Call of Duty Guide

Call of Duty Guide

Introduction

Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play battle royale video game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows that launched on March 10, 2020. The game is part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (although it is a standalone game and does not require purchasing Modern Warfare or Cold War). Although it is mainly a battle royale game, Warzone has several other game modes that are intriguing and offer variety.

If you’re interested in playing Warzone on PC, you may want to make sure your system meets the game’s minimum requirements. These requirements are:

  • At least an Intel Core i3 4340 or AMD FX-6300 CPU
  • Nvidia GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 100 GB of available storage

Combat Basics

Call of Duty: Warzone, like most other battle royale games out there, is unique and requires practice and skill. Fortunately, the game comes with a Tutorial option that teaches you the ins and outs of the game and tips on how to survive. You may want to pay attention to it, especially if you’ve just started playing. The most important aspects of combat are:

Hip-Firing

You can fire your weapon simply by pressing the fire button, which differs for each console but can be found and changed in the Options menu. For automatic weapons, pressing fire may result in a single shot, a burst or continuous fire, depending on the weapon. In the Gunsmith, and in most circumstances, your weapon’s rate of fire is shown next to the ammo count at the bottom of your HUD. Some weapons in Modern Warfare can switch between two different fire modes, usually full-auto and semi-auto.

If you just hold the trigger, your Operator will fire from the hip. This is the fastest way to fire a weapon, but it isn’t very accurate. Hip-fire weapons, especially those specialized for close range, such as SMGs or shotguns, are a great approach to consider if you need to react quickly or turn a corner into an enemy up close.

Aiming Down Sights

Your Operator will aim the weapon when you press the ADS (aim down sights) button, usually the left trigger or the right mouse button. Shooting while in ADS is almost always more accurate than firing from the hip. When dealing damage at range, aiming down sights is almost essential, especially when the enemy is several hundred feet across the map.

One notable drawback of ADS is that it significantly slows your movement. While aiming, your Operator will physically slow down, which by default slows your ability to locate and lock onto targets. This is done to help you make more precise shooting movements. Some weapon attachments, such as those that improve strafe speed, let you move faster while aiming, although they may also have drawbacks.

Furthermore, ADS means you’re looking through the weapon’s iron sights, which may or may not get in the way depending on personal preference. This can be fixed either by learning to use the weapon’s built-in sights or by attaching an optic to it.

Adjusting Your Aim

Your Operator won’t be able to hold the weapon steady once it’s fired, whether you’re hip-firing or aiming down sights. This is especially true if the weapon is fully automatic.

Recoil is an important component of using weapons in Warzone and varies by weapon. Some will drift up and to the right, while others will kick straight up. Every weapon in the game has a unique recoil pattern that can be mastered with practice. Even the most experienced player may find that anticipating a weapon’s recoil pattern can be a game-changer, and all it takes is a little attention to how your weapon behaves.

Your aim can be thrown off if your Operator takes damage and flinches from the hit while aiming and shooting in a live engagement. Keep this in mind when trying to land your shots, as even the slightest flinch can throw a shot off target, especially at long range.

Pre-Aiming

Consider the following scenario: you’re about to step out of a small room into a large open field, and you know the enemy will be too far away to hit with hip-fire.

It doesn’t hurt to aim down sights before rounding a corner or entering a new area if you know you’ll need more precise shots to take someone down.

Melee

We can talk about any weapon in the game, but what if you’re in an awkward position right next to an enemy? As in, so close you can smell their breakfast? What if, after stepping around a corner, you unexpectedly find yourself close to an enemy? In this scenario, a melee attack is the way to go.

Game Modes

Warzone has three main game modes: Battle Royale, Plunder and Resurgence. Each mode has its own unique appeal for players. Whether you’re into fast action or prefer to relax and pick off enemies from your little sniper’s nest on some rooftop, there’s something for everyone.

In Battle Royale, drop in with your squad of three players (or solo, if you prefer) and get ready for battle. Arm yourself with weapons, ammo and armor. When a Loadout Drop arrives, complete contracts, visit Buy Stations and access your custom loadouts. To win, you must be the last team standing. Defeat your opponents and stay out of the gas.

In Plunder, you earn money by looting, completing contracts and, of course, stealing from other players. Cash can be deposited at helipads or with portable deposit balloons. Deposited money is safe and cannot be stolen. When you die, instead of going to the Gulag or being eliminated completely, you’ll respawn, and there is no closing gas circle affecting the play area. The whole map is at your disposal.

When the bonus round starts, you have until the timer hits zero to put yourself ahead of the team with the most money, either by cutting down their cash (by killing them) or by earning even more. The first team to reach $1 million in cash, held or deposited, at the end of the bonus round wins. The players with the most money are highlighted on the map.

