MW3 Season 1 Patch Notes – all the changes in the Season 1 update

The MW3 Season 1 Patch Notes are here, and we can finally take a look at what changes are coming in the new update to Activision’s latest entry in the Call of Duty series.

MW3 Season 1 patch notes – December 6

Here are all of the MW3 Season 1 patch notes announced on December 6:

Multiplayer

UIX

• New features and quality of life:
  • Player health and stamina are now represented by dynamic bars on the HUD
    • Only available in Multiplayer and Zombies
  • Faction assignment will now appear as a splash at the start of each match
  • Added Upper Legs Damage and Empty Reload Quickness statistics to the Details widget in the Gunsmith
  • Increased decimal precision of the Flinch Resistance stat in the Details widget in the Gunsmith
  • Added icons in the Gunsmith to represent which title an Attachment originates from
  • Reduced volume of the Multi-Kill and Medal splash sound effects
• Bug Fixes
  • In Search and Destroy, hovering a bombsite on the Tac-Map will no longer reveal when a player is actively defusing
  • Addressed multiple issues in Private Matches that caused players to be kicked back to the Main Menu
  • Hovering an equipped Killstreak will no longer kick the player back to the Multiplayer menu
  • Resolved a font rendering issue
  • That caused text to be improperly displayed
  • Improved performance of Social features for players with large Friend counts
  • Resolved an issue in which the incorrect Weapon would be featured in the overlay of Killcams
  • Kill Counter will now properly function with streaks beyond 120 Kills
  • Reduced hitching that infrequently occurred while transitioning between menus
  • Addressed an issue that caused the application to freeze while editing a Loadout
  • Resolved a crash that could occur prior to viewing an After Action Report
  • Lockpick (Operator) can now be equipped, where available, without using the Quick Equip option
  • Scrolling menus while in splitscreen will no longer result in the cursor appearing off-screen
  • Improved readability of the timer below the Event tab

Gameplay

• Movement
  • Added a delay following multiple rapid stance transitions to prevent exploitable repetition
    • Crouch to Stand: 150ms
    • Prone to Stand: 600ms
• Spawns
  • Improved spawn protection against enemy Equipment and Killstreaks
  • In Hardpoint, several adjustments have been made to improve the flow of combat and increase control of team-owned areas

Progression

• Corrected unlock requirement descriptions for multiple Weapon Attachments
• Revised conditions for multiple unlocks that caused Attachments to be unavailable at the expected Weapon level
• Associated weaponry will now be properly included in the Camo unlock splashes
• Player Rank
  • Increased Level cap from 55 to 250, enabling players to reach Prestige 5
    • At each Prestige, a new animated icon is unlocked

Customization

• Increased animation rate of the Priceless and INterstellar Completionist Camos

Maps

• Derail
  • Swapped Attacker and Defender initial spawn positions in Control
• Estate
  • Improved bullet penetration through the staircase in the Lodge
  • Adjusted collision to prevent players accessing an unintended location near the Front Entrance of the Lodge
• Highrise
  • Improved ambient audio reverberation in the Mechanical Room
  • Deprioritized spawn points distant from the objective in Hardpoint
• Karachi
  • Players will now spawn on the correct side of the map assigned to their team in Cutthroat
• Quarry
  • Added collision near the Offices to prevent players from reaching unintended locations
  • Addressed an issue that caused players to spawn in unfavorable conditions in the Hardpoint game mode
• Skidrow
  • Enemy player nameplates are no longer visible through certain surfaces in the Apartments
• Terminal
  • Added additional spawn points in Free-for-All mode to improve player experience
  • Improved ability to gauge spawn selection quality in all Modes
  • Relocated a spawn point that placed players outside of the playable area
• Scrapyard
  • Reviewed objective capture points to prevent players from capturing from unintended locations in Hardpoint and Control modes
  • Added additional spawn points in Free-for-All mode to improve player experience
• Sub Base
  • Improved ambient audio reverberation in the Power Station
  • Swapped Attacker and Defender initial spawn positions in Control
• Orlov Military Base (Ground War)
  • Improved AI Bot ability to navigate the environment in Invasion mode
• Operation Spearhead (War)
  • Added collision near the Hotel to prevent players from exiting the playable area
  • Added collision near the COrner Shop to protect players in their spawn area
  • Addressed an exploit involving environmental turrets that allowed players to reach unintended locations

