Delta Force Season Aurora (Season 12) Guide: Release Time, Martelo, AN-94, Zenith Port, Brakkesh 2.0, New Ammo and Every Balance Change

Delta Force has started its twelfth season, and Aurora is one of the denser updates the game has shipped. It touches all three of the main modes at once: Operations gets a rebuilt Brakkesh and a faction system layered on top of extraction, Warfare gets a coastal map with a wave mechanic that physically changes the battlefield, and Detonation, the bomb defusal mode, gets its own round of map, economy and balance work. On top of that sit a new operator, a new rifle, new ammunition, a Phantom Blade Zero collaboration and the usual stack of limited-time events.

This guide walks through everything in the official S12 Version Patch Notes and the November 10 season update announcement, organized by what players actually need to know: when it went live, what resets, what each new piece of content does, and which balance changes are likely to shift the meta in each mode.

When Did Season Aurora Go Live?

Aurora rolled out as a "non-stop" update, which means there was no traditional server maintenance window. Instead, specific features were switched off shortly before the new version arrived. The official schedule, converted from the UTC+8 times in the notes, ran like this on the US evening of November 9:

The Garena-published notes cover PC, Android and iOS. Team Jade's announcement for the global Steam version used the same 02:00 UTC release and also listed PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Mobile players on iPhone need iOS 13 or later. If anything looks wrong after patching, the official advice is simply to restart the game so the update can finish applying.

No official end date for Aurora has been posted yet. The clearest signal is the event calendar: the Warfare Season Challenge, Weekend Select, the Tactical Armament cosmetics and the Sanguine draw all run until January 25, 2027, which suggests the season is planned to last roughly eleven weeks.

What Resets in Season 12

Before getting into the new content, it is worth knowing what was cleared, because some of it cannot be recovered after the fact.

• Season 11 missions: All progress on Season 11 missions is reset and cleared. Anything left unfinished before the update is gone.
• Ultimate Safe Box season access: Any Ultimate Safe Box Season Access from previous seasons expires and becomes invalid.
• Safe Box Trial Cards: Every Safe Box Trial Card, used or unused, expires with the new season.
• Detonation ranks: These do not reset "for the time being," so competitive bomb defusal players keep their standing.

Season 12 starts a brand-new mission line in place of the old one, and there is a new Ultimate Safe Box Deluxe Collection appearance tied to it. Older MandelBricks are not removed either; they keep dropping at reduced rates, and their appearances stay tradable on the Market.

New Assault Operator: Martelo

The headline operator is Veronica Cardozo, codename Martelo, an Assault operator built entirely around closing distance and surviving the push. Her kit is aggressive in a way that rewards committing to a fight rather than peeking from range.

Ariete

Martelo deploys a battering device called the Ariete and charges forward continuously. While charging, she takes reduced damage from the front. The charge ends when she collides with an enemy or a wall, which triggers a Heavy Strike that damages and knocks down enemies in range. She can also end the charge early by leaping and slamming the Ariete into the ground ahead of her, which deals damage and knocks down anyone in the impact area.

The frontal damage reduction is the key detail. It means Ariete is designed to cross a short, contested gap, such as a doorway or a stretch of open floor, and the knockdown on impact gives her squad a window to follow up. Flanking fire still works against her, so the ability is strongest when the enemy is forced to face her head-on.

Smoke Halo

A shoulder-mounted launcher fires several smoke grenades around Martelo, ringing her in smoke when they detonate. Holding the button switches to single-shot mode, letting her pick a target location and fire one grenade that blankets that whole area in a full smokescreen. That gives her two distinct uses: instant self-cover after a charge, or a planned screen to cut a sightline before her squad moves.

High-Explosive Grenade and Guerreira

Her grenade is a standard high-explosive throw with a countdown that starts on release and detonates after a few seconds. Her passive, Guerreira, rewards staying in the fight: knocking down an enemy or dropping below a certain HP threshold briefly increases her movement speed and reload speed. Both triggers point to the same play pattern, where Martelo is meant to be at her most dangerous right after she has either won a duel or nearly lost one.

How to Unlock Martelo

According to the season announcement, Martelo is a free unlock through the Season Pass, and the pass reward list names her as "New Operator - Martelo (unlocked free)." Between November 10 and December 10, a new-operator event adds skill trial missions; using her gadgets to complete them awards Tactical Armament Vouchers and an exclusive Calling Card, and the listed rewards include the "Taunt" Calling Card.

