Black Ops Cold War makes major changes to create-a-class & scorestreaks

Calum Patterson
Scorestreaks in Black Ops Cold War

The loadout and Scorestreak system in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is undergoing a major revamp, with a mix of new and old systems creating something totally new.

Black Ops Cold War is Treyarch’s latest entry in the CoD franchise, and they have to follow up to Infinity Ward’s incredibly successful Modern Warfare.

Treyarch have often been praised for their innovation of game systems, pioneering the pick-10 class system which returns in the new game – sort of.

Cod Cold War campaign
Create-a-class has been revamped for Black Ops Cold War.

Create-a-class/Loadouts in Black Ops Cold War

This year, the create-a-class is a mix of the Pick 10 formula and the system from Modern Warfare. Players will be able to customize their classes in an entirely new way.

As always, you can choose a Primary, Secondary, 1x Tactical, 1x Lethal, 1x Field Upgrade, 3x Perks, and a Wild Card. Gunsmith also returns however, as popularized in Modern Warfare, giving complete customization options for weapons.

For each weapon, there are seven attachment slots. You will unlock attachments just like how it is done in MW – by ranking the progression level on that specific weapon. Of these seven slots, you can use five of them to apply attachments.

Attachments

  • Optic
  • Muzzle 
  • Barrel 
  • Under-barrel 
  • Body 
  • Stock
  • Magazine
  • Handle 
Black Ops Cold War gunsmith
The Gunsmith returns in Black Ops Cold War

But, things get a bit more complicated when Wildcards are involved. So far, there are four Wildcards in the current build:

Wildcards

  • Danger Close – Equip extra lethal and tactical equipment, and start with max ammo 
  • Law Breaker – Equip any weapon in either slot and equip any perks 
  • Gunfighter – Unlocks 3 additional attachments slots of your primary weapon 
  • Perk Greed – Equip 3 extra perks 

As you can see, these are incredibly powerful bonuses to your loadout, and picking which one makes most sense for your class will be crucial.

Field Upgrades also return, which can be selected on classes – read more about them here in our full multiplayer breakdown.

Scorestreaks in Black Ops Cold War

Scorestreaks, rather than killstreaks, make their return in the new game, but, yet again, with a twist on the old formula. Here, Scorestreaks do not reset upon death. This has actually been seen before, in Modern Warfare 3 (if players used support streaks), but never in a Treyarch game.

“A dynamic and rewarding Scorestreak System means score is no longer lost on death, and you’ll earn score multipliers for stringing together multiple kills in the same life,” Treyarch explains.

Choppers in Black Ops Cold War
Scorestreaks won’t reset on death in Black Ops Cold War.

But, that doesn’t mean there is no consequence for dying. The more score you get during a single life, the faster you will earn streaks. Your ‘Chain Score’ is displayed on the HUD, which shows the bonus for getting multiple kills. As well as kills, objective work, assists and every other method of getting score will contribute.

Scorestreaks have a cooldown time, which should alleviate ‘spamming’ of too many streaks as players are able to earn them over a match. The cooldown length varies for every streak.

For everything else you need to know about multiplayer in Black Ops Cold War, check out our full breakdown here.

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About The Author

Calum is Dexerto's Managing Editor, based in Scotland. Joining Dexerto in 2017, Calum has years of experience covering esports, gaming and online entertainment, and now leads the team to deliver the best coverage in these areas. An expert on all things Twitch and gaming influencers, he's also an expert in popular shooters like Apex Legends, CS2 and Call of Duty. You can contact Calum at calum.patterson@dexerto.com.