MW3 Zombies Season 1 patch notes: V-R11 Wonder Weapon, Dark Aether Rifts, Killstreak changes, more

MW3 Season 1 brings the first round of changes for the MW3 Zombies mode, with many new things to do in Urzikstan. Here are the full patch notes for MW3 Zombies Season 1.

Modern Warfare 3 had a lot of content on launch, and more comes now with Season 1. Players had to tackle many Act Missions, Contracts, and Easter eggs to get the best out of the new Urzikstan map, and now it’s time for more.

MW3 Zombies Season 1 brings a new Wonder Weapon for your arsenal, more of the story to uncover, and many other changes.

Here are the full patch notes for MW3 Zombies Season 1.

• New Act Missions in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies
• MW3 Zombies brings Dark Aether Rifts
• V-R11 Wonder Weapon
• MW3 Zombies Season 1: New Classified Schematics
• Modern Warfare 3 Zombies patch notes

New Act Missions in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies

MW3 Zombies Season 1 brings more Act Missions for players to complete, more rewards, and more stories to uncover. Operators continue to push further into the Exclusion Zone, as a new anomaly appeared in Urzikstan.

Operation Deadbolt Strike Teams are found inside the Dark Aether for the first time, so expect a higher difficulty in all the new content. More challenges and rewards are also inbound, with new Prestige Challenges to complete, a new Warlord Boss, its Operator skin, and new items to obtain.

MW3 Zombies brings Dark Aether Rifts

The new Act Missions in MW3 Season 1 take players to the Dark Aether Rifts, a mysterious labyrinth zone that will test Strike Teams to their best. You have 30 minutes to complete these new challenges that cover a series of hard-to-beat objectives, zombies, and new rewards.

To unlock the Dark Aether Rift, players must find and collect Sigils on the Urzikstan map fast in other to enter the 30-minute challenge. Remember that you only have 45 minutes to play in each MWZ session, so don’t miss that final extraction after finishing the new dangers.

V-R11 Wonder Weapon in MW3 Season 1

Modern Warfare 3 Zombies’ Season 1 update brings the brand-new V-R11 Wonder Weapon.

The new addition to the Wonder Weapon arsenal turns zombies into allies transforming them into humans. And of course, humans will turn into friendly zombies and both join you in the fight.

MW3 Zombies Season 1: New Classified Schematics

The new Classified Schematics include a series of items that can be crafted before your excursion to Urzikstan, and MW3 Season 1 introduces the following:

• Dog Bone: A consumable item that summons a friend Hell Hound to fight by your side and attack nearby enemies.
• Golden Armor Plate: A new type of armor plate that will replace your current Armor Carrier with Plates that automatically repair over time and grant additional damage resistances.
• Aether Blade: New special Throwing Knife with infinite ammo and a boomerang-style mechanic. When enemies are struck with it, the Knife will find the next nearest enemy to hit before returning to the player.

Modern Warfare 3 Zombies patch notes

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 end-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.

Prestige 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.
• For more details on Prestige Challenges, visit the Challenges and Seasonal Progression section of the Season 1 Announcement Blog.

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.

Global Changes

• Season 1 updates are not limited to just Zombies! Please reference the Global Section above for weapon balancing changes and more.

MAPS

Urzikstan

• Various visual map fixes.

WEAPONS

» Wonder Weapons «

• The Scorcher
  • The Scorcher’s launch ability will automatically fire when a player reaches their maximum charge under low ammo conditions.

» Assault «

• DG-58
  • Addressed an issue that prevented camos from applying in the customization tab in loadout menus.

» Weapon Cases «

• All Weapon Cases
  • Closed a duplication exploit.

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 in the center 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 Zombie 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 (MW3) & Golden Ivory (MW2) Update
    • We’ve 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.

Now that Season 1 is out, many changes are here for MW3 Zombies. If you are still struggling to finish the launch content, get up to date and start working on any pending missions before you jump into all we covered so far.

For more Modern Warfare 3, you can also check out the rest of our content:

Every Warzone map available in MW3 Season 1 | Modern Warfare 3 War mode explained | Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Zones explained | How to get MGB Tactical Nuke Killstreak in Modern Warfare 3 | Modern Warfare 3 Vortex game mode explained | All Modern Warfare 3 Rank Progression unlocks | What are Mastercraft weapons in MW3 & Warzone? | How to get The Boys Operators in Warzone & MW3: A-Train, Firecracker, more

Source: Activision.