Modern Warfare 3: Armory Challenges Explained

Modern Warfare 3 has introduced a new feature called "Armory Challenges". They are quite simple, but they're poorly explained in-game. Here is your complete guide to Armory Challenges.

MW3 Armory Challenges H
MW3 Armory Challenges: Here is a complete guide to the new Armory Challenges system. | © Activision

Armory Challenges are new in MW3, and you will need to complete them to unlock many of the game's weapons, perks and attachments. That's right, you won't get everything unlocked simply by hitting max level and levelling your weapons. You will actively need to complete these Armory Challenges to unlock core items. We don't love the system.

However, love it or hate it, we think it's here to stay. So it's worth knowing how to use the system. To that end, here is the ultimate guide to Armory Challenges.

What Are Armory Challenges?

Armory Challenges are challenges that unlock specific weapons, perks and attachments. To complete an Armory Challenge you need to activate it and then do what it tells you to do. It will always tell you to finish a certain number of Daily Challenges.

For instance, to unlock Ghost you set it as your Armory Unlock challenge, and then once you have completed three Daily Challenges you will unlock Ghost. You can set up a queue of up to three Armory Challenges, so that as soon as you've finished a challenge a new one will automatically be selected.

Armory Unlock Challenges are unlocked at Level 25.

How To Activate An Armory Challenge

To activate an Armory Challenge you need to do the following:

  1. From the multiplayer lobby press Triangle/Y to go to the Armory Challenges menu:
  2. In this menu, you can see all the different Armory Challenges available for you to activate:
  3. Go to an item you want to unlock and simply select it with Cross/A to Activate it as your current Armory Unlock Challenge
  4. You can set a second and third item to be in your Armory Challenge queue by pressing Square/X over the items.
  5. You can also set new Armory Challenges directly from the Gunsmith by pressing Square/X when highlighting the locked item, like this:

Can You Ignore Armory Challenges?

Sadly not. This is not an opt-in system if you want to unlock every perk and weapon in the game. Quite a number of perks, weapons and attachments can only be unlocked via the Armory Challenges. Even if you are level 55, you still won't have access to everything in the game until you have completed your Armory Challenges.

This is one of the worst things Sledgehammer have done in MW3's multiplayer so far, alongside the content carry over, which is a shame because we love everything else about MW3's MP.

Now you understand Armory Challenges, you'll understand how important it is to begin using this system and working towards unlocking the best items as soon as you hit level 25. Good luck!

Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....