Weapon customization is at the heart of the Call of Duty: Warzone experience, and following the integrations of Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, you have even more firearms at your disposal — over 150 as of September 2022. Each weapon has a laundry list of attachments that can be unlocked by earning Weapon XP, but if you're a new player or someone who just wants to make progress quickly, it can be tough to level up your guns — especially if you only own Warzone. Some weapons are hard to use, and that's even more true for firearms with no attachments (or the wrong attachments), making it challenging to actually gain progression with them.
Luckily, there are a few methods to leveling up your Warzone weapons quickly, and in this guide, we'll highlight the best ones. Keep in mind that you can earn Weapon XP by playing Warzone itself or the game that corresponds to a certain gun since progression carries over across Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard, and Warzone, following the integration of all games. But don't worry, there are methods to earning Weapon XP if you just have Warzone as well, and many players fall into this camp since the game is free.
With that in mind, here's how to level up your weapons fast in Call of Duty: Warzone.
In Modern Warfare
You can earn weapon XP for Modern Warfare guns by playing that specific game. You can only level up Modern Warfare weapons by using the following methods, but since the Warzone meta has shifted away from these firearms, you might not need to worry about owning a copy of the 2019 game. Nonetheless, here are a couple of methods you can use.
Step 1: Co-op Survival missions: The easiest method to level up your weapons if you own a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is to play the cooperative Survival missions online. This isn't necessarily the fastest method, but it's certainly the easiest since the mode only features AI as your enemy. You can play this mode to rack up kills and complete challenges that pertain to a specific weapon, which grants you Weapon XP. Use this method for slower but more consistent XP within the Modern Warfare suite of modes.
Do note that Survival mode is now available across all platforms, following a timed exclusivity deal with PlayStation.
Step 2: Multiplayer matches on Shipment or Shoot House (Shoot the Ship playlist): The other more skill-dependent method to earning Weapon XP in Warzone (through Modern Warfare) is to play the various Shoot the Ship playlists within the multiplayer mode. These playlists feature a rotation of match types on the Shipment and Shoot House maps — both of which are small and usually result in high-kill matches. Depending on the mode and your skill level, you can earn over 50 kills per match, which is a fantastic source of Weapon XP.
In Black Ops Cold War
Play Fireteam: Dirty Bomb: If you own Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and want to level up those weapons, the best way to do so is to play Fireteam: Dirty Bomb. This mode is somewhat of a hybrid of Warzone's battle royale, with a twist. Weapon progression is simply faster in this mode than in any other multiplayer mode in the game, including Zombies and even Search & Destroy. While playing Dirty Bomb, we advise going for the objective and to sit near a high-traffic area to rack up lots of kills. It's unclear how exactly the progression compares to the traditional multiplayer modes, but it has been proven that you earn more Weapon XP from Dirty Bomb than any of Cold War's other modes.
You can, of course, play other multiplayer modes like Nuketown 24/7, but Dirty Bomb will be your best bet.
As a reminder, this method only works for leveling Cold War weapons.
In Vanguard
With the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard, you'll have a new set of WWII weapons to level up. While you can certainly use them in Warzone to earn more attachments, playing Vanguard itself will yield great results as well.
Play Das Haus or Shipment: By far, the easiest and fastest way to level up weapons within Vanguard is to play whichever playlist offers the Das Haus or Shipment maps. Both of them are small and chaotic, meaning you'll likely rack up a ton of kills each match. Shipment is technically better since it's smaller, but Das Haus is effective as well. Make sure you figure out a strategy that works well for a particular weapon. For instance, if you want to level up a sniper, it's a good idea to sit back in your spawn while looking down one of the three lanes on either map. On the flip side, SMGs or shotguns are best used by running into the enemy's spawn for easy eliminations.
In Warzone
Leveling up your weapons in Warzone will likely be the best choice since it's a free-to-play game, while the other titles are not. In addition, if you play your cards right, you can actually level up weapons faster in Warzone than any other game anyway, but it takes some preparation to set up efficiently.
The fastest, most consistent method is to complete Contracts throughout Rebirth Island or Fortune's Keep. Here, you get to continuously respawn as long as one of your teammates is alive, making it much more effective than playing standard Battle Royale. The other thing is that Contracts are often close together since the maps are smaller, which makes the process go by quickly. Here's how it works.
Step 1: Complete Contracts on Rebirth Island: Before you even boot up a match, have you and your other squadmates equip the Pointman perk. The description for this perk reads: "All members of your team earn more money from completed missions." But what it doesn't tell you is that it also provides you with bonus weapon XP upon completing Contracts, and it stacks for each member of your team. In other words, if all four squad members have this perk equipped, you'll earn far more XP than if only one person equips the Pointman perk. This can also be done on the Fortune's Keep map, but keep in mind, Rebirth is smaller, making it easier to complete Contracts quickly.
Step 2: Boot up a match on Rebirth Island or Fortune's Keep and bring your loadout with the weapon you'd like to level up, along with the Pointman perk equipped.
Step 3: Start the match normally and do your best to acquire enough money for a Loadout Drop. Completing Contracts is a great way to earn cash quickly and will benefit you during later steps. Make sure you equip the loadout with the Pointman perk.
Step 4: From here, go around the map and complete Contracts as quickly as possible. We highly recommend going for Supply Runs and Scavengers, as they can quickly be finished, especially with the help of multiple teammates.
Step 5: Rinse and repeat this process until there are no more Contracts on the map. Remember, you get a multiplier for each Contract completed, so it pays to finish as many as possible.
Step 6: It's also recommended to utilize any Weapon XP tokens you might have. A recent update allows players to use XP tokens mid-match, giving you more mileage for each one you use. On top of that, we advise utilizing the Surplus Perk for all Vanguard weapons, which grants more XP for eliminations.
If Rebirth Island isn't available, then utilize a similar method on Fortune's Keep. This map is larger than Rebirth, but the premise remains the same. To speed things up, we advise sticking to Supply Run Contracts only and using a helicopter or other vehicle. Have your teammates drop from the vehicle to quickly complete the Contract before starting up another one. You'll likely run into other players who will attempt to take you out, but if you're fast, you should be able to get in and out with few issues. You can also utilize the same method in Plunder, but since Caldera is so massive, this strategy isn't very effective.
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