Earlier this week, Treyarch and Raven Software unveiled the next major change coming to Call of Duty: Warzone with the launch of Season 2 Reloaded, scheduled for March 12. The massive reveal of the new battle royale mode, Black Ops Royale — inspired by the Black Ops 4-era mode known as Blackout — could certainly have stood on its own as the next update for the massively popular series, but the development team wasn't ready to stop there.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Season 2 Reloaded is set to kick off on March 11, and the mid-season update is ready to throw some new content into the mix to keep things fresh while everybody works on finishing off those Season 2 battle passes. Here's what you can look forward to for each Black Ops 7 mode when Season 2 Reloaded goes live:
Endgame gets new Nightmare Skills and Glitch Fracture
Black Ops 7's Endgame mode is a massive PvE experience set on the Avalon world map, offering a variety of activities for players to level up, camo grind, and explore the world of Black Ops. Endgame has provided an outlet for continuing the Black Ops 7 storyline and gives players the chance to battle it out against the game's big bad, The Guild, with the occasional dip into some Zombies play via Nightmare Zones
Endgame is reminiscent of the DMZ mode and Modern Warzone Zombies experiences from previous Call of Duty titles, but with some distinctly unique Black Ops twists. Following the game's original launch, the Call of Duty development team has used Endgame as a playground for Black Ops' more outrageous ideas, and that continues with Season 2 Reloaded.
That creative take on the world of Avalon continues as Season 2 Reloaded will introduce a new Glitch Fracture to Endgame wherein players are teleported off-map to a brand new arena where they face waves of enemies and — eventually — the Glitch Boss itself.
Those who defeat a strike boss to reveal a Glitch Fracture to battle the Glitch Boss and come out victorious will be rewarded with a new, upgradable Nightmare Skill. The Nightmare Skills and their upgrades are as follows:
- Nova Strike: Powerful melee strike that generates an electrical field to damage enemies.
- First upgrade: The struck enemy is also shocked by the electrical field.
- Final upgrade: The electrical area persists and shocks enemies who pass through it. This persistent effect will only last briefly and will have a cooldown period between uses.
- Phoenix Burst: When health is low, trigger an explosion and fully restore health (with a cooldown between use.)
- First upgrade: Gain full ammo and temporary infinite ammo from the magazine after the explosion.
- Final upgrade: Gain temporary immunity after the explosion.
- Hellwing: Wingsuiting over enemies has a napalm effect, dropping an incendiary trail.
- First upgrade: Increases how long the incendiary trail remains on the ground.
- Final upgrade: Flashbangs normal and special enemies within the incendiary area.
- Chaos Rounds: Weapon attacks have a chance to trigger secondary effects including Photon, Incendiary, Frost, or Shock.
- First upgrade: More variety for effect pool, includes Graviton, Mortar, Shrapnel, and Neuro-Disruption effects.
- Final upgrade: Enemies hit with Chaos Rounds have a chance to trigger a second, random chaos round on a nearby enemy.
- Frost Vortex: Bullets have a chance to create a snowstorm that pulls enemies in.
- First upgrade: Applies Frost to normal enemies in the snowstorm.
- Final upgrade: Applies Frost to Special and Elite enemies in the snowstorm.
Taking out the Glitch Boss to unlock and upgrade your Nightmare Skills is going to require some heavy firepower. Previously, Exotic Weapons were hard to come by, only dropping on extremely rare occasions or as rewards for major boss fights.
Season 2 Reloaded will introduce the Exotic Fabricator, a reward for defeating a strike boss within a Nightmare Zone, that will allow players to upgrade any loadout or field acquired weapon into a full exotic.
There are three upgrades available, with the first upgrading weapon rarity while the second provides an additional utility bonus and the third introduces a random exotic effect. Players who have a fully upgraded weapon or a named Exotic weapon can still benefit from the exotic fabricator which will reroll either the bonus or exotic effect. This is a one-time-use reward, however.
Five new maps to drop for Multiplayer
Treyarch continues stacking the cards in favor of Black Ops 7, dropping an unprecedented number of maps for the second midseason refresh. Five maps will join the playlist rotation, including the small-sized Torque, medium sized Cliff Town, Skirmish map Mission: Peak, and the returning Grind and Firing Range.
Torque is the only brand-new map from the lineup, and it draws on some nostalgia as it is based on The Battle of Los Angeles mission from Black Ops 2 (which is also referenced in Black Ops 7's campaign.) Torque is heavy on wall jump opportunities, littered with explosive vehicles and is destined to become a fan-favorite of everybody with a grenade launcher in their loadout. (Me. I'm the problem, it's me.)
Cliff Town also draws on nostalgia as it is a reimagining of the cliff-side town originally seen in Black Ops 2's popular "Yemen" map. Grind is also a Black Ops 2-era map that was previously reintroduced with Black Ops 6 during the TMNT crossover. While crossovers have taken a backseat for Black Ops 7, the popular skate park will be returning for 6v6 playlists.
Firing Range is a fan-favorite map from Black Ops of yesteryear that has cropped back up in recent modern entries, including last year's Black Ops 6 multiplayer.
Joining the impressive list of multiplayer maps, Black Ops 7's 20v20 Skirmish mode will also receive one new map, titled Mission: Peak. Players will battle it out for high value sectors that are scattered through medieval streets, where massive rooftop towers provide valuable lookout posts for would-be snipers.
New multiplayer modes for Black Ops 7 Season 2.5
An array of new playlists will be on tap for Season 2 Reloaded, including new and returning modes:
- Gauntlet: 6v6 playlist where teams go against one another in a round of five different game modes played one after the other, including Domination, Kill COnfirmed, Hardpoint, Team Deathmatch, and Roulette. Each mode lasts for two minutes before switching off to the next, with players earning points after each mode ends based on team performance.
- Infected: The popular party game returns to pit players against an infected horde — or become one of them! The stakes are higher than ever as the infected team has additional undead enemies to aid them in their quest to take out the survivors. Infected can also earn one of two mutant injection scorestreaks to become a Mangler or a Disciple and wreak some extra havoc.
Paradox Junction, new enemies, and a new Wonder Weapon for Zombies
The Warden is continuing his antics in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's zombies mode, dropping the team off for what Treyarch calls a "purgatorial pitstop" at Paradox Junction. The new Zombies mode map is a twist on the beloved multiplayer map, Nuketown.
Paradox Junction also comes with a new enemy, irradiated dogs that are explosive and relentless. These radhounds are foul minions of The Warden that explode upon death and really make a mess out of your day.
But hey, at least there's new wonder weapons — the Bundergat and Sundergat — to help you mow down the undead. The Sundergat is the upgraded form of the Blundergat, and it's powerful enough to blast the "souls" right out of the enemies you aim it at.
Paradox Junction will feature a new main quest, complete with rewards and challenges, as well as its own Cursed mode challenge.
Blackout-inspired mode Black Ops Royale comes to Warzone
Call of Duty's development teams at Raven Software and Treyarch previously unveiled plans to release Black Ops Royale, a new mode for Call of Duty: Warzone inspired by the Black Ops 4-era mode called Blackout, on March 12.
The mode is set to take place on the big map of Avalon, which — up until this point — has only been playable on the PvE mode, Endgame. Black Ops Royale will make significant changes to Warzone's perk system, weapon loadouts, and more.
💬Will you check out the new content for BO7 Season 2 Reloaded?
Season 2 Reloaded is one of the largest mid-season updates we've seen for a modern Call of Duty title, and it sets a precedent for what players will come to expect from future updates. Which modes and maps are you planning to check out when the update drops on March 11? Let us know in the comments.
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