Warzone 2 Season 3 patch notes: Al Mazrah Resurgence, ISO Hemlock nerf, new gulag, more

The Warzone 2 Season 3 update patch notes are here, with lots of changes, nerfs, buffs and content to get into. Here’s everything you need to know.

Raven Software have described Warzone 2 Season 3 as a “new dawn”, with the most seasonal content yet, and the patch notes are evidence of that. Activision already let community members in on major changes made to its Ricochet anti-cheat system, including Cronus Zen detection and a replay system.

Season 3 will also finally re-introduce the fan-favorite game mode Plunder and give battle royale fans a taste of competitive action with Warzone Ranked.

Article continues after ad

The new season also features TTK improvements, with a particular focus on close-range combat. There’s also improvements to visibility in gunfights and movement.

Here are the highlights from the Season 3 update, and the full patch notes from the developers below.

Contents

Al Mazrah Resurgence and new gulag map coming in Season 3

Warzone 2 reverted to a 1v1 gulag system.

Warzone has had plenty of dedicated Resurgence maps in the past, but this is the first time players will be able to play the game mode in a large-scale environment. As long as one teammate is alive, squad members can redeploy until the third circle closes.

Article continues after ad

Redeploy balloons allow players to ascend back into the sky and parachute elsewhere on the map. Fans loved the feature in WZ1 because it gave squads a way to reposition, escape gunfights, or get aggressive. Infinity Ward kept the same concept but changed balloons to drones in Season 2, Reloaded on Ashika Island.

Season 3 makes redeploy drones also available on Al Mazrah, which should make traversing the large desert environment easier.

New Gulag: 1v1 Blacksite

Infinity Ward introduced a 2v2 gulag, and community members bashed the new system. In Season 2, Warzone 2 returned to a traditional 1v1 format. The developers retrofitted the original map to suit fewer competitors better, but Season 3’s new Gulag was specifically tailored with 1v1 combat in mind.

Article continues after ad

Weapon balancing: Buffs and nerfs

A handful of weapons have been hit with changes in the Warzone 2 Season 3 patch notes. Namely, the ISO Hemlock, one of the meta weapons in Season 2, has been hit with a damage nerf.

Additionally, there have been changes to other assault rifles, including the M13B, the STB 556, and the TAQ-56, as developers are clearly keen to give the meta a fresh feel for the new season.

All sub-machine guns get a hip spread accuracy increase, as well as some damage increases.

Article continues after ad

Warzone 2 Season 3 full patch notes

MAPS

Ashika Island

A Cargo Ship and several Submarines are now present outside of the Port.

GAMEPLAY

All Maps | All Modes

Tempered Plate Carrier
- Upgrades the Player’s Armor Plate Carrier to improve armor plate efficiency.
- Details:
  - Player now equips 2 stronger armor plates, down from 3
  - Each armor plate counts for 75
  - Can be found in strongholds and loot

Bomb Drone Balancing
- Reduced the damage of the Bomb Drone so it will no longer one-hit-kill or down a fully armored player.

Heavy Chopper
- Re-enabled this vehicle in the following modes:
  - Standard
  - Duos
  - Trios
  - Quads
- Added new Heavy Chopper gas cans unique to this vehicle that are required for initial takeoff.
  - Spawn locations of these gas cans will differ between Battle Royale and DMZ.
  - Battle Royale:
    - One of five possible spawn locations will spawn Heavy Gas gas cans each match.
    - One Heavy Chopper gas can is included as a guaranteed Stronghold mission reward.
- Subsequent refuelings can be done via Gas Stations or other Heavy Chopper gas cans
- This vehicle is now more vulnerable to explosive damage

Gas Mask
- The gas mask has been given a slight buffer when the player delays it from being put on or taken off. This should help catch situations where further delay is desired immediately after it was dropped.

Interrogation
- Decreased the time it takes to perform an interrogation to 3 seconds, down from 5
- Added a grace period if the downed Player is immediately eliminated after a successful interrogation.
  - This guarantees that the enemy squad will be pinged at least once, up to three times during the grace period.
  - Reminder: Keeping the interrogated Player alive will further extend the effect

Assault Rifles

ISO Hemlock
- All Damage Ranges reduced
- Lower Torso Damage reduced

M13B
- Headshot Damage slightly reduced
- Lower Torso Damage increased
- Mid-range Damage distance increased
- Upper Torso Damage slightly reduced

STB 556
- Headshot Damage increased
- Leg Damage increased
- Lower Torso Damage increased
- Mid-range Damage distance increased
- Mid-range Damage reduced

TAQ-56
- Headshot Damage Increased

Battle Rifles

FTAC Recon
- Movement Speed increased
- Semi-Auto Leg Damage increased
- Semi-Auto Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Semi-Auto Upper Torso Damage increased