Modes

• Ground War
  • Pre-game lobby countdown timer will no longer reset when a player leaves
• Search and Destroy
  • Increased Player XP earned for several score events
    • Kill: 500 XP
    • Assist: 200 XP
    • Shield Assist: 400 XP
    • Headshot: 1000 XP
    • Plant: 1000 XP
    • Defuse: 1000 XP (+250 XP for Last Alive)
    • Ninja Defuse: 1250 XP (+250 for Last Alive)
• War
  • Players who join an in-progress match can no longer be placed on a full team
  • Decreased tank escort phase time limit from 6m to 5m
  • Joining an in-progress match during the ending cinematic sequence is no longer possible

Equipment

• Throwing Star (Lethal)
  • Addressed an issue that allowed one-hit kills without a Headshot
• EMD Grenade (Tactical)
  • Prompt to remove tracker will no longer persist after death

Field Upgrades

• Deployable Cover
  • Previous deployments will now be destroyed upon new deployment as the maximum has been limited to 1
• Trophy System
  • Mosquito Drone (Killstreak) will no longer be targeted

Killstreaks

• Juggernaut Recon
  • Addressed an exploit that allowed players to fire Loadout Weapons with unlimited ammo
• Precision Airstrike
  • Players will now properly look through the binoculars in third-person view
• Remote Turret
  • Implemented safeguard measures to prevent players from becoming stuck with the tablet in hand

Vehicles

• NSTV
  • Increased traction control to improve handling on muddy surfaces
• Razor Tank
  • Decreased maximum forward speed by 14%
  • Increased maximum reservse speed by 20% to match forward speed
  • Increased turn speed by 40% to allow for tighter turns
  • Increased ability to accelerate on sloped surfaces

Zombies

Story Act and Mission

• Act IV and a new Story Mission are immediately available for all players at the start of Season 1
• A massive gateway has appeared in the Exclusion Zone. Investigate the area and engage in new and eng-game content

Dark Aether Rifts

• Dark Aether Rifts bring rewards to those who brave their challenges
  • These otherworldly labyrinths are located inside the Dark Aether, where players and their squad have a limited time to complete a series of increasingly chaotic objectives to earn exceptional rewards. Find Sigils to enter the Dark Aether Rifts and face a new level of challenge
• Dark Aether Rifts are unlocked by solving a hidden quest, which activates after completing the new Season 1 Story Mission

Wonder Weapon: V-R11

• The V-R11 has been added to Modern Warfare Zombies
  • Shoot zombies and transform them into humans, or blast humans to mutate them into friendly zombies
  • Players receive a buff when shot
  • The V-R11 has been added to the Mystery Box in Modern Warfare Zombies
  • V-R11 Weapon Cases are now available via loot

Acquisitions and Schematics

• Dog Bone
  • Consume the Dog Bone to summon the strongest friendly Hell Hound companion. The pet Hellhound will follow you and attack nearby threats until its health runs out
• Golden Armor Plate
  • Consuming the new Golden Armor Plate replaces the Armor Carrier with Plates that automatically repair over time, in addition to providing the user additional damage resistances
• Aether Blade
  • The Aether Blade is a special Throwing Knife with infinite ammo and a boomerang-like combat style. After striking an enemy, the Aether Blade locates the next nearest enemy to hit before returning to its Operator

Presitge Challenges

• Season 1 allows you to level up past Rank 55 into Prestige Ranks that persist across seasons
• Beginning in Season 1, reaching Rank 56 will unlock Prestige 1. Achieving this unlocks rewards and a set of challenges in Modern Warfare Zombies – complete those challenges to unlock multiple exclusive Calling Cards

Season 1 Battle Pass Weapons

• The XRK Stalker, RAM-7, and Stormender are available in Modern Warfare Zombies loadouts once unlocked via the Season 1 Battle Pass

Maps

Missions

• Hostile Takeover
  • Addressed an issue that prevented some safes from progressing this Mission
  • Adjusted the description of this Mission in the Mission Select menu to state that Greene wants Players to hit “Terminus” instead of “Deadbolt”
• Merc Cleanup
  • Mercenaries killed from long distances inside Merc Camps will now progress this mission
• Shocked
  • This Mission now requires players to shock five separate Special zombies instead of shocking the same Special zombie multiple times
• Storm the Castle
  • The required mission item will always drop when the Warlord is killed

