Gears of War logo

Operation 8 Drop 2 – Reveal

Hello everyone!

The time has come to talk about Operation 8 Drop 2! This post will cover everything you can expect to see when our final content title update goes live on Tuesday, September 14th.

Before you dive into the full post, check out the Operation 8 Drop 2 trailer!

Michael Barrick, Alicia Valera, and Oscar Diaz  in a triangle formation trying to fend off an unseen attack

Corporal Michael Barrick is a former Stranded who set aside his distrust of the COG to join the military. From battling General RAAM with Zeta-Six to fighting alongside Marcus Fenix in Delta Squad, Barrick became one of the COG’s most legendary Gears during the Locust War.

Private Alicia Valera is a Gear who specializes in reconnaissance warfare, risking her life to gather critical intel before the battle. Serving with Zeta-Six squad during the Locust War, she raced to evacuate her home city of Ilima before it was overrun by General RAAM’s horde.

Oscar Diaz is the leader of the Riftworm Village, one of the last Outsider communities left standing after incessant attack by the Swarm. A former Gear, and uncle to Kait Diaz, Oscar is a warrior who will sacrifice anything – including himself – to defend the people under his watch.

A Rager in a menacing stance

The Rager is a wiry, aggressive Grub. Similar in appearance to a Locust Drone but with a distinctively ferocious edge, the Rager rushes into battle with minimal armor and maximum savagery.

An indoor section of the Village Map

This Weilehan fishing village sits eerily abandoned after a recent Swarm attack. Scattered huts and a small dock area give players ample opportunity to push forward and ambush the enemy.

An outside section of the Dawn Map

The Outsiders have repurposed this abandoned mining colony into a thriving village. Two defensive structures define the landscape – the high ground of the bar, and the entrenched mine.

As you all jump back into Season 8 of Competitive, we wanted to remind you of the rewards from this Operation.

If you finish in the top 100 this season you will be granted the Grandmaster Obsidian Gnasher.

Grandmaster Obsidian Gnasher

For Season 9 of Competitive we will then swap the Obsidian Gnasher out for the Grandmaster Bloody Gnasher.

Grandmaster Bloody Gnasher

We are also adding new banners to earn for each of the Competitive modes in Operation 8 so make sure to keep an eye out for that!

So just to recap, here is how the Competitive rewards will now work:

  • 100k points – Playlist Mark – 100k
  • 500k points – Playlist Mark – 500k
  • 1 million points – Playlist Master Banner
  • If you finish in the top 1,000 – Some weapons from Heroic Obsidian Gnasher set.
  • If you finish in the top 100
    • Playlist Grandmaster Banner
    • Trinity Skorge
    • Grandmaster Obsidian Gnasher
    • Golden Heart Bloodspray
  • If you finish the season as the top player
    • Golden Gnasher Bloodspray

Note: After Season 9 we will not be granting the Top 100 rewards anymore, so make sure you get them before then!

On the release of Operation 8, we introduced two prototype weapons, these weapons were developed throughout Gears 5 but did not have the final polish.

We are happy to announce we are releasing one final prototype weapon, the Hammer of Dawn.

Note: Prototype Weapons will remain in Custom Versus only and will not have any customizable skins. When they were created, they were intended for PvP and we would need extensive work to bring them over to PvE.

Alicia using the Hammer of Dawn

A staple across the Gears franchise, the Hammer of Dawn targets an area and unleashes a deadly barrage, do not be near it!

We’ll also be adding the following tweaks in Operation 8 Drop 2 for PvP!

  • We will be adding “Fully Loaded” versions of Control, TDM, and FFA to Custom Versus (this allows you to set most weapons as loadout weapons and to toggle melee in addition to the normal mutator options).
  • Additional Medal groups for PVP and PVE focused on ribbon-based medals (1 group for PVP and 1 for PVE).
  • Bullet penetration mutator added as an option to all Custom Versus modes.
  • We will be updating the rate of XP gain for PVP to be in line with Inconceivable Horde.

Back in May, we announced our plans to move to Unreal Engine 5 with Operation 8 being the final Operation for Gears 5.

