Quick answer: The Third Warlord Tournament in Arena Breakout: Infinite runs October 29 – December 7, 2026 (UTC+0) during Season 7: Utopia. It is a squad-vs-squad ranked event where every team can see every other team's loadout, and you score on loot value, not just kills. Climb from Recruit to Warlord for free rewards: Tacti-Girl Charm Vouchers, 10 S7 Skin Supply Coupons, the Velocity Protocol Racing Suit, and the Warlord III badge, frame and background. Two rules are new: holding an Encrypted File multiplies your points, and picking up an enemy dog tag tells your squad that player is dead.
The Warlord Tournament is ABI's closest thing to a competitive ladder. Each raid is a small, high-value lobby where nobody can hide their kit. This is the third run of the event. The rules were changed after each of the first two, so a guide written for the spring edition is now partly wrong.
This guide covers the Third Warlord Tournament (Season 7) as described in Morefun's Oct. 27 (UTC+0) Live Update notes, published October 26, 2026. Where a detail has only been confirmed for an earlier edition, we label it.
What's covered:
- When is the Warlord Tournament and how long does it run?
- What are the Warlord Tournament ranks and rewards?
- How does Warlord Tournament scoring work?
- What changed in the Third Warlord Tournament?
- What do you need to enter?
- How do you climb faster?
When is the Arena Breakout: Infinite Warlord Tournament?
The third edition opens on October 29, 2026 and closes on December 7, 2026 (UTC+0). That gives you about 40 days to climb, almost two weeks longer than the Halloween events that start the same day.
Morefun's own one-line pitch from the patch notes: "With loadouts revealed and every move out in the open, the Third Warlord Tournament is here!"
The event's short history explains why the rules keep shifting:
| Edition | When it ran | Season | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Warlord Tournament | Apr 17 – May 14, 2026 | Season 5: Distortion | Debut: TV Station, 5-squad lobbies, ranked by loot value, all loadouts visible |
| Second Warlord Tournament | Returned Aug 13, 2026 (Kamona Summer Festival) | Season 6: White Nights | Stars from Team Rank and Personal Eliminations Rank, capped at 3 per raid; squad rank gap limit |
| Third Warlord Tournament | Oct 29 – Dec 7, 2026 | Season 7: Utopia | Encrypted File multiplier, dog-tag intel, Kill Leader mark |
Sources: the official Season 5 announcement (2026-04-02), the Season 6 Update Announcement (2026-06-29), the Kamona Summer Festival post (2026-08-07), the Season 7 Utopia patch notes (2026-09-15) and the Oct. 27 Live Update, all from the official Steam news feed.
What are the Warlord Tournament ranks and rewards?
The tournament has its own rank, separate from your normal season rank. A fresh account starts at Recruit IV, as in the official screenshot above from the second tournament. Each tier is split into numbered sub-ranks, and you climb by earning rating stars. Once you reach Warlord, stars keep counting, and the last two rewards sit at 15 and 30 Warlord stars.
These are the rank rewards for the third tournament, copied from the Oct. 27 notes:
| Rank reached | Third Warlord Tournament reward |
|---|---|
| Rookie | Tacti-Girl Charm Voucher ×5 |
| Ranger | S7 Skin Supply Coupon ×10 |
| Commander | Velocity Protocol Racing Suit |
| Warlord | Warlord III Badge |
| Warlord (15☆) | Warlord III Frame |
| Warlord (30☆) | Warlord III Background |
A naming note: the patch notes call the first reward tier "Rookie", but the in-client track for the second tournament labelled it "Reach Vanguard Rating". Treat them as the same first step above Recruit. If the label in your client differs, go by the client.
For comparison, the second tournament paid out a Demon Hunter Charm Voucher ×5, an S6 Skin Supply Coupon ×10, the Tournament Combat Suit, an S2 Warlord title and the Warlord II frame and background (visible in the screenshot above). The structure is unchanged. The cosmetics are new and season-stamped, so Warlord III items can only be earned this time.
What is the Warlord Trial and what are Warlord Challenge Tokens?
There is a second reward track alongside the rank track. Tournament-related missions pay out Warlord Challenge Tokens. You spend them in a companion event called the Warlord Trial. Morefun names an IND70 Tactical Helmet and the Limitless Gear Skin among the redeemables, and says you can get them "for free".
That's worth more than it sounds. The IND70 has been a headline reward since the first tournament's missions, and mission tokens don't depend on finishing first. A squad that never reaches Warlord can still leave with real gear, as long as it plays the missions.