Gameplay

• Contracts
  • Defend Ground Station
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the timer for the Defend Ground Station contract from appearing if players previously completed the same contract in a single session
    • Mercenaries will now continue to fight Players after completing the Defend Ground Station contract
  • Eliminate Bounty Target
    • HVTs lured far away from their original spawn location in an attempt to exploit their behavior will now return faster to their spawn and heal more
  • Outlast
    • Enemies no longer spawn if players are not progressing the contract
  • Raid Weapon Stash
    • Enemies no longer spawn if players are not progressing the contract
  • Spore Control
    • Adjusted Spores to prevent them from spawning on a player, resulting in an instant death
• Acquisitions
  • General
    • Addressed an issue where players could store more Acquisitions in the stash than intended
  • Aether Tools
    • Addressed an issue that prevented Aether Tools from applying if a player was driving a vehicle
  • Ammo Mods
    • Addressed an issue that prevented Ammo Mods from applying if a player was driving a vehicle
  • Perk-A-Colas
    • Tombstone Soda
      • Addressed an issue where Tombstones could spawn under the map
      • Addressed an issue where Tombstones could spawn int ehc enter of the map instead of where a player previously died
      • Addressed an issue where sometimes players would not obtain their essence when interacting with a Tombstone
      • Closed various duplication exploits associated with Tombstone Soda
  • Ammo Mods
    • Brain Rot
      • Players will now receive essence when a Brain Rotted Zombies kills other Zombies or dies
• Looting
  • Various fixes for locations on the map where players could not loot items
• Exfil
  • Launch
    • More formidable enemies have been added to the Exfil experience in all zones
    • Addressed a rare issue that prevented the Hilltop Exfil helicopter from landing
  • In-Season
    • All Exfils will increase the number of enemies spawned, with the Final Exfil receiving a significant boost to enemy count and enemy types
• General
  • Ammo Caches will now always fully refill applicable player ammo reserves
  • Addressed an issue that allowed players to die instantly if they ran and slid into a Dog House
  • Players will no longer be able to hide inside a Dog House
  • Closed an out-of-bounds location that allowed players to stay alive outside the playable space
  • Addressed an issue where Player selected Operator skins would change upon entering a vehicle

Enemies

• Zombies
  • Disciples
    • General
      • Addressed multiple issues that allowed Disciples to behave erratically, such as becoming stuck high in the air or on objects
    • The Stormcaller
      • Addressed an issue that allowed The Stormcaller to die instantly from the Blood Burner’s Aether Pulse
  • Hell Hounds
    • Hell Hound flame particles will disappear if a Hell Hound does not spawn
  • Zombies
    • General
      • Adjusted spawns to prevent Zombies from spawning on top of fences
      • Adjusted pathing to address exploits or incorrect pathing
    • Light Armored Zombies
      • Addressed an issue that allowed Light Armored Zombies to receive more headshot damage than intended

Equipment

• Lethal Equipment
  • Experimental Gas Grenade
    • Damage against Aether Worms has been reduced
• Tactical Equipment
  • Decoy Grenades
    • Reduced the number of Decoy Grenades that can be stacked or equipped from 3 to 2
    • Reduced Decoy Grenade duration from 8 seconds to 6

Killstreaks

• Juggernaut
  • Addressed an issue where players could destroy an Exfil helicopter by calling in a Juggernaut suit crate on top of it
• Sentry Turret
  • Players can no longer kill themselves or others when placing down a Sentry Turret

Customization

• Camos
  • Borealis (MWIII) and Bioluminescent (MWII) Update
    • Increased the animation rate of the Borealis and Bioluminescent Completionist Camos

UIX

• Player health and stamina are now represented by dynamic bars on the HUD
• Addressed an issue that prevented pings on looted items in caches from disappearing automatically
• Addressed an issue where players who attempted to equip a Mission Reward in the Gear tab would sometimes equip the wrong item
• Addressed an issue where objective titles would occasionally not display while loading into a match
• Addressed an issue where objective text would occasionally display outside its panel while loading into a match
• Addressed an issue where players would be returned to the lobby screen when selecting “Activate Armory Unlock” on a locked Tactical or Lethal equipment item

Progression

• Achievements
  • The First Step
    • Players can now unlock “The First Step” for reaching level 55 in Modern Warfare Zombies. Previously, players would need to enter the Multiplayer menu to obtain the achievement
  • Camos
    • Completionist Camos
      • Golden Enigma (MWIII) and Golden Ivory (MWII) Update
        • Released a fix that allows Players to complete the Golden Enigma and Golden Ivory Completionist Camos with Blueprint weapons and Custom Mods

Audio

• Battle Chatter
  • “Friendly Fire” Operator chatter will play less frequently

Stability

• Adjustments have been made to better ensure players keep their loadout and rucksack inventory if they do not successfully deploy into a match
• Added various crash and stability fixes

