Warzone Iron Trials mode: Return date, Caldera, rules, reward

Liam Mackay
warzone pacific caldera iron trials

Warzone fans love the Iron Trials mode, where players could earn bragging rights by winning “the toughest Battle Royale mode” to come to the game. The mode is finally returning but in a slightly different form.

Warzone Pacific Season 3 has arrived, allowing players to get to grips with some new content. In addition to Caldera map updates, Iron Trials has also returned to the Island in Season 3, just in time for Godzilla and Kong’s arrival.

Iron Trials is a hardcore Warzone experience where players have more health, making accuracy even more important. In Iron Trials, you have to “flex your mastery over the entire arsenal of weapons” and “prove you can handle any firefight with any type of armament.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Warzone’s Iron Trials mode, including when it will officially return.

Warzone Iron Trials return date

warzone and vanguard season 3

Iron Trials will be live in Warzone Pacific Season 3 starting April 26, 2022.

This time, Iron Trials will take place on Caldera with all the new map updates. Further, the mode is for Quads, so gather your squad and try your best to compete in the toughest Warzone experience the battle royale has to offer.

The devs claim that the mode is “custom-made for highly competitive players,” featuring “its own set of weaponry (from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War) and numerous rule changes to increase time-to-kill (TTK).”

Warzone Pacific Iron Trials rules

Peak poi in Warzone Caldera map

In many ways, Iron Trials is a more competitive version of Warzone. The Gulag is more skill-reliant, loadout drops are rare and more difficult to acquire, and the time-to-kill (TTK) has been raised across the board.

Thanks to the Call of Duty blog, here are all the rules for Warzone’s Iron Trials:

General

warzone season 3 caldera dig site POI
  • Loadouts: No free Loadout Drops. Those who want to use their custom-built weaponry and gain access to Perks will need to purchase one at a premium.
  • Vehicles: ATVs, Tac Rovers, and Squad Transports only
  • Buy Stations: Elite Operators are known to be high rollers. The Buy Station increased their prices accordingly:
    • Armor Bundle: $1,500 to $2,000
    • Gas Mask: $3,000 to $4,000
    • Cluster Strike: $3,000 to $4,000
    • Precision Strike: $3,500 to $4,500
    • Self-Revive: $4,000 to $5,000
    • UAV: $4,000 to $6,000
    • Loadout Drop Marker: $7,500 to $10,000
    • Specialist Token: $30,000
  • Cash: The amount of Cash retained on death has been increased from 20% to 30%. Players will keep more of their hard-earned Cash.
  • Melee: Melee Finisher Damage has been removed. Settle the score with lead.

Operator

  • Base Health: Compared to a normal match, all players’ base health is increased from 100 to 250.
  • Health Regeneration: The Regen Delay timer has been increased from 5 to 7 seconds, and Regen Per Second has been decreased from 120 per second to 40. It may be wise for players to reconsider preferred Perks and Equipment.
  • Starting Equipment: Starting equipment adjusted

Loot

players receiving loadout drops in Call of Duty Warzone
  • Loot: The item pool for Supply Boxes and items found on the ground have been significantly altered from that seen in standard play.
  • Basic Attachments: Common weapons will start with an attachment — mostly to provide their max magazine size.
  • Rarity Spawn Rates: Epic and Legendary weapons are now harder to find. Players will have to open a few more boxes than usual to find what they’re looking for.
  • Killstreaks: Drop rates have been reduced. Time to stop spamming UAVs and start putting those senses to the test.
  • Cash Spawns: Larger piles of cash are rarer. Players will have to stay on top of scavenging for cash if they plan to afford a Loadout.
  • Field Upgrades: No Dead Silence. No Stopping Power Rounds.

Equipment

  • Sniper Rifles: A single headshot from a Sniper Rifle will only down an enemy if they are within 30 meters. This gives time for those on the receiving end of a longshot to react — the most elite snipers will be able to adjust their strategies accordingly and still dish out lethal damage at long range with precise follow-up shots.
  • Stun Grenades: The stun effect duration is decreased by 50%.
  • Medical Syringes: The regeneration rate is decreased by 50%. Upon taking non-Incendiary, direct damage from another Player (Tactical Equipment splash damage does not count), the Medical Syringe’s increased health regeneration effects will be canceled, and standard health regeneration will begin–which can be interrupted by any source of damage. Additionally, the movement speed bonus gained when using a Medical Syringe has been decreased from 8% to 3%.

Gulag

The Hold Gulag Warzone Season 3
  • Loadouts: No akimbo. No semi-auto or fully auto Shotguns. Limited selection of Tactical Equipment. It’s down to the bare essentials and the will to win.
  • Redeployment: If players happen to survive their Gulag match, they’ll redeploy with whatever equipment is left over from that fight. Be mindful of those resources.

Taking place in the new Gulag, The Hold: “A roughly symmetrical arena is based in the belly of a ship moored just off the coast of Caldera, with identical hallways on the perimeter of an otherwise open space.”

Will Iron Trials come to Warzone Custom Lobbies?

Iron Trials had been incredibly popular, with many players calling for it to be a permanent ranked mode. With confirmation about a ranked mode coming to Warzone in the future, perhaps Iron Trials will inspire its ruleset.

Back in September, Raven Software told YouTuber JGOD: “As for customs… it’s not coming tomorrow is all we can say for now.”

So, it sounds very likely that Iron Trials rules will make their way to Custom Lobbies and competitive Warzone, but there’s no confirmation on when. However, we’ll let you know as soon as it’s confirmed.


That’s everything we know about Warzone Pacific’s Iron Trials mode! For more, check out when the next double XP event is.

Image Credit: Activision

About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor who focuses on Call of Duty but also plays lots of fantasy RPGs or anything else in his massive gaming backlog. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam freelanced in games journalism before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].