Call of Duty: Vanguard

Vanguard Season 4 patch notes: Release date, round-based Shi No Numa, USS Texas, more

Liam Mackay
Vanguard Season 4 Operator with Marco SMG

Here’s everything we know about Vanguard Season 4, including its release date, round-based Zombies map, and more.

Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 3 brought some significant changes including the highly-requested Trophy System, the kernel-level RICOCHET anti-cheat, new weapons, and maps.

But there’s still a lot more Vanguard content to come, with the Season 4 update now live. We’re breaking down everything we know about Vanguard Season 4, including the release date, Shi No Numa map, USS Texas, and more.

Vanguard Season 4 roadmap

When is Vanguard Season 4? Season 3 end date

Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 4 goes live immediately after Season 3 concludes on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. The update will roll out on June 21, but the content will only be accessible the following day at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST.

Call of Duty confirmed the date when they revealed Season 4’s key art which shows off Warzone’s new Fortune’s Keep map. This is also when the Season 3 Battle Pass expires, so make sure you’ve earned all of the rewards ahead of June 22.

USS Texas coming to Vanguard in Season 4

Butcher Vanguard USS Texas

It appears Sledgehammer Games will be re-introducing one of their previous maps with WWII’s USS Texas that was previously discovered in the Vanguard Season 4 game files.

USS Texas was a launch map from 2017’s WWII taking place on a Battleship where there are long-range fights down the sides with the ship’s interior suited for close-range combat.

“Embark on the High Seas in USS Texas 1945. Battle on the decks and in the interior spaces of USS Texas 1945, launching at the start of the new season.”

A second new map called ‘Desolation’ is also set to arrive, but this is expected with the Season 4 Reloaded update.

Round-based Shi No Numa arrives in Vanguard Zombies

Shi No Numa map Vanguard Season 4

Zombies players have been begging for Vanguard to receive a traditional round-based map, and it’s finally coming in Season 4 with a reimagining of World at War’s Shi No Numa.

This map remaster will bring an “all-new Main Quest and Side Quests, a new area to explore, a new Wonder Weapon Quest, the classic Flogger trap and Electro-Shock Defenses, remastered Easter Eggs, new Pack-a-Punch Camos, and a new Dark Aether narrative for the map.”

Treyarch confirmed that Shi No Numa will arrive at Season 4’s launch on Wednesday, June 22.

New Vanguard Season 4 weapons

UGM-8 LMG Vanguard

At the start of Vanguard Season 4, players will be able to unlock the Marco 5 SMG and UGM-8 LMG through the Battle Pass. This will be the fourth SMG and second LMG added to Vanguard post-launch.

Sometime throughout Season 4, players will also be able to get their hands on a new melee weapon called the Push Dagger and the Vargo-S Assault Rifle.

Vanguard Season 4 Blueprint Gun Game mode

The classic Blueprint Gun Game mode will be making its way to Vanguard at the start of Season 4. Players will face off in a race to progress through all 18 Blueprint weapons as they search for kills.

As usual, one kill will allow you to progress to the next weapon while getting a melee kill will set players back one weapon.

There are no Killstreaks, Perks, or Loadouts allowed in this mode which means you’ll need to prove your dominance with a diverse set of weapons.

New Vanguard Season 4 Operators

Butcher Operator Vanguard Season 4

Captain Butcher, Callum Hendry, and Ikenna Olowe are the members of Task Force Immortal arriving in Vanguard Season 4. Callum Hendry joins Butcher as another member of the British Special Forces.

Meanwhile, Ikenna Olowe is a top-tier strategist hailing from Nigeria. He is Task Force Immortal’s battlefield engineer and a versatile fighter at that.​ Both Hendry and Ikenna will only be available later on in Season 4, while Butcher will arrive on the season’s launch.

Vanguard Season 4 full patch notes

Maps

  • NEW: USS Texas 1945
    • The USS Texas returns from Call of Duty: WWII (2017) for one last voyage. Set sail in its 24/7 Featured Playlist at the launch of Season Four.
  • Castle
    • Bullets will no longer penetrate the wall near the High Ground in order to prevent undesirable spawn conditions.
  • Sphere
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the Glide Bomb Killstreak audio from being heard by players within the Labs.

Modes

  • NEW: Blueprint Gun Game
    • An all-time classic game mode makes its Vanguard debut. Be the first player to score a Kill with each one of the provided Weapons.

Ranked Play

  • Season Four Skill Rating Reset
    • Players’ Skill Ratings have been reset at the start of Season Four.
    • Play 5 Skill Evaluation Matches to earn a Season Four Skill Rating and get placed into a Skill Division & Tier.
    • Win matches after your initial placement to earn SR and advance your Skill Division & Tier over the remainder of the Season.
  • Season Four Top 250 Skill Division & Leaderboard
    • The Season Four Top 250 Skill Division and Ladder will go live on June 29th, one full week after Season Four starts. This release time will allow players time to earn a Season Four Skill Rating and advance through divisions.
  • Season Four Ranked Play Rewards
    • Players can earn the following rewards in Ranked Play during Season Four:
      • Blueprints
        • Pro Reissue SMG Charlie – Finish Top 5 in a Ladder Event
        • Pro Issue KAR98k – Win 50 Ranked Play Matches
      • Camos
        • Season Four Ladder Champion – Finish 1st in a Ladder Event
        • Season Four Ranked Veteran – Win 100 Ranked Play Matches
      • Charms
        • Carried – Finish Top 10 in a Ladder Event
        • Iced – Win 25 Ranked Play Matches
      • Spray
        • Clean Sweep – Win 5 Ranked Play Matches
      • Sticker
        • Season Four Ranked Competitor – Complete 5 Skill Evaluation Matches
      • Emblems
        • Earn an Animated Skill Division Emblem at the end of Season Four to reflect your highest Season Four Skill Division 

