Warzone Season 3 Reloaded patch notes: map changes, new weapon & killstreak, weapon balancing, more

Albert Petrosyan

The Warzone Season 3 Reloaded ’80s Action Heroes’ update is now live, introducing tons of new content like Rambo and Die Hard skins, several Verdansk map changes, the Combat Bow killstreak and Ballistic Knife, a Limited Time Mode called Power Grab, and more.

With Season 3 being just about halfway done in Warzone, Activision and Raven Software has rolled out another major update for the battle royale, one that includes some significant changes and a lot of new content.

Headlining the patch are new cosmetics themed after Rambo and Die Hard, including Rambo himself and John McClane coming to the game as Operators. There’s plenty to get through – all of the details can be found below!

Warzone Season 3 Reloaded roadmap & trailer

TRAILER

ROADMAP

Warzone Season 3 Reloaded roadmap
Warzone Season 3 Reloaded update Roadmap!

New Rambo & Die Hard skins in Warzone

Rambo Operator Bundles

The Rambo bundle includes the iconic character as an Operator, two Finishing Moves, three Legendary Weapon Blueprints (AR, LMG, Knife) a Calling Card, Emblem, Watch, and Charm.

Rambo bundle Call of Duty
Rambo Operator Bundle in Warzone and Black Ops Cold War.

Die Hard Operator Bundle

As for Die Hard, not only can you get John McClane as an Operator (not pictured), but also a Finishing Move, four Legendary Weapon Blueprints (tactical rifle, two SMGs, AR), Calling Card, Emblem, Watch, and Charm.

Die Hard Operator Bundle in Warzone and Black Ops Cold War.

Warzone Season 3 Reloaded map changes

While it’s rare to see any major map changes in Warzone midway through a season, that’s exactly what arrived in the Reloaded update.

There are three main ones worth highlighting: Die Hard’s Nakatomi Plaza tower added in Downtown, numerous campsites have been replaced with Rambo-themed Survival Camps, and a new CIA Outpost was added in place of one of the aircraft hangers in the northwest sector of Verdansk.

Die Hard Nakatomi Plaza Warzone
The Nakatomi Plaza tower from Die Hard has arrived in Verdansk!

You can check out more details about this in our Warzone Season 3 Reloaded map changes page.

Combat Bow & Ballistic Knife

The Combat Bow has arrived in Warzone as a brand-new Killstreak that players are able to purchase from Buy Stations. The arrows are explosive, meaning players can use them to cause massive damage to enemy squads and vehicles.

“The longer you pull back the bow, the farther the explosive-tipped arrow will go, so be sure to adjust your strength as needed to hit targets at longer distances.”

Combat Bow in Warzone
The Combat Bow is a new kill-streak in Warzone Season 3!

There’s also the Ballistic Knife, which was added in Black Ops Cold War at the start of Season 3 but delayed for Warzone until the midseason update.

“Built for stealth kills from multiple distances, this versatile weapon allows for melee attacks up close and a projectile blade attack from short-to-medium ranges.”

Warzone Season 3 Reloaded weapon changes

Warzone SMG gameplay
Two SMGs have been altered in the latest Warzone update.

Submachine Guns and Sniper Rifles have both been hit with a number of key changes in the latest update. Specifically, the AK-74u and the PPSh-41 will now function differently moving forward.

The AK-74u has been nerfed somewhat, with a reduction to Bullet Velocity and maximum range. To account for these downsides, Sprint to Fire Speed has been upped by 20% and the neck multiplier has been boosted from 1 to 1.4.

For the PPSh-41, Raven Software has buffed it to be more in line with Warzone’s strongest SMGs. Both its maximum damage and maximum range have seen considerable boosts.

Every single Black Ops Cold War Sniper has been tweaked in the patch as well. Base optics have been adjusted across the board with some Snipers seeing more flinch resistance, while others have added ADS speed.

Warzone Power Grab LTM

Power Grab is a new Limited Time Mode now available. Here’s a breakdown of how this LTM works:

  • Starting circle is smaller than normal and only has five stages
  • No Gulag when dying
  • Teammates can be brought back only via Buy Stations or Dog Tags
  • Enemies will drop a Dog Tag when killed
  • The more Dog Tags you collect, the more rewards you unlock.
  • Reward Ladder will show you what you unlock next:
    • UAV
    • Respawn Token
    • Advanced Gas Mask
    • Specialist Bonus
Power Grab LTM in Warzone
Warzone’s new Power Grab LTM makes things a lot more hectic on Verdansk.

When was the Warzone Season 3 Reloaded update?

Both the patch and new content went live at the same time in Warzone: Wednesday, May 19 at 9 PM PT, meaning overnight into Thursday morning for most of the world.

Here are the global release times:

  • 9:00 PM PT – May 19
  • 11:00 PM CT – May 19
  • 12:00 AM ET – May 20
  • 5:00 AM BST (UK) – May 20
  • 6:00 AM CEST (Europe) – May 20
  • 2:00 PM AEST (Australia) – May 20

Remember, this is only for the Warzone side of things in this update, you can check out everything that came to multiplayer in our Black Ops Cold War Season 3 Reloaded patch notes.

Warzone Season 3 Reloaded patch notes

PLAYLIST

  • Adding:
    • Verdansk – Power Grab
    • Plunder – Quads
    • Rebirth Island – Resurgence Trios
  • Removing:
    • Verdansk – Mini Royale
    • Plunder – Blood Money Duos
    • Rebirth Island – Resurgence Quads

MAP

  • New Point of Interest: Nakatomi Plaza (Launch)
    • The headquarters of the Nakatomi Corporation have moved from sunny Los Angeles to Verdansk’s Downtown for a limited time.
  • New Point of Interest: Survival Camps (Launch)
    • Around Verdansk, numerous campsites have been converted into Survival Camps as a homage to Rambo: First Blood Part II.
  • New Point of Interest: CIA Outpost (Launch)
    • One of the aircraft hangars in Verdansk’s northwest sector has been converted into a makeshift CIA Outpost, as these agents need a home base to start tracking down the elusive Rambo.

