Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Week 2: Five tips and a tour of the Salt Mine

Week 2: Five tips and a tour of the Salt Mine

BULLET POINTS:

It’s #WarzoneWednesday — Let’s Drop In

Welcome to the Warzone.

Every Wednesday is #WarzoneWednesday here on the Call of Duty blog. This weekly column — and, by extension, the Official Warzone Strategy Guide — will help you become one of the most elite Operators in the world.

The strategy guide is fully updated for Verdansk ’84, and to help you digest its 230,000+ words of wisdom, we’re breaking down a fresh Point of Interest and providing five tips straight from the guide. We’ll keep you informed of future Warzone updates, too.

Without further ado, here’s #WarzoneWednesday Week 2:

salt mine

Point of Interest of the Week: Salt Mine

One of the most prominent new features in Verdansk, the Salt Mine takes up a large swath of the city’s northeast sector. A sprawling mix of industrial buildings, piping, extraction sites, and rail transport sits up against a craggy hillside to the north, with highway access to the nearby Arklov Peak Military Base, Lozoff Pass, Blocs 14 & 15, and the Kastovia Radar Array along its western and southern borders.

A big structure welcomes Operators right at the southern entrance as they move up to the Salt Mine. Let’s take a closer look at Warehouse 5:

salt mine overview

Salt Mine Overview—Φ/Λ: G/3 (Center-Southeast): Along the southeastern perimeter of the Salt Mine grounds is a second rail line and a Distribution Dock where salt is stored and loaded onto railcars. Aside from the large warehouse, there is a loading dock on the tracks, a parking area, and an additional loading crane to the northeast along with a water tower and smaller brine pools to the south.

Salt Mine Warehouse 5: Exterior: On the north side, enter via the loading bay door, the metal door, or steps to an upper door on the north wall. There are also stairs to an upper door in the eastern corner. By the main road, there’s a covered entrance near the concrete wall, under a metal awning. You can also jump through a window in the south corner, leaping in from atop the concrete wall. Finally, along the southwest side by the gantry stairs and concrete wall, there are double doors and a metal door. You can also use the rusting gantry stairs to the double doors on the upper floor.

Warehouse 5: Interior 1F

Warehouse 5: Interior 1F: The main warehouse has crates stacked in the center and around the interior perimeter, along with two gantry staircases on either side. There’s a locker room (southwest) under one set of stairs and a secondary storage room to the northeast.

2F: There’s a gantry balcony leading to an office with a stairwell (northeast) and a separate pair of offices and stairs up to the third floor on the opposite (southwest) side.

3F: The third floor simply consists of three connecting warehouse rooms. The middle one has an opening with plywood jutting out, allowing you to leap onto the loading dock roof and take up a defensive position with views west, north, and northeast.

Roof: Though you can’t reach the roof from the interior, there’s a way to ascend from outside — specifically, the railing of the exterior gantry steps at the eastern corner of the building by the gantry door. Stand on the rail, grab the awning, pull yourself up, and ascend the roof gantries and either ladder to the very top; this is an excellent location for an exfil or defensive posturing.

That’s just a taste of what’s explorable around the Salt Mine, not to mention the Rail Yard, Shipping Warehouses, Crystalizing Pools, and more. Get every detail in the full Official Warzone Strategy Guide.

top five tips

Top Five Tips of the Week:

In last week’s debut #WarzoneWednesday, we provided our Top Five Tips straight from the newcomers’ section of the strategy guide. Let’s push things a little right in Week 2 and get a touch more advanced:

Tip #109 — Challenging an Enemy on Higher Ground

Tip #109 — Challenging an Enemy on Higher Ground

Infil: Tactics in the Warzone / Tac Map: General Locations

See someone on top of a building or on a control tower? Take cover or throw off their angle by ducking into an alley. Don’t have cover? Run straight toward them; it’ll be hard for them to land shots on a target directly below.

Tip #111 — Natural Cover

Infil: Tactics in the Warzone / Tac Map: General Locations

Rural areas sometimes have trees, rocks, and hills that can conceal movement patterns or act as cover. When there are little houses or other structures around, use the natural environment to your advantage.

Tip #132 — The Rarer, the Better

Tip #132 — The Rarer, the Better

Infil: Tactics in the Warzone / Inventory

Pay attention to the color and diamond symbol next to various items. In general, Epic (purple) and Legendary (gold/orange) items will be more valuable — because of their purpose or number of attachments for a weapon — than Common (green) and Rare (blue) items.

Tip #186 — Seek the Hide

Tip #186 — Seek the Hide

Tac Map: Atlas / Verdansk: North / Karst River Salt Mine

The watchtower in the foothills north of the Salt Mine has an incredible view of its northeastern section. If the collapse isn’t an issue and you like to snipe, consider finding it after you get a loadout that’s appropriate for extreme long-range combat.

Tip #188 — The Arteries of Verdansk

Tip #188 — The Arteries of Verdansk

Tac Map: Atlas / Verdansk: North / Karst River Salt Mine

From the railyard, you can follow the rail tracks by heading southeast, and travel (ideally by vehicle) throughout the entire map, tracing the railroad and stopping off at multiple destinations. This rail network can be very helpful when learning the geography of Verdansk.

Need More Intel? Visit the Official Warzone Strategy Guide to get a detailed look at all 300+ Tips, over 400 Points of Interest, and everything you need to step up your gameplay and be fully prepared for Warzone.

We’ll see you online.

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