. Before loading into a match, you can select the “Weapons” tab at the top of your screen to set up custom Loadouts. Create a few based on what you’d like to use in a few different situations. For instance, in the early game you may want something that’s a little more long ranged and can pick targets from a safe distance. However, in the later portion of a Call of Duty: Warzone match, you might want something built for a bit of close quarters combat due to the gas shrinking the playable area. You also have the option of setting up a Loadout that you’ll want to use for the entire length of a match because it’s less risky than attempting to buy and collect multiple Loadouts in a single match. Below are some Loadout suggestions that can help you get started.
Every Loadout consists of the following:
Perk Package
Primary and Secondary Weapon
Tactical and Lethal Equipment
Primary and Secondary Weapons: Pick from any MWII or MWIII armament, from the pool of 114 existing weapons and their coresponding attachments. .
Tacticals and Lethals: Offering a similar selection to MWIII Multiplayer, your choices are as follows:
Tacticals: Stun Grenade, Battle Rage, Smoke Grenade, Scatter Mine, Decoy Grenade, Flash Grenade, Snapshot Grenade, Shock Stick, Stim, Experimental Gas, and EMD Grenade.
Lethals: Proximity Mine, Drill Charge, Molotov Cocktail, Semtex, C4, Throwing Star, Breacher Drone, Frag Grenade, Claymore, Throwing Knife, Thermite, and Thermobaric Grenade.
Loadout Suggestions
1: Early Game Scout
Primary Weapon: Longbow Sniper Rifle
Secondary Weapon: Holger 556 Assault Rifle
Tactical: Snapshot Grenade
Lethal: Breacher Drone
Perk Package: Double Time, Focus, Cold-Blooded, Combat Scout
While other Sniper Rifles may inflict more damage per hit, the Longbow’s large ammo capacity makes it a worthy choice in any match. Pair it with the Holger 556 for dealing with enemies in the mid-range, complimented by the Snapshot Grenade for pinpointing enemy positions in tight spaces, and the Breacher Drone for a long-ranged explosive option.
For Perks, Double Time helps you move to new vantage points more quickly, Focus keeps you on target under fire in addition to providing more Hold Breath time when aiming in with the Longbow, Cold-Blooded makes it more difficult for enemies to discover your location, and Combat Scout marks enemies for you and your squad after hitting them.
2: Vanguard Operator
Primary Weapon: MCW Assault Rifle
Secondary Weapon: Rival-9 SMG
Tactical: Stun Grenade
Lethal: Frag Grenade
Perk Package: Battle Hardened, E.O.D., Quick Fix, High Alert
A good one for the aggressive players, this Loadout focuses on inflicting damage in close- to mid-ranged combat by pairing together an Assault Rifle and SMG. Use your Stun to disorient enemies and cook the Frag before tossing for a better chance to catch them in the explosion.
Balancing the aggressive weapons and equipment in this Loadout is a Perk Package full of defensive abilities. Pair Battle Hardened and E.O.D. to reduce the effects of enemy equipment, grab Quick Fix to heal up after eliminating an enemy or inserting an Armor Plate, and High Alert as a means to react to enemies who have you in their sights.
3: Heavy Support
Primary Weapon: Pulemyot 762 LMG
Secondary Weapon: RGL-80 Launcher
Tactical: Smoke Grenade
Lethal: C4
Perk Package: Shrapnel, Spotter, Resupply, Birdseye
This Loadout is all about dealing heavy damage and supporting your squad. The Pulemyot LMG boasts high damage and a large ammo capacity for dealing with enemy Operators and vehicles alike, with extra explosive support from the RGL-80 Launcher. Deploy the Smoke Grenade to set a distraction for attacking or escaping, and plant traps with the C4.
Boost the effectiveness of your explosive attacks using Shrapnel, locate entrenched enemies using Spotter, recharge your equipment for multiple uses via Resupply, and improve your UAV capabilities with Birdseye including the ability to track players using the Ghost Perk.
4: Mobile Warrior
Primary Weapon: Striker SMG
Secondary Weapon: Lockwood 680 Shotgun
Tactical: Experimental Gas
Lethal: Stim
Perk Package: Double Time, Sleight of Hand, Stalker, Ghost
When speed is everything, try this Loadout. The combination of an SMG and Shotgun requires that you get up close to your enemy, making this setup deadlier as your map knowledge and movement skills improve. Disorient enemies with the Experimental Gas and use the Stim to heal back up in a tough fight and to gain a quick burst of movement speed.
For Perks, equip Double Time to close the distance more quickly, Sleight of Hand to minimize downtime during fights, Stalker to improve your strafing and ADS movement speed, and Ghost to reduce the chances of being spotted while engaged in a flanking movement.