To clear up some specific points regarding Gears 5 going forward:

  • Once Operation 8 ends, the game will move into a phase of automation, where the following will happen.
    • Tour of Duty – Will reset going forward. See below for the list of rewards you can expect with each Tour of Duty:
NameReward TypeReward Value
Recruit ICoins2000
Recruit II Iron50
Recruit IIICoins500
Recruit IVCoins500
Recruit VIron50
Private ICoins500
Private IICoins500
Private IIIIron50
Private IVCoins500
Private VCoins500
Corporal IIron50
Corporal IICoins1000
Corporal IIICoins 1000 
Corporal IV Iron 50 
Corporal V Coins 1000 
Sergeant ICoins1000
Sergeant IIIron100
Sergeant IIICoins1500
Sergeant IVCoins1500
Sergeant VIron100
Officer ICoins1500
Officer IICoins1500
Officer IIIIron100
Officer IVCoins2000
Officer VCoins2000
Lieutenant IIron100
Lieutenant IICoins2000
Lieutenant IIICoins2000
Lieutenant IVIron100
Lieutenant VCoins2500
Captain ICoins2500
Captain IIIron150
Captain IIICoins2500
Captain IVCoins 2500 
Captain VIron150
Major ICoins2750
Major IICoins2750
Major IIIIron150
Major IVCoins2750
Major VCoins2750
Colonel I Iron150
Colonel IICoins3000
Colonel III Coins3000
Colonel IV Iron 150
Colonel VCoins 3000
Major General I Coins 3000
Major General II Iron 250
Major General III Coins 3500
Major General IV Coins 3500
Major General V Iron 250
General Coins 4000
Tour of Duty Reward Chart

This will also come with a set of medals which will refresh at the end of each Competitive and Tour refresh going forward, see below for the full details.

Completion Reward: 2000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Team MedicRevive 150 Teammates All 
CarnageDo 10000000 Damage All 
Body Count Get 10000 Eliminations All 
Finish Them Kill 4000 Enemies All 
Marksman Hit 500 Headshots Kills All 
Executioner Perform 150 Executions All 
Tour of Duty Basic Rewards

Completion Reward: 2000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Lancer Carnage Deal 250000 Damage with the Lancer All 
Gnasher Body Count Get 250 Eliminations with the Gnasher All 
Pistol Carnage Deal 150000 Damage with the Snub, Boltok or Talon All 
Big Boom Body Count Get 100 Eliminations with the Boomshot, Dropshot or Frag Grenades All 
Blazing Carnage Deal 100000 Damage with the Scorcher or Incendiary Grenades All 
Marksman Body Count Get 100 Eliminations with the Longshot, EMBAR or Torque Bow All 
Tour of Duty Weapon Rewards

Completion Reward: 3000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
BattlewornComplete 200 Rounds of Versus, Waves of Horde or Acts of Escape All 
Drop ‘EmGet 100 Downs All 
Splish Splash Do 50000 Damage with Incendiary and/or Shock Grenades All 
Active LivingGet 150 Active Reload Kills All
Double DipperGet 20 Double Kills in Versus Matches Versus 
Do Your PartGet 100 Assists in Versus Matches Versus 
Sending a Message Get 25 Executions in Versus Matches Versus 
Tour of Duty Specialist Rewards

Completion Reward: 5000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Killjoy Get 5 Ring-Breaks in a Single Versus Match Versus 
Busy Bee Get 3 Triple Kills in Competitive Versus Matches Versus 
Show Off Get 5 Executions in a Single Versus Match 3 Times Versus 
Goon Get 5 or more Kills without Dying in a Single Versus Match Versus 
Tryhard Score 5000 Points or more in 25 Competitive Versus Matches Versus 
Eager Beaver Get  the First Kill 10 Times in Versus Matches Versus 
Bully Survive 25 Waves of Horde and/or Acts of Escape on Inconceivable Difficulty or Higher PVE 
Tour of Duty Master Rewards

Completion Reward: 5000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Escape Attempts Survive 50 Acts of Escape Escape 
Escape Carnage Do 3000000 Damage in Escape Escape 
Escape Body Count Get 1000 Eliminations in Escape Escape 
Boss Hunter Get 30 Boss Eliminations in Escape Escape 
Hivebusters Survive 10 Acts of Escape as Lahni, Keegan or Mac Escape 
Scion Hunter Get 50 Scion Eliminations in Escape Escape 
Escape Master Escape 10 Hives on Master Difficulty in this Operation Escape 
Tour of Duty Escape Rewards

