With season 2 of Black Ops Cold War winding down, many players, as expected, are suddenly rushing to grind out as much of their remaining Battle Pass as possible in the time they have left. Which is understandable — the Battle Pass costs real money (usually), and the only thing separating you from the goodies you purchased the right to earn is, well, earning them. To help you max out your remaining Season 2 game time and squeeze every drop out of that sweet, sweet Battle Pass, we’ve compiled a list of a few offbeat tips you can use to level up the battle past in Cold War, as well as leverage that dedicated grind time to boost other account-wide aspects simultaneously.
How to Level Up Battle Pass Fast in Cold War
If you’re looking for a quick — and dirty — strategy you can use to churn out the most Battle Pass XP you can, hop on down to point #5 where we cover medal farming as a means to ludicrous overall XP. That said, be sure to check out the rest of the strategies for general tips on optimizing your general gameplay for XP and making every minute count. If you’d like to add any tips to the article, be sure to let us know in the comments below and we’ll see how we can incorporate it into the page to make the best guide possible — and feel free to shoot any questions at us too.
1. Playstation Battle Pass Bundle Bonuses
Playstation players who buy the $20 Battle Pass bundle get something of a cherry atop their tier-skipping cake, with an extra five levels on top of the 20 battle pass tier-skips that come with the pass. Skipping 1/4 of the entire Season 2 battle pass is not too shabby a value proposition considering you’ll earn enough CoD Points for your next pass (or to subsidize next season’s bundle) and net all of the exclusive freebies that come with the first 25 levels, including the new Naga operator, the “Fresh Powder” assault rifle blueprint, FARA 83 assault rifle, and Tactical Roll finisher just to name a few.
2. Diversify Your Arsenal
This is more a general tip to consider alongside battle-pass farming for your general game-time. If you’re just going the old-school grinding route and not employing a specific farming strategy like #5, make sure to vary up the weapons if you still want to boost your XP overall — because, if you’re grinding out battle pass ranks, you might as well make hay while the sun shines on other aspects of the game.
Many players, rather erroneously, think that by sticking with a single weapon and maxing it out, they are dialing up the farming efficiency for their overall account. In reality, aim for the quickly-obtained challenges for each weapon and move on to the next one, clearing out all the easiest ones across the weapon types before committing to your favorite. This not only keeps gameplay fresh and interesting, but it both also ensures you have sampled the entire spectrum of playstyles before settling on your favorite and endows you with further insight into the mechanics of the weapons you might find yourself contending with. So make sure to switch it up.
3. Make use of the Playstation Party Boost
You probably know this one already if you have a PS4/PS5 and have for some time been reaping the benefits of it. But, just in case you’re on an entirely different platform and locked out of this option, it’s worth going over anyway in case you’re considering upgrading to the next-gen consoles specifically for Black Ops Cold War. Playstation players get a 25% boost in Weapon XP when teaming up in a party, alongside a host of other advantages — including monthly double XP events. While double XP weekends don’t apply to Battle Pass XP directly, boosting your overall XP enhances your progress towards other achievements, boosting overall efficiency. Check out our PlayStation Party Boost explainer for more info.
4. Kill Streaks > Kills
This is a no-brainer, but players reap much higher rewards for score/kill streaks than they do overall kills, so generally speaking, maintaining as high a K/D ratio as possible is preferential, even though playing extra aggro can feel more instinctive. This is the equivalent of a boxer who sticks and moves rather than a bum-rushing headhunter coming out windmilling huge, looping punches and walking into a straight punch. Play smart, rather than mindlessly aggressive — except when you’re employing the medal farming strategy coming up next.
5. Multiplayer Medal Farming (Best Strategy)
You’ve probably noticed your ridiculous number of shotguns and Street Sweepers being used in Hardcore Nuketown. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this remains one of the most effective ways to farm XP In Black Ops Cold War by far and is a great way to level up the battle pass fast. The setup is simple, equip yourself with a Shotgun or Street Sweeper, maximize its effective range while minimizing hip fire spread as much as you can with attachments, equip the Gung Ho perk, and proceed to play as the dirtiest dirtbag possible. Oh, and make sure not to take a stimshot.
The nitty-gritty of this strategy lies in accruing as many medals as possible inside the match. These medals, when farmed like your life depends on it, can result in absolutely ridiculous amounts of XP using this strategy. The reason you want the Street Sweeper or shotgun on HC Nuketown is to rack up as many one-shot kills, headshot kills and kills while damaged as you can within the match, generating tons of medals and bonus XP along the way.
Among other things, Gung Ho reduces sprint-to-fire time to 0, letting you zip around Nuketown while spamming one-shot kills — increasing your effective “turnover.” Additionally, damaging yourself intentionally before jumping into the mayhem helps you accrue additional medals on top of the one-shot kills and headshots. Just beware that as this strategy grows increasingly popular, more and more people are camping out in Nuketown, so be prepared.
And that’s pretty much it when it comes to deliciously frantic XP-farming in Black Ops Cold War right now — and a quick explanation of why HC Nuketown is such a nightmare right now. If you’re still nursing any questions or tips you’d like to add, drop us a comment down below and we’ll be sure to get back to you as quick as we can — otherwise, happy farming for the rest of Black Ops Cold War’s season two!
