The best perks for Warzone
Call of Duty: Warzone – everything you need to know about the new perks With the release of the new Warzone installment, many new perks have been introduced, and existing ones have been updated. However, not all of them work correctly, and some don't work at all. This article will be useful for both new Warzone players and those who have decided to return to the game. Veterans of the game may also find something new for themselves. One of the distinctive features of Warzone compared to other battle royales is the presence of a flexible character customization system: weapons, various equipment, killstreaks, and perks. This article is dedicated to the latter.
Our Perks If you're curious about the perks we choose, they are presented in the screenshot below. If you want a detailed overview of each of them, read the article to the end.
Warzone Perks – What Are They and What Are They For?
Warzone perks are a kind of abilities that help enhance your role or playstyle. They can also enhance specific equipment and make the game easier. To balance the use of perks and prevent players from using only the strongest and most universal ones, Activision divided the perks into "tiers." The first tier consists of two slots, while the second and third tiers have only one each. Each tier includes a specific set of perks that do not overlap.
FIRST TIER PERKS
Mountaineer
In-game description: "Reduces damage from falls."
The lethal height for a Warzone player is 14 meters. This perk doubles that limit to 28 meters. A situational perk that may be suitable for aggressive players (you can jump from high places without a parachute), but there are more useful perks in Tier 1.
Mechanic
In-game description: "Speeds up vehicle repair and refueling. Reduces fuel consumption in any vehicle except airborne."
Accelerated refueling and repair do not take up a perk slot, and it's much easier and faster to find a new vehicle in Warzone. The reduction in fuel consumption could be useful for helicopters, but it doesn't work with airborne vehicles. A useless perk.
Shrapnel
In-game description: "Explosion damage reduces the target's movement speed and delays their health regeneration. Leg injuries briefly prevent them from using tactical sprint."
As of the writing of this article (January 6, 2024), the perk does not work correctly – leg injuries do not prevent the use of tactical sprint. Moreover, without this perk, tactical sprint is interrupted when an opponent's legs are hit with explosives. The target's movement speed is reduced very slightly. A useless perk (but there is a chance it will be fixed).
Plunderer
In-game description: "Ability to take ammunition, armor plates, and money from the bodies of killed enemies."
When using this perk, enemies will leave a small bag with additional loot. In battle royale, perks are available after obtaining a loadout, meaning players already have enough money, plates, and ammo. Therefore, the "Plunderer" perk is quite useless.
Veteran
In-game description: "Reduced effects of flash, stun, EMP, and gas grenades, fragmentation bullets, and stun guns. Invisibility to scanning grenades."
A good perk. Provides almost complete immunity to flash grenades. The stun grenade lasts only 1 second instead of 4 (which can be critical). Scanning grenades will not reveal the player's silhouette through objects, but the enemy will still receive a hitmarker indicating that someone entered the grenade's area. The behavior of gas grenades and stun guns does not change despite the perk description.
Sapper
In-game description: "Reduced damage from fire and explosions unrelated to killstreaks. Restores the fuse of a picked-up grenade."
Unlike the first Warzone, the new battle royale weakens the "Sapper" perk – the damage reduction from explosions is insignificant. The fuse restoration works, but regular grenades are rarely used in Warzone. A useless perk.
Strong Arm
In-game description: "Increased throw distance of equipment. Preliminary display of the trajectory of such throws."
The throw distance of equipment (e.g., grenades) is not significantly increased. The trajectory display may be useful in very rare cases. There is no need to use this perk.
Observer
In-game description: "Player's equipment and killstreaks are visible through walls. Mark them by aiming. Hacks 'Claymores,' contact mines, C4, and active defenses."
The perk works and is useful against campers. There is a similar perk in another tier, but it works differently.
Quick Hands
In-game description: "Faster weapon reload."
Despite the very short description, this is one of the best perks in the game. On average, it speeds up the reload by 23%, but it's important to remember that "Quick Hands" works differently on different weapons. For example, the reload speed of the KATT-AMR sniper rifle is increased by 21%, while the MCW sees a full 30% increase. In any case, for Tier 1, "Quick Hands" is the best perk.
Sprint It Out
In-game description: "Increased duration of tactical sprint and accelerated recovery."
Another very strong and versatile perk from Tier 1. Doubles the duration of tactical sprint (from 2.4 to 4.8 seconds).
Radiated
In-game description: "Move faster and take less damage in gas zones."
Increases running speed in gas by 10% (which is quite small). Incoming damage from gas also decreases slightly, helping to survive "outside the zone" for a few seconds longer. A useless perk.
>Focus
In-game description: "Reduced weapon recoil when taking damage and increased breath-holding duration."
A situational perk, most useful for snipers, as recoil decreases noticeably when taking hits from enemies, especially with well-chosen attachments.
SECOND TIER PERKS
Fleet Foot
In-game description: "Increases movement speed while crouched, prone, and when heavily wounded."
Speed when moving while crouched or prone is increased by approximately 15%, and movement speed when heavily wounded remains unchanged. A rather useless perk.
Swift Recovery
In-game description: "Killing players or deploying armor plates immediately starts health regeneration. Accelerated when capturing and holding objectives."
