Modern Warfare III: Leveling Up
Earn Player XP and level up through playing Multiplayer and Zombies to unlock new features, base weapons, Perks, Field Upgrades, Killstreaks, and more. Discover the multiple ways you can earn Player XP and the types of rewards you’ll unlock on your journey through Military Ranks 1–55.
Prebrief
Leveling up is one of the most important aspects of playing Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare III®. At launch and throughout the pre-season, players will progress through Military Ranks 1–55, unlocking important features and items throughout, including new base weapons, Field Upgrades, Perks, Killstreaks, and more.
Intel Card — Leveling Up
// INTEL CARD
- MWIII
- WZ
- WZM
Leveling Up
// MULTIPLAYER // TRAINING
Expand your arsenal: Gaining Player XP is the key to expanding your arsenal. Something new is unlocked at every level up, including new weapons, Perks, Field Upgrades, Equipment, Killstreaks, and more.
Complete your challenges: From Daily and Weekly Challenges to Calling Card Challenges and more, there is a wide array of objectives to pursue that award Player XP on completion. Pursue them to level up fast.
Play anywhere: Whether you’re fighting enemy Operators in Multiplayer or teaming up to take on the horde in Zombies, the XP you earn in these modes funnels into the same leveling up system, so play what you want and reap the rewards.
From the COD HQ or within Modern Warfare III, select the Progression tile to view the various unlocks you will earn across Multiplayer and Zombies, as well as the Player XP required to reach those levels. Read on for a deeper look at how Player XP works, ways in which to earn it faster, and how it compares to other XP systems regarding weapons and the Battle Pass.
Progression Basics
Across Multiplayer and Zombies, your main progression journey begins in the Military Ranks, including levels 1–55.
Veterans are familiar with this traditional leveling system — for those who are not, your actions across both modes earn Player XP, which ultimately unlocks the following items, among others:
- Additional default Loadouts
- New features like the ability to customize Multiplayer Loadouts (Level 4) and access to Armory Unlock Challenges (Level 25)
- New Base Weapons
- Lethal and Tactical Equipment
- Perks, Field Upgrades, and Killstreaks
As you progress toward Rank 55, you will incrementally unlock and eventually access all the base features available at Launch with no need to unlock any of them again. At Rank 55, you will gain access to Gun Unlock Challenges, allowing you to earn all of the Modern Warfare II weapons you have not yet unlocked for use in Modern Warfare III.
Within the Progression menu, follow the button prompts to swap between the rewards you will earn in Multiplayer for each level up as well as the rewards you will earn in Zombies.
Earning XP
If in doubt, just jump into a match, Multiplayer or Zombies. You will earn Player XP for all kinds of actions, including landing eliminations, capturing objectives, completing matches — winning awards a greater amount of XP — and dozens of other in-match activities. Be active in the match and pursue the objective at hand using the breadth of your Loadout, and the XP will start rolling in.
Challenges
To further assist you through the Military Ranks (and beyond, during each Season), Modern Warfare III includes a variety of Challenge systems.
All are great sources of Player XP: for example, Daily Challenges give thousands of XP every 24 hours, and Career Challenges set up milestones to work toward throughout your experience in Modern Warfare III, Modern Warfare Zombies and Call of Duty: WarzoneTM, granting XP and Calling Cards, upon completion.
Daily Challenges (MP, MWZ)
Available in Multiplayer and Modern Warfare Zombies, as well as in Call of Duty: Warzone at its launch, Daily Challenges are a set of three challenges that reset on a fixed schedule — see the in-game timer for details.
In Multiplayer, the three Daily Challenges are from three distinct categories:
- A general challenge that may not require much change in playstyle (e.g., get 7 headshots).
- A weapon challenge that focuses on a specific weapon category (e.g., get 5 headshots with Assault Rifles)
- A special challenge that encourages exploration with specific conditions, Equipment, or Field Upgrades, (e.g., provide Ammo Resupplies to 5 players).
Career Challenges
In addition to Daily Challenges, there is an assortment of Multiplayer and Modern Warfare Zombies Career Challenges at launch.
Some of these, such as match wins and kills, will come naturally by simply playing the game. Others, such as earning kills with a specific weapon category or the use of Equipment may involve changing your playstyle.