5: Late Game Finisher
Primary Weapon: BAS-B Battle Rifle
Secondary Weapon: KATT-AMR
Tactical: Stim
Lethal: Molotov Cocktail
Perk Package: E.O.D., Sleight of Hand, Tempered, High Alert
For our late game Loadout suggestion, we’re going with a Battle Rifle and Assault Rifle pairing. This combination has great versatility for handling a variety of situations. Top it off with Stim to counter a losing battle, and the Molotov Cocktail for area denial.
Your Perks offer a variety of benefits. Use E.O.D. for greater protection against incoming grenades, Sleight of Hand to keep your weapon topped off in the final moments of the match, Tempered to armor up more quickly, and High Alert to reduce the chances of being caught unaware in a flank attack.
Perks
Unlike MWIII Multiplayer, Call of Duty: Warzone Perks work as Packages, where you can choose a selection of Perks to run after placing them into one of four slots, all of which become active once the Loadout with said Perk Package has been claimed. There are Custom Packages (where you can choose your Perks), or Preset Packages. The available perks and the slots that they are compatible with are as follows:
Perk Slots 1 and 2:
Choose from the following 12 Perks
Mountaineer
Reduced vehicle repair time, increased fueling speed, and reduced fuel consumption while driving non-aircraft vehicles.
Mechanic
Reduced vehicle repair time, increased fueling speed, and reduced fuel consumption while driving non-aircraft vehicles.
Shrapnel
Explosive damage delays enemy health regeneration, slows enemy movement, and briefly disables Tactical Sprint when the enemy’s legs are hit.
Scavenger
Collect ammo, an armor plate, and cash from deceased Operators.
Battle Hardened
Reduce the effect of enemy Flash, Stun, EMP, Gas Grenades, Frangible Bullets, and Shock Sticks. Immune to Snapshot Grenades.
E.O.D.
Reduces damage from non-killstreak explosives and fire. Reset fuse timers when picking up live grenades.
Strong Arm
Throw equipment farther and see a preview of the trajectory.
Spotter
Spot enemy equipment and Killstreaks through walls. Aiming down sights highlights them for the team. Hack enemy Claymores, Proximity Mines, C4, and Trophy Systems.
Slight of Hand
Reload faster
Double Time
Increases Tac Sprint duration and reduces refresh time.
Irradiated
Move faster and take less damage while in the gas.
Focus
Reduce flinch when aiming down sights and extend Hold Breath duration.
Perk Slot 3
Choose from the following 10 Perks
Escapist
Increased downed, prone, and crouch speed.
Quick Fix
Killing players or inserting a plate immediately starts health regeneration. Capturing and holding objectives increases the player’s health regeneration rate.
Tracker
Enemies leave behind a footprint trail and enemy death markers are visible.
Survivor
Faster revive speed, reduced cash lost on death, and enemies that down you are automatically pinged.
Tempered
Refill armor plates to full, with two plates instead of three.
Resupply
Recharge equipment over 50 seconds.
Cold-Blooded
Undetectable by thermal optics, Tactical Cameras, and Recon Drones. Does not trigger High Alert and Combat Scout.
Stalker
Increased strafe and aim down sight movement speed.
Payout
Contracts pay out more in cash and the cost of UAV Towers are discounted.
Primed
Accuracy and time to aim down sights is improved while jumping.
Perk Slot 4
Choose from the following 7 Perks
Ghost
Blocks detection by enemy radar sources such as UAVs, portable radars, and heartbeat sensors while moving.
Shrouded
Drop a Smoke Grenade while entering downed state.
Faculty
Delay triggered explosives while sprinting, warns of nearby enemy equipment and reduces combat noise.
Combat Scout
Bullets you fire briefly mark an enemy for you and your squad. Hitting the enemy from farther away increases the mark time.
Birdseye
Your UAVs scan faster and show the heading of the enemy for your squad.
High Alert
Vision pulses when spotted by an enemy player outside of view.
Resolute
When taking damage from gunfire, grants a short bonus to movement speed.
Vehicles
The maps in Call of Duty: Warzone are quite large, especially Urzikstan, and sometimes you need a mode of transport that isn’t by foot and is a bit safer than a vertical zipline. There is a plethora of vehicles located all around the map for this very reason and they all have slightly different strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the Armored Pickup is guarded and more difficult to destroy but is not quite as fast as the UTV. Vehicles do appear on the map, which makes things easy when you’re looking for a vehicle nearby, but it also alerts all players in close vicinity when an enemy is driving a vehicle. The vehicle will appear red on your map if an enemy vehicle is close.
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