New Weapon: AN-94 Assault Rifle

The AN-94 joins the Arsenal as a new assault rifle chambered in 5.45x39mm. The patch notes do not publish its base stat line, so its exact damage, rate of fire and recoil profile are best judged in the Gunsmith and the firing range. Its caliber matters for one reason in particular: it can use the new 5.45mm SPALL round described below.

From November 10 to December 10, AN-94 events run alongside the launch. Completing in-match Kill Missions with the rifle earns the "Breakout" avatar and Armament Vouchers.

Five New Ammo Types

Ammunition is where Aurora quietly changes the most fights in Operations. Each new round comes with a distinct trade-off, and a couple of them introduce mechanics the game did not have before.

The two .300BLK rounds carry built-in micro explosives. Landing several hits inside three seconds sets off an explosion with a four-meter blast radius, which turns sustained accurate fire into bonus area damage and makes them especially threatening against grouped squads. The small damage penalty is the cost of that payoff.

CINDER uses a zirconium-based incendiary compound that self-ignites on impact and burns the target for several seconds, at the price of extra recoil. The 9x19mm 7N30 is a budget Level 5 armor-piercing round for SMGs and pistols: lower-quality propellant keeps it cheap, but its reduced damage and armor penetration multipliers and added recoil make it a cost-efficient option rather than a premium one.

SPALL is the most tactical of the group. Hitting an enemy with it briefly increases the time they need to repair their helmet and ballistic vest, which punishes the common habit of breaking line of sight to patch armor mid-fight.

Loading Plans: Choose Your Ammo Order

The new rounds pair with one of the most useful quality-of-life additions in the update. Loading Plans unlock at Operations Level 35 and live under Gunsmith, then Plans, then Loading Plan. They let players set the exact sequence of rounds in a magazine, including which rounds sit at the top and a repeating pattern for the middle.

Saved plans can be applied from the Loadout screen or switched in the middle of a match through the radial menu. In practice that means a magazine could open with a few high-penetration rounds for an armored target and then cycle into a mix of cheaper or special-effect ammunition, without juggling separate magazines by hand.

Brakkesh 2.0 and the Faction Clash Mode

Brakkesh is the biggest Operations change. The notes describe it as a major map update, and the season announcement says the Babel area has been completely reworked along with a revamped Central Command Zone layout. The rework also introduces a new faction clash system built around two sides: Haavk Corp and the Ahsarah Guard.

Inside a match, players search for hidden contact outposts belonging to each faction, choose an allegiance and claim a faction badge. Completing faction missions levels that badge up, and reaching badge level 2 unlocks advanced clash content such as faction milestones and faction hunts. Picking up an Ahsarah or Haavk faction ID Tag in a match and completing a milestone mission is also how players progress the Faction Front event.

A cluster of Brakkesh events runs from November 10 to November 26 to push players onto the reworked map:

• Faction Badge: Choose a side, claim the badge and level it through faction missions.
• Brakkesh Arsenal: Explore the core area and complete missions for Ammo Selection Packs, Brakkesh-tailored gun packs, vouchers, and the Haavk and Ahsarah emblems.
• Renewed Recon, Weapon Trial, Shades Bounty, Faction Front and Hunting Hour: Daily logins, designated-weapon matches, kills, faction milestones and kill challenges all pay out Brakkesh Tokens for the event store.

The broader Brakkesh Renewed event runs until December 10.

AZ3 Supercritical

AZ3 gets a new hard mode called Supercritical, themed around contamination spreading through the area. It requires Operations Level 30 and an entry value of 600,000 Tekniq Alloys, and it supports Polaris Patrol. The mode is not available at launch: its expected window is December 18, 2026 to January 25, 2027.

The update also makes Black Site facilities easier to reach. Players who have not unlocked the Decon Chamber can do so by completing one AZ3 match, and the Diving Center now unlocks at Operations Level 33. Facilities already unlocked are unaffected.

Other Operations Changes

Beyond the headline features, Operations receives a long list of economy and loadout improvements:

• Quick Equip: Meds and ammo now prioritize stash quantities in the display.
• Ammo Selection Packs from Loadout: If the stash is short on the chosen ammo, an "Exchange" option opens an Ammo Selection Pack directly.
• Loadout Plans: Default helmet and vest durability can now be saved in a plan, and the save popup has a Delete button.
• Fish Exchange: Once fishing is unlocked, catches can be traded for items at the Bazaar, and the Bazaar now previews the next cycle's required materials three days before it refreshes.
• Chroma quality tier: A new collectible quality above Red. Existing Chroma collectibles move from Red to the new tier.
• New collectibles: Plasma Cutter, Neutron Detector and Queen Piece at Red quality, Nuclear Battery at Gold, and External Data Card at Purple.
• Inspection animations: Added for high-value items such as Round Sky and Square Earth, the Laptop, Renowned Kiln Porcelain and the Reactor Cooling Core.

