It’s almost a year since Warzone released, and we’ve come a long way from the early strategy of completing every recon contract possible to see the centre circle and camping the hell out of it. In this time, various strategies, hints, tips and tricks have been developed to get more wins in Warzone and improve your KD. We thought we’d collate these valuable strategies for your benefit.

Rotation, rotation, rotation

The importance of correct rotation:

Colloquially known as the “pin wheel” rotation (credit IceManIsaac) this is an effective strategy for reducing your risk of getting flanked from one side, and creates space behind you that is unlikely to be filled by enemy players. Effectively reducing the danger zone you have to manage to an angle of around 135%.

The first mistake you can make is to land deep in the circle. Why? You are now virtually surrounded. From this position, there are potential enemies in all 360 degrees of direction, you cannot move without any certainty that you will not be ambushed from in front, behind, to your left or right. The second mistake many players make is to chase the edge of the circle, moving perpendicularly towards the next zone. This leaves a wide arc of potential danger spots, almost all the way around you.

The solution is to land outside of the circle (or at the very least, on the edge) and work your way around the outskirts of the zone, moving laterally between the edge of the gas and the outer circumference of the inner circle, as opposed to directly towards it. Leave a gap of between 10 to 20 seconds between you and the gas, enough time for one engagement with another team (up to 30 seconds if you have a long way to go, and the gas is moving quickly.)

Remember, you don’t always have to rotate in the same direction. You can go clockwise or counter clockwise each rotation, or even change direction mid rotation. Make the most of areas and zones that will play to your advantage, and avoiding those that will put you at risk, for instance open fields.

By implementing this strategy you don’t have to worry too much about being attacked from the rear; you are moving from space that will soon be engulfed by the gas, but whilst leaving yourself flexibility to move safely. Additionally, the danger area ahead of you is reduced, the gas will be clearing out one of your flanks and forcing players to move in front of you.

There are however a couple of risks, the zone can put you under pressure if you move too late or are caught off guard by an enemy team. However there are two main engagements you will experience following this strat. Firstly you will encounter players moving perpendicularly towards the circle, moving in front of you across your lateral movement. In these engagements you have the advantage, especially if they are moving late, which they probably will be if they are moving direct to circle. Alternatively, you will come across those gatekeeping the zone from within. In this instance, you’re typically best to avoid the fight; pivot, and rotate around the circle the opposite direction you were going. It’s not sexy, but it’s safe.

Common Mistakes

• Don’t force gunfights and/or 50/50s. Repeat after me: “Don’t force gunfights.” Say it again. Say it until you dream it in your sleep. I do not care how good your mechanical skills are; do not force a gunfight unless you absolutely have to. Think first, shoot second. Play smart not hard. Why put yourself in a 50/50 faceoff by forcing the gunfight, when there are endless other options that you could take advantage of to give yourself the edge. Flank, fake a flank, throw a flashbang, THINK. Consider what you could do to give yourself the advantage, then engage.
• Do not shoot on sight; “To lose patience is to lose the battle.” – Gandi; I’m sure he had Call of Duty Warzone in mind when he said this. If you see an enemy, and they’re about to reach some cover, or enter a building… or move into some other position from which you will not be able to get the kill, do not shoot. Wait, keep waiting, and wait some more. Stalk them until you have a guaranteed kill, otherwise you are simply setting yourself up for a gunfight that you can’t control. What did we say about forcing gunfights… “DON’T FORCE GUNFIGHTS!”

Find a good team

Warzone Victories rarely rest on the shoulders of one individual. Even those clutch plays in the final circle came into being through the collective effort of the team up to those final nail-biting moments. It’s important to have good team mates, who communicate effectively. We can help with that in our community, where we have thousands of players looking for games 24/7.

Stick with your team

You’ve just gone to the effort of finding a good team that communicate. Why start playing like you’re solo queuing? This is one of the biggest mistakes made my beginner to intermediate skill level players. If you want to engage an enemy team, tell your team mates, tell them how and when you plan to engage, making sure they’re on board and you’re are ready to slay collectively. If you see a team mate wandering off, rein them in, sometimes people don’t realise they’re creeping away.

Sound Whore

Warzone is filled with audio ques, make use of them. Listen out for footsteps, enemies plating up, loadouts dropping, shooting, reloading and revives. Use sound ques to your advantage by baiting players into situations. Find yourself one man down in a 2 v 1? Start the res, and then cancel to bait your enemies into rushing for the sweat.

Settings/Other Hints and Tips

General

• When using the heartbeat sensor you do not need to wait until the full scan has completed to know if an enemy is present. When you first pull out the heartbeat sensor, within a split second if an enemy is present the distance will appear at the base of the sensor, this will be accompanied by a beep. Alternatively if there are no enemies present, no numbers will appear and there will be a slight click. You don’t need to wait for the full scan.
• When using a buy station (on PC) you only need to use the mouse to select the first button, once selected press “W” this selects “Yes” then press “Space” to confirm the selection. Very handy during a firefight.
• Turn off auto deploy parachute;
  • Head to “Options” > “Keyboard Mouse/Controller” > “Movement” > Parachute Auto Deploy. Set to off.
• To slide down ladders hold crouch;
• Remember that you’ve turned off auto deploy parachute;
• You can equip a cluster strike/air strike killstreak to run at max speed without dropping one of your weapons.
• Change your mini-map shape to “Square”. It’s bigger.

Visual

PC and Console:

• Add “Brightness” in game until the “barely visible box” is very visible.
• Change “Colourblind Mode” to “Deuteranopia”, and “Colourblind Target” to “Both.”

PC only:

• Head into GeForce experience and apply the following settings:
  • Filter
    • Colour: 15 – 20%
    • Intensity: 15 – 20%
    • Vibrancy 40 – 60%
  • Brightness and Contrast
    • Contrast : 20 – 30%
    • Highlights: -40 to – 60% (yes they are minuses)
    • Shadows: -20 to -30% (also minuses.)
  • Sharpening:
    • Sharpen: 60 – 80%
    • Ignore film grain: 100%