Cold War Season 3 patch notes: All new maps, operators, weapons, balance changes, more

Published on April 21st, 2021

Black Ops Cold War Season 3 starts tonight, and Treyarch has just released full patch notes for the Season 3 update.

Season 3 launch patch features 3 new weapons , three new operators, weapon balance changes, a brand new battle pass, and more.

We will update the article with more details, but in the meantime, here are the full patch notes:

Weapons

• PPSh-41 [NEW]
  • New SMG available to unlock in the Season Three Battle Pass.
• Swiss K31 [NEW]
  • New sniper rifle available to unlock in the Season Three Battle Pass.
• Ballistic Knife [NEW]
  • Unlock Challenge available for the Ballistic Knife in Black Ops Cold War at Season Three launch. Available in Warzone later in the season.
• FARA 83
  • Unlock Challenge available for the FARA 83 assault rifle.
• LC10
  • Unlock Challenge available for the LC10 SMG.

Operators

• Wraith
  • New “Wraith” Operator available at Tier 0 in the Season Three Battle Pass.
• Operator Randomization
  • Added a new option to the Operators menu that will allows players to randomly select any unlocked Operator currently owned.
• Operator Skin Randomization
  • Added the option to randomize unlocked Operator Skins in the Operators menu.
  • Players can select randomized Operator Skins for a selected Operator, or set up a selection of their favorite skins for an Operator to cycle between.
• General
  • Addressed an issue where the “New” breadcrumb (green dot) could appear for an Operator that the player has already inspected.

Main Lobby

• Updated main lobby theming for Season Three.

Weapon Unlock Challenges

• Players can now complete weapon challenges in both Multiplayer and Zombies for previous, current, and future weapons unlockable via in-game challenge.

 

Weapon Tuning

• Light Machine Guns
  • Light Machine Gun Alpha
    • Reduced max damage from 42 to 38.
    • Reduced max range from 38.1m to 21.59m.
    • Slight increase to vertical recoil.
    • Slightly reduced ADS speed.
    • Reduced range bonus on Match Grade Barrel attachment from +100 to +50%.
    • Reduced range penalty of Division Barrel attachment from -25% to -12%.
  • RPD
    • Increased max damage from 38 to 42.
    • Reduced max range from 50.8m to 20.4m.
    • Reduced ammo capacity from 75 to 50.
    • Reduced range bonus on Match Grade Barrel attachment from +100% to +50%.
    • Reduced range penalty of Division Barrel attachment from -25% to -15%.
  • M60
    • Reduced max range from 76.2m to 20.4m.
    • Reduced ADS speed by 13.8%.
    • Increased probability of horizontal view kick when hip-firing.
    • Reduced range bonus on Match Grade Barrel attachment from +100% to +50%.
    • Reduced range penalty of Division Barrel attachment from -25% to -15%.
• Shotguns
  • Streetsweeper
    • Removed 1-shot kill potential.
    • Decreased max damage from 138 to 88.
    • Reduced mid-range pellet damage from 6 to 5.
    • Reduced damage bonus on Task Force Barrel attachment.
  • Hauer 77
    • Increased max range from 5.08m to 5.72m.
    • Reduced range penalty on Task Force Barrel attachment from 12% to 7%.
    • Reduced damage bonus on Task Force Barrel attachment.
  • Shotgun Bravo
    • Increased mid damage range from 9.14m to 10.16m.
    • Increased mid-range pellet damage from 2 to 3.
    • Reduced max damage from 118 to 108.
• Assault Rifles
  • FFAR 1
    • Reduced recoil penalties on Task Force Barrel attachment by 10% total.
    • Increased bullets added to 34 RND magazine attachment from 34 to 38.
    • Reduced reload speed penalty on 34 RND magazine attachment from 10% to 5%.
    • Increased bullets added to 38 RND Speed Mag magazine attachment from 34 to 38.
    • Reduced ADS speed penalty on 38 RND Speed Mag magazine attachment from 20% to 10%.
  • Krig 6
    • Increased headshot multiplier from 1.25 to 1.4.
    • Reduced max damage from 35 to 33.
  • Attachments
    • Added an ADS move speed bonus to the following barrel attachments for assault rifles: Ultralight, Contour, Contour M2, CMV Mil-Spec.
• Tactical Rifles
  • Tactical Rifle Charlie
    • Reduced max range from 30.48m to 19.05m.
    • Increased burst fire delay from 0.216 to 0.233.
    • Increased max damage from 51 to 52.
    • Increased headshot multiplier from 1.25 to 1.4.
    • Reduced range bonus on Task Force barrel attachment from +50% to +40%.
    • Reduced damage bonus on Task Force barrel from +15% to +12%.
• Submachine Guns
  • Sprint Speed
    • Reduced sprinting speed of all SMGs. Pistols are now the fastest guns to sprint with.
    • With specific attachments, an SMG may now allow sprinting as fast as a pistol.