Warzone

General Adjustments

• Backup Pistol (Quality of Life)
  • When you don’t have a handgun equipped in your loadout you’ll unholster a base attachment COR-45 while performing the following actions:
    • Ledge hanging
    • Climbing a ladder
    • Swimming underwater
  • If you do have a handgun or melee weapon equipped, you’ll use that instead
• Locational Damage Modifiers
  • Locational damage multipliers have been flattened to provide a more consistent time to kill. Headshot multipliers are broadly decreased and arms now match the torso
• Sniper Damage
  • KATT AMR will one shot to the head at any distance
• Riot Shield
  • The Riot shield slows movement when it is equipped as the player’s Secondary and is on their back
• Weapon Tuning
  • WIth the additional statistical knowledge you’re able to receive while swapping between modifications, providing an impressive amount of incremental weapon meta building, Weapon Tuning has been removed, a feature that appeared in Modern Warfare II. This change to Weapon Tuning applies to both MWII and MWIII weapons that utilize modifications
• Launcher Damage
  • All launchers have been adjusted in regards to their damage and interaction with vehicles. This includes:
    • Most launchers will destroy lighter vehicles in one shot
    • The RPG-7, PILA, and STRELA-P will destroy most medium sized vehicles in two shots
    • The JOKR will destroy almost all vehicles in one shot
    • The RGL-80 and the STRELA-P will not cause most vehicles to immediately explode
    • The PILA will not cause most medium and larger vehicles to immediately explode
    • The RPG-7 and the JOKR will cause most vehicles to explode immediately

Gameplay

New Features

• All modes
  • Classic Red Dots
    • Firing unsuppressed weapons causes Operators to momentarily appear as a red dot on the minimap
  • Reload Cancel / Segmented Reloads
    • You can now reload cancel if there are bullets in the magazine. WHen performing an empty reload itt will utilize reload checkpoints to give the best of both worlds
  • Improved Water Combat
    • Alongside the dedicated Backup Pistol, improvements have been made to water visibility such that it is now easier to see targets both when in and out of the water
  • Battle Royale
    • Redeploy Weapons
      • Being brought back now grants a weapon that changes based on the current circle number, with the weapon improving with later circles

