21 Things I Wish I Knew Before Playing Warzone 2.0

Call of Duty’s battle royale mode, Warzone, is back. Whether you’re a battle royale vet or not, there are a number of things that make this mode unique, even compared to CoD’s last go at the genre. Here are a good chunk of tips to keep yourself and your crew alive out there in Al Mazrah, the latest CoD battle royale map.

You don’t need to buy Modern Warfare II

Warzone 2.0 is a free to play game. That said, by design or by extension of poor design, the UI in this game often makes you think you need to buy the full Modern Warfare II for a cool $70. I’m here to tell you that you don’t, and here’s how to navigate this clusterfuck of a menu system to get it to stop badgering you for three twenties and a ten.

There are (basically) four ways to play

If you’re like me and have typically avoided battle royales because they’re a bit too one-note and sweaty, rest assured that Warzone 2.0 offers a few different ways to play. The different modes certainly help mix things up a bit to keep it all fresh.

To start, there are standard Battle Royale Solos. I’m sure you know the drill with that one: It’s every soldier for themselves; ya gotta scavenge, survive, kill, rinse, and repeat.

Team modes, such as Duos, Quads, and Third-Person Trios (we’ll talk about “Unhinged” in just a sec) change up the BR experience from a lonely lethal trip to hell to one where players cover each other’s backs, plotting a course to victory.

Unhinged BR Trios, however, is arguably a different game unto itself. Using “Assimilation,” you can recruit enemies into your squad. This is somewhat available in the other modes with squads, but in duos and quads you can only ever fill your squad up to its starting max. In Unhinged mode, you can combine squads into a max of a six-person crew.

The pace and tone of the game is dramatically different because of this. In other squad modes, two teams spotting each other will devolve into a gunfight pretty quickly. Not here! Not only will you possibly hold your fire at first sight of an enemy to sus out whether they’re willing to join up and take on everyone else, but the hilarity of putting together a six-person crew to roll through buildings and towns is a very different and welcome spin on the old BR formula. Queue evil laughs. Here’s everything you need to know about teaming up with your foes.

That brings us to our fourth mode, the DMZ. Still in beta, I think it’s safe to say the rules are really yet to be written for this mode. But it’s pretty neat and you should check it out. The premise is quite simple: four squads of three players head out into Al Mazrah to loot, survive, and exfiltrate with the goods they found. It reminds me of a more streamlined, less punishing version of Escape From Tarkov. But don’t let your guard down, AI can be pretty tough, and other players pose a serious challenge. It can be a slightly less stressful mode than the full battle royale, however.

Headshots aren’t guaranteed one-hit kills (and the TTK can be quite high)

This one’s a double-edged sword. While I’m disappointed that the TTK of Warzone 2.0 feels a little higher than MWII’s full multiplayer, it also means you’re less likely to die (if you’ve got your wits about you, that is.)

Knowing that headshots aren’t guaranteed kills and that fully plated enemies will take several well-placed shots will change up how you move across the map. You’ll want to set up more aggressive ambush opportunities when you can. And unless you’re a crackshot with a great sniper rifle, it might be best to use that scope for reconnaissance first and combat second.

This may vary depending on your play style though. If you’re new, however, it’s something important to keep in mind.

Safe-cracking contracts are great to start out with

Open up that tac-map and you’ll see a ton of icons and other cool challenges to accomplish. The green walkie-talkie-lookin’ icons are contracts, and there are a few different ones.

In my experience, touching down near a safe-cracking contract (indicated by a safe dial icon on the green walkie talkie) and grabbing that as your first real objective in Warzone is a safer and more reliable way to earn loot and cash early on in the game.

Safe-cracking contracts ask you to bust open three nearby safes (with fucking bombs!). Not only will these safes spit out a bunch of loot, but clearing all three gives you a nice injection of cash you can use to buy a primary weapon from a Buy Station, or hang onto it to buy back fallen comrades. They’re also much safer (no pun intended) ways to start the match off. You’re not asked to hunt down anyone, or defend an area. Provided that you’re watching the circle closing in on you, you also have a generous amount of time to complete them. Splitting up (when it’s safe) will wrap the…