Warzone's Season 1 perk list is a clean reset, and Ghost isn't in it. When Modern Warfare 4 is folded into Warzone, Activision is shipping 18 perks: 15 you pick in your loadout (five in each of three slots) and 3 brand-new Elite Perks that you can only get during a match. The closest equivalent to Ghost's anti-recon effect is now an Elite Perk called Phantom, which you have to find at a Buy Station or earn through a contract.
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Quick answer: Warzone Season 1 goes live at 00:00 ET on November 6, 2026 (21:00 PT on November 5). Loadout perks: Perk 1: Field Medic, Hunter, Stocked, Incognito, Surveyor. Perk 2: Mountaineer, Adaptive, Scavenger, Drill Instructor, Deft Hands. Perk 3: Berserker, Quick Fix, Survivor, Tempered, Wingman. Elite Perks (fourth slot, in-match only, one at a time): Athleticism, Phantom, Fieldcraft. Ghost is not in the list. Tactical Sprint no longer needs a perk.
Last checked November 5, 2026, against Activision's Warzone Season 1 Full Intel briefing (published November 2). MW4 itself launched on October 23. What hasn't happened yet is its Season 1 integration with Warzone, so every perk below is announced and not yet playable in Warzone. We'll update this page once the perks are live and tested.
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What are all the perks in Warzone Season 1?
Activision says "there is a total of 18 Perks available to Operators. The first 15 are selectable in your Loadout, before a Match, and fit into one of three different Slots. The remaining three are Elite Perks you acquire during a Match." Here is the full list, worded from the official briefing:
| Slot | Perk | What it does (official description, condensed) |
|---|---|---|
| Perk 1 | Field Medic | Revive allies to full health quickly and get the same benefit yourself. More health while downed. |
| Perk 1 | Hunter | See enemy footprints, sense nearby enemies, get alerted when aimed at. Enemies you shoot stay outlined for a while. |
| Perk 1 | Stocked | Carry one extra Lethal and one extra Tactical, see the throw trajectory, deal more explosive damage. Full ammo reserves when you pull a Loadout. |
| Perk 1 | Incognito | Shorter reveal time on radar and on the Hunter outline. You can only be danger-pinged, and you delay triggered traps. |
| Perk 1 | Surveyor | On kill, briefly snapshot the nearby enemy squad and highlight enemies in last stand. Enemies show on radar when they use a Buy Station or take a Contract. |
| Perk 2 | Mountaineer | Less fall damage with no stun, faster climbing. Combat roll to cut fall damage further. |
| Perk 2 | Adaptive | Faster sprint-to-fire with full plates, faster movement when you're missing plates. |
| Perk 2 | Scavenger | Enemies you kill drop a pack with ammo, equipment, plates and cash for the squad. |
| Perk 2 | Drill Instructor | Faster sprint speed for the squad (doesn't stack). Sustained sprinting starts health regen. |
| Perk 2 | Deft Hands | Faster plating, equipment use and crate capture, plus a burst of speed when you plate. |
| Perk 3 | Berserker | On kill, faster ADS, weapon swap and reload for a short time. |
| Perk 3 | Quick Fix | Health regen starts immediately on a kill or plate insert. |
| Perk 3 | Survivor | Faster health regen, resistance to Flash/Concussion/Shock, less non-Killstreak explosive damage, immune to knockdown. |
| Perk 3 | Tempered | Two plates fill your armor instead of three. |
| Perk 3 | Wingman | Teammates cost less to buy back, and your redeploys don't fire a flare enemies can see. |
| Elite | Athleticism | More agile when strafing, crouching and in ADS. Smaller ADS penalties for jumping and sliding. |
| Elite | Phantom | Undetectable by enemy recon Killstreaks, equipment and Perks. |
| Elite | Fieldcraft | Armor and equipment regenerate quickly. |
Three numbers to remember: 5 perks per slot, 3 slots in the loadout, and 1 Elite Perk equipped at a time. On paper, Tempered's "two plates instead of three" is one of the biggest mid-fight swings on this list.
Is Ghost removed from Warzone in Season 1?
Yes, at least as a loadout perk. Ghost does not appear anywhere in the 18 perks Activision published, and that's the post r/CODWarzone has been arguing about since the briefing. What you get instead is split across two tiers:
- Incognito (Perk 1, loadout): the partial version. It shortens how long you're revealed on radar and how long the Hunter outline sticks to you. It does not make you invisible to a UAV.
