Call of Duty: Vanguard

Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded patch notes: Aim Assist fix, Sniper Rifle buffs, Zombies updates, Armaguerra 43

Liam Mackay
Vanguard player in Season 2 Reloaded Arms Race mode

Vanguard’s Season 2 Reloaded is here, introducing the Arms Race mode, more Ranked Play rewards, Zombies updates, and a fix for the frustrating Aim Assist glitch. Here’s everything you need to know about Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded, including the full patch notes.

We’re almost halfway through Call of Duty: Vanguard’s second season, which brought new weapons, maps, and Ranked Play at last. That’s not all for Season 2 though, as the Reloaded update brings even more major additions to the game.

Here’s everything you need to know about Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded, including the release date, Arms Race mode, Ranked Play rewards, Zombies updates, and the full patch notes.

warzone season 2 reloaded roadmap

Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded update release date

Players can now download Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded update after it went live on March 22, 2022.

This update brings the brand-new Arms Race mode, the Top 250 Ranked Play Skill Division, more Ranked Play rewards, new Zombies content, and more.

CoD Vanguard Arms Race mode

New Arms Race mode arrives in Vanguard Season 2

Call of Duty’s devs revealed that Vanguard will receive a new mode in the Season 2 Reloaded update – Arms Race.

Arms Race takes place on Alps, “the largest map in Vanguard set in Task Force Yeti’s main area of operations.” Fighting 12v12, players will “drop in across this alpine tundra,” and need to capture all bases to win.

Arms Race mode in Vanguard Season 2 reloaded

Players can choose to deploy at any point that their team owns, or spawn on squad members. Plus, there will be Champion Hill-esque Buy Stations where you can purchase weapons, Field Upgrades, and Custom Loadouts.

Aside from its scale, what sets Arms Race apart is its vehicle play. Players will take control of the Motorcycle, CD12 Transport, and Tank to help their team secure domination. Players can get their hands on these powerful vehicles by purchasing them at friendly bases.

More Ranked Play rewards arrive in Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded

Solange ranked play operator skin

Ranked Play arrived in Vanguard at the beginning of Season 2, allowing players to play like the pros, climb through the Skill Divisions, and earn rewards to show off. There will be even more rewards to show off following Season 2 Reloaded.

Players can currently earn Calling Cards, Emblems, and an Operator Skin for Solange, but the devs confirmed they will be adding more rewards with Season 2 Reloaded.

The devs are adding one more Skill Division above Challenger called ‘Top 250,’ which shows all of the players in their own leaderboard – expect to see plenty of pros next to some top players you’ve never heard of.

ranked play in vanguard season 2 reloaded

Players of any Skill Division can also earn “two new Pro Issue Blueprints, two Weapon Camos, two Charms, an exclusive Spray and Sticker, and an animated Emblem awarded at the end of the Season based on your final Skill Division.”

Plus, “players can earn the Ranked Legend Solange Operator Skin by winning 25 games in the Master Skill Division or higher, and each Skill Division also has a Charm that can be earned by winning 10 games in that Skill Division.”

The devs are also reducing Skill Rating Restrictions, which you can check out below:

“These are the current rules for SR restrictions:

  • Players in Master & Challenger can only party up within 500 SR.
  • Players in Expert & Elite can only party up within 1000 SR.
  • Players below Expert can party up without restrictions.

… and these will be the updated rules going live with Season Two Reloaded:

  • Players in Master & Challenger can form parties with players up to one adjacent Skill Division away.
  • Players in Elite can form parties with players up to two adjacent Skill Divisions away.
  • Players below Elite can party up without restrictions and can party with players who haven’t yet completed their Seasonal Skill Evaluation matches.
  • Party Restriction rules are determined by the highest Skill Division represented in the party.”

Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded Zombies changes

Vanguard players fighting Zombies

Vanguard’s Season 2 Reloaded update finally brings the Server Pause button to Solos, as well as “additional bug fixes to be detailed by Treyarch in the coming days.”

