Welcome to Season Four of Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone™.

There’s little time to waste with Double XP AND Double Weapon XP live now in both games until June 21 and the Ground Fall Event active during Season Four’s first week.

With all that said, let’s level up:

This Week’s Featured Operators

Of course, we have to mention the notorious mercenary leader Owethu “Jackal” Mabuza as our first Featured Operator for Season Four.

Donning the mask known as his “War Paint” Operator Skin, an instant unlock at Tier 0 of the Season Four Battle Pass, Jackal emerged from obscurity to become one of the most feared mercenaries on the planet, aiding Perseus in crashing satellites around the globe after receiving a hefty payday.

Haven’t met Perseus’s newest agent yet? Read all about his backstory here.

As for NATO, they have their own badass in Terrell Wolf (“Wolf”) of the Delta Force, ready for combat even on the darkest nights with his “Gravedigger” Operator Skin. You can find this in the Graveyard Watch Bundle, which released at the start of Season Four.

Top Tip — A Guide to the Ground Fall Event

If you’re just joining us with this edition of the Prestige Primer, then welcome to our seasonal shared journey toward Prestige Master (Level 200) and Tier 100 of the Season Four Battle Pass.

Our best shot of getting there every season is to play often, make use of Double XP when available, and complete challenges and events whenever possible. The first part will come easy, and the second hinges on tactically using Double XP, Double Weapon XP, and Double Battle Pass XP Tokens, in addition to taking advantage of Double XP Weekends (like this one!).

As for that last point, we have our Top Tip for this week: a quick breakdown of the six-objective Ground Fall Event.

For the Ground Fall Event, there are three objectives to be done in Black Ops Cold War and three objectives in Warzone, all of which are centered around new content as part of Season Four. Each objective completed in this set grants you an exclusive reward, such as a Calling Card or even a retro Arcade Game within Black Ops Cold War, along with bonus XP. 

Complete all Black Ops Cold War or Warzone objectives for this event, and you’ll get the “Private Party” Epic Weapon Blueprint as a reward. If you’re a true completionist, you can finish all six objectives to collect all the loot available in the event.

Ready to join the party? Here are some tips on all six objectives across Black Ops Cold War and Warzone:

Black Ops Cold War

Prepare to play the newest Multi-Team game mode, duke it out on new maps, and wield the Hand Cannon as you fight to earn that new Blueprint, in addition to a new Retro Game, an Emblem, and a Calling Card.

Earn 1,000 Points from captured Sat-Link Stations.

Treyarch’s newest 40-player game mode will feel familiar to those who play game modes like Hardpoint, as the Sat-Link will require you to stay within its perimeter after you and your squad power it up.

Because this challenge hinges on defensive play, it may be wise to use a loadout with defensive Field Upgrades and Equipment. Try using Smoke Grenades to conceal yourself on the point, or use a Trophy System to block incoming projectiles.

Get 250 Eliminations in matches on Collateral, Collateral Strike, Hijacked, or Amsterdam.

This can be done at your own pace, and your favorite playlist will most likely have at least one of these maps on offer.

Lucky for you, the playlist professionals over at Treyarch included not one, but TWO new playlists to help you knock this challenge out: Hijacked 24/7 and the updated Face Off 6v6, which now includes the Amsterdam Gunfight map. Those will give you plenty of opportunities to see the newest maps across a few game modes and help you rack up those Eliminations quickly.

Get 15 kills with the Hand Cannon Scorestreak.

Two words: Don’t miss.

The Hand Cannon is a powerful handgun that will rip through enemies, eliminating them with a single shot. Given its somewhat high requirement to earn it (2,800 score), its long cooldown (90 seconds), its high recoil, and a low fire rate, every single one of your shots count.

Activate this Scorestreak while you’re not in combat, then aim for center mass and shoot before they do!

Warzone

All of these challenges are similar, and they orbit the new Sat-Link Stations and crashed satellites found around Verdansk:

Secure 5 Sat-Link Stations.

Eliminate 10 enemies while near an active Sat-Link Station.

Collect 3 rewards from crashed satellites.

Your mission, if you and your squad choose to accept it, is to target the Sat-Link Stations off the drop or to travel to a nearby Point of Interest, gather loadout items, and pick off anyone who arrived at these new station sites first.

