Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 - DMZ Overhaul Explained

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DMZ Overhaul Explained In Warzone 2.0
Active Duty Operator Slots
New Barter System
Workbench
New Backpacks and Armor Plate Carriers
Heavy Chopper and New Exfil Options

Season 3 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 introduced a collection of new content but nothing in the two games received the number of tweaks and changes from the new update that DMZ did. Warzone‘s extraction mode didn’t just get new content but a complete overhaul that changes many aspects of the game as it continues to grow and evolve. Many of these changes aren’t just massive but completely change how players will experience the mode, so allow me to lay out everything that has been added and changed in DMZ with Season 3. This guide will provide a breakdown and explanation of the new DMZ overhaul in Warzone 2.0.

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DMZ Overhaul Explained In Warzone 2.0

To start off, we will cover the things that didn’t exactly large sweeping changes to the extraction mode but were instead additions that are simply new content similar to what has been seen in previous seasons. To start, we will discuss the new faction introduced known as REDACTED. This is the fifth faction in DMZ, joining the original 3 factions of Legion, White Lotus, Black Mous, as well as Crown, the faction exclusive to players who own Modern Warfare 2. Just like the other factions, REDACTED introduces new missions across Al Mazrah, Ashika Island, and Building 21. Many of the lower-tier missions from the faction will function to tutorialize several of the new pieces of content in DMZ including introducing players to the new bosses, backpacks, and other systems.

Speaking of these new bosses, the DMZ has been invaded by new HVT targets to join the Juggernaut, Commander Helo, and the Bombmaker. The first new boss is known as the Pyro, a heavily armored enemy found in Al Mazrah that has a chance of spawning with the map’s Weapon Case. This is the same Weapon Case that the Juggernaut used to carry but now, even though the Jugg can still spawn, he won’t be carrying the Case. While the Pyro comes equipped with a lot of armor, a Riot Shield, and a KV Broadside with Incendiary Rounds, he still functions similarly to the other bosses as he spawns in a location and must be killed for a reward. The other new boss known as the Scavenger is the most unique HVT that has been seen in DMZ so far. This enemy will roam the map of both Al Mazrah and Ashika Island, picking up the weapons and Dog Tags of killed players. You will not be told of his location until he loots a player, marking the area of the map he can be found with a red circle. Players can find him a kill him to get the items he has looted as well as the new Scavenge Backpack, which will discuss later.

There is also a new Contract called Supply Run that is a great way to have players starting fresh with a new character or empty loadout to get equipment as it will task players with heading to 3 marked crates that can be instantly opened to get the supplies inside. Finally, a small addition is the new O2 Rebreather Field Upgrade, which can be used underwater to refill a player’s air and allow them to stay submerged longer. This can be really helpful when exploring some of the underwater or water-heavy locations in Al Mazrah and especially on Ashika Island.

With the new content covered, let’s move on to the massive reworks which are changes that heavily impact the world and gameplay of DMZ.

Active Duty Operator Slots

Prior to the DMZ overhaul, each player was only given a single character that all their equipment would go on to. While players could edit their loadout weapons, grenades, equipment, and Field Upgrades, they were stuck with things such as equipment such as backpacks, Plate Carriers, etc. This new system known as the Active Duty Operator Slots will allow you to have up to 3 characters, allowing each character to have their own selection of on-person items and also carry their own exfil streaks so players don’t need to worry about ruining a good streak if they decide to go into a game light on equipment just to scavenge items. This new system gives players the chance to craft specific characters for specific tasks and missions. If you have a character that is more expendable that you want to use just to go into a game and collect items, you can give them some of your less impressive gear while saving things like Level 3 Armor, Self Revives, and Durable Gas Masks for your more important, more dangerous infils into the DMZ.

New Barter System

Ever since DMZ’s launch, one of the central parts of the mode’s gameplay loop is the Buy Station where players have the chance to spend their Cash on equipment, better weapons, and killstreaks, among other things. This system still remains in the new update but has now been joined by a new Barter system that allows players to trade items for equipment if they would like to hold on to their Cash. At every Buy Station across all maps, the Trader at Buy Station, where they will be able to look through a list of exclusive items, each one with a recipe of items that need to be brought to the Buy Station in order to acquire the item. NOTE: This is not a trading system between players, though you can still drop and give items to other players if you like.

Workbench

In the same locations where players will find the Buy Stations, they will now also find brand-new Workbenches either right next to or in the same room as the Buy Station. This new point of interest allows players to edit their weapons while in-game for a price, including their Contraband Weapons, the weapons found in the world while playing, either by looting them from enemies or buying them from shops, and would permanently disappear upon death and couldn’t be edited prior to this update. While these Contraband Weapons will still be permanently lost when a player is eliminated in the DMZ, the Workbenches allows players to go through each attachment and edit any of your weapons in any way that they see fit, with each attachment having a price attached to them.

New Backpacks and Armor Plate Carriers

Getting improved Backpacks and Armor Plate Carriers is an integral part of getting a character geared up to brave the DMZ, but these two equipment types have gone beyond simply getting bigger and now have variants that come with their own abilities. When it comes to the Armor Plate Carriers, there are now 4 special types of Carriers, each one providing its own mechanic or ability.

The first of these Carriers is the Tempered Plate Carrier, which is making it return from Warzone 1‘s Caldera map. This Plate Carrier see armor plates divided into two half-bars instead of three-thirds, making replating to full quicker and easier. The next Carrier is the Medic Vest which will give the wearer quicker revive speeds for both teammates as well as their own Self Revives. The Comms Vest improves all UAV technology as it turns all UAVs from the towers to the killstreaks to even the small radios that enemies can drop, into Advanced UAVs and causes them to last longer. They also provide the wearer with the audio version of the High Alert Perk, warning the player when an enemy is close by. Finally, there is the Stealth Plate Carrier which provides the wearer with the Ghost Perk, keeping them off UAVs.

There are two new backpacks that give players more options in how and what they want to exfil the game with. First is the Scavenger Backpack, which functions as an even bigger Large Backpack, trading out the ability to stow a third weapon in the backpack for more space for regular items. The other Backpack is the Secure Backpack is the size of a Small Backpack but allows you to keep everything in your inventory between games with items that would normally be turned in XP being available to be brought into the next match. An added benefit is that anything in a Secure Backpack will be available for the next game if a player is killed, making act as a portable Dead Drop.

Heavy Chopper and New Exfil Options

While there have already been multiple vehicles available since DMZ’s launch, the newest addition is set to completely change the way the game is played. This new vehicle is the Heavy Chopper and will allow players to fly around the map. This Heavy Chopper might be familiar to players who pay attention as it is the same type of helicopter that flies in to exfil players from the DMZ and that isn’t a coincidence. The added benefit of this vehicle is that players that decide to fly out of the map in this vehicle will be able to just extract without having to go to the designated Exfil Point. This and the new Personal Exfil that can be bought at Buy Stations, which will mark one of the unused Exfil Points in your game near the Buy Station you purchased the Exfil from for you and your Squad to use exclusively, are new ways to leave a game to circumvent extraction campers.

You can check out the Infinity Ward blog post regarding the new content in Season 3 linked here. 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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