Season 02 Patch Notes: March 3, 2026

MODE

Iron Gauntlet [Beta]

Iron Gauntlet [Beta] is a new competitive mode in Call of Duty: #Warzone that introduces a more demanding take on Battle Royale built around decision-making and mechanical skill.

This mode deviates from our standard Battle Royale experience by accelerating circle collapse speeds, making high-tier loot more scarce, removing free loadout drops, and boosting player health. Engagements last longer, mistakes carry greater consequences, and success depends less on perfect loadouts and more on teamwork, positioning, and smart resource management. In Iron Gauntlet [Beta], nearly every surrounding system has been reworked to create a more intense and competitive experience.

Our very first Iron Gauntlet [Beta] competitive event window will debut on Thursday, March 5th, at 10 AM and last until Monday, March 9th, at 10 AM PT.

As this is a Beta release, player feedback will directly help shape future iterations of Iron Gauntlet. We want to hear how the mode feels, what’s working well, what isn’t, and where you think it should go next. To be clear, nothing is off the table - from squad size and player health to loot availability and economy tuning. Your feedback, now more than ever, will help determine how Iron Gauntlet [Beta] evolves moving forward.

Mode Overview

Basic Overview

Major Gameplay Adjustments

» Squad Size «

Squad size was one of the most important decisions during development. Iron Gauntlet is intentionally built around Duos to emphasize tension, meaningful decision-making, and most importantly trust. Limiting players to a single teammate to rely on will have the following impact on matches:
 

• Team economy becomes tighter, making purchases more deliberate.
• Mistakes carry greater weight, reducing a squad’s margin for recovery.
• Rotations, engagements, and resource management demand stronger coordination.
• Success relies heavily on communication and teamwork.

When it’s just you and one partner against the lobby, every decision you make holds more weight.

» Survival «

The goal with Iron Gauntlet was to increase survivability while raising the overall difficulty level across the board. In this case, longer time-to-kill encourages thoughtful engagements, coordinated pushes, and allows for proper repositioning. In order to achieve the TTK and engagement pacing that we felt was right for Iron Gauntlet, we adjusted the following:
 

• Base Health: Increased to 300, up from 150
• Health Regeneration Delay: Increased to 8 seconds, up from 6
• Health Regeneration Rate: Reduced to 40 per second, down from 50
• Default Perk: Mountaineer

The important most important thing to keep in mind is that while you'll have some room to recover from minor mistakes, so will your enemies.

» Loot & Economy «

We've redesigned our loot distribution to lean into the importance of scavenging, contract completion, and early-game reliance on ground loot. In addition, we've balanced category drop rates so that players prioritize gunplay over equipment advantages. Loot adjustments include:
 

• Ground loot primarily features Black Ops 7 weapons
• Grappling Hooks have been added to loot
• Common weapon attachments include extended magazines
• Most weapons spawn with iron sights
• Epic and Legendary weapon drops reduced by ⁓30%
• Large cash piles are rarer
• Killstreak drop rate significantly lowered
• Perks removed from loot entirely

In Iron Gauntlet, the early game will emphasize scrappy firefights with limited tools, while stronger equipment gradually appears deeper into the match for squads that play their cards right.

» Loadouts «

In this competitive mode, the focus shifts away from guaranteed power spikes and more towards your ability to adapt. It's going to be imperative to keep looting and making the best use of what you find before investing into a Loadout Drop. Players will have to account for the following:
 

• Free Loadout Drops have been disabled
• Loadouts are only available via Buy Stations
• Loadout Drop Marker costs have been increased to $20,000
• Ranked Play restrictions applied with additional limitations

The goal here is simple: victory should not depend on reaching an ideal setup, but on how well Players perform with available resources.

» Buy Stations «

We've rebalanced Buy Station inventories and prices for more meaningful and impactful economic decision making. Reduced cash availability in ground loot combined with higher Buy Station prices adds weight to how players decide to invest their time and resources. Buy Stations adjustments include:
 

• Prices increased between 30–50% across most items
• Self-Revives have been removed
• Gas Masks are only available via Buy Stations

Buy Station Inventory

»  Circle Pacing «
 

• The gas circle collapses approximately 12% faster.

This may not sound significant at first but it has a noticeable impact on how matches play out. This change shaves approximately two minutes of each match, and drives much earlier engagements across the map. Paired with the loot and progression changes, this means teams will find often find themselves in combat situations without having had time to farm for their Loadouts. Adaptability, one of the core tenants of designing this mode, will come into play: you'll have to win early fights using whatever you find, in order to buy enough time to build a strong arsenal and close out matches.

» Restrictions «

The following table outlines all of the items in Iron Gauntlet [Beta] that have been intentionally disabled in order to maintain the competitive balance that we're aiming for.

Item Restrictions

Closing Thoughts

As previously mentioned in our Road to Season 02 blog, Ranked Play: Resurgence will be temporarily disabled for the duration of our Iron Gauntlet [Beta] competitive event. 

During this first window, there are a number of key things we're looking to study with this experience including: 1) How pacing feels compared to standard Battle Royale, 2) The impact economic pressure has on meaningful decisions, 3) How survivability and longer engagements impact competitiveness, 4) What Players want to see expanded or refined.

To echo what we said at the start of this blog, the future of how we shape this mode and the role it plays in our competitive environment will depend on your engagement and, most importantly, the feedback you share with us. Send us your thoughts by tagging @RavenSoftware on X/Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you!

Good luck, have fun!