How to level up fast in Black Ops Cold War

In the first week since Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War officially released, players will be antsy to get on their leveling grind and rank up as fast as possible. Fortunately, we’ve compiled the fastest ways to get your unlocks and Prestige progression going.

As Call of Duty fans are very conscious of, the level grind requires some work. That’s why things like Double XP tokens and weekends are so beloved among the community, because they smooth the bumpy road.

Still, aside from just putting in hours upon hours of gameplay in, there are ways to level up smartly and efficiently. But, of course, the most important aspect is to get good enough at the game that you’re accruing medals and bonus points at a better pace.

Here, we break down three of the best ways to rank up as quickly as possible in Black Ops Cold War. The game features the most thorough Prestige progression system in CoD history, so there’s miles of grinding left to enjoy after you max out your base unlocks.

Play the right Multiplayer modes

Just as players intuitively receive XP for securing kills, they earn bonus points when those kills are tied to a mode’s objective. In Multiplayer modes like Fireteam: Dirty Bomb and the three major objective modes (Domination, Hardpoint, and Control), there’s a lot of action and many opportunities to double up your leveling by earning more valuable kills.

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While you’ll get a base 50 XP for killing someone, those points increase exponentially when the fight is on an objective or when part of a kill streak. As such, players hoping to level up with the quickness should prioritize playing smartly on these sorts of modes instead of playing slower, less-busy modes like Free for All and SnD.

Weapon and camouflage challenges

CoD fans, particularly among the Black Ops player base, are very conscious of earning camos. While the Treyarch and Raven Software title has numerous weapon-specific challenges for accolades and camo unlocks, those also come with a ton of experience.

For example, if you hit 500 eliminations with the XM4 in multiplayer, you earn a Sharpshooter badge that comes with a bonus 5,000 XP. As you work through the early, easier challenges and camo unlocks, you’ll be able to earn a lot of XP relatively quickly. That slows down when you try and push for the harder unlocks, so don’t be afraid to keep switching your weapons and getting the fast XP out of the way first.

Party up on PlayStation

It might not feel fair to Xbox and PC players, but PlayStation users get a serious edge in the levelling department thanks to the console-specific XP boost. When you’re on a PS system, you get a 25-percent weapon XP boost when grouped with other players.

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This means you can level up much quicker than others as long as you’re willing to deal with other people and get that invite button going. 

Ultimately, all three options can give you a leg up when getting your rank grind going. But the most important element will always be your ability to play well and rank up all the bonuses that come with fat killstreaks.