Operators

  • NEW: Carver Butcher (Immortal)
    • Butcher served in the British Army during Operation Devon, battling against the 16th Panzer Division. He was dismissed after sustaining injuries to his face from exploding shrapnel but returned to the front lines soon after as duty called. There he witnessed resistance fighters in action. Inspired, went on to become the founder and recruiter for the Special Operations Task Force. The rest, as they say, is history.
  • NEW: Callum Hendry (Immortal)
    • All his life, Callum was a showoff, constantly adventuring and getting into trouble with neighbors, woodland creatures, the law – everyone. His unwavering spirit helped him quickly ascend the ranks of the British Army to eventually become a recruit trainer. In World War II, Callum, harboring deep hatred for Nazis and their ideals, fought hard for a future without them. Currently he is the trainer for all SOTF agents.

Weapons

  • General
    • Added the ability to inspect equipped Weapons.
    • Refined Pros and Cons in the Gunsmith for all Magazine Attachments that modify Aim Down Sights Time and Reload Speed to accurately reflect the effects of the Attachment.
    • Increased Damage for Melee Weapons in the Overclocked Playlist to maintain a one-hit-kill.
    • Addressed an issue that prevented Diamond Camo for Melee Weapons from unlocking once the requirements are met.
    • Corrected the Magazine Attachment requirements for several Camo challenges.
  • NEW: Marco 5 (Submachine Gun)
    • A high mobility submachine gun, accurate from the hip with excellent close-range stopping power.
    • Unlocked at Tier 15 in the Season Four Battle Pass
  • NEW: UGM-8 (Light Machine Gun)
    • High fire rate, mobile LMG that excels at creating suppressing fire and pushing enemy positions.
    • Unlocked at Tier 31 in the Season Four Battle Pass
  • Nikita AVT (Assault Rifle)
    • Added Weapon Unlock Challenge.
      • Get 10 Kills while moving in a single match 15 times.
  • Armaguerra 43 (Submachine Gun)
    • Corrected the challenge requirements for the Death Artist Camo Category.
  • H4 Blixen (Submachine Gun)
    • Corrected the alignment of the Magnus Tac iron sights.
  • M1916 (Marksman Rifle)
    • Added Weapon Unlock Challenge.
      • Get 10 One Shot One Kill in a single match 15 times.

Progression

  • Added new Seasonal Challenges and rewards.
  • Added new Clan Challenge (expires in one week).

User Interface & Experience

  • Addressed an issue that caused PC keybinds to reset to default upon switching between Campaign, Multiplayer, and Zombies modes.
  • Browning a player’s Clans will now display the correct level of each individual Clan.
  • Addressed an issue where Loadouts would persist with outdated Weapon selections.

Bundles & Cosmetics

  • Quick Equip can no longer be used to equip unsupported Reticles on Optic Attachments.

ZOMBIES

Maps

  • “Shi No Numa”
    • Round-Based Zombies returns with Shi No Numa on June 22nd.
    • The classic map elements return such as Door Buys, Flogger trap, and Electro-Shock defenses return.
    • Classic Wall Buys return with round-based Zombies.
      • Players can now purchase select weapons from designated Wall Buy locations.
      • Starting at round six, Wall Buys will have a chance to increase in Pack-A-Punch level every round and all the way to level 3 at higher rounds.
        • The odds to increase in Pack-A-Punch level improve every five rounds until all available Wall Buys become level three.
    • A new area to explore… uncover its secrets.

Story Quests

  • New Story Quest is available in “Shi No Numa” on June 22nd.

New Intel

  • New narrative intel is available in “Shi No Numa” to advance the Dark Aether story.

Challenges

  • Season Challenges
    • New Season Challenges available at the start of Season Four.

Wonder Weapon

  • Wunderwaffe DG-2
    • Available via Wonder Weapon Quest in “Shi No Numa”
    • Extra DG-2 added to the Mystery Box at Round 10.

Weapons

  • Season Four
    • UGM-8 and Marco 5 available in Zombies loadouts once unlocked via the Season 4 Battle Pass.
  • Unlock Challenges
    • New Weapon Unlock challenges added to Zombies for the M1916 and Nikita AVT.
  • Blueprints
    • Fixed an issue where Dark Aether Tracer Rounds were not displaying when using the Accursed blueprint for the Welgun.

Covenants

  • Death Blow
    • Now returns ammo based on a percentage of ammo used when obtaining a critical kill.
  • Ammo Gremlin
    • Now refills ammo at a speed based on the size of the weapon magazine.

Gameplay

  • Round-Based Adjustments
    • Sacrificial Hearts
      • Players are awarded a Sacrificial Heart every three rounds in round-based modes.
    • Altar of Covenants
      • The Altar of Covenants inventory is refreshed every three rounds in round-based modes.

Pack-A-Punch Camos

  • New camos available at the Pack-a-Punch machine in “Shi No Numa.”

Enemies

  • Zaballa the Deceiver
    • Added new attack behavior allowing Zaballa to attack without teleporting.

Stability

  • Addressed various stability issues.

If you’re also interested in the Warzone side of the Season 4 update, you can check out everything we know about Warzone Season 4.

Image Credit: Activision

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