Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0- DMZ Mode Explained

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DMZ Mode Explained In Warzone 2.0
Faction Missions
Loadouts, Weapons, and Loot
Strongholds, Locked Locations, and World Events
Contracts
Extraction

With Warzone 2.0 now available, players are looking to the new DMZ mode and trying to figure out what the latest outing in the extraction shooter genre has to offer. A mode completely different from anything that Call of Duty has done in the past, it might take some time to fully understand the new mode. Luckily, I am here to break down the basics! This guide will explain what the new DMZ mode is in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0.

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DMZ Mode Explained In Warzone 2.0

DMZ is an Extraction Survival mode that sees squads of three entering Al Mazrah to loot items that have certain cash values, collect new weapons to use in the mode, take part in contracts and events found across the map, and complete Faction Missions that you choose before starting a game in order to unlock new cosmetics and bonus XP. Once in the DMZ, players will come head-to-head with tough AI combatants as well as other teams as you all try to complete your challenges and get out alive with your loot. Players will need to extract from the DMZ to keep hold of everything they have in their pack from their loot to the weapons they are using. Dying in the DMZ means you lose everything, including your weapons.

With the basic framework of what the mode is, let’s explore the finer details of the mode and look at the Faction Missions you can select for the mode, the Contracts and World Events you can take part in, and how the loadout and Weapon Vault system works in this new Warzone 2.0 mode.

Faction Missions

The main objective of the new extraction mode, Faction Missions are found on the pre-match menu next to the deploy button and is where you can choose between three factions and select specific challenges to complete when entering the DMZ. You will start with the Legion faction and will gain access to the White Lotus after you complete the first set of Legion missions, followed by the Black Mous faction after completing a few other missions between the previous two. To activate a challenge you will need to go into the Faction Mission menu and activate it, with you only being able to have three Missions active at a given time. These challenges can range from getting kills on certain enemies or with certain weapons to extracting from the DMZ with certain items to completing specific Contracts. You are able to select between any of the three factions once they are unlocked, so no need to have all three of your active Missions be from a single faction.

These Missions will reward you will massive XP bonuses as well as other rewards such as unique weapon blueprints, Operator skins, calling cards, and emblems, among other items and cosmetics. Once a Mission is complete, the task will not be automatically removed from your active list, so make sure you go back into the Faction Mission once you exfil and deselect any completed Mission so that you are able to start a new one. As you complete challenges, new more difficult ones will be unlocked, with each new “Tier” of difficulty being unlocked once all the Missions at the previous Tier in a given faction are completed.

Loadouts, Weapons, and Loot

Before going into the DMZ, you will have to make sure that you are prepared to face the tough enemies found within, both AI combatants and Players. You can find this in the loadout section, which allows you to bring in two weapons on your person as well as a third gun being able to be put in your Backpack, a Lethal and Tactical grenade, and a Field Upgrade as well as other items like Streaks, Armor Packs, Backpacks, Gasmasks, and Self-Revives that can be found in the DMZ and extracted with for future use.

When deciding on which weapons to bring, there are two types of weapons: Insured Weapons and Contraband. Insured Weapons are weapons that you get to select and kit out with the game’s Gunsmith, though you start with only one slot for an Insured Weapon, with you being able to reach a total of three as you play the game. The Contraband Weapons are weapons that you get by extracting them from your person. You take the weapons as they are and aren’t able to customize them. The Contraband Weapons that you enter with will be lost upon death along with any other equipment like Streaks, Armor Packs, Backpacks, Gasmasks, Keys, and Self-Revives. The previously mentioned Insured Weapon will be the only weapon that won’t disappear forever with the gun being put on a cooldown maxing out at 2 hours before you are able to access them again.

While you are able to loot weapons to build a weapon locker for your loadouts, there are other items that you can loot for cash. These are found just about everywhere on the map and can be anything from a computer part to a classified document. Each item has a cash amount tied to them, allowing them to be sold at Buy Stations in the DMZ so that you can purchase better equipment. Extracting with loot will immediately convert it into money, with all of you cash that you have on your person being converted into time being taken off of your Insured Weapon(s) cooldown. At launch, there is no other use for cash outside of the cooldown decrease and in-game Buy Station, though it is possible some sort of marketplace could be added in the future.

