Infinity Ward calls the Modern Warfare 4 camo system the deepest it has ever built for a Modern Warfare game, and the numbers back that up. Every one of the 33 launch weapons has 8 Military camos, 3 Special camos and its own Gold and Platinum, all of that leads to Harmonic Break and Divergence, and only then do the three Mastery camos for multiplayer and three for DMZ open up. The good news is that it is one shared grind: kills in multiplayer and DMZ both count, and Warzone joins from Season 1 on November 6. Below we explain the order camos unlock in, every completionist and mastery challenge with its exact requirement, and the fastest ways to get through the grind.
Every weapon has a Progression tab with four rows: Military, Special, Completionist and Prestige. A second tab, Mode Mastery, holds the mastery camos. You work through the rows from the top, and each step opens the next one.
The ladder for a single weapon, and then for your whole account, runs in this order:
The grind is shared across modes. A Special challenge you finish in DMZ unlocks the camo in multiplayer too, and the challenge text adjusts to the mode you play. Because AI soldiers count in DMZ, DMZ versions usually need two to three times as many kills.
The eight Military camos unlock automatically as a weapon levels up, one after another. The required levels differ by weapon because max levels differ: on the Han 86, which tops out at level 72, they unlock at levels 10, 18, 25, 34, 42, 50, 57 and 65. Military camos have to be earned on each weapon separately.
Each weapon has three Special camos with their own challenges, and each challenge only opens once the weapon reaches a set level. Finished Special camos join a shared pool you can put on any weapon. On the Han 86, for example:
| Special camo | Opens at weapon level | Multiplayer challenge | DMZ challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke | 25 | 20 kills while mounted | 75 kills while mounted |
| Stormwave | 46 | 50 kills with a suppressor | 125 kills with a suppressor |
| Red | 72 | 3 kills without dying, 15 times | 3 kills without taking damage, 50 times |
The last Special challenge often opens at the weapon's max level, so leveling is the real gate for Gold. Some challenge types need context: a longshot is 38 meters for assault rifles, LMGs and marksman rifles, 30 for SMGs, 51 for snipers, 20 for pistols and 12 for shotguns, and a point-blank kill means within about 2.4 meters.
The four Completionist camos are the core of the grind. The first three are earned per weapon and get harder each step, and the fourth is a single camo for your whole account.
Gold opens on a weapon once its 8 Military and 3 Special camos are done. The challenge is the same for every gun: 15 player kills in a single multiplayer match, or 100 kills in a single DMZ match (50 for launchers). It counts kills, not eliminations. Our MW4 Gold camo guide covers the fastest weapons and routes.
Platinum on a weapon opens once every weapon in its class has Gold, for example all 8 assault rifles. Each class has its own challenge, shared by every weapon in that class, and you can complete it in multiplayer, DMZ or a mix of both.
| Class | Weapons | Multiplayer challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Assault rifles | 8 | 50 headshots |
| SMGs | 5 | 25 kills from behind |
| Shotguns | 2 | 50 hipfire kills |
| LMGs | 3 | 3 kills without dying, 15 times |
| Marksman rifles | 3 | 75 kills while prone |
| Sniper rifles | 3 | 75 kills while prone |
| Pistols | 4 | 20 kills from behind |
| Launchers | 4 | 2 kills without taking damage, 15 times |
| Melee | 1 | 3 kills without dying, 15 times |
The DMZ versions and tips for every class are in our MW4 Platinum camo guide.
Harmonic Break opens on every weapon once you have Platinum on all 33. The challenge is again set per class:
| Class | Multiplayer challenge | DMZ challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Assault rifles | 25 double kills | 50 double kills |
| SMGs | 50 hipfire kills | 100 hipfire kills |
| Shotguns | 2 kills without reloading, 25 times | 50 times |
| LMGs | 2 kills without releasing the trigger, 25 times | 75 times |
| Marksman rifles | 75 one-shot kills | 150 one-shot kills |
| Sniper rifles | 75 one-shot kills | 150 one-shot kills |
| Pistols | 40 hipfire kills | 100 hipfire kills |
| Launchers | 10 player kills in a match, 7 times | 15 times |
| Melee | 25 kills from behind | 75 kills from behind |
Divergence is the last Completionist camo and the only one earned once for the whole account: complete 33 Harmonic Break challenges. It also opens the Mastery camos.
