CoD Vanguard: Map Guide for Desert Siege

Desert Siege is one of the most visually stunning maps in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Here is our map guide, including a few tips and tricks to get you started...

Vanguard Maps Desert Siege
Vanguard's Desert Siege map is pretty awesome! | © Activision

Desert Siege is a medium-sized multiplayer map that released with Call of Duty: Vanguard's launch on November 5. It was originally designed for 6v6 matches in standard multiplayer modes, though it is also available at multiple combat pacing's. Set at the source of the Suez Canal, Desert Siege is a gloriously beautiful, relatively large, and intense battleground that's certainly worth checking out if you haven't already. Check out Desert Siege's map description:

The culmination of the North Africa campaign — right at the source of the Suez Canal access, railways, and oil fields — plays out across the desert. This large-sized map has natural cover via sand dunes and rock formations.

Set in North Africa, Desert Siege centers around a number of large castle-like buildings that sit forebodingly over the rest of the map. It's insanely impressive graphically, with dust and sand whipping up as you race across the map, engaging in combat on one of Vanguard's most impressive, but most poorly designed, maps. There's a lot to love here, but there's also a lot to be frustrated with. Thus, without further a-do, here is our Desert Siege Map Guide!

Vanguard Desert Siege Map Guide: The Map

Desert Siege is another asymmetrical map, centering around a number of castle-like buildings in a North African desert. It's spectacular to look at, and a whole lot of fun, but despite the various buildings present on the map, don't expect a lot of verticality when it comes to active play. This verticality problem is especially harsh in Desert Siege, though, as it does give off the illusion of it featuring high buildings, whilst not actually allowing you to reach those higher locations. The lowlands are very nicely designed, though, despite there being no specific focal point. Check out the Desert Siege Mini-Map:

Vanguard Desert Siege Minimap
Check out Desert Siege's Mini-Map from Call of Duty: Vanguard! | © Activision

Vanguard Desert Siege Map Guide: Gameplay Overview & Tactics

This bombed-out North African town is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to gameplay, despite being one of the best-looking maps in Vanguard. Generally, we're pretty happy with how it plays, but the lack of verticality we mentioned previous is, admittedly, a pretty major sticking point for us. In addition, we find that the destruction featured in Desert Siege is also pretty minimal, with only some very minor aesthetic changes really occurring over the course of a match.

Other than this, however, we recommend focusing on the main structure with the parapet. This building becomes a bit of a sticking point and a bit of a power position, especially during standard matches in Team Deathmatch and the likes. Overall, Desert Siege is certainly better designed for something like Search and Destroy, Patrol, or Domination. When it comes to these modes, there's a lot to love here.

Check out our gameplay first impressions of Call of Duty: Vanguard's Desert Siege Map:

As with most larger maps in Call of Duty: Vanguard, we do recommend a more active but also longer-ranged loadout. You don't need much in the way of lethals here, though, with more of a focus on smoke grenades and the like. Make sure you are utilizing something like a DMR and a Sniper, and maybe pair that with a nice ol' SMG to give you a bit of firepower in the limited indoor spaces available on Desert Siege.

Evan Williams

Australian gamer, musician, and journalist at EarlyGame. Currently living in Germany so no, I don't ride a Kangaroo to work. I am currently hard at work making our CoD and Rocket League pages the best on the internet. Lofty ambitions,...