Strongholds, Locked Locations, and World Events

Throughout the Al Mazrah map, there are different locations that you will want to visit that you will need to be prepared for before attacking. We will start with Strongholds, heavily guarded facilities found all across the map that require a special keycard to access. This keycard can be found by being randomly dropped by armored enemies or can be bought at a Buy Station. Strongholds are where you will find some of the more powerful Contraband Weapons as well as Keys that unlock certain locked items or Points of Interest around the map.

These Locked Locations are like bigger Strongholds, with unique weapons found within along with heavily armored enemies. These Locked Locations can only be opened with a specific Key that is tied to that specific location while the Stronghold Keycard can open any Stronghold on the map. Keys can be extracted with, so if you don’t feel like making the trek all the way across the map for a certain location, you can leave with the Key and bring it with you in a future run as a starting item in your Backpack. Stronghold Keys can not be extracted with and a new one will need to be acquired every game.

World Events occur at special locations and will be marked on every player’s map from the start of a match. At launch, the game has two World Events: The Chemist in the Radiation Zone and the Weapon Case Event. The Chemist is an HVT found at the center of the Radiation circle that is spreading across the map. Players will need to brave the Radiation Zone and kill him to get him to drop the new Assault Rifle, the M13B, and extract to add it to their Weapon Vault as well as be able to use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer and use it in a loadout in Warzone 2.0. The Weapon Case spawns in one of a set of locations and is given to players upon killing a Juggernaut at said location. Exfilling with the Weapon Case will reward you with a reward, with subsequent exfils with the Case providing you with up to seven rewards. Players that get the Case or the M13B will be marked on the map, with all players in the match being notified that the highly-valued item has been taken, so quickly make your way to an exfil if you don’t want your items stolen.

There is also one World Event that isn’t immediately active and these are the Supply Drops. Around the map are Sam Sites that can be used to shoot down one of the many Supply Planes that fly over Al Mazrah. Once destroyed, players will need to go and loot the crash site for great rewards. Like the other World Events, all players are notified of the Supply Drop and it is marked on the map, so prepare to go a fight for these supplies.

Contracts

Contracts are similar to their Battle Royale counterparts, with each one being an objective that you can pick up in-game and complete for a reward. These objectives are shown on the map as little green phones with an icon in the center, distinguishing what the objective will be.

Below are all of the Contracts available in Season 1 of the mode:

Secure Intel (File with a Question Mark): Find intel on hard drives and take it to a nearby radio tower to upload its data.
Eliminate HVT (Crosshair): Track down a marked AI enemy. Kill and confirm their death.
Hostage Rescue (Handcuffs): Rescue a hostage enemy-controlled outpost. Once secured, take them to a helicopter exfil point.
Deliver Cargo (Briefcase): Locate a ground vehicle and take its cargo to a location to have it picked up by helicopter hook.
Ship Cargo (Briefcase with Water Beneath): Just like the Deliver Cargo Objective but with a boat.
Hunt Squad (Skull): Hunt an enemy player squad.
Secure Nuclear Material (Radioactive Trefoil Symbol): Use a Geiger Counter to find Uranium rods.
Raid Weapon Stash (Safe): Find a safe filled with weapons inside. Use a drill to open up the safe while defending it against waves of AI enemies.
Destroy Supplies (Bomb): Locate and destroy two supply sites with planted bombs.

Extraction

Once you complete your Missions, get your hands on a Weapon Case, or simply get enough loot for one game, you will need to make your way to extraction. You can exfil from three locations in a match, with these locations being randomized every match. These locations are marked on your map by a small blue person running through a door. Once at a location, you will need to call in a helicopter and hold the area until it arrives. You will then have 40 seconds to board and fly out of the area. There is also a fourth possible Extraction point in the form of the Hostage Rescue Contract. This Contract, signified by a pair of handcuffs on the Contract phone, tasks you with rescuing an NPC, at which point a helicopter will arrive to take the NPC away. You can remain on the helicopter with the Hostage to use that helicopter as a free exfil.

With all of that, you have a basic overview of the new DMZ mode. The rest of the experience comes from going into the zone, learning locations and simply practicing your runs. Don’t get careless and prepare to lose a lot of equipment, but as you improve you will able to eventually conquer the DMZ. Stay tuned to Gameranx for future news, updates, and guides on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as Warzone 2.0.

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