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Contraband contracts guide for Call of Duty: Warzone

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Call of Duty: Warzone Season 4 is here, and with it comes a slew of new content for players to enjoy. As part of Season 4, players can now take part in the new Warzone Rumble mode (which serves as a large-scale Team Deathmatch that takes place on sections of the Warzone map), use newly added weapons, and try to complete Contraband contracts in Warzone. These contracts are live in Warzone right now — joining Bounty Hunter, Scavenger, and Recon. Unfortunately, there isn’t much info about them in the game itself, and it isn’t immediately clear how they work. Coupled with the fact that they’re hard to come by, Contraband might be confusing to players who are jumping into Season 4.

That’s why we decided to round up as much information as we can to shed some light on how to complete Contraband contracts, where to find them, and what you get for completing them.

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How to find Contraband contracts

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The hardest part about Contraband contracts is actually finding one. Unlike the contracts you’re used to seeing, you can’t pinpoint Contraband on the map right away. Instead, they appear as a random drop after completing one of the three traditional contracts. The problem is that Contraband is extremely rare. After playing dozens of games and completing several contracts in each, we were only able to find one. It’s unclear if there’s something else you can do to increase the spawn rate, but for now, keep completing contracts to hopefully find Contraband.

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There is one other way to get your hands on one, and that’s to kill a player holding Contraband. This is much more random, but be on the lookout for the contract when you take someone out. You can spot a Contraband contract as indicated by a blue icon on your map, with an arrow pointing up. It will spawn as a reward for completing one of the three contracts and appear as a blue briefcase that can be picked up. Once you grab it, the contract will start.

We recommend attempting the easier contracts to get Contraband to spawn. Recon and Scavenger can be completed relatively quickly, especially if you’ve got another teammate helping out. Bounty Hunter contracts are viable, but they require much more skill to complete. So, unless you’re confident in your skill, we recommend that you keep initiating Recon and Scavenger contracts instead.

The other thing that’s worth noting is that you should try to get your hands on Contraband as early as you can. The way the contract works (which we will explain farther down) requires you to visit a separate location and wait for a helicopter to land, so if the circle has become too small, it might not allow the contract to spawn. In other words, you’ll have a higher chance of getting one to appear if the circle is larger since there’s more room.

How to complete them

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After you finally get your hands on the precious blue briefcase, the rest of the mission is smooth sailing. All you have to do is deliver it to the landing zone, where you’ll be tasked with waiting for a helicopter to come pick it up. It works similarly to delivering cash in the Plunder game mode. Once you arrive, find a good hiding spot, and make sure you aren’t out in the open, as enemies can easily spot the chopper coming down.

When the helicopter is in position, run to it, interact with the bag it lowers to you, and deliver the goods. It’s quite simple — just make sure you have a teammate watching your back because it’s easy to get taken out when waiting for the chopper. For us, the chopper location was relatively close at around 500 meters, but if you want to get there quicker, just hop in a vehicle. While you’re waiting, it’s a good idea to use a heartbeat sensor and to lay down some mines or claymores to protect yourself. You’ll have to wait around 20 seconds before you can deliver the goods, which doesn’t sound like a long time, but in the heat of battle, it can be hard to be patient.

What you get for finishing them

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What do you get for your troubles? The main rewards you get for completing these contracts are exclusive weapon blueprints, which can only be acquired through delivering Contraband. It’s unclear how many there are, but we do know you can’t get these weapon blueprints anywhere else, at least as of right now. For us, we gained access to the Lonely Lagoon, a blueprint for the AX-50, which gives it a shiny purple and pink finish. These blueprints can then be used later on as part of your loadout, so you’ll need to wait until the game is over before looking through any you might have unlocked.

Additionally, you get a hefty amount of cash. We gained somewhere in the neighborhood of $14,000, which is enough to stock up on a killstreak, Self-Revive Kit, and armor pack, and even bring back one of your teammates if they managed to get taken out in the Gulag.

While the blueprints are a nice touch and the cash is noteworthy, it’s tough to recommend you go out of your way to get your hands on Contraband. It can severely disrupt the flow of the game, especially if you’re going away from the center of the circle. Considering how rare the spawn rates are, it might be best to only initiate the contract if one drops from an enemy, as opposed to actively seeking them out.

It’s unknown if more than one Contraband contract can be completed during a game since they seem to be so rare as it is. Some players have reported seeing fewer Contraband contracts in the days after Season 4 initially released, so Infinity Ward might have tinkered with the spawn rate.

Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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