How does Warlord Tournament scoring work?
This is the part most guides get wrong, because the rules changed between editions.
1. Your team is ranked on loot value. The original Season 5 rules say: "Once in the raid, points are awarded based on the total loot value of each team. The points and rankings of the top four teams are displayed in real-time." The first tournament was a 5-team lobby on TV Station, according to Morefun's Season 5 reveal ("A 5-team ranked battle by loot value").
2. The peak counts, not the final total. From the second tournament onward, "points are calculated based on the highest total loot value the team accumulated during the raid". The Summer Festival post adds that "teammate deaths won't affect rankings." In practice, losing a squadmate late doesn't wipe out the value your team already reached.
3. Rank is settled when the raid ends, not when you extract. Players keep getting caught out by this. One player on r/ArenaBreakoutInfinite explained: "U get the rank points after the match is over, not after extracting. If sum guy stays inside and loots up scav ammo and stuff and surpasses your value, ur getting close to no points." (Arena Breakout: Infinite has no "scavs" — its AI enemies are Militants — but the point stands.) Extracting early with a lead doesn't lock in first place. A team still inside can pass you.
4. Stars come from two places, capped at 3. Since Season 6, the stars from one raid are "based on both Team Rank and Personal Eliminations Rank, with the total stars earned from both parts in a single raid still capped at 3" (Season 6 announcement). A player with lots of kills on a mid-table team can still score well. Nobody can jump more than 3 stars in one raid, though.
Community breakdowns of the second tournament report the split as roughly +3 / +1 / 0 / −1 / −1 rank points for team placements 1st to 5th, plus +2 / +1 / +1 for the top three operators by eliminations. Morefun has not published that table itself, so treat it as a guide, not a rule. The official parts are the 3-star cap and the fact that a bottom finish can cost you points.
5. Your squad has to be close in rank. Since Season 6, "matchmaking cannot start if the rank gap between squad members exceeds 2 major ranks." A Warlord can't carry a Recruit friend into the same lobby.
What changed in the Third Warlord Tournament?
Season 7 brought three changes. All three are about information.
Encrypted Files now multiply your score
From the Oct. 27 notes: "Teams that obtain and hold an Encrypted File will receive a dynamic multiplier bonus to their base points. If a squad member carrying an Encrypted File extracts successfully, the multiplier bonus will remain active."
The Season 7 announcement put a number on it: Encrypted Files "can provide a 1.5× points bonus, giving teams who have fallen behind temporarily a chance to mount a comeback." The live notes say "dynamic", so the exact multiplier may vary. Don't count on exactly 1.5×.
The catch is in the Season 7 patch notes: "A global broadcast will occur when an encrypted file is acquired, and other squads can view it in the raid details panel." Picking up the file tells the whole lobby. So the best plan is often to pick it up and get the carrier out quickly. The bonus stays after they extract, so you don't have to keep them alive for the rest of the raid.
Dog tags now give your squad intel
"When you inspect or pick up an enemy dog tag, all allied squad members will be notified of its owner's defeat. The raid details panel will also be updated with this intel."
In a 5-squad lobby, knowing a rival team is down to one player is enough to decide whether to push. It's a small rule that matters most for squads who check the raid details panel and talk on voice.
Kill Leader mark and better battle records
Season 7 also added a Kill Leader mark. You can now see star changes for each raid and the raid's Kill Leader in your Battle Record, and you can rebind the button that opens or closes raid details in Settings. The Battle Record is the fastest way to work out why a raid lost you stars.
What do you need to enter the Warlord Tournament?
This is where we have to be careful, because Morefun has not printed entry requirements for the third tournament in the Oct. 27 notes.
What's confirmed for an earlier edition: when the first tournament went live in April 2026, the official Arena Breakout: Infinite account on X posted the entry as "400K Min. Gear / 50K Ticket". That means a loadout worth at least 400,000 Koen, plus a 50,000 Koen fee per raid.
What's reported by community guides for the second tournament: you also needed a season rank of Ace V or higher and a total stash value of 40 million Koen. This isn't in an official Steam post, so check the event screen before you plan around it.
Season 7's mode-based gear caps (Normal: T4 and below, Lockdown: T5 and below) apply to normal Tactical Ops zones. The Warlord Tournament is a separate event mode, so check its own entry screen rather than assuming those caps. Our Lockdown vs Forbidden Zone guide covers how the regular zone floors and caps work in Season 7.