According to the description, the perk could be very useful for aggressive players, but in reality, the perk does not work. Health regeneration does not start immediately upon deploying armor plates. Most likely, this will be fixed soon.
Tracker
In-game description: "Ability to see tracks left by enemies and markers at the locations of their deaths. However, your victim's markers are invisible to enemies."
A useful perk. Given that sound in Warzone is not perfect, "Tracker" can be very helpful – enemies will start leaving tracks that are visible for 4 seconds.
Survivalist
In-game description: "Faster revival, reduced death penalty, and an enemy who heavily wounded you is automatically marked."
Reviving allies and self-revival are accelerated from 5.5 seconds to 4 (approximately 27%). Also, the enemy is marked with a static marker. The perk is useful when playing as a team. This perk can replace the "Doc" syringe, which can be found on the map.
Hardened
In-game description: "To achieve full protection, 2 armor plates are required instead of 3."
The essence of the perk is in the description – you can fully restore armor with only two armor plates instead of three. This results in plate savings and faster armor recovery. However, there is also an upgraded utility pouch with all the characteristics of the "Hardened" perk in the game. A quite useful perk.
Resupply
In-game description: "Equipment replenishes in 50 seconds."
The perk replenishes both tactical and lethal equipment. The greatest benefit from "Resupply" comes when playing in a team: one player can take this perk and distribute grenades and mines. There is likely an error in the description – the perk replenishes equipment in 53 seconds, not 50.
Cold-Blooded
In-game description: "Invisible to thermal vision, tactical cameras, and reconnaissance UAVs. Does not activate the 'Awareness' and 'Battle-Hardened' perks."
Invisibility to thermal vision and UAVs is not very useful, as the player will still be visible in thermal vision, albeit less brightly, and UAVs can still mark the player, though not automatically. However, "Cold-Blooded" is very useful in countering the "Awareness" and "Battle-Hardened" perks.
Stalker
In-game description: "Increases movement speed when aiming down sights and moving sideways."
There is no reason to take this perk.
Payback
In-game description: "Payouts from contracts are increased, and the cost of UAVs is reduced."
In the battle royale, the perk is not very useful as it increases the reward for contracts by only 10%, while UAVs become twice as cheap. Still, this perk is better suited for the "Plunder" mode.
On the Hunt
In-game description: "Increases shooting accuracy and aiming speed when jumping."
Works very strangely, but it is known that the perk allows maintaining accuracy when hip-firing while jumping. A rather strange perk, and it's challenging to say for which situations and playstyles it is designed. It may work well with close-range submachine guns.
THIRD TIER PERKS
Ghost
In-game description: "Invisibility to UAVs, portable radar, heart rate sensors, and other enemy detection devices while moving."
This perk is used quite often as it allows the player to be invisible to UAVs. However, the perk only works while in motion and for 2 seconds after stopping. A decent perk but won't help if the opponent has the "Counter UAV" perk.
In the Mist
In-game description: "Smoke grenade throw upon receiving heavy damage."
Very weak perk at the time of writing the article. Upon heavy damage, a smoke screen appears automatically, but it dissipates a couple of seconds before the player self-revives.
Adaptive
In-game description: "Delay in explosive devices triggering during sprint. Warning of nearby enemy equipment. Suppression of combat noise."
The warning of nearby enemy equipment works interestingly – if a mine is nearby, you can hear a beeping sound that intensifies as you approach. The delay in explosive devices triggering also works well – you can safely run through a mine, but it's not worth lingering, as it will still explode. And it's worth remembering that this does not work with the claymore, which is a killstreak rather than equipment. The suppression of combat noise also works well – all unnecessary sounds will be reduced, but footsteps can still be heard clearly. A very strong perk, especially for aggressive and confident players. Additionally, the "Adaptive" perk can replace the "Observer" perk.
Battle-Hardened
In-game description: "If you are detected by an enemy outside your line of sight, the screen begins to flicker."
A quite useful perk. Helps react quickly to an enemy approaching from behind or situated in a window. But keep in mind that "Battle-Hardened" does not work if the opponent has the "Cold-Blooded" perk.
Determination
In-game description: "Upon receiving damage from shots, gives a slight bonus to movement speed."
Upon receiving damage from a shot, the perk provides a 5% increase in movement speed, which is extremely small, and only for 5 seconds. Also, the field of view slightly increases. "Determination" does not provide any noticeable advantage, a useless perk.
Conclusion
In Warzone, there is a wide variety of different perks, but not all of them work correctly, and some are relatively weak on their own. Of course, players can choose any perks based on their playstyle, but there are more universal perks that are suitable for the vast majority.
For Tier 1, the recommended perks are "Quick Hands" and "Double Time," allowing players to speed up weapon reloads and increase the duration of tactical sprint. Snipers may consider using "Sharp Focus." If players often encounter opponents with flash grenades, "Veteran" can be a good choice.
In Tier 2, "Survivalist" and "Hardened" are viable, but players should remember that there is an alternative in the form of utility pouches with the same properties. "Tracker" and "Resupply" can also be useful.
For Tier 3, two good options are "Adaptive" and "Battle-Hardened."