Banks are an important part of Plunder and an ideal way to make money fast. The map has four banks you can rob. They’re all in different regions and won’t be marked on the map, but you can usually tell which buildings are banks because they have green signs on the outside. This most likely represents the color of money, which is green. Banks are packed with cash. If you enter a bank, an alarm will sound, followed by a loud bang and flashing red lights. Enemies will be visually alerted to your presence if you rob them.

Resurgence is a game mode that successfully combines two pillars of modern Call of Duty games: the massive Warzone battle royale and the tight, fast-paced action of a standard Team Deathmatch match. Resurgence is essentially a large-scale Team Deathmatch mode with powerful ground loot and a shrinking play area. It’s all about dropping in, grabbing a gun and getting going.

Unlike the original Warzone mode, where campers would crouch in hard-to-reach areas, in Rebirth Resurgence it’s common for campers to be quickly dispatched by a teammate who drops back in after respawning, which happens often. In reality, wiping a team in Rebirth Resurgence is difficult because of how quickly teammates respawn, especially if you’re fighting another team and you’re both getting regular kills.

Operators and Upgrades

Operators are unique characters in the game with their own backstory, nationality, character traits, skins and cosmetic customization options.

You can sort Operators by game (Black Ops Cold War or Modern Warfare) or view the lineup of over 60 Operators, all ready for deployment, on the main Operators screen. When you select an Operator, they become your Favorite; this is the Operator who will represent you in Warzone as your character.

You start your career in Warzone as a Mil-Sim Operator; in Modern Warfare, you can choose two for either faction, and they change their appearance based on the primary weapon in your favorite loadout.

Although the default Operators are pretty excellent, many others can be unlocked by completing gameplay challenges in Warzone, Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare, by buying them or their skins in the Store, or by reaching Battle Pass tiers. In fact, simply completing the orientation tutorial in Warzone will earn you your first Operator skin! Even if you haven’t completed an Operator’s associated challenge yet, buying that Operator’s skin in the Store or unlocking a skin in the Battle Pass will make the Operator available. All Operators and skins from Modern Warfare and/or Black Ops Cold War will be available in Warzone for those who already have a profile.

There are ten different factions across Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare, including NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Black Ops Cold War, and the SAS, Warcom, Demon Dogs, Mil-Sim, Spetsnaz, Jackals, Chimera and Shadow Company in Modern Warfare. Regardless of their differences, current rivalries or potential duplication between games (e.g. Woods and Price), any Operator from any faction can be part of your Warzone squad. If your squad decides to be one cohesive force for the next infil, you can all be the same Operator with the same skin. You can choose the quips that Modern Warfare Operators say during battle, usually after a kill. Make sure the line you pick is the last thing your victim hears!

Finishing Moves are another fun aspect of your Operator. Each Finishing Move lasts only a few seconds and is completely optional, but it’s an incredibly satisfying way to get rid of annoying rivals who aren’t as aware of their situation as they should be. Furthermore, regardless of the opponent’s health or armor, a Finishing Move will always eliminate them. To equip a Finishing Move, go to the Operators menu, select your chosen Operator, then go to the Customize submenu and move to Finishing Moves before matchmaking into Warzone. There, you can choose any of the unlocked Finishing Moves available to the selected Operator. By default, Operators have their own signature Finishing Move, although any Operator can use Finishing Moves from their own game that were included in the Battle Pass or bought in the Store.

Weapons and Loadouts

Warzone features a range of weapons of every class. From short-range weapons like shotguns and SMGs to long-range snipers and everything in between, Warzone has them all. Loadouts are available during Battle Royale fights (including Resurgence) by opening a Loadout Drop crate, which can be airdropped into Verdansk. These are huge crates that can hold any of your pre-built loadouts and drop into battle. They can appear at random or be bought with cash at Buy Stations.

Loadouts can be brought onto the battlefield at the start of a Plunder match or in other select limited-time modes, where Loadout Drops don’t occur. You won’t be able to build a custom loadout until you reach the rank of Private IV (Rank 4) in the military ranks of the game’s progression path. Instead, you can choose from several viable pre-built kits. However, once you’ve gained enough experience to reach this level, you’ll be able to customize your character to your heart’s content.

Your main source of damage in a loadout is your primary weapon. An assault rifle, submachine gun (SMG), shotgun, light machine gun (LMG), marksman rifle, sniper rifle or melee weapon (especially the Riot Shield) can be used as a primary weapon.

Your secondary weapon is usually used as a backup and serves a different purpose. A pistol, launcher or melee weapon, such as the combat knife, can be used as a secondary weapon. If the weapon type allows it, attachments can be added to any weapon.