Adjusted Features

• All Modes
  • Loot
    • Ground and Supply Box Pool
      • Loot found throughout the maps will now include a mix of MW2 and MW3 weapons, equipment, perk packs, and more
    • Rarity (Quality of Life)
      • Weapons, equipment, killstreaks, and more will now appear with a color-coded tooltip to indicate the value and rarity of the item, as well as if a weapon is from a “Custom Loadout”
      • Rarity breakdown:
        • Legendary = Orange
        • Epic = Purple
        • Rare = Blue
        • Uncommon = Green
        • Common = White
    • Ground Spread (Quality of Life)
      • Players will now notice that the loot distribution and spread when opening a Supply Box or eliminating an enemy has received significant improvements to minimize loot overlap and facilitate loot identification
    • Revive Pistol
      • The Revive Pistol has been removed from the loot pool but may make a return in a future season
    • Legendary Audio (Quality of Life)
      • Guitar celebration returns when finding legendary loot
  • Backpack
    • Layout (Quality of Life)
      • Adjusted the backpack and in-game loadout layout. Weapons are now right aligned, underneath the newly added dedicated ammo. Gas Mask and Armor Plates are first on the list for rapid access to two areas highly interacted with
    • Navigation Wrapping (Quality of Life)
      • The backpack and loadout will now navigate wrap when moving all the way to one side
    • Dedicated Ammo Slots (Quality of Life)
      • Specific new Backpack slots cater to ammo, allowing quick and easy access. These slots will be automatically filled as Players find ammo. Additional ammo can still be stored in the all-purpose Backpack slots
    • Gulag Entry Kit (Quality of Life)
      • The Gulag Entry Kit can be stowed, enabling “pickup to share” for team-coordination
    • Identical Killstreak Auto Equip (Quality of Life)
      • Certain items will automatically equip from the Backpack into the active Loadout when a matching item is used
    • Gulag and Redeploy Tracker (Quality of Life)
      • Backpack now displays if you have a Gulag Entry Kit or a Redeploy Pack available to use
        • Not applicable in Plunder or Resurgence
  • Navigation Pings (Quality of Life)
    • The ability to ping doors with a specific yellow warning ping has been removed to alleviate frustrations when trying to place navigation pings
  • Killcam Pings (Quality of Life)
    • Players will now be able to observe all enemy pings while watching kill cam replays
  • Buy Station
    • Interact Distance
      • The interaction distance for Buy Stations within the Gas has been extended to 30 meters, up previously from 10 meters
    • Icon Visibility (Quality of Life)
      • When a Buy Station is still accessible in the Gas, its icon will remain visible on the minimap and Tac Map. Upon being in the Gas for too long, the icon will then fade away once the Buy Station is no longer active
      • The above notes apply to both stationary Buy STations as well as Deployable Buy Stations
  • Loadouts
    • Purchase Price
      • Buy Station cost has been reduces:
        • Solos: $7500, down from $8000
        • Duos: $10000, down from $12000
        • Trios: $12500, down from $16000
        • Quads: $15000, down from $20000
      • The purchase price will now scale based on the active Squad Size in the match, rather than the base Playlist Squad Size
    • Squad Outline (Quality of Life)
      • The distinctive white visual design of the Loadout crate from 2020 makes its return
        • Loadouts now have a colored outline that is unique to your squad, which serves two purposes: 1) It helps players identify which crate belongs to their squad, 2) and it disappears per player after player has interacted with it
      • The outline refreshes when respawning indicating that players can use it again
  • Gas Mask
    • Manual Gas Mask (Quality of Life)
      • You can now manually choose when to equip the Gas Mask. When looking at a Gas Mask on the ground, Players are presented with two options:
        • Equip
          • Equipping the Gas Mask will begin the equip animation of putting it onto their face
        • Stow
          • Stowing the Gas Mask will place it in the Backpack for Players to manually equip at a later time
      • As a result of the above, the animationwill no longer interrupt gameplay, and importantly Players will only thear the heavy breathing sound effect while in the Gas
    • Gas Mask Overlay (Quality of Life)
      • Adjusted Gas Mask overlay to provide a clearer field of view to the action
      • Decreased the intensity of the “cracked” state when near broken
  • Gas
    • Circle Pacing
      • Adjusted the overall possible centering of the first circle to encompass more play area than previously experienced. This will ensure that more of the map will be accessible to players at the start of each match to better allow for the all important looting phase.
      • Below is a summary of the adjustments made to gas circle timings:
        • Circle 1: Circle close time reduced to 160 seconds, down from 215 seconds
        • Circle 2: Circle close time reduced to 140 seconds, down from 220
        • Circle 3: Circle close time reduced to 130 seconds, down from 170
        • Circle 4: Circle close time increased to 125 seconds, up from 110
        • Circle 5: Circle close time increased to 90 seconds, up from 70
        • All other circle timings remain unchanged
        • Total Reduction: 140 seconds
        • Total Time Until Match End: 20 minutes and 20 seconds
    • Gas Damage
      • Increased to 10 damage per tick, up from 9
  • Redeploy Drone
    • Redeploy Drones will now remain stationary in the gas for up to 45 seconds
      • Each circle will reduce this time by 5 seconds to a minimum of 30  seconds
    • Drones will now move slightly faster when repositioning
    • Drones will begin to leave after circle 5 as they are too deep int he gas and there is limited room to reposition to
    • The Redeploy Drone’s catapult distance has been increased so Players can now traverse greater distances
  • Death’s Door (Low Player Health)
    • This refers to the audible and visual notification that the player is low on health and at risk of being downed
    • Activation
      • The visual overlay when low on health now triggers at 40% Health, down from 55%
    • Visibility (Quality of Life)
      • Increased transparency of the overlay, to be less obtrusive when at low health
  • Parachutes
    • Operators from MWIII will now deploy into the Warzone with a new default Parachute texture, inspired by the urban nature of the new big map Urzikstan. This Parachute texture will be overridden if the player has customized their Parachute
  • Spawn Protection Timer
    • The duration of spawn protection has been reduced to 2.5 seconds, down from 10 seconds
    • This applies to all modes except for Resurgence
• Battle Royale
  • Infil Height
    • The height at which Players deploy to the field during Infil has been decreased to 402 meters, down from 483 meters
  • Second Chance Mechanics
    • The spawn rate for Gulag Entry Kits and Redeploy Packs has been increased
  • Strongholds
    • Strongholds are no longer a guaranteed spawn each match, rather they have been linked to a new Public Event
  • Black Sites
    • A single Black Site will spawn at random at the beginning of each match
    • The location will not be revealed on the map until your squad finds a Black Site key or it has been unlocked by another squad
    • The Black Site boss will now drop a guaranteed Deployable Buy Station. The Advanced UAV is now one of several possible killstreaks that will drop
    • Players may find Black Site keys via ground loot allowing you the opportunity to open a Black Site in any match
• Plunder
  • UAV Towers
    • UAV Towers are now in Plunder

