Everything you need to know about Warzone's new hardcore mode

In what feels like something I've wanted since day one, Raven Software has just teased a hardcore version of battle royale with Call of Duty: Warzone changes coming in the form of the new Iron Trials '84 Mode.

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Warzone's new Iron Trials '84 mode is still the same battle to the death, last team standing dominance with the circle closing in on you, the same looting system, and the Gulag -- with changes thrown into the mix. The match duration and circle collapse are being teaked, with the round timers decreasing by 12% and the circle collapse speed increasing by 12% which will ramp up the energy of rounds.

Raven said that transportation will be limited in the hardcore version of Warzone, with just ATVs and dirt bikes up for grabs.

• Round timers + circle collapse speed changes: The match duration and circle collapse are being teaked, with the round timers decreasing by 12% and the circle collapse speed increasing by 12% which will ramp up the energy of rounds.
• Base health changes: The normal base health is 100 but the new Warzone hardcore mode bumps this up to 250 base health, and while this sounds extreme (2.5x the health), tweaks have been made to the regen delay timer from 5 seconds to 7 seconds, with the regen per second rate reduced from 120 per second to 40 per second. You have more health, but you won't regen as fast... so that's more hardcore.
• Starting weapon changes: Every player drops into Verdasnk with a .44 Magnum, and a Sledgehammer for some clobbering fun.
• Loots and loadouts: There are big changes to the item pool inside of Supply Boxes, with the developer explaining that the new mode also "emphasizes the importance of scavenging to survive". This means that Epic and Legendary rarity weapon blueprints are more rare.

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• No Dead Silence or Stopping Power Round Field Upgrades: They're gone in Warzone hardcore.
• No free loadout drops: Yep, they're gone, too.
• Loadouts now cost more: You'll be paying $15,000 for a loadout -- up from $10,000 -- so you'll need to do much more looting.
• Less transportation: Raven said there will be less transportation, so expect to see less bigger vehicles and helicopters and more ATVs and bikes.

Buy Station price increases... not only do Loadouts cost more, but so does everything else:

• Armor Bundle: $1,500 to $2,000
• Gas Mask: $3,000 to $4,000
• Cluster Strike: $3,000 to $4,000
• Precision Strike: $3,500 to $4,500
• Self Revive: $4,000 to $5,000
• UAV: $4,000 to $6,000
• Loadout Drop Marker: $10,000 to $15,000

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• Sniper rifle changes: A single headshot from within 30 meters will only down an enemy, not kill them... not very hardcore with a sniper shot. If you want to kill a player, you'll need to shoot them more than once with a sniper rifle.
• Equipment tweaks: Medical syringes nerfed, regeneration rate of 50% -- adding to the hardcore mode, while stun grenades have also been nerfed with the stun effect decreased by 50%.
• Gulag changes, oh boy: There are now limits to the weapons that you get in the Gulag, with far more limited weapons on offer... but Raven has said that if you survive the Gulag, you'll redeploy with whatever weapon you were using -- whatever is left, hopefully bullet for bullet.

The new Iron Trials '84 mode will be available in Warzone with the Duos playlist, and goes live with the September 16 playlist update. The hardcore Warzone mode will be around for 2 weeks, but I'm hoping that if it's popular it becomes a regular staple.