There will also be two new Covenants to equip on both Terra Maledicta and Der Anfang. You can check them both out below:

Critical Expertise

  • Noncritical hits have a chance to become critical hits. Critical kills with Killing Blow equipped will return ammo.
  • Rare: Noncritical hits have a 10% chance to be critical.
  • Epic: Noncritical hits have a 20% chance to be critical.
  • Legendary: Noncritical hits have a 30% chance to crit for 50% bonus damage.

Explosives Expert

  • Your explosions do more damage to the enemy and less damage to you. Splatterfest and Energy Mine explosion damage is increased. Ray Gun splash damage is not affected.
  • Rare: Your explosions do 50% more damage to the enemy and 50% less damage to you.
  • Epic: Your explosions do 75% more damage to the enemy and 75% less damage to you.
  • Legendary: Your explosions do 100% more damage to the enemy and 100% less damage to you.

New weapon arrives in Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded

Armaguerra 43 in vanguard

While Vanguard Season 2’s Battle Pass added the KG M40 and Whitley, the Armaguerra 43 SMG is set to arrive alongside the Gustavo Dos Santos Operator in the Reloaded update.

The Armaguerra is described as a “very high rate-of-fire SMG” that’s “effective at short to medium range engagements.” However, they said that it has high recoil and low damage, so don’t expect to be beaming players across the map.

The devs have revealed that “The Armaguerra 43 can be unlocked in one of two ways: through an SMG-based challenge or via Store Bundle to be released later this season.”

Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded Operator

Vanguard Season 2 Reloaded patch notes

On Thursday, March 10th, we got a little too excited and announced that a significant balance pass for Sniper Rifles was live. Unfortunately, these changes would not be made available until the Season Two Reloaded update. Well, now they are here! Let us know what you think.

Missed the early announcement? Here are our goals for this balance pass…

Given your feedback and our metrics, we recognized that Sniper Rifles were underperforming across the board.  Because of this, we wanted to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon in this class.

  • Type 99
    • This one is for all of your Quickscopers out there. Faster ADS time and less sway while walking makes it ideal for high-risk, high-reward sniping. But watch out for return fire – you’re fast but not invincible!
  • 3-Line Rifle
    • Reliability at its finest. We decreased the flinch received when taking fire to allow players to maintain accuracy while holding a position.
  • Kar98K
    • Our jack-of-all-trades Sniper Rifle. Although it was already a popular choice, we decreased its ADS time to give it a better chance in close-quarters combat to offer an alternative to the Type 99.

Let us know what you think of these changes. Your feedback will play a critical part of future weapon balance passes. We look forward to sharing more in the near future!

In Vanguard Season One, we saw reports from players who suggested that the Aim Assist system was not always functioning as it should. Today, we are optimistic we have fixed a bug that caused Aim Assist to intermittently deactivate while engaging an enemy player.

First, we want to thank everyone who shared clips of this problem. This bug was very difficult to reproduce and the video clips were critical to the QA investigation which helped our Engineering team diagnose and solve the issue.

When functioning properly, the Aim Assist system analyzes every frame of the game to determine if it should activate, based on whether an enemy is currently in sight. We call this a “player visibility check”. The Aim Assist bug was the result of the system not waiting for the “player visibility check” before running an action. In certain scenarios, the Aim Assist system was left to assume that no player was visible, which meant that Aim Assist could potentially deactivate multiple times in a single engagement. With tomorrow’s fix, the Aim Assist system will ensure that a result from that “player visibility check” is received before continuing and we are confident based on testing that it should behave as intended.

Please note that although we have tested this fix extensively with our team, the real test is in the live game environment with all of you. Please let us know if you are still encountering problems with Aim Assist while playing Vanguard.

  • Stability improvements should result in better connectivity and lower rates of server disconnect errors.
  • Scrolling through a large friends list will no longer kick the player out of the Social menu.
  • Resolved a bug resulting in Dev Error 604, which was caused by being revived while a melee weapon and tactical equipment are equipped.
  • Resolved a bug resulting in Dev Error 5573 when using the “Ace Casual” and “Decorated” Operator Skins for Wade and Daniel.
  • Resolved a bug resulting in Dev Error 7272 when using the “Tooled Up” Operator Skin for Lucas.