Perks

• New Perks
  • Shrouded
    • Automatically drops a Smoke Grenade when entering the downed state
  • Flex
    • Delay triggered explosives while sprinting, warns of nearby enemy equipment, and reduces combat noise
    • Due to a known issue, this Perk currently appears as “Faculty” int he menu
  • Resolute
    • When taking damage from gunfire, it grants a short bonus to movement speed
    • When shooting at an enemy with Resolute equipped, players will see a small icon to indicate that the player has Resolute
  • Stalker
    • Increased strafe and aim down sight movement speed
  • Payout
    • Contracts pay out more in cash and the cost of UAV Towers is discounted
  • Escapist
    • Increased downed, prone, and crouch speed
  • Primed
    • Accuracy and time to aim down sight is improved while jumping
  • Irradiated
    • While under the effects of the gas circle you move faster and take reduced gas damage
  • Shrapnel
    • Explosive damage delays enemy health regeneration, slows enemy movement, and briefly disables tactical sprint
  • Mountaineer
  • Mechanic
    • Reduces vehicle repair time, increased fueling speed, and reduced fuel consumption while driving non-aircraft vehicles
• General Adjustments
  • Overkill
    • This perk has been removed entirely and replaced with a new default behaviour
    • Players now have the option to equip two Primary Weapons at all times without requiring a Perk
  • Perk Unlocks
    • All Warzone Perks are unlocked via player progression
    • Perks used for Custom Perk Packages must be unlocked via the 1-55 level player XP progression path
    • Perks unlocked by default at level 1 include:
      • Scavenger
      • Battle Hardened
      • Payout
      • Flex (Faculty)
• Adjusted Perks
  • Ghost
    • Blocks detection by UAV, enemy radar sources, and Heartbeat Sensors – now updated to require movement to activate
    • Can be acquired via loot as a Stealth Plate Carrier
  • Birdseye
    • Your UAV Killstreak, Portable Radar, or UAV Tower shows the heading of the enemy for your squad
    • In addition, enemy unsuppresed gunshots will show headings
    • Detects Ghosted Players. Can be acquired via loot as a Comms Plate Carrier
  • Survivor
    • Faster revive speed, reduced health regeneration delay, reduced cash lost on death, and enemies that down you are automatically pinged
    • Decreases Health Regeneration time to 4 seconds, down from 7
    • Can be acquired via loot as a Medic Plate Carrier
  • Cold Blooded
    • This will negate the mark from Combat Scout
  • Battle Hardened
    • Now reduces the effects of Frangible bullets and abilities
  • Double Time
    • Increases Tac Sprint duration and reduces refresh time
    • No longer increases prone and crouch speeds
  • Scavenger
    • Once again provides an additional armor plate and cash in the scavenger bag
• New and Returning Plate Carriers
  • Plate Carrier Perks
    • Plate Carriers, previously referred to as Vests, found throughout the match will now be associated with one of the following four Perks
      • Tempered Plate Carrier
        • Includes effects of the Tempered Perk
      • Medic Plate Carrier
        • Includes effects of the Survivor Perk
      • Comms Plate Carrier
        • Provides the player with effects of the Birdseye Perk
      • Stealth Plate Carrier
        • Provides the player with effects of the Ghost Perk

Movement

• Highlight – Int he new chapter of Warzone, Players will find themselves with several Multiplayer Perks that are simply enabled by default at all times:
  • Tac Pads: Improves slide distance and allows for full ADS while sliding along with increased stance transition speeds
  • Commando Gloves: Enables reloading while running
  • Quick-Grip Gloves: Increases your weapon swap speed
  • Climbing Boots (Partial): Increases climbin and mantling speed aspect
• New Movement
  • Tactical Stance
    • A weapon stance that can be Toggled into, grants faster mobility at the cost of accuracy
• Returning Movement
  • ADS While Sliding
    • Players can now aim down sights and shoot while sliding as a default behavior
    • As an improvement, players can optionally toggle tac stance while sliding
• Adjusted Movement
  • Jump Changes
    • Jump higher, faster and jump ADS quicker. Reduced the slow-down when landing from the first jump and reduced the sprint-out delay after jumping
  • Slide Cancel
    • Players can cancel a slide by jumping, sprinting or crouching again. Does not reset tactical sprint and briefly pauses stamina regeneration
  • Slide Distance
    • The distance that Players travel while sliding is now impacted by the incline of the surface