Career Challenges have several milestone steps, which award XP. You can even continue pushing to fully complete a Career Challenge, which offers additional XP and a Calling Card.
Once Season 01 and beyond are live, expect there to be additional challenges unlocked at Prestige Level milestones that offer more difficult objectives and XP rewards.
Weekly Challenges and Armory Unlock Challenges (MP, MWZ)
Weekly Challenges
Every week during a season, a new set of challenges will be available. At launch, there are 7 Multiplayer and 7 Modern Warfare Zombies Weekly Challenges available every week, and Call of Duty: Warzone features 7 Weekly Challenges per week when it launches.
Every Weekly Challenge awards XP on completion. If you complete 5 Weekly Challenges for a week, you will unlock an attachment or weapon as a weekly reward. If you earn all Weekly Rewards in a Season, you will unlock a Seasonal Cosmetic reward.
Armory Unlock Challenges
Armory Unlock Challenges are a new system that lets you unlock the Weapons, Equipment, Perks, Killstreaks, and Attachments that you want to play with. This includes many attachments unlocked through Weapon Progression.
When you reach Level 25, you will unlock the Armory Unlock Challenge System, and begin to progress and complete challenges, unlocking new items. There are a variety of items you can earn through Armory Unlock Challenges, which you can view in the Armory Unlocks Challenge Menu.
Armory Unlock Challenges are completed by Completing Daily Challenges. Each Daily Challenge completed earns you a point against your active Armory Unlock Challenge.
While you can continue to earn Armory Unlocks in order, you can also Activate any valid item. This will now be your Active Armory Unlock Challenge, and you will begin to earn points against it as you complete Daily and Bonus Challenges. If you change your mind mid-completion, don't worry — progress against Armory Unlock Challenges is saved when you Activate a new Challenge.
Bonus Challenges: If you complete all your Daily Challenges, you will unlock a Bonus Challenge that is unique to each mode. Bonus Challenges can be completed infinitely: in Multiplayer, they require winning a match, in Modern Warfare Zombies, they require completing Contracts.
Remember - if you see an item you want at the end of a Weapon's Progression - you might be able to unlock it with an Armory Unlock Challenge!
Calling Card Challenges
Note that alongside earning Player XP, you will also earn Weapon XP and Battle Pass XP. These XP systems represent their own progression paths separate from Player XP.
Weapon XP: Weapon XP is earned by landing eliminations and completing certain actions while wielding a specific weapon. As your weapon levels up, new modification slots will unlock, as well as attachments to equip within those slots.
Battle Pass XP: Upon completing matches, you will also earn Battle Pass XP, used to progress through the season’s Battle Pass tiers. The Battle Pass includes a wide variety of in-game rewards, including new Weapon Blueprints, Operator Skins, Calling Cards, and more.
Double XP Tokens
Through the Battle Pass and other means, players will occasionally earn Double XP Tokens. These tokens come in three forms: Double Player XP, Double Weapon XP, and Double Battle Pass XP. Activate a token and double your XP gains in the corresponding category for the time listed on the token. Play your best modes to get the most out of your increased gains.
Top 5 Tips for Leveling Up
1. Play the game. Yes, it’s that simple. If you’re chomping at the bit to get the action started and the XP rolling in, load into a Multiplayer or Zombies match and start blasting away. If you’re contributing and playing the objective, you’ll start building up that precious XP. You might even complete some challenges on accident, a surprise any Operator can get behind.
2. Check off those Dailies. Completing all three Daily Challenges plus the Bonus Challenge can award thousands of Player XP. It’s a secret in plain sight to leveling up fast.
3. Check midmatch. In the middle of a match and forgot which Daily Challenge you’re going for? Open the options menu — which includes Loadouts, Social, Return to Game, and Leave Match — to check your progress in the current Daily Challenges.
4. Two birds with one bullet. Take stock of all the current Daily, Weekly, and other Player XP–awarding challenges to find opportunities for working on more than one at a time. For example: Got Daily Challenges for SMG eliminations and a Team Deathmatch win? Play TDM with an SMG to work on both challenges at once.
5. Get the win. Winning matches grants a bigger Player XP payout than losing. Work with your squad to get those wins and walk away with some serious XP on top of bragging rights. On the losing side? Play the match out to the end and you’ll still earn some match completion XP. Redeploy and get the next one.
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