Call of Duty Warzone Pacific: What's new in the mid-season update?
Call of Duty: Warzone has left Verdansk behind - after a year and a half of superb battle royale fun, the game moved to Caldera, an all-new map in the Pacific, to tie in with the launch of COD Vanguard.
We've got all the key details about the new map right here, as well as details on what's currently going on in Warzone, what's arrived in the latest update and what's coming down the line.
Warzone Pacific Season 1 mid-season update
Raven recently released a mid-season update for Caldera, adjusting a load of weapons and fixing a range of bugs, although the game still has plenty of issues including a really frequent freeze when you open a Buy Station.
It's a pretty low-key update compared to mid-season launches from the months gone by, without a major theme or new map events, but if the developers are focussing their energy on fixing bugs and exploits we're not complaining.
New weapon
The one major addition in this update is a new SMG, the Welrod Gun, which Raven says is a short-to-mid-range option, like most SMGs. You can unlock it by getting kills while aiming down sights on SMGs, and it shouldn't be too onerous to get hold of.
Weapon adjustments
Also included in the new update are a host of adjustments to weapons and their attachments, focussing in particular on the Bren, STG44 and MP40, all of which have been perhaps a little too easy to use since Pacific launched.
They're a bit too detailed to go into fully but, in general, more recoil should be present when using meta attachments like the Carver Foregrip on these weapons, making them at least a little more challenging in some engagements.
You can find full details of all the changes, right down to the percentage, in the patch notes that Raven has posted right here.
Warzone Pacific launch date
Warzone Pacific (as it is now called) is live right now, after launching for everyone on 9 December.
That means you're free to explore the new map, Caldera.
marks your drop.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) November 30, 2021
Where will you be dropping? #Warzone pic.twitter.com/F9btJRH0Q0
You can get a sense for the new map thanks to the Tweet above from Call of Duty, which reveals its main regions and areas, which you can also check out in motion thanks to the trailer below. Now that the game is fully out in the wild, though, you'll be able to see loads more gameplay footage on YouTube, too, or jump in yourself
Warzone Pacific modes
We've got plenty of key details on how Warzone Pacific works compared to the old version - in particular, how weaponry functions. With three games' worth of guns to balance, it's a little complicated.
A new mode called Vanguard Royale is limited to Vanguard weaponry only for a period-appropriate battleground. There is also still a core Battle Royale mode where you can mix and match all the weapons you have unlocked, too.
Vanguard Plunder returns the cash-gathering mode to the roster, too, for a more relaxing way to level up weapons.
There are new vehicles, including planes for the first time ever, and anti-aircraft trucks to help counter the threat that they pose. The planes are fairly simple to control and really lethal, but the good news is that those anti-air trucks and emplacements destroy them very quickly.
Warzone pacific balance changes
A recent blog post had absolutely loads of detail about the map change, but perhaps equally exciting as the new location are some of the many balance changes that it detailed for the game itself.
For one, each match's pacing has received a huge change - you can now only buy a loadout drop once the free boxes airdrop in after a few minutes into each match. Having featured in the Verdansk Flashback game mode, this is a welcome feature that makes early-game fights a little more even-footed, in our opinion.
The gulag experience returns, this time hosted in a mine shaft, but now you'll drop back into the main map after winning holding whatever gun and equipment you had at the end of the fight - so conserving ammo and tacticals could give you an advantage once you land.
Stopping Rounds have been removed from the game entirely, and Dead Silence got nerfed to become rarer and to only refresh after one kill, rather than infinitely. The much-feared Kali Sticks melee also got hit by a nerf, while Stun Grenades and Heartbeat Sensors both get their utility curtailed a bit as well.
Most lethals deal more damage now, with the Stim and Snapshot Grenade getting buffs to their usefulness (the former gives you a speed boost while the latter has a much wider radius). Even the lowly decoy grenade got a buff to pack in rubber pellets that deal light damage to nearby enemies.
Gas masks don't interrupt animations as often as they used to (praise be), while new Gas Canisters can be hauled around with both hands and be detonated to damage your foes, making them perfect for traps. You can even attach them to ziplines to give parties at the top of buildings a nasty surprise.
Finally, the addition of areas of shallow water that you can wade in lets players dull the effects of Tracker to hide more efficiently, or crouch-walk to get the benefits of Cold-Blooded. Chucking a Molotov at the water, meanwhile, causes a smoke effect that could offer useful cover.
To get a full sense of all the balance changes, check out the patch notes for the update right here (be warned, they're extensive!).
Warzone Pacific contract changes
Also receiving some tweaks are contracts - with new contract types entering the fray. Supply Drop contracts airdrop a supply crate full of cash and goodies onto the map for anyone to collect, but give your team and your team alone the exact location it's going to drop.
Big Game Bounty, which someone will only be able to pick up once per match, will mark the game's kill leader for you to hunt down, giving you a real challenge and offering bigger rewards as a result.
Finally, a mysterious Top Secret Contract doesn't appear on the minimap and will bring extra juicy rewards, but will assign you a random contract type without you having any say in the matter.
Ricochet anti-cheat system
On top of all these gameplay changes, of course, is the arrival of Call of Duty's new Ricochet anti-cheat on PC, which will be a big boost to players on all platforms thanks to crossplay.
A kernel-level anti-cheat, it'll monitor for suspect play and external programmes influencing the game, and should hopefully make a big difference to the amount of cheating that goes on in public Warzone lobbies.
You can read more about it here, on the Call of Duty website.
Warzone - Operation: Flashback, Secrets of the Pacific, and Last Hours of Verdansk details
Before we left Verdansk for the last time at the start of December, there was a flurry of live events to enjoy on the old map, bidding farewell to this familiar playground.
We enjoyed Operation Verdansk Flashback, which was designed to give players reminders of all the times they've had in Verdansk - it was absolute carnage with constant in-game events.
There was also an ongoing live event called Secrets of the Pacific, which tasked players with gathering intel files on the new map, Caldera, to find out more about it before the migration happens.
Finally, there was a limited-time one-day mode called the Last Hours of Verdansk, a full live event that bid goodbye to the fabled map, heralding the start of Warzone Pacific. It tasked players with controlling a bunker at the end of a game, and was frantic fun that gave its winners a unique calling card to boast with.
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