Contracts

• Returning Contracts
  • Big Game Bounty
    • Players can activate this contract to place a bounty on a Player from one of the highest performing squads in the match
    • Eliminating the target player will reward your squad with an instantly activated, 20-second long Advanced UAV
    • This new contract will reveal itself after the second circle
  • Scavenger
    • Pick up this contract and you will be directed to open 3 special scavenger caches. You will be given the location of these caches 1 at a time. These caches contain additional loot, a heightened chance for the supply sweep killstreak and Plate Carriers, with the final chest dropping a randomly selected Plate Carrier 100% of the time
• General Adjustments
  • Activation Laptop (Quality of Life)
    • Players will now activate Contracts by interacting with larger, more easily identifiable laptops found throughout the map.
    • Activating a contract is done instantly with no delay or animation
  • Updated Contract Spawning
    • Increased the amounts of contracts spawned later into a match
  • New Icons (Quality of Life)
    • Contract icons have been updated to be more legible and shield-like in appearance
    • For better accessibility, icons are now colored yellow, previously green
• Adjusted Contracts
  • Bounty Contract
    • Bounty now gives a single UAV ping around the bounty target when the hunter team kills them
  • Intel Contract
    • The speed at which the point is captured will now increase for each additional squad member present
  • Most Wanted Contract
    • Surviving this contract will spawn a High Value Supply Crate which will always include a Gulag Entry Kit
  • Signals Intelligence Contract (Vondel Exclusive)
    • The passive income per player is now 10 payments of $750 for a total of $7500 over 3 minutes and 20 seconds
      • The previous total amounted to $5000 per player

Public Events

• New Public Events
  • Restock Supply Sweep
    • Restock now starts a personal supply sweep for every player when activated.
  • Fly Buy
    • A new Public Event has flown into Urzikstan. At certain points in a match, there is a chance  multiple Drones fly-in to drop additional Buy Stations into the Warzone. 
    • When a Fly Buy public event is triggered, 5 or 6 drones carrying portable buy stations fly from the gas to random points inside the current circle where they drop a portable buy station. 
    • The drones are neutral and can be shot down early, which drops the Buy Stations immediately. 
    • The portable buy stations sell items identical to a typical buy station. 
    • The public event will also have a chance of spawning in late game spawn circles after the Gulag has closed or Resurgence has ended, giving players a final opportunity to buy back teammates.
  • Strongholds
    • Strongholds now have a chance to appear as one of several possible events at the start of the match.
      • Black Sites and Abandoned Caches will remain in each match.
    • When this event triggers, 4 Strongholds will spawn, down from 5.
    • The time to capture a Stronghold has been reduced to 30 seconds, down from 90.
    • The original crate in strongholds that players captured and claimed their loadout has been updated and split into two parts.
      • UAV Station: Now when players enter a stronghold they will see a box with a laptop and satellite dish which now acts as the capture point. 
      • Loadout Locker: The loadout crate has been replaced with a loadout locker. The locker can be found in the same space as the UAV station and will be positioned against a wall of the room.
    • Vacating the Stronghold will cause it to automatically neutralize the UAV after 30 seconds. 
    • The Loadout Crate will be available only for the squad that currently controls the Stronghold.
• Adjusted Public Events
  • Firesale
    • Item discount increased to 50%, up from 30%.

Equipment

• New Equipment
  • Breacher Drone Lethal Equipment
    • Explosive drone that explodes on proximity to an enemy or on impact.
  • Thermobaric Grenade Lethal Equipment
    • Cookable grenade. Creates a large explosion that stuns, leaves a fiery residue, and increases lethality of explosives for a period of time.
  • EMD Grenade Tactical Equipment
    • Applies a tracking device to enemies hit, revealing them on your team’s minimap.
  • Scatter Mine Tactical Equipment
    • Throw a field of mines across a wide area that detonates when enemies come within range.
• Adjusted Equipment
  • Lethal Equipment
    • Drill Charge
      • Through Wall max damage increased to 160, up from 140.
      • Stick Max Damage increased to 200, up from 140.
    • Claymore
      • Max damage increased to 170, up from 100.
      • There is a known issue where Claymores will deal less damage than intended.
    • Frag Grenade
      • Close damage increased to 251, up from 140.
      • Mid range damage increased to 150, up from 105.
    • Semtex Grenade
      • Close damage increased to 200, up from 140.
      • Far damage increased to  105, up from 69.
    • Thermite
      • Tick damage increased to 37, up from 15.
         
