How to get Golden Keycards and open Mercenary Vaults in Warzone

Warzone Golden Keycards and Mercenary Vaults are a massive part of Season 4, as the new Caldera keycards allow players to open bunkers filled with the aforementioned Vaults - and these vault bunkers can be looted for some of the best weapons and gear in Call of Duty Warzone, a huge help when you're heading across the Caldera map. 

Players can get Gold Keycards by completing contracts and opening crates, or even as a potential reward for killing other players and teams (something you'll ideally be doing anyway). The Mercenary Vault and Bunker locations are actually marked on the main map clearly, though recognising what you're looking for is a little unclear without prior knowledge. We'll explain their role in Warzone Season 4 in more detail below, as well as how to get the Golden Keycards and where to find the Mercenary Vault locations and Bunkers spread around the Warzone Caldera map.

From what we can tell, Contract completion has a slightly higher probability of dropping Golden Keycards than crates do, but considering how much longer Contracts take to complete than just kicking open boxes, it doesn't add up to much. There's also no distinction between Contracts that we know of - from what we can tell, ANY of them have a (small) chance of dropping Golden Keycards as a reward.

Otherwise, make sure to flip open every crate you can find, as any of them could provide the literal Golden Ticket you're looking for. Go through key locations with lots of crates, or go safer and comb less-populated zones - there'll either be lots of chests, or you'll find more unopened ones.

Alternatively, the other (unpopular) option is to camp the bunker entrances to the Mercenary Vaults. If a player finds a Golden Keycard, it can't serve any function other than opening the Vaults and Bunkers, so just watch the door with a shotgun and shoot anybody who shows up. Then peel the bloody Keycard out of their fingers and help yourself to the ill-gotten goods. It's not guaranteed that anybody will show up, but if all the chests around you are looted and you're not feeling optimistic about completing a contract, this can work. Of course, to do this you actually need to know where the bunkers are.

All Warzone Mercenary Vault and Bunker locations

There are a total of seven Mercenary Vaults in Warzone's Caldera Map, hidden in bunkers underground.

1. Between Docks and Factory
2. Southwest of Runway
3. Between Dig Site and Mines
4. North of Fields
5. Between Lagoon and Airfield
6. Southeast of Power Plant
7. Northwest of Resort

They're actually marked on the default map with scribbled Yellow Circles, though admittedly the game doesn't tell you that's what the yellow circles denote. There's also no meaningful difference between the bunkers - loot is randomised in this regard.

Once you're in the circle and the match has started, look for a circular vault door icon on the map in that area, labelled "Transit". It marks the actual entrance to the Vault Bunker, usually a heavily reinforced circular hatch like the one displayed below. Keep in mind that these Transit markers won't appear on the map until the match has properly started and the drop plane is gone!

Find the hatch, climb down the ladder and you'll be in a small underground area, with a few scattered bits of loot if you're lucky, and some doors that won't open. You can probably guess the next bit.

How to open Mercenary Vaults and bunkers in Warzone

Once you're inside the Bunker and looking for the Mercenary Vaults, you'll find some doors that require the Golden Keycards to open. It might seem like you're being prompted to make a choice if there's more than one, but it isn't - all the doors to the Vault open when one of them does, and they all lead to the same interconnected rooms. Simply approach the panel and interact with it when prompted - it'll use the key card and the Vault will be yours to plunder.

Mercenary Vault Rewards

Once you open the Vault, you'll get a lot of prizes. They're filled with the orange "legendary" crates, more than enough to equip you and your team with the Warzone best guns, perks and killstreaks, as well lots of Cash - so you could always just go and buy a loadout drop if you didn't find anything you liked. There's also a good amount of experience earned simply for opening the Vault, even if you never get round to looting its contents.

Keep in mind that this is a one-off - while you can find more Golden Keycards and Mercenary Vaults in the same match, the key cards themselves are single-use consumables, and get destroyed when you open the doors. Any loot you leave behind could also be taken by other players - the Vault doors won't close - so make sure you get the very best of what's there.

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