MW4 Prestige Guide

Modern Warfare 4 is the first Call of Duty with two prestige paths. Every time you reach level 55, the game asks you to pick a track: Classic Prestige resets your unlocks in exchange for a 20% XP boost, a permanent unlock token and a bonus Prime version of each prestige reward, while Regular Prestige keeps everything you have unlocked. Above the 10 prestige levels sits Prestige Master, which now runs all the way to level 1,000. DMZ Early Access let some players reach Prestige 3 before multiplayer even launched. Below we explain how both tracks work, every prestige reward from Prestige 1 to Prestige Legend, how weapon prestige works, which track to pick and how to level up fastest.

How Leveling Works in MW4

The multiplayer player level runs from 1 to 55, from Private I to Commander, and almost every level unlocks something: a weapon, a perk, equipment, a field upgrade or a killstreak. Create-a-Class opens at level 4. XP comes from multiplayer and DMZ, and from Warzone starting in Season 1.

DMZ has its own track of 70 levels. DMZ XP also counts toward your 1 to 55 player level, but multiplayer XP doesn't count toward DMZ, so DMZ players level both tracks at once. The campaign isn't listed as an XP source, but finishing it rewards three Double XP tokens and two Double Weapon XP tokens.

Classic Prestige vs Regular Prestige

When you finish level 55, a Select a Track screen appears, and it comes back at every new prestige, so you can switch tracks each time. You can also pick “I'll decide later” and keep playing.

The two tracks differ in what you keep and what you get:

The 20% boost doesn't stack: two Classic prestiges give you 20%, not 40%. Your weapon levels, camos and attachments are separate from the player level and don't reset on either track.

The Permanent Unlock Token

Each Classic prestige gives one Permanent Unlock Token. It permanently unlocks one level-unlock item of your choice, which then stays unlocked through every later Classic prestige. To spend it, go to Career, Progression, Multiplayer Level Unlocks, select the item and press the prompt in the bottom-left corner. The choice can't be undone.

Infinity Ward recommends spending tokens on perks, field upgrades, killstreaks and equipment rather than weapons. If you own a blueprint for a weapon from the Store or the Battle Pass, the base weapon stays available anyway, so a token on it is wasted.

All Prestige Rewards From Prestige 1 to 10

Each of the 10 prestige levels is themed on an earlier Infinity Ward game, from Call of Duty (2003) at Prestige 1 to Modern Warfare 4 itself at Prestige 10. Every prestige gives a reward at levels 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50: a loading screen, the prestige emblem, a weapon charm, a large decal and, at level 50, a weapon blueprint or Operator skin. On the Classic track you get both the regular reward and its Prime version.

Prestige 1 also gives an instant reward the moment you enter it: the Sandstorm Operator skin.

You can preview every reward, including the Prime variants, before you prestige in Career, Progression, Prestige.

Prestige Master and Prestige Legend

After Prestige 10 comes Prestige Master. It starts at level 56, and the level no longer resets: it climbs all the way to 1,000. Rewards come every 5 to 10 levels up to level 99, then every 25 levels.

The first Prestige Master rewards are the Paragon Operator skin and an orange level color on entry, the Best of the Best loading screen at 60, an emblem at 65, the Pinnacle weapon charm at 70, the Containment Breach sticker at 80 and the Master Renegade Han 86 blueprint at 90. From level 100 you earn a new level color every 25 levels, 39 in all, including animated ones. Every 100 levels also unlocks a set of legacy prestige icons from older Call of Duty games, which you can show instead of your Prestige Master icon.

Level 1,000 makes you a Prestige Legend. Infinity Ward lists the reward as classified, but the in-game menu shows the Ju Kwon Operator skin, the Prestige Master camo and the Waveform level color.

Weapon Prestige

Weapons have their own prestige, separate from your player level. Once a weapon reaches max level, which differs by weapon (the Han 86 tops out at 72, the Sang 9mm at 38), you can prestige it:

• The weapon level goes back to 1, and its attachments relock, except Apex attachments and attachments from blueprints.
• Shared attachments stay unlocked on your other weapons.
• Blueprints, camos, reticles, decals and stickers stay.
• A prestige icon shows in the Gunsmith and on the killcam.

At Weapon Prestige 1 max level the weapon moves into Weapon Prestige Master, which doesn't reset. The four Pyroclast camos mark the way: Pyroclast at Weapon Prestige 1 level 1, Pyroclast Terminus at Weapon Prestige 1 max level, Pyroclast Scatter at Weapon Prestige Master level 150 and Pyroclast Cascade at level 250. If you'd rather not re-level a weapon yourself, our MW4 weapon prestige boost does it for you.

Should You Prestige in MW4?

If you would otherwise sit at level 55, prestige: both tracks keep giving rewards, and Regular costs you nothing. The real question is which track to pick.

• Pick Classic if you collect cosmetics or plan to reach Prestige Master 1,000. You get both reward versions, a token and 20% more XP, and a Prime variant you skip on Regular can't be claimed later.
• Pick Regular if you are in the middle of a camo grind. Classic relocks guns and perks you use in your classes, while Regular keeps your loadouts intact.
• Mix them. Some players go Classic while they level weapons and switch to Regular once their camo grind is underway. You choose again at every prestige, so nothing is locked in.

The track you pick doesn't affect DMZ. If you'd rather skip the climb altogether, our MW4 prestige boost levels your account for you.

Fastest Way to Level Up in MW4

The fastest XP comes from objectives, passive score and boosts used at the right time.

Play DMZ

At launch, DMZ is the fastest way to level. Dynamic Operations and story missions give big chunks of XP, looting and AI kills give a steady stream, and a successful extraction adds a bonus. DMZ XP counts toward your player level too, which is why some players reached Prestige 3 before multiplayer launched.

Play Objective Modes in Multiplayer

Domination, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed and Inflation give far more score than Team Deathmatch. In Domination, even a poor match earns around 8,000 XP and a good one 10,000 to 15,000. Use the Quick Play filter to rotate between objective modes.

Run a Score Loadout

Passive score adds up fast. UAV, Counter-UAV and Advanced UAV give assist XP every time a teammate kills a marked enemy, and destroying enemy equipment and killstreaks pays too. One loadout that works well: Quick Fix or Ghost, Ninja and Battle Hardened as perks, Ammo Box as the field upgrade, and UAV, Counter-UAV and Attack Helicopter as streaks. Footsteps are loud in MW4, which makes Ninja close to mandatory.

Do Daily Challenges and Events

You get three Daily Challenges a day worth 2,500 XP each, plus an 8,000 XP bonus for finishing all three. You can reroll one a day, and they reset at 9 AM PT. There are no Weekly Challenges in Season 1; events take their place, starting with the Boot Camp event that runs until November 6.

Use Double XP Tokens in Matches

Double XP tokens now count down only while you are in a match, not in menus or matchmaking, so they are never wasted. Unused tokens from Black Ops 7 carry over, the campaign gives three, and the Boot Camp event gives four more. Activate them from the main lobby in multiplayer or from the menu at the FOB in DMZ. Classic Prestige's 20% and the Season 1 BlackCell boost add on top.

More MW4 Guides

These guides cover the rest of MW4 progression.

MW4 Prestige FAQ

These are the questions players ask most about prestige.