Vehicles

• Cargo Truck
  • New vehicle available in Outbreak and Multi-Team.
• Controls
  • Addressed an issue where aiming while driving Snowmobiles or Dirt Bikes would not function when L1/R1 and L2/R2 settings were swapped.

 

Features

• Arcade
  • Arcade available in the Barracks at the start of Season Three, featuring 10 free classic Activision arcade games:
    • Barnstorming
    • Boxing
    • Chopper Command
    • Enduro
    • Fishing Derby
    • Grand Prix
    • Kaboom!
    • Pitfall!
    • Pitfall II
    • River Raid

Prestige Rewards

• Added four new Prestige Levels (12-15) and Prestige Rewards:
  • Level 50: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Weapon Blueprint, and Battle Pass Tier Skip 
  • Level 100: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, and Battle Pass Tier Skip 
  • Level 150: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, and Battle Pass Tier Skip 
  • Level 190: All Season Challenges Available 
  • Level 200: New Prestige, Emblem, Prestige Key, Battle Pass Tier Skip, Master Prestige Calling Card 
  • Levels 250 – 1,000: New Prestige Key every 50 levels 

 

Prestige Shop

• New Prestige Shop content available, including additional legacy Prestige Icons and the Prestige Master Calling Card from the original Black Ops.

 

Gunsmith

• Addressed an issue where, when viewing Details in Gunsmith, Sprinting Move Speed would display as equal to or lower than Movement Speed for most weapons.

UI

• Addressed an issue with Text Chat name highlighting in whispers for better readability.
• Ping and Packet Meter Loss graphs temporarily removed while a visual issue is investigated.

 

MULTIPLAYER

Maps

• Yamantau (6v6) [NEW]
  • New map added to Multiplayer rotation in 6v6 modes.
  • Yamantau 24/7 Featured Playlist available during launch week.
• Diesel (6v6, 3v3, 2v2) [NEW]
  • New map added to Multiplayer rotation in 6v6, 2v2, and 3v3 modes.
  • Diesel Face Off 24/7 Featured Playlist available during launch week.
• Apocalypse
  • Addressed a collision issue that allowed players to see through a tree inside of the temple.
• Checkmate
  • Addressed an issue that would cause players to become slowed when moving across certain floor surfaces.
• Crossroads
  • Removed Crossroads from Combined Arms and VIP Escort rotation while an issue is investigated. Crossroads Strike will remain in place in all supported modes.

 

Modes

• Sticks and Stones [NEW]
  • New mode available in Multiplayer.
  • Each player deploys with the R1 Shadowhunter crossbow, Ballistic Knife, and a Tomahawk.
  • Earn score with crossbow and Ballistic Knife kills, and eliminate enemies with the Tomahawk to bankrupt their score to zero.
  • Victory goes to the first player to reach the score limit or the player with the highest score when time runs out.
• Search & Destroy
  • Added audio stingers when a player is eliminated during the round.
• Face Off
  • Addressed an issue where respawns could happen outside of the playable area in Game Show, ICBM, and U-Bahn.
• CDL
  • Addressed an issue where CDL start spawns and CDL game mode objectives were not being properly loaded in Miami Strike.
• Multi-Team
  • Addressed an issue where weapons would lose all ammo when exchanged for a weapon in a container and then picked up again.

 

Scorestreaks

• Strafe Run [NEW]
  • Now available in Multiplayer for 5000 score.
• General
  • Addressed an issue for earned Scorestreaks resetting when switching teams.