  • Tactical Equipment
    • Smoke Grenade
      • Duration reduced to 7.14 seconds, down from 9.25.
    • Stim
      • Stim now grants a slight boost of movement speed on activation (7%).
    • Experimental Gas (Tear Gas) 
      • This will now deal continuous damage to anyone standing in the gas cloud.
        • Deals 5 damage per second, 3 damage to those with resistance to gas damage.
      • If the player is wearing a gas mask it will instead do damage to the equipped mask, masks in their backpack, or any masks on the ground.. 
      • Since the damage caused by this tactical is gas, it can be countered with an equipped Gas Mask.
    • Shock Stick
      • Damage increased to 8 per tick, up from 6 .
      • Radius increased to 4.1 meters, up from 3.1 meters.
    • Snapshot Grenade
      • Highlight Duration increased to 1.65s up from 1.25s.
    • Battle Rage
      • Now also mitigates 10% of damage taken while under the effects.
      • The regen portion of the buff can be canceled early by taking damage. The damage reduction effects will remain for the duration.
    • Flash Grenade
      • Now only flashes targets looking at the device at the time of it exploding.

Field Upgrades

• New Field Upgrades
  • Heartbeat Sensor
    • Now categorized as a Field Upgrade
    • Pulse every 2.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds. (Faster!)
    • Range increased to 55 meters up from 49. 
• Adjusted Field Upgrades
  • Portable Radar
    • Radar Pulse increased to 76.3 meters radius, up from 38.1 meters. 
  • Armor & Ammunition Boxes
    • The delay on equipment boxes has been removed – they will now be interactable as soon as they are deployed.

Killstreaks

• New Equipment
  • Guardian
    • A stationary turret that projects sound to disrupt and stun players in a line. Lasts for 50 seconds. 
  • Mosquito Drone
    • An automated drone that hovers in an area before descending on a target dealing damage. 
    • Will show up on the map with an icon and can be shot down.

Vehicles

• New Vehicle
  • Coyote
    • Available in Urzikstan during Battle Royale and Plunder modes is an impressive, lightly-armored new off road vehicle, known as the Coyote. This is an open-air and agile desert vehicle designed to grip the dunes and move quickly. The mounted machine gun is more than enough to take out the opposition in your path. 
• General Adjustments
  • Vehicle Start Time
    • The input delay when entering a vehicle has been decreased by 50%.
    • Helicopter Collision
      • The damage profile on helicopters has been updated to better reflect the perceived collision while close to other objects.

UI/UX

• Combat Record 
  • Players will launch Season 1 with a fresh Combat Record, which will immediately begin showing statistics for Battle Royale.
  • The Combat Records will roll out in the following phases:
    • Season 1 – Battle Royale
    • Season 2 – Resurgence
    • Season 3 – Plunder
  • Please note that statistics for all modes will begin tracking on Season 1 launch and will be retroactively reflected when the Combat Records go live.
• Icon Fade Quality of Life
  • All in-world icons will now fade away when the Player aims down sights for better visibility during engagements.
• Improved Headshot Hitmarker Quality of Life
  • Headshot hitmarkers have been improved for better readability.
  • This includes a new sound effect.
• Updated Icons Quality of Life
  • The entirety of the Tac Map has been updated to better serve you, with a variety of easily distinguishable new icons.
• XP / Score Events Quality of Life
  • All Score events are now yellow
• Supply Box Visuals Quality of Life
  • All Supply Boxes have received a visual adjustment to convey value more clearly.
    • Common – Military Green and Black
    • Legendary – Orange and Black
    • Reusable – Navy Blue 
    • Favorite – Custom Weapon Color Magenta
• Armor Plate Color Quality of Life
  • The color of Armor Plates, both on the HUD and hit markers is now blue unless affected by the Tempered Perk, in which case it will appear as orange.
• Nameplates
  • Allied nameplates have had their visibility improved with a clearer outline of the players name.
    • This change mirrors the improvements made in MW3 Multiplayer at launch.
• Perk Package Icons Quality of Life
  • Perk Packages whether equipped or stowed now display the icons of the included Perks in the package for quick readability.

That covers all you need to know about the changes made with the MW3 Season 1 patch notes. You can also check out the entirety of the update through Activision’s official blog posts for multiplayer and Warzone. Alternatively, you can take a look at our guides on how to fix the MW3 reset rank error, MW3 Mastercraft weapons, and the best SVA 545 loadout in MW3.