GENERAL

  • Gunsmith Customs has been added for Black Ops Cold War Weapons
    • Customize your Weapon by borrowing Attachments from multiple Blueprint variants. You can swap the appearance of Weapon Attachments to feature elements from all of your unlocked Blueprints.
  • Stickers & Charms exclusive to either BOCW or MW will only be usable on their respective Weapons.

GAMEPLAY

  • Added the new Combat Bow Killstreak to the following Verdansk modes: core BR, Plunder, and Power Grab.
  • Stopping Power Field Upgrade spawn rates have been reduced substantially across all modes.
  • We will also be making an important adjustment to the Solo BR modes in the very near future.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed additional map locations in Verdansk that allowed players to reach out-of-bounds areas. This is on top of the locations that we addressed in the last 2 patches.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Gas Mask to become unbreakable after a players’ first death with the Gas Mask equipped.
  • Fixed a bug that caused player Activision IDs to not always appear in the killcam or when spectating with or without the Option enabled.
  • Fixed an issue where Scavenger Challenges weren’t correctly referencing the Summit POI.
  • Fixed an issue where Loadout Drops would fall through salt pools in the Salt Mines.
  • Fixed an issue where Sparks was not visible in the Operator Select Menu until the Sparks Operator Bundle was purchased.
  • Fixed a bug with the LW3 – Tundra where firing the final shot in a magazine would displace the Weapon model.
  • Fixed a bug with the Great Pacific Blueprint where its Weapon stats were incorrect.
  • Fixed a bug with the Swiss K31 where it would deal lethal damage in a single upper body shot when loaded with Stopping Power.
  • Fixed a bug with the Bullfrog where it was receiving an unintended amount of Bullet Velocity.
  • Fixed a bug with the CARV.2 where some of its barrels were not assigning the correct values.
  • Fixed incorrect magazine names for the FARA 83.

ACCESSIBILITY

  • Most nonverbal sounds are now called out in subtitles in [] brackets.
    • This will apply to all new Operators moving forward starting with Rambo and McClane.
  • Added HoH-like subtitles for baked-in graphics in cinematics.
  • Added a new Accessibility Options Menu.
    • This menu provides a pared-down list of settings which are specifically oriented towards accessibility.

WEAPONS

  • ATTACHMENTS

    • Muzzles
      • Flash Guard
        • Vertical Recoil Control increased slightly
      • Suppressor
        • No longer reduces Bullet Velocity
        • Now increases Bullet Velocity
        • Now increases ADS Speed
        • Now increases Sprint to Fire Speed
    • Lasers
      • SOF Target Designator (Snipers)
        • No longer increases Effective Damage Range
        • Now increases Aiming Stability
        • ADS Move Speed multiplier increased
      • Ember Sighting Point (Snipers)
        • No longer increases Effective Damage Range
        • Now greatly increases Aiming Stability
        • ADS Move Speed multiplier increased
      • Steady Aim Laser (Snipers)
        • No longer decreases Hip Spread
        • Now increases ADS Speed
      • Swat 5mW Laser Sight (Snipers)
        • No longer decreases Hip Spread
        • No longer decreases ADS Speed
        • Now increases Aiming Stability
        • Now greatly increases ADS Speed
    • Rear Grips
      • Airborne/GRU Elastic Wrap
        • Aiming Stability increased
          • New Weapons
            • Ballistic Knife (Launch)
              • Built for stealth kills from multiple distances, this versatile Weapon allows for melee attacks up close and a projectile blade attack from short-to-medium ranges.
            • AMP63: Pistol (In-Season)
              • Expect this Weapon to output high amounts of damage in a short period of time thanks to its full-auto nature, which makes it highly effective in close quarters.
          • Submachine Guns
            • AK-74u
              • Neck multiplier increased from 1 to 1.4
              • Sprint to Fire Speed increased by 20%
              • Bullet Velocity decreased by 15%
              • Maximum damage range decreased by 25%
            • PPSh-41
              • Maximum damage increased from 27 to 28
              • Maximum damage range increased by 3.8%
          • Snipers
            • All Black Ops Cold War Sniper base optics have been adjusted.
            • Sniper Rifle Charlie (Semi-Auto)
              • Bullet Velocity increased by 14%
              • Extremity multipliers increased from .9 to 1
              • Rate of Fire decreased from .33 to .83
            • LW3 – Tundra
              • Aiming Stability increased
            • Swiss K31
              • Flinch Resistance greatly increased
              • ADS Speed increased slightly
              • Aiming Stability increased
            • ZRG 20mm
              • Bullet Penetration increased
              • Upper Torso multiplier increased from 1.25 to 1.7
              • Lower Torso multiplier increased from 1.15 to 1.25
              • Extremity multipliers increased from .9 to 1
              • ADS Speed decreased by 4%
              • Bullet Velocity decreased by 2%
              • Move Speed decreased by 2%
              • ADS Move Speed decreased by 1%

About The Author

Albert is a former esports and gaming writer, focused particularly on Call of Duty and content creators. Spending over three years at Dexerto, Albert eventually now works with streamer NICKMERCS and the MFAM group. You can find Albert @AlbertoRavioli on Twitter.