MW4 Gold Camo Guide

Gold is the first big milestone of the Modern Warfare 4 camo grind and the first camo most players see on other people's guns. The final challenge is the same for all 33 weapons and takes one good match: 15 player kills. The real work is everything before it, because Gold only opens once a weapon has all 8 Military camos and all 3 Special camos, and the last Special challenge usually waits until the weapon's max level. Below we explain exactly what Gold requires, how it differs in DMZ, how to get each weapon there quickly and which mistakes waste whole matches.

How to Unlock Gold Camo in MW4

Gold is the first of four Completionist camos and is earned on each weapon separately. It takes two steps:

1. Finish the weapon's 3 Special camo challenges. The game lists this as “Complete the 3 Weapon Specific Camo Challenges”. The Special challenges open at set weapon levels, and you also pick up all 8 Military camos on the way, since they unlock automatically as the weapon levels.
2. Get 15 player kills in a single match. In DMZ the same step needs 100 kills in one deployment, or 50 with a launcher, because AI soldiers count there.

The 15 kills have to come in one match. Ending a match on 14 kills gives you nothing, and only kills count: assists and eliminations don't.

Is the Gold Challenge the Same for Every Weapon?

Yes. Unlike Platinum and Harmonic Break, which change by weapon class, the Gold challenge is 15 kills in a match for every weapon, from assault rifles to the knife. What differs is the road to it, because every weapon has its own max level and its own three Special challenges. All 33 launch weapons can earn Gold:

Fastest Way to Get Gold Camo

Most of the time spent on Gold goes into leveling and Special challenges, so that is where the biggest savings are.

Level the Weapon in DMZ First

The last Special challenge often opens at the weapon's max level, which runs from about 30 for the knife to the mid-70s for snipers. DMZ is the fastest place to get there: Dynamic Operations, story missions and AI kills all give weapon XP, and players report around ten weapon levels in a single deployment. Double Weapon XP tokens from the campaign help most here, and they only count down while you are in a match.

Use Shared Attachments to Skip Levels

Every attachment you unlock on one weapon also unlocks on every weapon that shares it, and each shared unlock skips a level. Max the first weapon of a class properly, and the others start well ahead: players who maxed the Han 86 found other assault rifles already at level 30 to 35.

Plan the Special Challenges

Read all three Special challenges before you start and build a loadout for each. Some can't be done at the same time, for example a longshot challenge and a hipfire challenge on one gun. The modes that suit each type:

• Longshots: Ground War, with a Tactical Insertion on a roof overlooking the enemy spawn.
• Mounted kills: a lane in Domination where enemies run straight at you.
• Suppressor kills: the attachment has to say “suppressor” in its name.
• Hipfire and point blank: small maps like Transit 213 with a laser attachment.
• Kills without dying: Hardcore, where fights end in one or two shots.

Get the 15 Kills

In multiplayer, 15 kills takes a good player six to eight minutes in a core 6v6 match. Ground War and Hardcore both work. Kill Block doesn't, because it swaps your weapon during the match. If several weapons in a class are waiting on Gold, keep them in different loadouts: you can pop more than one Gold in a single match by switching after each 15 kills.

The DMZ Route to Gold

In DMZ you need 100 kills in one deployment. Start the first story mission, Critical Extraction at Mirae General Hospital, and keep fighting instead of extracting early: players report around 50 AI kills there. Then move to a high-threat zone with an Ammo Cache nearby and a UAV Tower switched on. The Warfighter trait that refills ammo from enemies solves the ammo problem on long runs.

If you'd rather skip the grind, our MW4 camo boost can unlock Gold on the weapons you choose.

Mistakes That Slow Down Your Gold Grind

These are the mistakes that cost players the most time on their first Golds:

1. Leaving at 14 kills. Progress only counts if you get all 15 in one match.
2. Counting eliminations. Assists and eliminations don't count toward Gold.
3. Playing Kill Block for Gold. The mode swaps weapons, so you never stay on the gun long enough.
4. Editing attachments while searching for a match. Changes made in matchmaking may not save.
5. Starting Gold before the class is planned. Platinum needs Gold on every weapon in the class, so finish one class at a time.

What comes after Gold, including Platinum for every class, is explained in our MW4 Platinum camo guide.

More MW4 Camo Guides

These guides cover the rest of the camo ladder.

MW4 Gold Camo FAQ

These are the questions players ask most about Gold.