Gear Tickets were also reshuffled. The Season Mission Custom Gear Ticket drops the MK4, K416 and Thompson from Option 1 in favor of the M14, M250 and SR-25, and swaps the ASh-12 for the PKM in Option 2. The Spec Ops tickets replace the ASh-12 with the AR-57 in Balanced, the SVCH with the MDR in Survival, and the MK4 with the SR-25 in Firepower, where the M700 loadout's sidearm also changes from the 93R to the MP5.

Three new achievements arrive as well. Genius Ratty asks for red collectibles filling at least 24 slots from unopened containers in a single Operations run followed by a successful extraction, with Dark Matter Fuel excluded. One More Can and Pro Hunter cover Warfare vehicle kills and Detonation performance.

New Warfare Map: Zenith Port

Zenith Port is a beach assault map. G.T.I. forces storm the port with fleet support, and the map's signature system is the Riptide event. A sustained barrage of guided missiles draws fire from the port's air defenses; intercepted missiles explode in the sea and produce huge waves that reshape the battlefield. The notes describe the result as an attack-and-defense experience that shifts toward rooftop tactics once the water rises.

Several systems are built specifically around this map. Amphibious vehicles and watercraft now rise and fall with the waves, a feature currently limited to Zenith Port. The map also debuts a preview of the new Verity audio mix, which improves gunfire, footsteps, explosions, ambient and spatial audio and can be toggled mid-match, plus exclusive urban-style vehicle music.

To make room, the Akh Canal map has been removed from Warfare. The Battle of Zenith Port event runs from November 10 to November 19 with milestone rewards including the Toro Scatenato tank appearance and Premium Weapon EXP Tokens.

Other Warfare Changes

• Thermobaric Bomb: A new Call-in Attack. A thrown beacon marks the target, the bomb penetrates every obstacle on its way down, creates a small lethal shockwave and releases combustible dust that detonates after a short delay for wide-area burn damage.
• Vehicle airdrop options: Points can now buy extra effects for an airdrop, currently including temporary active defense protection for certain vehicles as they land.
• Victory Unite: Attackers holding captured objectives earn bonus points for clearing out defenders who contest them. Players with fewer than six Victory Unite matches must confirm again when running for Commander, and mobile players now have to press a button to run.
• Immersive Mode on PC: Found under Settings, Screen, Warfare Mode, it hides most of the UI in Attack and Defend, King of the Hill and Victory Unite.
• Full Verity Mode on PC: Higher-quality rendering using Unreal Engine 5's Lumen global illumination, Nanite geometry, virtual shadow maps, water and vegetation.
• Urban grime on PC: Characters, weapons and vehicles gradually get dirtier as operators spend time in the area.
• Free Battlefield: The minimum player count to start drops from 20 to 2, and PC adds two spectator slots with free-camera broadcast tools.

Vehicle balance also shifted. TV-guided missiles can now be intercepted and destroyed mid-flight, wheeled tank destroyers keep relatively high speed after losing their engine, the UCB-95 assault boat's wire-guided missile flies more slowly, and the LAV-G1 IFV's missile lock-on area is narrower, though its maximum lock distance is unchanged. The Amphibious LSV's flamethrower heats and cools faster, and its variant modification cost drops from 5,000 to 4,000 points, with mortar and rocket launcher modifications and resupplies each 500 points cheaper. Transport helicopter pilots now earn 120 assist points, and disrupting an enemy vehicle with tactical gear now shows a score notification, grants an assist if the vehicle dies and alerts your side automatically.

Detonation Changes

Bomb defusal gets attention on several fronts. The map layout was reworked to reduce cramped spaces and awkward corners and to make rotating back to defend easier, and the Power Station zipline is now audible from a shorter distance. The purchase screen lets players buy a helmet or vest separately when the other is undamaged, durability for both is now displayed, and bomb planting, defusing and site indicators were all improved.

On the competitive side, Detonation now supports controllers, MandelBricks can drop in the mode with a weekly cap shared with Warfare, and Operator Profile missions count Detonation matches. Ranked matches at Legend and above are limited to solo or duo queues. Leaderboards now settle weekly with rewards, and players at Fiery Owl rank or higher earn fewer rank points for a win when queuing with a squadmate whose rank points differ by more than 600.