 

Challenges

• Season Challenges
  • 20 new Multiplayer Season Challenges available with exclusive Calling Card and XP rewards.
• General
  • Addressed an issue where blowing up enemies by shooting explosive barrels would not count toward the “Hardcore Kill Collector” Challenge.

 

Movement

• Refactored synchronization between 1st-person camera and 3rd-person animations that could cause these states to be out of sync.
  • A player’s 3rd-person animation stance will now more accurately portray the player’s 1st person view, reducing advantages when quickly moving between stances.
• Increased the speed at which a player can go into prone and come out of prone (previously decreased in Season Two Reloaded).
• Stance changes are no longer queued in 1st-person and forced to completion.
  • While these can now be canceled, there is a delay before changing stances again. This change will also more accurately synchronize 1st and 3rd-person views when quickly changing stances.
• When exiting a slide, the 1st-person camera will now more accurately match the 3rd-person animation state.

 

Split-Screen

• UI
  • Addressed an issue with a black overlay appearing during Kill Cam when in split-screen orientation.
  • Addressed an issue with Player 2 losing the HUD when editing a class in split-screen.
• Infil
  • Addressed an issue where, when Player 1 called in a Chopper Gunner, the infil cinematic displayed on both players‘ screens instead of only on Player 1’s screen.
  • Addressed an issue where loading into a split-screen Multiplayer map, Player 2’s screen would spectate Player 1 briefly while the match countdown began.
• Multi-Team
  • Addressed an issue in Multi-Team where the split-screen player that died while the radiation gas was active on the map would have the gas remain permanently on the map in split-screen perspective only.
  • Addressed an issue in Multi-Team where, if one player was commandeering a vehicle and the other player died, the vehicle would display graphical corruption during the overhead respawn screen.
• Vs. Bots
  • Addressed a large frame rate drop when playing Vs. Bots Free-for-All in any map.
• Custom Games
  • Addressed an issue in Custom Games where the second player’s POV could become stuck underwater in the Blackwood hotel pool on Miami.

 

UI

• Addressed an issue with Obituary feed UI icon images facing the wrong way.
• Addressed an issue where the player could load into a match with UI “Zoom In” stuck on the screen if they started with a melee weapon or pistols with Dual Wield.

 

Audio

• Addressed an issue where the voice line for picking up an enemy Assault Pack would use a different Operator than the one the player had equipped.
• Addressed an issue in Multi-Team where the announcer would refer to the player’s team by the wrong team name.

 

Featured Playlists

• Yamantau 24/7 [NEW] (Also available in Hardcore)
• Diesel Face Off 24/7 [NEW] (Also available in Hardcore)
• Sticks and Stones [NEW]
• Nuketown 24/7 (Also available in Hardcore)
• Gunfight
• Snipers Only Moshpit
• Multi-Team Moshpit

LEAGUEPLAY

Combat Record

• Added support for Combat Record in League Play.

 

Create-a-Class

• Thermal Optic attachments now restricted in League Play.

 

Custom Games

• Addressed an issue where players could lose access to Create-a-Class and Scorestreaks in League Play when CDL/CDL Pro game modes were selected in Custom Games.

 

Match Cancellation

• Addressed an issue where League Play matches were prematurely cancelled when a player left the match.

ZOMBIES

Weapon Unlock Challenges

• Added Zombies weapon unlock challenges for all weapons from prior seasons and Season Three launch:
  • Groza assault rifle
  • MAC-10 SMG
  • Streetsweeper shotgun
  • Sledgehammer melee weapon
  • Wakizashi melee weapon
  • FARA 83 assault rifle
  • LC10 SMG
  • Machete melee weapon
  • E-Tool melee weapon
  • R1 Shadowhunter crossbow
  • ZRG 20mm sniper rifle
  • Ballistic Knife melee weapon

 

Progression

• Increased XP and Match Bonus XP gained in all Zombies modes.

 

Field Upgrades

• Toxic Growth
  • Toxic Growth Field Upgrade now available in round-based maps and Outbreak.
  • Base Level ability: Summon a deadly growth of thorns in front of you. Enemies moving through it are slowed by 50% and take toxic damage.
  • Skill Tiers
    • Tier I: Double the health of the growth.
    • Tier II: Increase maximum charges to 2.
    • Tier III: Double the damage enemies take while moving through the growth.
    • Tier IV: Increase maximum charges to 3.
    • Tier V: Enemies killed by the growth explode dealing toxic damage to nearby enemies and slow them by 50% for 3 seconds.