Lachmann 762
- Movement Speed increased

SO-14
- Movement Speed increased
- Semi-Auto Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only

TAQ-V
- Minimum Armor Damage increased | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Movement Speed increased
- Semi-Auto Lower Leg Damage increased

Handguns

Basilisk
- Minimum Armor Damage reduced | Warzone 2.0 Only

Light Machine Guns

RAAL MG
- Headshot Damage reduced
- Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Semi-Auto Headshot Damage increased
- Semi-Auto Upper Torso Damage increased
- Semi-Auto Lower Torso Damage increased

RPK
- Close-mid Damage slightly reduced

Marksman Rifles

Tempus Torrent
- All Damage Ranges reduced slightly
- Close-mid Damage reduced slightly
- Headshot Damage reduced

Submachine Guns

Submachine Gun Hip Spread accuracy increased

BAS-P
- ADS Move Speed increased
- All Damage Ranges increased
- Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only

Lachmann Sub
- Headshot Damage decreased
- Burst-Fire Leg Damage increased
- Burst-Fire time between shots decreased
- Burt-Fire Torso Damage increased

MX9
- Sprint to Fire Speed increased

Vaznev-9K
- Headshot Damage decreased

VEL 46
- Headshot Damage decreased

ATTACHMENTS

Ammunition

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.

Basilisk
- .500 Snakeshot
  - Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
Explosive
- Bolt-Action Weapons equipped with Explosive Ammunition are now able to down fully armored Players in one shot | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Explosive Ammunition has been added to the MCPR-300 progression tree
ISO Hemlock
- .300 Blackout (All Types)
  - Headshot Damage increased
  - Hip Spread accuracy while prone increased
  - Initial Recoil increased slightly
  - Long-range Damage decreased
  - Mid-range Damage increased
  - Minimum Armor Damage added to Semi-Auto Firing Mode | Warzone 2.0 Only
  - Recoil violence increased

Barrel, Stock, and Magazine Attachment stats are affected according to how ‘Large’, ‘Small’, ‘Heavy’, ‘Light’, ‘Long’, or ‘Short’ they are relative to other Attachments. In essence, the below changes increase the upsides of most Attachments stats while decreasing their downsides—resulting in an overall increase to Attachment power level.

Barrel

Heavy Barrels
- ADS Speed penalty slightly reduced
Light Barrels
- Muzzle Velocity penalty reduced
Short Barrels
- ADS Speed benefit increased
- Damage Range penalty reduced
- Hip Spread accuracy benefit increased while moving and firing
- Hip Spread accuracy penalty for Shotguns decreased while moving and firing

Bipod

ADS Speed penalty reduced

Laser

Laser brightness increased

Magazine

Large Magazines
- Light Machine Guns (Global)
  - Handling and Movement penalties reduced
- Kastov 545
  - 60 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
- Kastov 762
  - 40 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
- Lachmann Sub
  - 50 Round Drum
    - Handling penalty reduced
- M13B
  - 60 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
- M16
  - 60 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
- Vaznev-9K
  - 45 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
- VEL 46
  - 50 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced
  - 60 Round Magazine
    - Handling penalty reduced

Small Magazines

Article continues after ad

Movement Speed increased

Sprint to Fire Speed increased

Fennec 45
- Fennec Double Tap Mod (Benefits from Small Magazine buffs)
  - Damage increased
  - Damage Ranges reduced
  - Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
  - Time between bursts reduced
STB 556
- Single Tap Mod (Benefits from Small Magazine buffs)
  - Damage increased
  - Mid-range Damage distances increased
  - Minimum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only
  - Time between shots increased

Rear Grip

Basilisk
- Akimbo Basilisk
  - Maximum Armor Damage added | Warzone 2.0 Only

Stock

Heavy Stocks
- ADS Move Speed penalty reduced
- Aiming Stability benefit increased
- Aim Walking Steadiness benefit increased

GENERAL

Blueprints
- Pro-Tuning is no longer removed from all Attachments when altering a Pro-Tuned Blueprint
Bomb Squad
- Explosive Damage mitigation now also applies to Armor | Warzone 2.0 Only
Damage Feedback
- Visual feedback adjusted to increase visibility when taking damage
Death Effects
- Death Effects are now visible when killing AI
Dive
- Diving fire delay reduced
Slide
- Sliding speed slightly increased

FIELD UPGRADES

Added Thermal Vision to the Tactical Camera for Night Map Modes

EQUIPMENT

Gas Grenades should no longer detonate enemy explosives
Claymore | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Armor damage reduced
Flash Grenade
- Flash effect duration reduced
Frag Grenade | Warzone 2.0 Only
- One hit kill radius against fully armored Players reduced
Proximity Mine | Warzone 2.0 Only
- Armor damage reduced
- Armor damage reduced against crouched or prone Players
Semtex
- Now kills downed Players when stuck

QUALITY OF LIFE

Mantle Assist Improvements
- Improved the system that would allow players to mantle over or through objects such as windows.

