The end of an era has begun with Call of Duty: Warzone’s final Vanguard season, which is going live today at 11am CT.

The patch notes for the update have been posted ahead of the update and they’re chock full of some interesting developments for the game, including multiple updates to the landscape of Caldera.

The Peak point of interest on Caldera has received the biggest update, turning into Volcanic Peak. The volcano in the middle of the map is now active, spilling hot lava down the mountainside. It should go without saying, but players will likely want to avoid touching the hot magma.

The new season, Final Stand, also includes a new battle pass and several new operators featuring villains from CoDs of the past. The villains include Raul Menendez, Gabriel Rorke, Seraph, and Khaled Al-Asad.

There are two new weapons at the season’s launch, the EX1 assault rifler and RA 225 submachine gun, and numerous tweaks to existing guns across the spectrum in the game.

Here’s the full list of patch notes for today’s update.

Volcanic Peak Reworked POI

“Heightened volcanic activity has been recorded at Caldera, with a major geological event occurring with the launch of Season Five. Battle around a transformed Peak as lava runs down the mountainside in all modes and shoots out over the island during Operation: Last Call.”

Task Force Tyrants HQ POI Expansion

“No self respecting villain would operate without an evil lair. As such, Task Force Tyrants has claimed Peak and given it somewhat of a hazardous makeover… an interior creek with flowing lava, basalt columns and stepping stones, a giant, colorful, ornate crest for their secret organization, and a beautiful vista looking out over a wartorn Caldera.”

“Get back into the match with the new volcanic-themed Gulag, inspired by an old favorite.”

Sun Rays Through Smoke New Weather and Lighting

“The storm has cleared on Caldera, the sunlight peeking through the volcano’s billowing smoke.”

Sunset New Weather and Lighting

“Rebirth Island sees new lighting changes as well, featuring a warm and lush sunset casting a vibrant hue over the map.”

Rebirth After Dark New Weather and Lighting

“Rebirth Island will also receive a special limited-time mode, ‘Rebirth After Dark, on Friday September 2nd through Sunday September 4th that allows players to experience this fan favorite experience after the sun has set.”

Doomsday Station New Gameplay | Caldera Battle Royale

Supply Box UAV New Killstreak | All Maps and Modes

Personal Supply Box New Lootable Supply Box | All Maps and Modes

Rage Serum New Field Upgrade | All Maps and Modes

“In the absence of any recent changes to the Precision Airstrike behavior, we’ve still seen an uptick in Player sentiment and discussion around Precision Airstrikes lately. As such our engineering team have completed a detailed review of the system to make sure it is working as intended and as a result have made some changes to further improve and optimize the system.”

“We felt that C4 and ground loot Perks were too similar in appearance and presentation, so we’ve updated C4 to make it more distinguishable visually when compared to a vertically standing ground loot Perk satchel.”

“We have made many targeted Quality of Life improvements to the auto Gas Mask behavior over the course of this year, and with it being in a much better place for all of our Players – now is the time to take the next step to give Players more agency and control over their experience with a Manual Equip setting.”

“During Season Four we made a change to optimize the Loadout interface so that the cursor selection starts at the top of the list. Whilst we heard positive feedback on this change, we also heard feedback from others that this was less optimized for their playstyle. Enjoy!”

“Serpentine continues to be a top-3 pick in the blue Perk category after Season Four Reloaded’s update. As a result, we’re removing the bonus protection to Fire and Explosive Damage. This should also restore the value to E.O.D that Serpentine had cannibalized.  Later in the season we’ll be making an additional change that causes Serpentine to only be in effect while Tactical Sprinting, instead of regular sprint.”

“We felt we could bring more value to Battle Hardened, especially as it is now present as a lootable ground Perk, with our target for the effects of Stun and Flash to be mitigated to less than a second with the Perk equipped. Some Players may wonder why this change is happening now, to which our reply is that there may be a surprise in-store during Season Five that warrants this change.”

“Season Five is all about widening options even further by addressing the top performers to be more in-line, along with lifting up both individual Weapons and classes of Weapons that are under-utilized.” 

“We’ve made a large amount of changes to these Weapons and expect to make some more following Season Five launch so that these Weapons are viable, but we don’t see a repeat of the DMR 14 (BOCW) meta.”

“They now have a glint on them, reduced recoil control, and adjusted ADS time. This will have a significant impact on the long-range playstyle, enabling wider options and not total domination from Vanguard Assault rifles.”

“Snipers are in a good spot, but we’re not done with them yet. Combined with the above, we are expecting many viable options and variability in long-range engagements.”

“In Call of Duty: Warzone we’ve made some substantial differences to the EX1(VG) to better accommodate BR gameplay vs Vanguard multiplayer gameplay. The EX1(VG) has limited ammunition, increased recoil and substantially lower bullet velocity.”

“The unquestioned strength of the AS44 (VG) was encroaching on the sub-machine gun class and less its Assault Rifle brethren. We’re making a modification to the close-range damage profile and compensating with more recoil control, enabling the Weapon to perform as a more reliable Sniper-Support.”

“The KG M40 (VG) continued to climb after the last round of adjustments, so we’re making a further reduction of its long-range damage profile combined with some reasonable accuracy adjustments. The result is a Weapon that should exist firmly in the camp of ‘Newcomer friendly’ but other Weapons will be preferable for higher skilled Players.”

“Season Four Reloaded’s newcomer struggled to find a firm identity in the long-range AR class. We’re making some all-round modifications to smoothen out the experience, while compensating for the slightly below average Torso damage profile with the most generous ‘Critical Box’ of the Vanguard Assault Rifles, with the Neck now matching the Headshot multiplier.”  

“Vanguard Marksman Rifles have been held back by their restriction of using Sniper Ammunition. In Season Five we’re making large changes to these Weapons to now use Assault Rifle Ammunition instead, along with rebalancing the handling and damage potential of each Weapon in the class.”

“Snipers have almost climbed to the ideal healthy usage rate, and for the first time we’re seeing a good spread of different Weapons being used depending on map and situation. With the rebalancing of some of the Vanguard Optics and a further reduction of flinch, we expect this category of Weapons to be in a solid position going forward.”

“We’re making some adjustments to widen the Close Range meta even further by making additional changes to the best performers, and giving some much needed attention to some old favorites.” 

SVT-40 PU Scope 3-6x