 

Ammo Mods

• Napalm Burst
  • Doubled all damage effects.
• Dead Wire
  • Reduced damage taken by stunned zombies from 33% down to 25%.
  • Reduced effect radius.
• Shatter Blast
  • Reduced explosive damage by half.

 

Challenges

• Season Challenges
  • 20 new Zombies Season Challenges available with exclusive Calling Card and XP rewards.
• Daily Challenges
  • Addressed an issue where kills with Weapon Blueprints were not counting toward the “Wallbuyer” and “It’s a Mystery” Daily Challenges.
  • Addressed an issue where turning on the power did not count toward the “Like Clockwork” Daily Challenge.
• General
  • Addressed an issue where zombies killed by Hellhound explosions were not counting toward the “Field of Fire” Challenge.

 

Outbreak

• New Region
  • Duga region added to Outbreak.
• New Intel
  • New in-game story Intel now available in Outbreak.
• New World Event
  • Fury Crystal event added to Outbreak for players to discover.
• New Objective Locations
  • Defend, Holdout, and Retrieve added to Alpine and Golova.
• New Vehicles
  • FAV and Cargo Truck now available in Outbreak.
• Gameplay
  • Phase Wall Tears are now present along the edges of the map.
  • New infil points added to Alpine and Golova.
  • Addressed various issues with zombie pathing in Outbreak.
  • Addressed an issue where the Aethereal Orb would be invisible after a host migration.
• Wonder Weapons
  • D.I.E. Machine upgrades can now be found in certain regions in Outbreak.
  • Addressed an issue with the D.I.E. Machine not having crosshairs in Outbreak.
• Objectives
  • Escort
    • Addressed an issue where the Mangler’s projectile was not damaging the rover during the Escort Objective.
• Trials Intel
  • Addressed an issue where “Testing… Testing…” and “New Enemies” Intel were not unlocking after acquiring from Trials.
• HUD
  • Addressed an issue where weapon rarity appeared incorrectly on the HUD after applying a Blueprint.
• Stability
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when killing zombies affected by Decoys and Molotovs.
• General
  • Added inactivity detection measures. Players who are detected as inactive will not earn XP, Battle Pass progress, or earn Aetherium Crystals while they are inactive.
  • Players who remain inactive for a significant period of time will be kicked from the match.
  • In Private or Solo matches, the host can now pause the game to avoid inactive players getting kicked from the match.
  • Addressed an issue where only two players would appear in the chopper Exfil cinematic.
  • Addressed an issue where the After Action Report was not showing the Difficulty Level reached or the Exfil status.

 

Dead Ops Arcade 3

• Progression
  • XP tuning adjustments.
  • Addressed an issue where vehicles and chickens dealing fatal damage to spawners in The Wild would not properly credit their owner with points and XP.
• Gameplay
  • Player shields now turn on when the exit ladder is taken in a Dungeon to prevent unintentional player deaths.
  • Addressed an issue where a player in a Buggy Car vehicle would not be warped to the Dungeon if a teammate entered the Grottes de la Dorta Dungeon while their teammate was in the vehicle.
• Enemies
  • Mamaback boss now drops fewer banana bombs during jump attack.
  • Adjusted the Mamaback’s jump attack reaction sensitivity to player nuke drops.
  • While in first person, it now takes 2 hits from bosses and underbosses to deal fatal damage to a fully healed player.
  • Addressed an issue where a vortex could cause enemies to appear invisible, particularly the Megaton. Only basic zombie types are not affected by the vortex (Zombie, Barrel Zombie, Dirt Riser Zombie).

 

Featured Playlists

• Outbreak
• Firebase Z
• Die Maschine
• Dead Ops Arcade: First Person
• Dead Ops Arcade
• Onslaught (PlayStation)
• Onslaught Containment (PlayStation)
  • Onslaught Yamantau (PlayStation) [NEW]
  • Onslaught Nuketown (PlayStation)

 

Onslaught (PlayStation)

• Maps
  • Yamantau map available in Onslaught.
• Modes
  • Onslaught Containment
  • Addressed an issue where Chalices were not always being earned and XP was not always being awarded in Onslaught Containment.