Completion Reward: 5000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Wave Survivor Survive 150 Waves of Horde Horde 
Horde Carnage Do 6000000 Damage in Horde Horde 
Horde Body Count Get 3000 Eliminations in Horde Horde 
Boss Hunter Get 30 Boss Eliminations in Horde Horde 
Power Horder Collect 1000000 Energy in Horde Horde 
Locust Hunter Get 200 Locust Eliminations in Horde Horde 
Horde Master Survive 50 Waves of Horde or Frenzy on Master Difficulty Horde 
Tour of Duty Horde Rewards

Completion Reward: 3000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Quickplay Veteran Win 10 Classic Quickplay Matches Versus 
Versus Carnage Do 1500000 Damage in Versus Matches Versus 
Season Slaughter Get 5000 Eliminations in Versus Versus 
Versus Medic Revive 50 Teammates in Versus Matches Versus 
COG Victories Win 25 Versus Matches as COG Versus 
Swarm Victories Win 25 Versus Matches as Swarm Versus 
Ring Master Capture 100 Rings in Versus Versus 
Tour of Duty Versus Basics Rewards

Completion Rewards: 3000 Gears Coins

NameDescriptionModeStars
Competitive Veteran Win 20 Competitive Versus Matches Versus 
Competitive Slayer Get 200 Eliminations in Competitive Matches Versus 
2v2 Gnasher Veteran Win 15 Rounds of Versus Competitive 2v2 Gnasher Matches Versus 
Free-For-All Veteran Get 100 Eliminations in Competitive Free-For-All Matches Versus 
Control Veteran Win 10 Rounds in Competitive Control Matches Versus 
Guardian Veteran Win 20 Rounds of Competitive Guardian Matches Versus 
Execution Veteran Win 5 Matches of Competitive Execution 2.0 Versus 
Tour of Duty Competitive Rewards

Finally, we are reducing the stars per rank in this Tour of Duty and we’re increasing the stars awarded for each daily objective completed by 1.

See the list below for the ranks and stars needed for each rank in this Tour of Duty:

RankNameStarsSum
Recruit I 
Recruit II 10 
Recruit III 15 
Recruit IV 20 
Recruit V 25 
Private I 31 
Private II 37 
Private III 43 
Private IV 49 
10 Private V 55 
11 Corporal I 62 
12 Corporal II 69 
13 Corporal III 76 
14 Corporal IV 83 
15 Corporal V 90 
16 Sergeant I 98 
17 Sergeant II 106 
18 Sergeant III 114 
19 Sergeant IV 122 
20 Sergeant V 130 
21 Officer I 139 
22 Officer II 148 
23 Officer III 157 
24 Officer IV 166 
25 Officer V 175 
26 Lieutenant I 10 185 
27 Lieutenant II 10 195 
28 Lieutenant III 10 205 
29 Lieutenant IV 10 215 
30 Lieutenant V 10 225 
31 Captain I 11 236 
32 Captain II 11 247 
33 Captain III 11 258 
34 Captain IV 11 269 
35 Captain V 11 280 
36 Major I 12 292 
37 Major II 12 304 
38 Major III 12 316 
39 Major IV 12 328 
40 Major V 12 340 
41 Colonel I 13 353 
42 Colonel II 13 366 
43 Colonel III 13 379 
44 Colonel IV 13 392 
45 Colonel V 13 405 
46 Major General I 14 419 
47 Major General II 14 433 
48 Major General III 14 447 
49 Major General IV 14 461 
50 Major General V 14 475 
51 General 15 490 
Tour of Duty Ranks

While this update marks the final content update for Gears 5, we will still refresh Gears 5 up to the holidays. This will also involve more events for you to participate in and get special rewards for.

We will also be looking to update the store with “Essential Drops,” with the end goal to have the store full of all previously released content, with some exceptions such as the top character skin awarded in each Tour of Duty and exclusive promotional content. Keep an eye out as we will be announcing when we are doing these significant store drops.

To celebrate Drop 2, we will be running a double XP (+Character XP) event with free Boost from Friday, September 17 to Monday, Sept 20. This will go live at 10:00 AM PDT, so be sure to be around!

And that is it for our Operation 8 Drop 2 reveal. Keep an eye out for next week’s This Week in Gears post which will contain the patch notes.

TC