On the weapon bench, Operator Perks are represented by patches sewn onto pouches, and together they offer your Operator a wide range of in-game benefits (once a Loadout Drop is accessed in Battle Royale mode). Perks are divided into three categories, and each category allows only one Perk choice.

Lethal equipment is a type of weapon designed to deal maximum damage to your opponents. You should learn how to use these items (such as Frag Grenades and other explosives) to take out enemies quickly.

When choosing a weapon, there are six stats to consider:

  • Accuracy: The weapon’s precision when firing from the hip.
  • Damage: The amount of damage an enemy takes when shot with the weapon.
  • Range: The maximum distance the weapon can hit before it loses accuracy.
  • Fire Rate: The weapon’s ability to fire at high speed.
  • Mobility: Your ability to move quickly while aiming the weapon at the same time.
  • Control: The weapon’s sway and recoil; the lower the sway and recoil, the better.

In general, the higher each of your weapon’s stats, the better.

The Map

Verdansk is the game’s first battle royale map, and it’s based on the fictional city from Modern Warfare’s campaign and multiplayer modes. The map is based on the city of Donetsk in Ukraine.

After the Destruction of Verdansk event nuked the old Verdansk map, players received a complete redesign of the city set in the spring of 1984. The main map for Warzone’s Battle Royale and Plunder modes is currently Verdansk ’84. A large number of structures and locations, as well as finer global features and fixes, have been reworked and revisited across the entire map.

Tips and Tricks

Killstreaks

Killstreaks are still important in Warzone, although they aren’t earned the same way. Players have to either find or buy them instead of unlocking them by getting kills. Each option is useful in its own way. The UAV doesn’t show everyone’s location on the map, but it does show a large radius around the player. When the circle closes in, airstrikes are the most effective because opponents have nowhere to hide. With proper use of these perks, opponents can be completely wiped out.

Ping

Mimicking Respawn’s fantastic Ping system, Warzone takes a page out of Apex Legends’ book. With the press of a button, you can mark loot, locations and enemy positions, much like on-demand sonar.

It makes coordinating strategy much easier for your squad, so you should ping often. Don’t forget to double-tap the Ping button to warn your squad of an enemy presence. You’d be surprised how useful it can be to simply give a general sense of where another squad is hiding.

Go for Loadout Drops

Because of customizable loadouts, players who own the base games have a slight advantage over those who only play Warzone. You can use your own weapons and perks in combat if you buy or find Loadout Drops on the map. They’re expensive, but definitely worth it. When one drops onto the field, be careful, because another squad will most likely go after it too, or may be shooting from the rooftops.

Don’t Hoard Cash

In Warzone, your teammates’ status is shown in the lower-left corner of your screen, along with how much money they have.

This is useful because if you’re eliminated, you’ll depend on them to buy you back at the nearest Buy Station (a place to buy upgrades or special items with the money you earn from kills). This will be much easier if they have plenty of money, so be sure to pass cash around while you loot. In fact, you can drop cash from your inventory to make sure everyone has enough money in case of emergency.

Make Sure to Buy a Self-Revive

Money is incredibly valuable, but it’s worthless if it isn’t put to good use. We suggest buying a Self-Revive once you’ve stacked up some cash. Few things are more frustrating than getting picked off from a distance.

Most snipers won’t be able to finish you off right away if you use a Self-Revive and drop into cover. They are, admittedly, less effective in close combat, but a team with Self-Revives all around will have a better chance than a squad without them.

Pick the Ideal Drop Zone

Where you and your team land is key to early-game success. It’s the difference between dying in two minutes and standing up for what you believe in. If you’re looking for a quiet start, the edges are usually calm, and a few houses have decent gear. The northwest part of the map, near the dam, offers plenty of loot and keeps your back against the wall. The Stadium is an excellent zone for a hectic start. Its sides are lined with loot crates, and now that the interior is open, it’s even more tempting.

Get Armor

Armor isn’t made up of helmets or vests like in other battle royale games. Instead, players earn armor plates that must be manually inserted into a standard vest. Players can equip three plates at once, raising their health from 100 to 250 HP, but can only carry five plates at a time. This means you can repair your broken armor or give plates to a friend. When shooting an enemy’s body, an armor icon will appear to show they’re protected, until a “cracking sound” signals that they’re no longer protected.

Of course, the general rule is to aim for the head, but watch out for the hit marker indicating your opponent can take a mag or two before going down.

Don’t Stray Too Far from Your Teammates

Resist the temptation to leave your teammates behind in search of kills. Not only could you wander too far to be revived when you’re downed, but enemies could also use you as bait to draw out your whole squad after downing you, knowing they’ll rush in to try to save you.