Perhaps the most significant combat change in the mode is a new bullet penetration mechanic: a single bullet can now pass through and damage multiple enemies, which raises the cost of stacking up in a single line through a doorway.

Weapon Balance Changes

Aurora splits weapon tuning by mode, so the same gun can move in different directions depending on where it is used.

All Modes

• MCX LT: Gunshot audibility range drops from 500m to 350m.
• SVCH Extended Mag: The reload time penalty is removed and the handling penalty improves from -6 to -4.

Operations

• K416: Damage rises from 31 to 32, and range falloff changes from 0.85x/0.7x at 27m/54m to 0.9x/0.7x at 27m/40m, so it hits harder up close but falls off sooner at long range.
• AR-57: Armor penetration goes from 31 to 32 and the arm damage multiplier from 0.4 to 0.5.
• AKM Performance Barrel Combo: Loses its range and muzzle velocity buff, and falloff ranges shrink from 42m/74m to 30m/45m. This is the biggest nerf in the mode for long-range AKM builds.
• Thompson Advanced Frame System: First-stage falloff multiplier drops from 0.85x to 0.8x.
• MCX LT Fierce Barrel: Abdomen damage multiplier rises from 0.9x to 1.0x.

Warfare

• Thompson: Headshot multiplier falls from 1.9x to 1.6x and second-stage falloff from 0.75x to 0.7x.
• Compound Bow: Reserve arrows drop from 30 to 16, and the calf damage multiplier from 0.9x to 0.7x.
• AUG 45-Round and MDR .308 Extended Mags: Handling penalties ease from -8 to -5 and from -12 to -4 respectively.

Detonation

• G17: Damage increases from 27 to 30.
• KC-17: Armor penetration drops from 48 to 44.
• 725, M870 and FS-12 shotguns: All three now fall off harder, from 0.9x/0.8x to 0.8x/0.7x at 10m/15m, and the 725's pellet damage drops from 18x8 to 16x8.

The three Haavk attachments arriving as limited-time items also deserve a mention. The PKM Bullpup Kit adds +16 accuracy and +12 handling and removes the trigger delay, the M250 Monolith Magazine also removes trigger delay, and the SR-25 HVK Binary Trigger Stock Kit adds a special firing mode at a steep accuracy cost. They are available from November 10 to November 17 through the Auction House or low-chance Large Weapon Crate drops in Operations, and through Armory missions in Warfare.

Operator Balance Changes

Operator tuning is extensive and again differs by mode, so it is worth checking each operator's in-game details for the mode you play. The most notable changes:

• Rover: Clover can now detect enemies by sound and leap at them from a distance, but Level 6 and higher ammo now deals double damage to Clover.
• Nox: Silent Assault lasts 25 seconds with one Nox on the squad but only 15 seconds with two or three, unless a multi-Nox squad is down to a single survivor.
• Desmoulins (Polaris Patrol): The Neural-Controlled Vehicle takes much more damage from low-penetration ammo, with Level 0 and 1 multipliers rising from 0.2x to 0.9x. Its remote range shrinks from 150m to 120m and the Seeker Bomb Vehicle lasts 10 seconds instead of 15.
• N-Two: Changes vary by mode. In one, the Cryo-Flask's duration drops from 10s to 7s; in another, its area damage rises from 4 to 7 HP per half second, its cooldown falls from 55s to 45s and the Homing Stun Grenade cooldown drops from 45s to 40s.
• Comms Guard (Polaris Patrol): Flares now have 1 HP instead of 50 and a larger hitbox, though their detection range grows slightly from 40m to 45m.

In Detonation, most utility operators get cheaper charge costs and longer effects. D-wolf's Motorized Exoskeleton lasts 25 seconds instead of 20, Raptor's charge cost drops from 6 to 4, Morse's Throwable Jammer radius grows from 7m to 10m, and Uluru's Loitering Munition has a bigger full-damage radius and a lower price. Pushing the other way, Stinger costs 300 instead of 250 and her self-healing lasts 15 seconds instead of 20, Hacklaw's Flash Drone loses range, Vlinder's rescue drones restore 50 HP instead of 100, and the GE2 frag grenades used by Luna and Shepherd have lower minimum damage and a larger warning icon range.