- Phantom (Elite, in-match only): the full version. Activision's wording is "Become undetectable from enemy recon Killstreaks, equipment, and Perks." That covers what Ghost did and, on paper, more.
The design intent is clear even before anyone plays it. You can no longer drop in with full UAV immunity from the first second. You have to earn it at a Buy Station or through a Supply Run Contract, and you give up the other two Elite Perks to run it. One player in the Ghost thread put it this way: you can't just grab your loadout and sit on it any more, you have to keep moving around the map. Others were less sure, arguing that people will simply buy Phantom and camp the rooftops anyway.
What are Elite Perks and how do you get them?
Elite Perks are the biggest structural change in the integration. Per the official briefing:
- They add a fourth perk slot on top of your normal three.
- They are "only discoverable within a match, found at Buy Stations, with additional ones through completing Supply Run Contracts."
- "Only one Elite Perk can be equipped at a time."
That means your pre-match loadout is never your final build. In practice, the order looks like this:
- Land and loot with your three loadout perks.
- Hit a Buy Station for your loadout drop and look for an Elite Perk at the same time.
- Run Supply Run Contracts if the Buy Station doesn't have the one you want. Contracts are the other confirmed source.
- Pick one based on the circle: Phantom for a late-game rotation under UAVs, Fieldcraft for sustained fights, Athleticism for close-range gunfights.
Activision hasn't published Buy Station prices, Supply Run frequency, or whether an Elite Perk survives a death or Gulag win. We'll add those once Season 1 is live. Don't trust exact cash costs you see quoted before November 6.
Which Elite Perk is best?
Our read, based on the official descriptions alone: Phantom is likely the endgame pick for most squads, because late circles are where recon such as UAVs, Heartbeat Sensors and Snapshot Grenades tends to decide fights. Fieldcraft ("rapidly regenerate armor and equipment") looks strongest in Resurgence, where you take back-to-back fights and plates run out. Athleticism suits SMG and shotgun players who want better strafing and less ADS penalty when jumping or sliding.
Why is the Hunter perk controversial?
Hunter is the loadout perk drawing the most heat. It does four things: shows enemy footprints, senses nearby enemies, alerts you when you're aimed at, and outlines enemies you shoot for a duration. A popular r/CODWarzone thread split on it. One camp says the "alerted when aimed at" part punishes good positioning, because the team you got the jump on now knows you're there. The other says that's the point: it breaks up rooftop head-glitching and keeps the game moving.
The counters are built into the same list:
- Incognito shortens the Hunter outline on you.
- Phantom makes you undetectable by enemy Perks, per Activision's description. On paper that includes Hunter's tracking, but we'll confirm exactly what it blocks once it's live.
- Wingman removes your redeploy flare, so no enemy (Hunter users included) can use it to read your squad's position.
What are the best Warzone Season 1 perk combos?
These are our launch-day picks based on the official descriptions, not tested meta. The meta will settle in the first week, and we'll update this section once it does.
| Build | Perk 1 | Perk 2 | Perk 3 | Elite to look for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive Battle Royale | Hunter | Adaptive | Tempered | Athleticism |
| Anti-recon / rotations | Incognito | Mountaineer | Survivor | Phantom |
| Squad support | Field Medic | Drill Instructor | Wingman | Fieldcraft |
| Resurgence fragger | Surveyor | Scavenger | Quick Fix | Fieldcraft |
| Explosives / anti-vehicle | Stocked | Deft Hands | Survivor | Fieldcraft |
Why these work on paper:
- Tempered + Adaptive is the plate-tempo pairing. You re-armor with two plates, and Adaptive gives you speed while you're down plates and fast sprint-to-fire once you're full.
- Incognito + Survivor covers the two things that kill rotating squads: recon and explosive or stun damage. With moveable fuel barrels new to the sandbox, Survivor's knockdown immunity and reduced explosive damage look like a strong defensive pick.
- Surveyor + Scavenger in Resurgence turns every kill into intel and resupply. That's ideal on Zodiac, where fights chain constantly.
- Stocked is the only perk that gives you full ammo reserves on a loadout pull, which feeds Thermite, Drill Charge and launcher spam against vehicles.
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What else changes for perks and movement in the MW4 integration?