  • Aim Assist
    • Addressed an issue that caused Aim Assist to erratically deactivate while engaging an enemy player.
  • Destruction
    • Addressed an issue that allowed enemy nameplates to be seen through surfaces in various situations.
  • Progression
    • Addressed an issue that prevented players from earning XP for some Operators.
    • Addressed an issue that caused the “Hello There” Trophy to not be awarded upon joining a Clan.

In this update, we paid special attention to improving the overall quality of our Multiplayer maps. We have made efforts to improve spawn logic in difficult scenarios, namely high-intensity Combat Pacing selections and objective-based modes. Several improvements have been made to the environment to prevent players from taking advantage of exploits, such as spawning in a player’s line of sight. We’ve also improved pathing for objective points for certain Modes on several maps.

Please note that the spawn changes in tomorrow’s update are fixes and improvements to situational exploits and there is no sweeping change to spawn logic. However, we will continue to iterate on our spawn logic in the coming updates and look forward to sharing more soon.

  • Berlin
    • Addressed an exploit that allowed players to reach unintended locations near the Train Yard.
  • Bocage
    • Players will no longer spawn in the sight of enemies near the Water Wheel in Assault pacing Free-for-All.
  • Casablanca
    • Players will no longer spawn in the sight of enemies near the Hotel in Free-for-All
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the Patrol capture point from progressing near the Bridge.
  • Castle
    • Addressed exploits that allowed players to reach unintended locations in the Courtyard and Garden.
  • Desert Siege
    • Addressed exploits that allowed players to reach unintended locations near the Destroyed House, Train Station, and Courtyard.
    • Improved collision to prevent players from obstructing the view of their character near the Trench, Ammo Dump, and Destroyed House.
    • Improved collision to prevent an unintended line of sight near the Train Station.
  • Dome
    • Adjusted spawns to prevent players from facing interior walls upon respawn.
    • Improved spawn logic to avoid spawning players in locations where a teammate was recently killed.
  • Gavutu
    • Addressed an exploit that allowed players to reach an unintended location near the Arched Rock.
  • Gondola
    • Corrected lighting that caused a blue tint to be applied to the environment in certain locations.
    • Adjusted the capture point in Control to prevent players from capturing it from an unintended location near the Fire Watch Tower.
  • Oasis
    • Addressed an exploit that allowed players to reach an unintended location near Ruins East.
  • Paradise
    • Improved spawn logic to avoid spawning players near enemies in Team Deathmatch.
    • Players will no longer spawn in the sight of enemies on the Cliff Path.
    • Improved collision in several locations to prevent players from obstructing the view of their character.
    • Improved the pathing of the capture point in Patrol.
  • Radar
    • Addressed an issue that caused players to spawn out of bounds in Patrol.
    • Improved the pathing of the capture point in Patrol..
  • Sub Pens
    • Addressed an issue that caused players to spawn out of bounds near the Utility Room in Team Deathmatch.
    • Addressed an exploit that allowed players to reach unintended locations near the Dry Docks.

  • Kill Confirmed
    • Addressed an issue that caused server disconnect errors. Kill Confirmed has returned to the quickplay filter and featured playlist rotations.

  • Thomas (Yeti)
    • Thomas’s Date of Birth has been corrected in his Operator Bio.
  • Halima (Hellhounds)
    • Halima will no longer be invisible during her Highlight Intro.

