Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes a huge change to weapon camos and "takes inspiration" from previous games: no more gun level requirements, saving a ton of time
The camo grind starts as soon as you pick up a gun
In a frankly terrifyingly long explanation of how weapon camo unlocks work in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and the updated Call of Duty Warzone-Zombies-Multiplayer universe, Activision confirmed that the Black Ops 6 camo grind will do away with weapon level requirements, letting players start progression on camo challenges from the get-go.
In a chunker of a blog post (which I find easiest to read on Battle.net), Activision explains the "epic grind to unlock Weapon Camos, including Mastery Camos for Multiplayer, Black Ops 6 Zombies, and for the first time, a dedicated Camo Challenge system for Call of Duty: Warzone." This post also has a ton of video embeds showing off the different camos, and the CoD sleuths at Modern Warzone stitched a few together in this handy clip:
BREAKING: Black Ops 6 Weapon camos will not have ANY weapon level requirements to begin unlocking them. 🎉This means you’ll be able to start earning camos from the moment you first start using a weapon instead or having to level it up to max first before starting the grind. pic.twitter.com/gT3i1hSQoOAugust 29, 2024
"Veterans of Black Ops should be happy to learn that the way many of the camos are unlocked takes inspiration from previous titles," the post reads. "Each Weapon’s Camo journey is broken up into three categories – featuring a mix of elements from traditional Black Ops Camo Systems of past as well as modern Camo Challenge elements seen in recent titles."
There are three types of weapon camos, each with specialized challenges attached. Here's the simplest breakdown I can manage:
- Military camos - nine "linear" military camo styles, for a total of 27 per weapon across all three games, "usually" progressed through headshot milestones. Launchers, knives, and shotguns have their own challenge type.
- Unique camos - after all nine military camos, take on two Unique challenges, per mode, for six total for each weapon. These can be completed in any order, and once finished, these camos "can be used with any other weapon" with nine complete military camos.
- Mastery camos - after finishing the military and unique lineup, take on four challenges for mastery camos – again, a total of 12 per weapon. "While we can’t reveal the unlock criteria yet, expect specific, and then general challenges incorporating unlocks across your weapon categories to unveil Mastery camos in all their unrivaled glory," Activision says.
There's more good news for level requirement haters, too. "Players will no longer need to unlock each Weapon’s Optic 'Node' as part of the Weapon Leveling journey," Activision said. "Instead, players will have access to the Optic Attachment Category from Weapon Level 1 and can immediately equip any of their favorite previously unlocked Class Optics when starting out with a new Weapon."
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Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.