We get new weapons every month in Warzone, and they're always overpowered on-launch. That means we need to spend time levelling every month. But what are the quickest ways for us to grind XP in Warzone?
If you own Call of Duty: Vanguard, then first things first. Head over to our article on how to level up weapons in Vanguard. You can level up all the new weapons much faster in Vanguard's multiplayer than you can in Warzone (that's part of the sales pitch). But if you don't have Vanguard, or you just want to stay on Warzone, then keep reading. This is a complete guide on how to gain XP and level your weapons up as quickly as possible in Warzone.
How Do You Level Weapons In Warzone?
Seems like an obvious question, but it works slightly differently in Warzone than it does in other Call of Duty titles. To level up weapons in Warzone you need to earn Weapon XP, which you get by killing enemies, or by completing contracts. Yep, in Warzone, you don't necessarily just need kills, you can also gain Weapon XP by playing the objective and completing contracts.
How Much XP Do You Need Per Weapon?
Here's a table showing just how much weapon XP is required to reach each level. Each weapon can get to a max level of 70, but it requires a total of 150,000 XP to get there.
| Level | required XP per level | XP totaled |
| 10 | 625 | 5625 |
| 20 | 1250 | 17.500 |
| 30 | 1875 | 35.625 |
| 40 | 2500 | 60.000 |
| 50 | 2500 | 85.000 |
| 60 | 2500 | 110.000 |
| 68 | 3750 | 138.750 |
| 69 | 5000 | 143.750 |
| 70 | 6250 | 150.000 |
As you can see above, you usually require the same amount of XP within 10 levels. So going from level 1 to level 2 requires just as much XP as from level 5 to level 6. Only in the last few levels, from level 68 to 70, does the required XP increase significantly between individual levels.
What Are The Fastest Ways To Level Weapons In Warzone
The fastest way to level weapons in Warzone is by playing objective-based game modes (not standard Battle Royale or Resurgence) and by stacking a number of buffs on top of each other. Choosing the right perks, attachments, and operators all contribute to this, and when you have the perfect setup, you'll be flying through the levels.
Play Clash Or Plunder
Let's start with game modes. Avoid Battle Royale and Resurgence. Although these are fun, they are not good for grinding XP, instead play modes that allow you to respawn and play objectives, like Plunder and Clash. In modes that let you respawn, you have the chance to get more kills. But more importantly, you can complete a ridiculous amount of contracts in these modes, compared to the modes that are focused on survival. Now, we understand that these modes aren't always available, but Plunder in particularly is very often in the weekly playlist rotation.
Use The Pointman Perk
If you're going into a game purely to level up weapons, and you don't care about winning, then use the Pointman perk. It's a terrible perk from a competitive standpoint, but it gives you more XP per contract you complete, so for our needs it's a no-brainer.
Choose The Right Operator
Each of the Vanguard Operators have a “favorite weapon”, and they gain 10% extra XP when using that weapon. So if you want to level the Cooper Carbine, for instance, then you'll be 10% faster if you do it with Francis as your Operator.
It's a fantastic little mechanic to help with the grind, to be sure. Here is a list of all the operators and their favorite weapons:
| Daniel | M1 Garand |
| Wade | Type 100 |
| Halima | MP-40 |
| Polina | 3-Line Rifle |
| Solange | NZ-41 |
| Shigenori | Type 11 |
| Roland | STG44 |
| Lucas | Owen Gun |
| Beatrice | AS44 |
| Arthur | Sten |
| Constanze | MG42 |
| Padmavati | Combat Shotgun |
| Francis | Cooper Carbine |
| Lewis | Gorenko Anti-Material Rifle |
| Isabella | Welgun |
| Anna | KG M40 |
| Thomas | Whitley |
Use The Surplus Attachment
All the Vanguard weapons have a perk available called Surplus, which gives you additional XP per kill. This one is an obvious pick, and it's rarely replacing anything really clutch, so throw it on when you unlock it and just remember to take it off when you hit 70.
On most weapons, you unlock Surplus by level 30 at the latest, so you never have to grind a gun for too long before you can get it equipped.
Use Double XP Tokens
Double XP tokens are the single best buff you can give yourself when grinding a weapon and you probably have a lot more of them than you think, just press left stick on console or click "view tokens" on PC, and you'll bring up this sidebar:
Remember to only ever select Weapon XP tokens. None of the other types of XP will help you when grinding a weapon. You can check how long you have left to enjoy 2XP once you've activated a token by bringing up the menu at any time, the remaining time is displayed on the bottom right.
Play On Double XP Weekends
Double XP weekends are a god-send when you're trying to level weapons. For the entire weekend, you will get double the XP in any mode you play. Even if you can only get on for an hour, take advantage of these weekends. You can plan ahead for the double XP weekends by checking the schedule here.
That was your complete guide to weapon levelling in Warzone, we hope it helped, and good luck on the grind!