  • NEW: Armaguerra 43 (Submachine Gun)
    • Very high rate-of-fire SMG. Effective at short to medium range engagements.
    • Unlock the Armaguerra 43 through an SMG-based challenge or via Store Bundle.
  • Sten (Submachine Gun)
    • Stock attachments will no longer display incorrect textures.
  • Welgun (Submachine Gun)
    • In Gunsmith, ammo attachments that decrease reload quickness will now properly communicate this change.
  • KG M40 (Light Machine Gun)
    • Addressed an issue where the firing audio would not be affected by suppression attachments.
  • Type 99 (Sniper Rifle)
    • Decreased ADS time from 498ms to 400ms (-20%).
    • Decreased weapon sway while walking by 80%.
  • 3-Line Rifle (Sniper Rifle)
    • Decreased weapon sway while walking by 50%.
    • Decreased flinch intensity by 50%.
  • Kar98k (Sniper Rifle)
    • Decreased ADS time from 595ms to 500ms (-16%). This change currently does not apply without a Scope attachment equipped.
  • Sniper Rifles and Marksman Rifles
    • Decreased flinch intensity by 30%.
      • This change does not apply to the SVT-40, 3-Line Rifle, or Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle.

  • Shiraishi Short Barrel (Type 99)
    • Decreased ADS time multiplier from -10% to -5% (-50%).
  • Empress 514mm F01 (3-Line Rifle)
    • Decreased over-penetration range from 40m to 15m (-63%).

  • Ball Turret Gunner (12 Kills)
    • Ball Turret Gunner usage is now properly tracked in the Barracks and on the scoreboard.

  • Improvements
    • Added subtitles when previewing Operator Quips.
  • Bug Fixes
    • Barracks
      • Addressed an issue that prevented players who reached Level 1,000 in Season One from entering the Barracks menu.
    • Accessibility
      • Added the Menu Readability option to the Settings > Interface menu.
    • Social
      • An error will no longer be displayed when attempting to view the Social tab in the Clans menu.
      • Addressed an issue where the View Invite prompt would not function as intended.
    • After Action Report
      • Addressed an issue where the Scoreboard tab was missing from the After Action Report.
    • Customization
      • Completionist camos will now properly display current progress.
      • Calling Card Frames, Titles, and Killcam Themes can now be unequipped.

  • Blueprints
    • The “Shootout” and “Pawn Shop Special” Top Break Blueprints will now use the correct models for barrel, trigger action, magazine, and optic attachments.
    • The “Imperator” and “Run It Back” BAR Blueprints will now use the correct models for the CGC 27” 2B and Chariot 18” Rapid barrel attachment.
    • Adjusted the positioning of the ZF4 3.5X Rifle Scope on the “Ymir Curse” Volkssturmgewehr Blueprint.
    • Addressed an issue that caused the iron sights to be obstructed when the optic attachment was removed from the “Wasp” RATT Blueprint.
    • Fire Tracers will now be properly displayed when using the “Helm of Darkness” and “Blacksmith” Blueprints.
    • The Welgun Submachine Gun is now unlocked upon purchase of the “Heliox” Blueprint.
  • Other Items
    • Padmavati will no longer be invisible during her Highlight Intro when using the “Astrakhan” Operator Skin.
    • Addressed an issue that caused the camera to go out of bounds when using the “Trifecta” Highlight Intro.
    • Corrected the audio that is played when using the “Quicker They Fall”, “Asshole”, and “Badass” Operator Quips.
    • Several issues with Watches have been resolved including placement, invisibility, and animation.
    • Fixed the alignment of several Weapon Charms.
    • Corrected the alignment of Thomas’ cigar when previewing the “Smoked Out” Highlight Intro.
    • Corrected the alignment of Halima’s bottle when previewing the “Nice Shot” Highlight Intro.
       

RANKED PLAY

Treyarch is delivering plenty of Ranked Play updates with Season Two Reloaded, including the introduction of the Top 250 Skill Division & Leaderboard, new Season Two Rewards and Skill Division Rewards, rank progression improvements, new progression menus, additional quitter penalties, and more.

Start grinding for the ultimate bragging rights as one of the highest-ranked players in the world, and earn new rewards no matter which Skill Division you’re in, including Weapon Blueprints, Camos, Charms, and Animated Emblems. New rewards will arrive with each season, so be sure to earn your Season Two Rewards while they’re available.

Ranked Play competitors will now be able to form parties with more friends outside of their Skill Division via newly expanded party restrictions. Additional suspension rules have also been added to penalize players who quit mid-match. Read on below for everything new coming to Ranked Play, and remember… play to win.