Phantom Blade Zero Collaboration and Season Events

Aurora launches alongside a Delta Force and Phantom Blade Zero collaboration with martial arts-themed cosmetics:

• Collab Legendary Gift (Nov 10 to Dec 3): Accumulate survival time in Operations, Warfare or Detonation to earn the free Legendary weapon appearance Seven-Star Sword - G3 plus Tactical Armament Vouchers.
• Phantom Blade Zero Collab (Nov 10 to Dec 10): Collab missions across modes unlock the Flaming Mane charm, a collab Calling Card, the Lion Dance avatar, a spray, an action and several duo and solo emotes.
• Collab Limited Red (through Jan 25): Bird Nests on every map can drop the collectible figurine Soul · Roaming Blade.

Other seasonal events include Find Sleepy Zoya, where briefcases can drop the Sleepy Zoya collectible until November 23, and the rarer Colorful Sleepy Zoya hidden edition from containers all season. Weekend Select runs on a Tuesday-to-Monday mission cycle and lets players swap Weekend Select Tokens for gear tickets, keycard copy packs and rotating weapon loadouts. The first Weekend Merit Boost, on November 14 and 15, doubles Merit for the first three Warfare Grade Matches.

Season Pass and Store

The Season Pass started with the November 10 update. Its major rewards include Martelo, a Gizmo appearance, the Lone Path MK47, Horoscope and Pulse Stalker weapon sets, a GTQ-35 tank appearance, Season Safe Boxes in 2x2 and 2x3 sizes, TurBricks and Delta Tickets. The top reward in the Special Supply Pack changes from the Robot Cleaner to the Prototype Fusion Power Unit.

New cosmetic systems this season include the MandelBrick - Proto Blade series, a refreshed TurBrick charm theme called Asgard with a hidden Fenrir charm, the Sanguine Lucky Draw with all rewards guaranteed within 90 draws, the year-long Raptor - Breath of Thunder operator research, and the White Serpent and Crimson Viper draw, which opens November 13. Two starter bundles are available for the season: Aurora Supplies at 0.99 USD with the RM277 - Fealty appearance and 60 Delta Coins, and Aurora Supplies - Advanced at 2.99 USD with the PSG-1 - Blocking Action appearance and 200 Delta Coins.

What to Prioritize in the First Week

The tightest deadlines this season are front-loaded. The Haavk attachments leave after November 17, the Battle of Zenith Port and Tekniq Alloy store end November 19, and the whole Brakkesh event cluster, including the Faction Badge event, closes November 26. Players who want the faction emblems and Brakkesh Token rewards should spend the early weeks in Operations on the reworked map.

For Warfare, Zenith Port is the obvious focus, both for its event rewards and to learn how the Riptide waves change routes and rooftop angles before the map settles into regular rotation. Detonation players should note that their ranks carry over, but stacked high-rank duos with large rank point gaps now earn less per win, and Legend-and-above queues no longer allow full squads.

Players eyeing Supercritical should start banking Tekniq Alloys now. The 600,000 entry value is steep, and the mode is not expected until December 18.

Frequently Asked Questions

What time did Delta Force Season Aurora release?

Season Aurora went live on November 10, 2026 at 02:00 UTC, which was 8:00 PM Central Time on November 9 in the US. It was a no-downtime update, but ranked play closed at 00:30 UTC and Operations, the Market and the Auction House shut at 01:59 UTC while the new version rolled out.

Is Season Aurora the same as Delta Force Season 12?

Yes. The official patch notes are titled S12 Version Patch Notes, and the new mission line is described as the Season 12 mission line.

How do I unlock Martelo in Delta Force?

Martelo is listed as a free unlock through the Aurora Season Pass. Her new-operator event runs from November 10 to December 10 and adds skill trial missions that reward Tactical Armament Vouchers and an exclusive Calling Card.

When does AZ3 Supercritical open?

Supercritical is expected to be available from December 18, 2026 to January 25, 2027. It requires Operations Level 30 and an entry value of 600,000 Tekniq Alloys, and it supports Polaris Patrol.

Was Akh Canal removed from Delta Force?

Yes. The Season 12 notes remove the Akh Canal map from Warfare, and the new Zenith Port map arrives in the same update.

Did my Season 11 progress and Safe Box access reset?

Season 11 mission progress was fully cleared, previous Ultimate Safe Box Season Access expired, and all Safe Box Trial Cards, used or unused, became invalid. Detonation ranks did not reset for now.

What do Loading Plans do?

Loading Plans, unlocked at Operations Level 35, let players set the exact order of rounds in a magazine, including the top rounds and a repeating middle pattern. Saved plans can be applied from the Loadout screen or switched mid-match through the radial menu.

How long will Season Aurora last?

No official end date has been announced. Several season-long events, including the Warfare Season Challenge and Weekend Select, end on January 25, 2027, which points to the season running until around that date.