Call of Duty: Vanguard will soon be celebrating the Holiday season with the Festive Fervor event. Here’s everything you need to know, including the start date, content, modes, and new Operator skins.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Season 1 is here, and developers Sledgehammer Games have kept the content coming. To celebrate the Holidays, both Vanguard and Warzone Pacific will host the Festive Fervor event, bringing plenty of wintery changes to both games.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Vanguard side of the update, including the start date, Shipmas map, new modes, rewards, and store bundles.
Vanguard Festive Fervor start date
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Festive Fervor event will officially go live on Thursday, December 16 following an update to Vanguard on December 15 at 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET (Dec 16) / 5 AM GMT (Dec 16). However, there has been no word on when it will end.
Also, the 12 Festive Days of Deals started on December 14, offering discounts on bundles from previous seasons.
Shipmas gives Vanguard Shipment a festive overhaul
As is typical for Call of Duty’s Holiday events, a fan-favorite map gets a Christmas overhaul – and this time it’s Shipment.
Now called ‘Shipmas,’ Shipment becomes a “winter wonderland of chaos blanketed in snow and, by the end of the match, whatever remains of those soon-to-be-smashed shipping containers.”
The developers also said players can expect “some subtle seasonal visuals in game modes like Domination and Hardpoint,” as well as some Holiday overhauls to Zombies’ Der Anfang.
Vanguard Festive Fervor modes
As well as the overhauled Shipment, Vanguard’s Festive Fervor event will also add some new modes and features for the Holiday season.
From the Call of Duty blog, here are the three new modes and features coming to Call of Duty: Vanguard with the Festive Fervor update.
Armageddon Mode
Also known as Drop Zone in previous Call of Duty titles, this twist on Team Deathmatch brings enough Killstreak Care Packages to stuff a whole chimney.
At the start of a match, both teams will fight for control of a marked area somewhere on the map, where Care Packages will drop in on a set timer until a specific number of them are collected. At that point, the zone rotates to a new area.
Unlike previous iterations of Drop Zone, points are only scored through kills, with bonus points being awarded with kills earned via Killstreaks. That makes ripping open those presents your squad’s main key to victory, so lock down those zones and start reaping those rewards.
Elf Team Six
Outside of that limited-time mode, Operators can also earn Killstreaks through seeking and destroying the elite Elf Team Six.
Hidden around Vanguard’s Multiplayer maps, Elf Team Six are ready to roast Operators like chestnuts on an open fire if they aren’t found before they disappear.
Operators who take down these Elf Team Six members will earn match score and Killstreak progress, a small gift that could help give your enemies something far worse than coal in their stockings.
Krampus
While Elf Team Six can help the nice Operators achieve victory, there is something else in store for the ones who act naughty and don’t play the objective in respawn-enabled game modes, or who camp in Team Deathmatch:
The folk horror figure Krampus is coming to Vanguard, appearing during Multiplayer matches and targeting whoever has the least impressive objective score, such as a pathetic Hardpoint time or a disgracefully low number of Domination captures.
If you’re warned of Krampus’s presence, then good luck: he won’t hesitate to eliminate his target with an absolutely devastating (and humiliating) Finishing Move, although you might be able to defeat him before he delivers that powerful attack…
Vanguard Festive Fervor challenges & rewards
Vanguard players can complete six challenges to earn free, festive rewards such as an Epic LMG Blueprint, “Battle Pass Tier Skip, a Double XP Token, and cosmetic rewards.”
While the challenges haven’t been released yet, these challenges will include “eliminating some of those holiday nuisances across all Multiplayer modes, playing Shipmas, or simply getting in the spirit of the season and opening Care Packages like presents under the tree.”
There will also be another set of six challenges to be completed in Warzone Pacific.
Vanguard Festive Fervor bundles
Call of Duty is in the spirit of giving this year with Festive Fervor. Players across Vanguard and Warzone Pacific will have access to a ton of new cosmetics.
“Launching alongside the Festive Fervor update is the Santa’s Slay Bundle, perfect for decking the halls (and your opponents) with Legendary Weapons that have Red-and-Green Tracers, as well as a Finishing Move that makes use of a helpful Elf companion!
And if all that is not enough for the holidays, why not humiliate foes as you win with Lucas in his impressively knitted (ugly) sweater included with his “Yarn Burner” Skin?
During Festive Fervor’s launch window, you can also drape Roland in Krampus’s unholy threads with the Krampus Unleashed Bundle, featuring Roland’s “Vinderblood” Operator Skin.
It also includes a Legendary “Krampusnacht” Marksman Rifle Blueprint that can punch through enemies like Krampus’s claws, as well as a “Reindog Rampage” Finishing Move that might be just as satisfying as that horned demon dealing justice on his own terms.
You can also give your opponents the ultimate surprise gift with the Secret Santa Bundle, which will become available during the Festive Fervor season. It features two Legendary Weapon Blueprints: one for a pump-action Shotgun and another that turns a Marksman Rifle into a fully automatic beast.
Before Festive Fervor ends and 2022 begins, the Store will introduce the Broken Resolutions Bundle, a nine-item Bundle with two Battle Pass Tier Skips on top of Legendary and Epic Operator, Armory, and Player Profile Pieces.
Of note is a “Pop Bottles” Finishing Move that makes use of a champagne bottle, a sleek “Midnighter” Operator Skin for Beatrice, and a “Cover Charge” Assault Rifle with enough silent firepower to forget those foes by February.
Season’s greetings from Caldera
Holiday-themed content won’t be exclusive to Vanguard, as Rebirth Island and Caldera will display their own festive celebrations.
Caldera Receives Festive Fir Trees with Presents for All!
Caldera’s massive list of vegetation will continue to grow as players will get the chance to battle amongst Festive Fir Trees. “Marked on the Tac Map with a special tree icon, these temporary landmarks will be placed at specific points of interest across the island.
Any squad that stays within the Fir Tree’s zone — under the tree and around it — for a short period of time will cause several Supply Boxes to magically appear, including special Holiday Crates that could contain Legendary items for that match, limited-time rewards, or even some coal for those Operators on the naughty list.”
Krampus — The Terror of the Isles with Plenty of “Gifts” for Festive Fervor
Players who receive coal from Holiday Crates will want to keep an eye out for Krampus. He’ll be spending his holidays on Caldera and Rebirth Island, where he hunts for sport. “While his choice of target is more random here than in Vanguard, he does tend to hunt down those who received coal from the Holiday Crates.
This mythical creature will take three minutes to complete his hunt before he disappears for his next target, or he’ll be killed and give out a special permanent reward for the squad that faces his wrath.”
Elf and Seek — The Gnomes Take Over the Islands
Krampus won’t be the only creature to make an appearance across Caldera and Rebirth Island. Finding and destroying these holiday gnomes will result in receiving special rewards such as double XP tokens.
Source: Call of Duty Blog