  • Skill Division
    • New 8th Skill Division added above Challenger to feature the 250 highest-ranked players in the world.
  • Leaderboard
    • New Top 250 Leaderboard added to track the top players in Ranked Play, visible to all players in-game.

  • New Season Two Ranked Play rewards can be earned by completing Win Challenges and earning Ladder Placements.
    • Each new season of Ranked Play will introduce a new set of Season Rewards. Season Two rewards can only be earned in Season Two.
    • All rewards can be used in both Vanguard and Warzone once unlocked.
  • Season Two Rewards:
    • Two “Pro Issue” Weapon Blueprints
    • Two Weapon Camos: “Season Two Ladder Champion” & “Season Two Ranked Veteran”
    • Two Charms: “I Got Bomb” & “Mano-a-Mano”
    • “Don’t Be Salty” Spray
    • “Season Two Competitor” Sticker
  • Skill Division Rewards:
    • Exclusive “Ranked Legend” Solange Operator Skin awarded for winning 25 games in the Master Skill Division or higher
    • Animated Emblem awarded at the end of the season based on the player’s final Skill Division
    • Each Skill Division has a Charm that can be earned by winning 10 games in that Skill Division

  • Players in Master & Challenger can now form parties with players up to one adjacent Skill Division away (previously only within 500 SR).
  • Players in Elite can now form parties with players up to two adjacent Skill Divisions away (previously only within 1,000 SR).
  • Players below Elite can continue to party up without restrictions, and can now party with players who haven’t yet completed their Seasonal Skill Evaluation matches.
  • Party Restriction rules are now determined by the highest Skill Division represented in the party.
  • Players are now less likely to get matched with other players who are outside of their current Party Skill Restrictions.

  • My Career & Rewards
    • Added new My Career & Rewards menu, where players can access their Rank, Rewards, and Skill Division screens for additional information.
      • Rewards Screen: Preview your Season Two & Skill Division Rewards and track your progress toward your next unlock.
      • Skill Division Screen: See where you stack up in the Skill Divisions with information on your current Skill Division, as well as your progress toward your next Tier promotion.
  • Progression
    • The player’s current Rank number is now displayed above their Rank Icon in the Ranked Play lobby.
    • Players without a Rank will now appear as Unranked.
    • XP and Weapon XP summary screens are no longer shown after Ranked Play matches.
  • Ladder Events
    • The Ladder screen now defaults to the player’s current position when opened.
    • Stars for previously earned Ranks now correctly appear as filled in on the Ranks screen.
    • Ranks 10-29 now display the correct number of Stars needed on the Ranks screen.
  • Restrictions
    • Create-a-Class, Killstreaks, and Field Upgrades menus now correctly display all restricted Ranked Play content as restricted. These restricted items can no longer appear to be equipped to Ranked Play loadouts.
  • How to Play Menu
    • Maps & Modes tab now displays accurate Ranked Play maps.
    • Added information about Victory Flames to the Ladder Events tab.
  • General
    • Addressed an issue that was causing the player’s Operator to occasionally not appear in the Ranked Play menu.
    • Addressed an issue where players in their 5 Skill Evaluation matches would occasionally appear as being already placed in a Skill Division in some locations.

  • Increased the number of Stars earned for each Ladder Placement to make progression through the 50 Ranks slightly faster:
    • 1st Place = 7 Stars (previously 5)
    • Top 5 = 6 Stars (previously 4)
    • Top 10 = 5 Stars (previously 3)
    • Top 25 = 3 Stars (previously 2)
    • Remaining players = 2 Stars (previously 1)

  • The first player to disconnect or quit a Ranked Play match in progress will receive a timed suspension from Ranked Play matchmaking, with increased suspension durations for repeat offenders.
  • Players receive SR and Ladder Point penalties if they quit or disconnect from a match in progress. These penalties are applied after their next completed match.
  • The first player to disconnect from the match receives a larger penalty than players who disconnect afterward.