After clearing the area, have a squadmate watch for incoming enemies — or pop a UAV — as you do what you need to at the Sat-Link Stations. Don’t worry about stopping progress to fend off a squad trying to steal your objective. Once you complete it, reap the rewards of those crashed satellites to carry you to victory.

These challenges are also possible to do while playing solo — if you do so, you will risk not having a squadmate to watch your six, but in return you may benefit from the increased chaos of multiple Operators all vying for supremacy at the crash sites.

Finally, across all these challenges, having a weapon that performs at close to medium ranges may be best, since fights will revolve around objectives and in close-quarter situations. Luckily, our Gunsmith Weapon Blueprint of the Week may be what you need in your loadouts to clear those Sat-Link Stations and Satellite Crash Sites:

Gunsmith Weapon Blueprint of the Week

As part of Season Four’s initial Store Bundle Offerings, the Groza assault rifle got a new Weapon Blueprint added to its collection.

Hailing from the “Circuit Board Reactive” Bundle, this is the “Mother Board,” a high-tech weapon featuring a unique five-attachment spread that can help you destroy your enemies with brute force.

This configuration is built for versatility in Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer and Warzone. When aiming down sights, you’ll get the benefit of a clear sight picture and solid vertical recoil control, not to mention a significant Aim Walking Speed boost from the KGB Pad. That attachment also buffs your Sprint to Fire time, which combined with the 5mW Laser makes for a great run-and-gun setup. Then there is the 40 Rnd Speed Mag, which slows down your Aim Down Sight (ADS) speed but gives you a fast-reloading, high-capacity magazine in exchange.

When it comes to Warzone, this weapon is in a unique place as a fast-handling assault rifle among an incredibly deep pack of Primary weapons. For now, it’s a relatively slow-firing and low-damage assault rifle, with the potential to compete in the overall meta with the right attachments, depending on your play style.

Optic: The iron sights could take time to get used to, but they aren’t overly obstructive. Take your favorite Optic if need be, if you have an open slot for one.

Muzzle: Both the GRU Suppressor and regular Suppressor will compete for your attention here. If you struggle with vertical recoil and want some additional damage range, take the GRU. Otherwise, stick with the Suppressor for faster handling traits.

Barrels: This is a tough one, as the Groza has plenty of unique options compared to other assault rifles, not to mention all the changes that are upcoming to the Barrels. This is where you can really specialize the weapon for certain situations; a close-quarters specialist might love the Ultralight Barrel, while those looking for more versatility might want to stick to the VDV Reinforced, GRU Composite, or CMV Mil-Spec Barrels.

Body: Flashlights increase range, and Lasers help with hip-fire spread. Both are nice to have if you have a slot open.

Underbarrel: The fast-handling traits on this weapon make any of these options viable, as boosting already fast speeds turns this weapon into a speed demon’s dream up close. Here, we’ll take the best of both worlds with the Spetsnaz Speedgrip, which significantly helps with horizontal recoil while greatly boosting your sprint speed.

Magazine: In Warzone, the 40 RND Magazine jumps to 45 rounds, while the 50 RND Magazine holds 60 pieces of ammo. With that said, 45 rounds is plenty for Solo and Duo modes, while having 60 per drum magazine is great for Trios and Quads. If you feel like 45 isn’t enough and can handle slower ADS speeds, then stick with the bigger drum.

Handle: This weapon has pretty fast ADS time already, so throwing on a Serpent Grip or GRU Elastic Wrap can make it easy to snap onto targets quickly. If you can fit either of these on this weapon somehow, it could do some solid work.

Stock: Sprint to Fire time is key for engagements after you’ve traveled by foot across Verdansk or Rebirth Island. We recommend taking a CQB Pad or keep this Weapon Blueprint’s awesome golden KGB Pad on to significantly cut down that time for faster reactions out of sprints.

Keep this advice in mind, and you’ll be all set to use this weapon, which has seen some damage changes lately, most notably a minimum damage increase and a maximum damage range decrease.

Take the time at the beginning of Season Four to learn the Groza’s overall feel, especially when it comes to its recoil pattern. If it winds up fitting into your loadouts and playstyle, you might just be ahead of the curve.

Now that you have your orders, we have a job to do:

Execute the mission.

For more information on Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War, check out: www.callofduty.com and www.youtube.com/callofduty and follow @Treyarch, @RavenSoftware, and @CallofDuty on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

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