Advanced UAV Improvements
- Enemy Players and AI Combatants will now appear differently while using an Advanced UAV

Killstreak Banner Positioning
- The position of the Killstreak banner that appears on screen has been moved to no longer overlap with the player’s reticle.

BUG FIXES

Fixed an issue that allowed Players to clip inside the Sentry Gun.
Fixed several issues with placing a Sentry Gun on the train.
Fixed issue where Mortar Strikes were not doing enough damage against AI targets, making it hard to kill them.
Recon/Bomb Drones will now die if the player goes into last stand.
Added item persistence to Stim Pistol / Rebreather. Now Stim pistol / Rebreather can be dropped after it has been activated.
Fixed several issues caused by Players having both a Self Revive and Stim Pistol equipped.
Fixed an issue with the Assimilation UI that could cause some squad members’ names or numbers to appear incorrectly.

BATTLE ROYALE

The patch notes detailed in the section below are exclusive to Battle Royale, which includes but is not limited to standard Battle Royale, Resurgence, Mini Royale, Unhinged, and more.

PLAYLIST

Al Mazrah

Standard
- Duos
  - Max Players: 150
  - Assimilation: Refill
- Trios
  - Max Players: 150
  - Assimilation: Refill
- Quads
  - Max Players: 152
  - Assimilation: Refill

Massive ResurgenceNEW
- Trios
  - Max Players: 150
  - Assimilation: Off
- Quads
  - Max Players: 152
  - Assimilation: Off

Ashika Island

Resurgence
- Solos
  - Max Players: 52
  - Assimilation: Off
- Duos
  - Max Players: 52
  - Assimilation: Off
- Quads
  - Max Players: 52
  - Assimilation: Off

For regular updates about the Playlist and other Scheduled Events, check out the dedicated Warzone Trello Board.

MODES

Al Mazrah

Massive Resurgence Launch
- Resurgence makes its Al Mazrah debut! Prepare to take on dozens of other squads in a much larger version of this fan favorite mode.
  - How does it work?
    - When eliminated, Players enter a spectating state and must wait for the Resurgence timer to tick down. Squad members can shorten the timer by completing Contracts, looting, and eliminating enemy Players. Respawns are disabled on the fourth circle, so keep an eye on the clock
  - Hunt & Track Mechanic
    - At any point during a match, eliminating an enemy Player will display their Squad members for a few seconds on the minimap.
    - Specific to Solos, eliminating an enemy Player will display their location upon redeployment for 10 seconds.
  - Score Events
    - As a reminder, we recently added quite a few new ways to shorten the respawn timer for Squad members:
      - Headshot
        
        Eliminating an enemy Player via Headshot
      - On The Move
        
        If you move more than 25 meters while your teammate is dead
      - Hunt
        
        You eliminated a Player while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
      - Hunter Double
        
        You eliminated two Players in a row while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
      - Hunter Spree
        
        You eliminated more than three Players while they were tracked by the Hunt mechanic
      - Armor Break
        
        You broke all of a Player’s active Armor Plates
      - Audacious Elimination
        
        You got an elimination while a Squad member was down
      - Fearless Elimination
        
        You got an elimination while being the last living member of your Squad
  - Loadouts
    - Players can acquire their Loadouts via two different methods in Resurgence. Towards the end of the first circle there is a Public Event that drops a Loadout crate for your Squad. Loadout Dop Markers are also available for purchase via Buy Stations, using the same price scaling as standard Battle Royale.
  - Additional Information
    - Strongholds are disabled
    - Weapons found via ground loot always have attachments
    - Blue Resurgence Supply Boxes restock after 90 seconds

World Series of Warzone In-Season
- Grab your two sweatiest friends and start warming up now Stage 1 of the upcoming WSOW 2023 Season.
- A limited-time playlist will go live on April 27th called WSOW Trios for squads to practice for the In-Game Open.
  - This is a new WSOW ruleset, which is a variation of a standard match of Battle Royale. This includes changes such as:
    - No turreted vehicles
    - No Heavy chopper
    - No assimilation
    - No Fire sales, Jailbreaks, Restocks or Champion’s Quest
- While the public Playlist will be available throughout this weekend for practice, the actual competition — and opportunity for official scoring for WSOW Stage I — will take place on April 28 through April 30 from 10 AM to 2 PM PT each day.
- Full details for the WSOW 2023 Season are available on the official blog here.