  • Players will now see “Match Canceled” whenever a match is canceled due to uneven teams.
  • MVP Voting no longer displays after a match that was canceled after it started.

  • Resolved Dev Error 5476, which was occasionally displayed for some players when trying to access Ranked Play from the main menu.
  • Addressed an issue where players would occasionally not earn SR for a win after the entire enemy team had quit.
  • Addressed an issue where players could be automatically returned to the Lobby when scrolling on the Ladder screen.
  • Addressed an issue that was causing a small number of players to have empty Ranked Play classes and no ability to create Custom Classes.
     

ZOMBIES UPDATES

Season Two Reloaded brings Dedicated Server Pause to Vanguard Zombies, allowing solo players to pause for up to two hours collectively in matches played on dedicated servers. The inactivity kick timer has also been extended for players in public matches, so you’ll have more than enough time for a bathroom break while your friends keep the undead at bay.

Two powerful new Covenants arrive this week with three rarities each: equip Critical Expertise to boost your critical hit rates, and Explosives Expert for when you want to go loud. This update also includes improvements to the Decimator Shield & Ray Gun, the addition of the Sacrifice Objective to “Der Anfang,” Season Challenge improvements, various bug and stability fixes, and more. Check out the full patch notes below:

  • Server Pause implemented for players in Solo and single-player Private matches on dedicated servers.
  • Players can pause for up to 2 hours collectively per match, and can continue to pause indefinitely in Offline/Local matches.

  • Inactivity kick timer extended for players in Public matches.

  • Two new abilities with three rarities added to the Altar of Covenants:
    • Critical Expertise
      • Non-critical hits have a chance to become critical hits. Critical kills with Death Blow equipped will return ammo.
      • Rare: Non-critical hits have a 10% chance to be critical.
      • Epic: Non-critical hits have a 20% chance to be critical.
      • Legendary: Non-critical hits have a 30% chance to crit for 50% bonus damage.
    • Explosives Expert
      • Your explosions do more damage to the enemy and less damage to you. Splatterfest & Energy Mine explosion damage is increased. Ray Gun splash damage is not affected.
      • Rare: Your explosions do 50% more damage to the enemy and 50% less damage to you.
      • Epic: Your explosions do 75% more damage to the enemy and 75% less damage to you.
      • Legendary: Your explosions do 100% more damage to the enemy and 100% less damage to you.

  • “Terra Maledicta”
    • Addressed multiple issues where zombies could spawn in unintended locations.
    • Addressed multiple issues where zombie corpses could fall through the floor.
    • Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun could still be seen floating in space after acquiring it via Side Quest.
  • General
    • Closed various exploits in “Terra Maledicta” and “Der Anfang.”

  • Sacrifice
    • Sacrifice Objective now available in all maps.

  • Decimator Shield
    • Reduced the Decimator Blast ability cooldown from 90 seconds to 60 seconds.
  • Ray Gun
    • Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun was not always used when the player was downed if they had it equipped.

  • Weapon Blueprints with custom visual effects will no longer lose these custom effects when upgraded at the Pack-a-Punch Machine.
  • Addressed an issue where players were not receiving Butcher Medals when getting five rapid kills with certain melee weapons.

  • Addressed an issue where Brain Rot-controlled zombies were not attacking Strumkreigers and Zaballa the Deceiver.
  • Addressed an issue where Zaballa the Deceiver could fail to path to and attack players in some instances.
  • Addressed an issue where the Sturmkrieger’s weapon could clip into its body during stun animations.

  • Adjusted one of the Season Two Zombies Challenges to be completable with 75 Molotov kills.

  • Addressed an issue where visual effects were not displaying correctly when using sprays in Zombies.

  • Fixed various stability issues related to Zaballa the Deceiver, Sturmkriegers, and Artifacts. 

CAMPAIGN

  • Lady Nightingale
    • Addressed an issue where the player could not perform a takedown on Steiner which halted progression.

Also, be sure to check out the new Rebirth Island Reinforced map that hits Warzone in the Reloaded update.

Source: Call of Duty blog / Sledgehammer Games

Image Credit: Activision

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