Verdansk is back! Whether you’re a player returning to Call of Duty after a hiatus or a complete newcomer, there’s three skills you should focus on to rack up wins in the Warzone. These principles apply to both the 150-man Verdansk map (Warzone) and 48-man Rebirth Island (Resurgence). If you’re new to Call of Duty, Resurgence is a great mode to get more reps in game-deciding battle royale situations.
Resurgence is better for practice because all players respawn after a short period of time (which can be reduced by teammates scoring points) as long as one player is alive, until the fifth circle of gas. This rewards spreading out and doing your own thing and promotes a disorganized, casual-friendly atmosphere that will allow you to die several times before locking in with your team and trying to win. Contrast this with Warzone, where you’ll likely land in a safe area and loot for a couple minutes before you even see another person – and it’s clear that the most efficient use of your time is to crash out in Resurgence.
Communication
Good communication will save teammates, strengthen your rotations and ultimately win you games. Pinging enemies and high value items (self-revive, gas mask, killstreaks) is the first thing habit to work on. You should get comfortable quickly navigating the equipment menu because you’ll often pool cash with your team to buy loadout drops. If you opt not to use a mic, these two actions are more than sufficient enough to impact winning.
If you opt to use a mic, you’ll quickly learn the language of Call of Duty. What will take practice is making effective callouts. Some examples include:
- Pinging an enemy and telling your team where they’re headed
- Warning your team about a sniper glint
- Sharing perk-related info with your team (ex. footsteps from tracker or your high alert going off)
- If you destroy an enemy’s armor plates, or if you need to cover to re-plate in an intense firefight
- If you’re about to use an airstrike
Tight, efficient communication is important because decision making will make or break most games.
Strategy
You’ll improve very quickly with solid understanding of basic weapon and equipment strategy. Assault and sniper rifles are the bread and butter, but keep in mind the strategic use of the following:
- Submachine gun – mobility, often times first shot will decide engagements
- Light machine gun – sustained suppressive fire , great for area control and pinning a team down
- Shotgun – Great for one-shotting an enemy with cracked plates (especially when you empty your clip, easier to just swap over instead of reloading)
Precision airstrikes and cluster strikes are very powerful when utilized correctly. Precision airstrikes cover a wide area and is quick while a cluster strike is sustained bombing over a small area. A common mistake you’ll notice is people calling airstrikes and the enemy simply takes cover and returns to their position. If the gas is far away, your team is camping, and you airstrike another team without any kind of precursor or follow-up, you’ve just wasted the airstrike. Here are some examples of an effective airstrike:
- An enemy is downed at a distance and behind cover
- Your team is rotating and there’s multiple shooters in a high ground area
- You are below an enemy and want to force them off a roof or high ground area
- Gas is pushing an enemy and you drop a cluster in the area they need to pass through
Some of the best airstrikes you throw will hit no one!
Being efficient with your defensive equipment : armor plates, self-revive kit & gas mask will give you a great advantage. Re-plating on average takes more time than reloading, be mindful when you plate up about enemy engagement. Your teammate could be looking to push and does not know you’re cracked. If you get downed, self-reviving 95% of the timer allows your teammate to quickly pick you up for free. With the gas mask, as you improve you’ll get comfortable riding the gas and eliminating opponents. But until then, you can make clutch plays for your team heading into the gas to make game-changing purchases. A buyback or loadout when there’s no more stores in the circle can swing the game in your favor.
Winning battle royale matches are just as much about keeping your team in one piece as it is eliminating others. When the circle tightens, occasionally check the strength of your opponents by subtracting your team from the player count. It’s a great feeling when you see that 4 teams and 8 players are left on the map, and realize that you’re against 3 teams consisting of 4 total players. The only way 4 players break into 3 teams is if there are 2 lone survivors and a duo. This means your team can press the advantage, or if you have great position, continue to be patient as they’ll likely find each other first.
Estimating the strength of your opponents is an important tactic that will allow you to optimize your strategy.
Presence of Mind
As the circle tightens and the pressure increases, players are less able to weigh options and calculate decisions effectively. It gets easier with practice, but try to remain in the moment and not be fazed by the stakes. You should be able to perform teamwork and equipment actions with the gas and multiple squads quickly. It helps to be able to think a few decisions ahead, proactive players will always get the drop on reactive players.
To illustrate this, imagine two teams moving along the gas. One is riding the gas offensively and the other is being forced to move by the gas. The offensive team has a much greater chance of winning that firefight.
Another key component of map awareness is knowing it’s your last opportunity to shop. Here are some common shop-related mistakes players make in the endgame:
- Not buying back teammates
- Not spending excess cash on gas masks, killstreaks and a self-revive
- Players not dropping cash for teammates
Smart shopping and clutch buybacks win games. If the enemy is in good position to shoot down parachuting teammates while avoiding your cover fire, you can lock them down with a cluster strike.
If you’re providing valuable intel to your team, making sound decisions, and have the ability to stay sharp under pressure you will start racking up top 3’s (resurgence), top 10’s (warzone), and most importantly – victories in no time!