Battlefield 6 Winter Offensive: Free Ice Axe, Frozen Empire State & REDSEC Modes Explained

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Written By Sticks

❄️ Battlefield 6 & REDSEC Season 1 Winter Offensive Update — Ice, Axes, and Chill Kills

Published December 9, 2025

New York is frozen, Pax Armata is moving in the shadows, and REDSEC squads just got a whole new way to get violent up close. Battlefield 6 and the free-to-play REDSEC experience have kicked off the Winter Offensive update, bringing a frozen Empire State map variant, a free functional melee weapon, limited-time modes, and fresh progression paths to grind.

Battlefield 6 Winter Offensive Empire State Ice Lock

Winter Offensive deployed on December 9 at 4 a.m. PT (12 p.m. UTC) as a required update for both Battlefield 6 and REDSEC.

📌 Table of Contents

❄️ Winter Offensive Limited Event (BF6 + REDSEC)

Winter Offensive is a limited-time event that lives in its own section of the Play menu, right alongside Multiplayer and the free-to-play REDSEC experience. It’s the capstone for Season 1 and ties together new challenges, rewards, and a full visual refresh for Empire State.

This update (Patch 1.1.3.0) also quietly does a lot under the hood: improvements to soldier clarity, weapon reliability, vehicle behavior, audio consistency, and overall gameplay flow. So even if you don’t care about snow vibes, the game should feel better across the board.

🎁 Winter Offensive Bonus Path & Rewards

The Winter Offensive Limited Event comes with its own Bonus Path, themed around the California Resistance, that you level up separately from the standard Season 1 Battle Pass.

You earn Bonus Path Points in two ways:

  • Weekly Challenges that specifically reward Bonus Path Points
  • Winter Offensive Event Challenges tied to the new modes and map variants

Each tier on the Bonus Path costs 10 Bonus Path Points, with 11 tiers total (so 110 points to finish it). You don’t have to choose between this and your Battle Pass — everything progresses side by side.

Bonus Path Tier Highlights

Some standout rewards along the way:

  • Tier 1 – Ice Age (Weapon Sticker, Free)
  • Tier 3 – Career XP Boost (Free)
  • Tier 5 – Predator’s Gleam (Vehicle Decal, Free)
  • Tier 7 – Winter Unity (Uniform Patch, Free)
  • Tier 9 – Isbjørn (Playercard Background, Free)
  • Tier 10 – Solstice (Weapon Package, Premium)
  • Tier 11 – Ice Climbing Axe – Functional base melee weapon (Free)

Premium tiers require the Season 1 Battle Pass, but the important part here is that the Ice Climbing Axe itself is a free functional unlock if you finish the path.

🪓 Free Functional Melee Weapon — Ice Climbing Axe (BF6 & REDSEC)

The star of Winter Offensive is the Ice Climbing Axe, a new melee weapon you can use in both Battlefield 6 and REDSEC.

Compared to the Sledgehammer, Combat Knife, and Gecko’s campaign blade, this thing is built to make someone’s blood run cold. It comes with new takedown animations, which means new ways to embarrass enemy operators and snag Dog Tags — including the devs.

How to unlock: Reach Tier 11 in the Winter Offensive Bonus Path. No Battle Pass purchase required for the Axe itself.

🔫 Season 1 Challenge Update — DB-12 Shotgun

Season 1’s Assignment set — the same one that hands out free attachments and the M357 Trait Sidearm — is getting one last challenge added on top.

If you missed the DB-12 Shotgun during the California Resistance limited-time path, you can now unlock it through a final Season 1 challenge instead of being permanently locked out. This is basically DICE saying, “Okay, fine, you can have it. But you’re going to work for it.”

💎 BF Pro Bonus Path In-Season (BF6 / REDSEC)

Before Season 1 wraps, BF Pro owners are getting their own exclusive Bonus Path with:

  • Two additional Weapon Packages
  • Hardware XP Boosts
  • A brand new Soldier Skin

Like the Winter Offensive path, this has its own challenges and point track, so you can grind all three in parallel: Season 1 Battle Pass, Winter Offensive path, and the BF Pro path.

🏙️ Ice Lock Empire State — Frozen Brooklyn for BF6 & REDSEC

Brooklyn is officially below zero. Ice Lock Empire State is a limited-time visual overhaul of the Empire State map — snowdrifts, frosted streets, and a full winter coat over the warzone.

