How to rank up weapons fast in Black Ops Cold War Zombies

Andrew Highton
cold war zombies weapons

Enjoy Zombies but want to increase the rate at which your weapons level up in Cold War Zombies? Then follow our guide to level up your guns fast.

One of the biggest complaints from players surrounding Black Ops Cold War is the alleged slow speed in which weapons level up.

The game’s online multiplayer supposedly takes even longer to level up weapons than it does in Zombies, and it might be better using XP tokens or waiting for a Double XP weekend.

So after several months of plowing our way through Zombies, we’ve found some methods that are more effective than others, plus one or two cheeky ways to increase XP more than usual.

Cold War Zombies quick weapon XP level up method #1 – PlayStation Party Boost

ray gun being used in cold war zombies

A specific one to start off with, but a very useful one to know. Treyarch’s Black Ops Cold War on PlayStation has a “Party Boost” system, which grants a 25% weapon XP earn rate increase for PlayStation players if you’re partied up.

If you’re on PS4 or PS5, then be sure to take advantage of this benefit and play with your friends whenever you can to maximize your weapon XP earn rate.

Cold War Zombies quick weapon XP level up method #2 – Exfil Strategy

d.i.e shockwave wonder weapon being fired in cold war zombies

The long-standing belief is that you can maximize an XP payout for Exfilling between rounds 1-30. Exfil any later than this and the law of diminishing returns comes into effect.

So we’d recommend you don’t go any higher than this if you want to get the most from Exfilling, plus you get great Aetherium Crystal rewards too to upgrade Perks and Field Upgrades.

Cold War Zombies quick weapon XP level up method #3 – Unlimited XP workarounds

mauer der toten disciple zombie

At the time of writing, these methods still work, and if you can get them to work properly, will reap you all the rewards you could possibly want.

Here are the two different methods for you to choose from.

Unlimited XP glitch

This is a workaround to be used exclusively on the Die Maschine Zombies map. It will require a few precise steps to be able to execute properly, but if you can manage it, then you have the chance to earn easy, unlimited XP.

Check out the unlimited XP glitch strategy in full here.

Unlimited everything

This one isn’t as map-specific and can be done on any of the game’s round-based Zombies e.g Firebase Z, Mauer der Toten, etc.

The advantage of this glitch is that you can quite literally keep restocking up on powerful guns, Scorestreaks, and items – making yourself almost unkillable.

Here is the method in full.

Cold War Zombies quick weapon XP level up method #4 – Outbreak Rounds 1-3

fighting outbreak zombies on alpine in cold war

Added in Season 2, Outbreak completely changed the game for Zombies in the Call of Duty franchise. It dispensed with tight corridors and areas blocked off by pay-to-use doors and walls, and instead went open world.

Using Cold War’s Fireteam maps, players can run around huge areas maiming and taming zombies whilst completing different missions and side missions. You can easily get some solid Zombies XP by only playing the first three rounds of Outbreak.

In the same way that Exfilling reaches a point of reduced XP, Outbreak begins to decrease the gains of weapons from Round 4 onwards. So we recommend you Exfil at the end of Round 3.


We hope that these ways of increasing weapon XP serve you well in Black Ops Cold War Zombies!

Also, check out how to play in the Call of Duty: Vanguard beta.

Image Credit: Activision / Treyarch

About The Author

A content creator for Charlie INTEL / Dexerto that earned a degree, wrote for PlusXP, Twinfinite, and Keengamer, before finally securing his dream job of being a professional video game writer. When not writing about games, he's very busy playing every game in existence and adding to his 11,000+ PlayStation Trophies and 150+ Platinums. You can contact him at [email protected].