How do you climb the Warlord Tournament faster?
These follow from the official rules above. Nothing here relies on guesswork about hidden numbers.
- Read the loadout screen before the raid. Every squad's starting kit is visible before and during the raid (player names are hidden). Pick your targets and routes based on which teams are lightly armored and which are stacked. Use our Season 7 armor guide to read their armor at a glance.
- Value per slot beats volume. You're ranked on loot value, so fill your bags with high-value items, not cheap filler. Our Koen farming guide lists which loot is actually worth carrying.
- Grab the Encrypted File, then get the carrier out. The bonus survives extraction, and the global broadcast makes the carrier a target.
- Don't extract early with a small lead. Rank is settled at raid end on the peak value. If a rival is still inside and close behind, staying to add value or to fight can be worth more than leaving.
- Kills count, but only up to the cap. A high-elimination game on a mid-table team still earns stars, but no raid pays more than 3. Fights that cost your team the top spot are rarely worth it.
- Use dog tags for intel. Pick up or inspect every tag you can safely reach. Your squad sees the update, and the raid details panel shows which teams are thinned out.
- Queue with players near your rank. You can't start with a gap of more than two major ranks, so sort your squad out before the last week.
- Play the missions even if you'll never hit Warlord. Challenge Tokens buy the IND70 helmet in the Warlord Trial whatever your rank.
A warning about "boost" and Koen pages
Search for this event and most of the top results are Koen sellers and carry services telling you to buy currency to meet the entry requirements. Don't. Morefun deleted the Koen purchase system at 1.0 (September 2025) and runs a stated 0% tolerance policy that punishes buyers as well as sellers. Penalties include confiscating the Koen, lowering your Merit Score, and escalating bans. Its fortnightly ban notice for 13–26 July 2026 alone listed 2,133 Koen confiscations and 1,217 ten-year bans. Our pay-to-win explainer has the full context, and the negative-behavior ban guide covers what else gets accounts punished in Season 7.
FAQ
When does the Arena Breakout: Infinite Warlord Tournament end? The Third Warlord Tournament runs October 29 – December 7, 2026 (UTC+0). It starts the same day as Mysterious Pumpkin Night but ends almost two weeks after the Halloween events close on November 25.
What rank do you start at in the Warlord Tournament? A new player starts at Recruit IV on a tournament rank that is separate from your normal season rank. You then climb through tiers that include Rookie (shown as Vanguard in the second tournament's client), Ranger and Commander to Warlord, where stars keep counting up to the 15★ and 30★ rewards.
Do you get Warlord Tournament points when you extract? No. Rank is settled when the raid ends, using the highest loot value your team reached. A team that stays in the raid can pass you after you leave, so a small lead isn't safe.
How many stars can you earn per Warlord Tournament raid? Three at most. Stars come from your team's placement and your personal eliminations rank, and Morefun caps the total at 3 per raid.
Is the Warlord Tournament free? The rewards are free, but entry isn't. In April 2026 the official account listed a 400,000 Koen minimum gear value and a 50,000 Koen ticket per raid. Check the in-game event screen for the third tournament's exact requirements.
Can you get the IND70 helmet from the Warlord Tournament? Yes. Tournament missions pay out Warlord Challenge Tokens, which you can spend in the Warlord Trial event on an IND70 Tactical Helmet, the Limitless Gear Skin and other items, whatever your rank.
More Arena Breakout: Infinite guides
- Halloween 2026: Mysterious Pumpkin Night
- Season 7 Utopia: Everything New
- Lockdown vs Forbidden Zone
- How to Make Koen Fast
Applies to: Season 7: Utopia, Third Warlord Tournament (Oct. 29 – Dec. 7, 2026, UTC+0). Sources: official Oct. 27 (UTC+0) Live Update notes (Arena Breakout: Infinite Team, Oct 26, 2026); official Steam announcements for app 2073620 — "ARENA BREAKOUT: INFINITE ANNOUNCES SEASON 5: DISTORTION RELEASING APRIL 2" (2026-03-20), "Season 5: Distortion is here!" (2026-04-02), "Season 6 Update Announcement" (2026-06-29), "KAMONA SUMMER FESTIVAL" (2026-08-07), "Season 7 UTOPIA Arrives with Massive Rewards!" (2026-09-15); official Arena Breakout: Infinite X post (April 2026) for the first tournament's entry costs. Community-reported figures are labelled as such. Last checked October 28, 2026.