There are no slippery ice physics or cartoon sliding here. The goal is to reinforce the Winter Offensive story and give a fresh backdrop for the new events in both Battlefield 6 and REDSEC.

Lore Tease: REDSEC squads in New York are starting to uncover the truth behind those heavily armed SCIFs. All signs point back to Pax Armata — and Winter Offensive feels like the calm before they make their next big move on U.S. soil.

🌡️ Ice Lock Event & Freeze Mechanic (Battlefield 6)

Ice Lock isn’t just a reskin. In Battlefield 6 Multiplayer, special versions of Conquest and Domination come with a new Freeze mechanic layered on top.

Here’s how Freeze works:

  • Most of the combat zone (outside of HQs) is sub-zero.
  • Your soldier’s core temperature is tracked on the HUD.
  • At 100% Freeze, you take damage over time down to a critical health state (35%).
  • At full Freeze, you lose passive regen and most healing options until you warm up.

How to fight the cold:

  • Sprint to slow Freeze buildup.
  • Use an Adrenaline Injector to push through.
  • Find heat zones on the map to thaw out completely.
  • Create your own heat using Incendiary gadgets and effects — friendly or enemy.

This turns objective play into a resource puzzle. Do you push that final point while your team is frosting over, or pull back to heat zones and re-engage? Squads that plan their gadgets and routes will absolutely cook here.

⚔️ Ice Lock Gauntlet — Limited-Time Mode (REDSEC)

Gauntlet in REDSEC also gets a Winter Offensive twist. Instead of running on Fort Lyndon, Ice Lock Gauntlet takes place on the frozen Empire State map.

Each match features a locked set of three missions:

  • Deadlock
  • Extraction
  • Wreckage

Master all three in one run and your squad walks away with more than just bragging rights. If you’re new to Gauntlet or still figuring out how it flows, start here:

🛠️ Portal Updates — Freeze Anywhere

Portal creators get some new toys to play with in Winter Offensive:

  • Ice Lock Empire State added as a map option
  • The Freeze mechanic is usable in custom experiences
  • Support for more advanced Gauntlet-style experiences through Verified tools

If you’ve ever wanted to make Cairo feel like a Blizzard-sponsored LAN event, you can now drop Freeze and heat zones into your custom modes and watch everyone panic.

🎮 REDSEC Is Free-To-Play — Here’s Where to Start

Battlefield REDSEC is completely free-to-play and shares progression with Battlefield 6, which means anything you unlock in REDSEC carries over if you decide to buy the full game later.

Before you drop into Fort Lyndon or start climbing the Ice Lock Gauntlet ladder, grab our guides:

🛒 Thinking About Buying Battlefield 6?

Quick breakdown so you don’t have to dig through marketing pages:

  • Standard Edition – Base game only. You get access to Multiplayer, Campaign (if available), and the core live service content.
  • Phantom Edition – Includes the base game plus a BF Pro Token, Phantom Squad Soldier Skins, Weapon Packages, a deluxe XP Boost, and more cosmetic & progression perks.
  • BF Pro (Season Upgrade) – 25 Tier Skips on top of the Battle Pass, six instant unlocks, access to host a 100-player persistent Portal server, an exclusive Bonus Path, and other premium account buffs.

If you’re just curious about Battlefield 6, the Standard Edition plus the free REDSEC experience is enough to see if it clicks. If you’re deep in REDSEC, sweating Portal builds, and grinding events like Winter Offensive? BF Pro is built for you.

❓ Battlefield 6 & REDSEC Winter Offensive – FAQ

When does the Winter Offensive update start?

Winter Offensive deployed on December 9, 2025 at 4 a.m. PT (12 p.m. UTC) as part of Patch 1.1.3.0.

How do I unlock the Ice Climbing Axe?

You unlock the Ice Climbing Axe by completing Tier 11 of the Winter Offensive Bonus Path. You earn Bonus Path Points from specific Weekly Challenges and Winter Offensive Event Challenges.

Is the Ice Climbing Axe usable in REDSEC?

Yes. The Ice Climbing Axe is a free functional melee weapon usable in both Battlefield 6 and REDSEC.

Can I still unlock the DB-12 Shotgun if I missed California Resistance?

Yes. A final Season 1 challenge has been added to the Assignment set that lets you unlock the DB-12 Shotgun if you missed it during the California Resistance Bonus Path.

Is REDSEC free to play?

Yes. REDSEC is fully free-to-play with shared progression into Battlefield 6. You can try REDSEC and use its unlocks even before buying the full game.

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