Mastery camos sit on their own Mode Mastery tab and belong to a single mode. Each mode has three, unlocked in order, and the first one in every mode needs Divergence. They are long-term challenges: progress counts with any weapon, and the challenge appears in the Mode Mastery tab of every gun. Whether the reward unlocks on all weapons at once won't be known for sure until the first players get there.
| Mode | Camo | Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Mercurial Drift | 10 kills in a match, 250 times |
| Multiplayer | Polyatomic Reforged | 3 kills without taking damage, 300 times |
| Multiplayer | Orion Reforged | 5 kills without dying, 500 times |
| DMZ | Chiral | 2,500 kills on Tier 3 or higher enemies |
| DMZ | Ripple Tide | Extract 2 lieutenant dog tags in one deployment, 50 times |
| DMZ | Helio | 25,000 kills with Legendary weapons on a max-level Operator |
| Warzone | Parallax, Damascus Reforged, Empyros | Revealed in Season 1 |
Orion Reforged needs only the Polyatomic Reforged challenge to be finished, not Polyatomic on every weapon. Our MW4 Polyatomic Reforged camo guide breaks down the second multiplayer mastery camo.
Once a weapon reaches max level you can prestige it. Its level resets, most attachments relock except Apex and blueprint attachments, and your camos stay. The Prestige row of the Progression tab holds four Pyroclast camos:
| Camo | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Pyroclast | Reach Weapon Prestige 1, level 1 |
| Pyroclast Terminus | Reach Weapon Prestige 1 max level |
| Pyroclast Scatter | Reach Weapon Prestige Master level 150 |
| Pyroclast Cascade | Reach Weapon Prestige Master level 250 |
A few camos sit outside the main ladder. Locked Down unlocks when you verify the email on your Activision account. The Prestige Master camo comes at Prestige Master level 1,000. In DMZ, War Spoils asks you to extract three Weapon Manuals for the equipped weapon, and the Hajin camo needs 100 Operator prestiges. Camos from older Call of Duty games don't carry into MW4 or its Warzone integration.
The camo grind is long, but a few habits cut weeks off it.
DMZ is the fastest place to level guns. Story missions, Dynamic Operations and AI kills all give weapon XP, and players report around ten weapon levels in a single deployment, against about five per Domination match in multiplayer. Start with the Han 86: it drops from AI all over Hajin, so you can always get a copy.
An attachment unlocked on one gun is unlocked on every gun that can use it, and each shared unlock skips a level on those guns. Maxing the Han 86 first puts other assault rifles at level 30 or more before you use them. Level the first gun of each class properly, and the rest go much faster.
Platinum needs Gold on every weapon in a class, so one finished class gets you a Platinum camo far sooner than five half-done classes. Do the Special challenges first and save Gold challenges until the class is ready, so you can chain them in a few matches.
The campaign gives two Double Weapon XP tokens, and tokens left over from Black Ops 7 carry over. Tokens now count down only while you are in a match. Shipment returns on October 27, which makes it the best map to spend them on. If you'd rather skip the grind, our MW4 camo boost unlocks any step of the ladder for you.
These are the questions players ask most about the camo grind.
Yes. MW4 has one camo grind shared across modes, and Warzone joins it in Season 1.
The challenges count kills with any weapon and appear on every weapon's Mode Mastery tab. Whether the reward unlocks on all weapons at once is not confirmed yet.
No. Weapon Prestige resets the level and most attachments but keeps blueprints, camos and challenge progress.
Kills. Assists and eliminations don't count toward the 15 player kills.
Camo pop-ups disappear when you die, but the progress is saved. Check it in the Camo Select screen.
38 meters for assault rifles, LMGs and marksman rifles, 30 for SMGs, 51 for snipers, 20 for pistols and 12 for shotguns.
These guides go deeper into each step of the camo ladder.