Several systems around perks changed at the same time, and they affect which perks are worth a slot:
- Tactical Sprint is now baseline. Activision says it "will be available to all Operators without the need for a Perk, but its duration is slightly shortened." The Stim also refreshes Tactical Sprint.
- You can drag allies while reviving them, which makes Field Medic's faster full-health revive more valuable.
- Loaded Resurgence (Zodiac / Rebirth Island, 44 players) has you "earn Perks through eliminations, and build toward Specialist." In that mode your perks come from kills, not just your loadout.
- Armored Drop Kit (Resurgence only) redeploys you "with full armor, bonus Perks, and a Self-Revive."
- Equipment pool: 8 Tacticals and 10 Lethals are confirmed for Season 1 loadouts, including the Snapshot Grenade, Heartbeat Sensor and Screamer Mine. Phantom's description says it hides you from enemy recon equipment, but exact interactions are untested (the Screamer Mine also suppresses, which concealment wouldn't stop).
Warzone's perks are a separate list from Multiplayer's. If you're coming from MW4 Multiplayer, our MW4 perks guide covers that system. Don't assume a name or effect carries across.
How does the perk reset tie into leveling in Season 1?
The briefing doesn't mention level requirements for perks, but progression around them changes a lot. The integration brings a Player Level reset shared across Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone, all 33 MW4 launch weapons with Weapon Prestige and Warzone-specific Mastery Camos, and legacy blueprints that start locked and unlock through Player XP in the Armory. Our carry-forward breakdown covers exactly what stays and what locks.
From November 6, Warzone moves onto the shared MW4 Player Level, so XP from Multiplayer, DMZ and Warzone feeds one level and one Armory. The faster you level, the sooner your legacy blueprints unlock and your full MW4 builds are ready for Warzone. If you'd rather skip that grind, MW4 Bot Lobbies are the quickest way to stack weapon levels and camos before the new Warzone maps eat your evenings. The bot lobbies explainer covers how it works.
Where should you go next for Warzone Season 1?
Use these to plan your first drops:
- Hajin map guide: the 13 POIs of the new Battle Royale map
- Verdansk and Rebirth Island changes: what's different when the classics return in-season
- Warzone Mastery Camos: the Warzone-only camo track
- Grind for Royalty: the Gold Excellence and Gold Mosaic camos
- MW4 Warzone integration explained and the Season 1 roadmap and start times
- Everything MW4 in one place: the timesaver.gg MW4 hub
Lock in your MW4 setup before Season 1 drops: bot lobbies, plus camo and weapon leveling, are ready day one. They're built for the MW4 grind that now feeds Warzone too.
- MW4 Bot Lobbies: private lobbies for the level and camo grind on easy mode
- MW4 Weapon Leveling: max any of the 33 launch weapons and unlock every attachment
- MW4 Mastery Camo Bundle: MW4 mastery camos, done fast and securely
- MW4 Account Leveling: skip the Player Level grind before the Armory unlocks
- Warzone Bot Lobbies: for the Warzone side of the grind
- All MW4 services
FAQ
Can I buy this loadout instead of farming it? Yes: this loadout costs $32.61 on Timesaver, and a Timesaver pro completes it by hand within 4 hours. How handover works and what happens if something goes wrong: account safety.
How many perks are in Warzone Season 1? 18 in total, according to Activision's November 2 briefing. 15 are loadout perks, five in each of three slots, and 3 are Elite Perks you can only get during a match.
Is Ghost in Warzone Season 1? No. Ghost isn't in the published list. Incognito gives a partial version in your loadout, and the Elite Perk Phantom makes you "undetectable from enemy recon Killstreaks, equipment, and Perks" once you find it in-match.
How do you get Elite Perks in Warzone? Find them at Buy Stations during a match, or earn more by completing Supply Run Contracts. They go in a fourth perk slot, and only one Elite Perk can be equipped at a time.
Do you still need a perk for Tactical Sprint? No. From Season 1, Tactical Sprint is available to every Operator without a perk, though its duration is slightly shorter. Stims refresh it.
When do the new Warzone perks go live? With Season 1, at 00:00 ET on November 6, 2026 (21:00 PT on November 5, 05:00 UTC on November 6), on all platforms, including the new Nintendo Switch 2 version.
Are Warzone perks the same as MW4 Multiplayer perks? No. Warzone has its own 18-perk list for Season 1. Check the mode you're playing before you copy a build.
