Call of Duty: Vanguard

Vanguard Season 5 Zombies patch notes: The Archon map, Main Quest, gameplay improvements

Liam Mackay
Vanguard Season 5 Zombies players fighting boss

Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 5, the last season before Modern Warfare 2, brings the final round-based Zombies map to the game. Here’s everything we know about The Archon map, as well as the patch notes for Vanguard Zombies in Season 5.

After the huge success of Black Ops Cold War Zombies, players were less-than-impressed with Vanguard’s Zombies offering due to its lack of classic features and divergence from the round-based format.

Season 5 arrived on August 24, and it will be Vanguard’s final season ahead of Modern Warfare 2. This final update brings one more round-based Zombies map to the game with a new Main Quest and boss fight.

Here’s everything we know about the Vanguard Season 5 Zombies update, including gameplay improvements and patch notes.

The Archon map arrives in Vanguard Season 5 Zombies

menendez using EX1 in Vanguard Zombies

Vanguard Season 5 Zombies brings The Archon, a round-based reimagining of Season 2’s Terra Maledicta map.

Although the same play space we’ve seen before, Treyarch have upgraded the map with “the full suite of round-based Zombies mechanics, an updated visual style, new Dark Aether intel, and a slew of new secrets to uncover.”

It will have all of the gameplay mechanics you’d expect in a round-based Vanguard map such as “Perk Fountains, Altar of Covenants, Tome of Rituals, and the Pack-a-Punch machine.”

The Rampage Inducer, which appeared in Cold War Zombies and Vanguard’s Shi No Numa, will also return for players who want to crank up the pace.

Vanguard Zombies Main Quest easter egg & boss fight

Vanguard Zombies players fighting boss in The Archon

Treyarch have called The Archon’s boss fight at the end of the Main Quest the “crown jewel” of the Zombies map.

After completing a series of trials and objectives around The Archon, Zombies players will be tasked with fighting Kortifex, the Big Bad of Vanguard’s storyline. Treyarch said that “Rather than devoting valuable development time to additional features or more Covenants,” they prioritized the Kortifex boss fight which is “on a scale rarely seen in Zombies.”

The Main Quest will go live with The Archon’s launch on August 24th at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST.

Is there a new Wonder Weapon in Vanguard Season 5?

No, there isn’t a new Zombies Wonder Weapon arriving with Vanguard Season 5’s The Archon.

Instead, Treyarch have added all three previous Wonder Weapons (Ray Gun, Wunderwaffe DG-2, and Decimator Shield) to the map. This is so they could devote more time to creating the “truly memorable boss fight.”

The Decimator Shield has seen some tweaks though, which are detailed in the gameplay improvements section below.

Vanguard Season 5 Zombies gameplay improvements

Vanguard Zombies player using EX1 in The Archon

Treyarch released a couple of the major Zombies changes coming to the Decimator Shield and Covenants:

  • After reducing the Decimator Blast’s cooldown from 90 seconds to 60 seconds, we’re cutting the remaining timer in half, allowing players to deploy the Decimator Blast every 30 seconds.
  • Decimator Blast damage has been buffed against Sturmkriegers and Zaballa the Deceiver, making Egypt’s legendary Wonder Weapon even more formidable.
  • In response to player feedback, the full selection of all three Covenants will now refresh with each round at the Altar of Covenants, instead of every three rounds.

Vanguard Season 5 Zombies patch notes

  • “The Archon”
    • Available starting August 24th at 9 AM PT / 12 AM ET / 5 PM BST.

  • New Main Quest and Boss Fight available in “The Archon.”

  • New Dark Aether narrative intel available to discover in “The Archon.” 

  • Decimator Shield 
    • Reduced cooldown on the Decimator Blast ability from 60 to 30 seconds.
    • Increased Decimator Blast damage against Sturmkriegers and Zaballa the Deceiver.

  • Season Five
    • EX1 energy rifle and RA 225 SMG available in Zombies loadouts once unlocked via the Season Five Battle Pass.
  • Unlock Challenges
    • New Weapon Unlock Challenges added to Zombies for the Marco 5 SMG and UGM-8 LMG.

  • Round Based
    • Altar of Covenants
      • Covenant selection now refreshes with each round at the Altar of Covenants instead of every three rounds.

  • Season Five
    • 20 new Zombies Season Challenges available at the start of Season Five.
  • Season Four
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the “Broken Communications” challenge from tracking properly.

Vanguard Season 5 also brings classic weapons from both MW2 and Advanced Warfare, as well as classic Call of Duty villains.

Source: Sledgehammer Games

Image Credit: Activision

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