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Games

Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War – The best multiplayer tips and tricks

Want to make sure you slay when you take a visit to a 1980s warzone? Check out these tips to get an early upper hand.
By Jack Grimshaw
6 min readUpdated on
Dropping into the Cold War and shooting up a storm is the highlight of the new Call of Duty, but with slight tweaks to the gameplay comes a new approach to multiplayer that can take some time to adjust to. These can be learned through play, but this guide can prep you in advance and give you an advantage when you next assault the multiplayer mode. So read on below to learn some essential tips and tricks that will help you dominate the battlefield and level up your KDA.

Learn the Maps

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Know the lanes, the sight lines, and where to hide and you'll dominate

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One of the most important aspects of doing well in a multiplayer Call of Duty match is to learn the arenas you'll be duking it out in from top to bottom. The same is true in Cold War: make sure you learn the maps. Each map has its own common routes, camping spots, blind corners, and vantage points.
If you can get a handle of which of these you are most likely to use, and which are most likely to be used by the enemy, you’ll find your score improving every match as you pre-sight routes you know someone will come through, or check corners you think someone is going to hang out in. As the maps get more use some of these locations may become less effective, but learning vantage points and knowing where to hide will still keep you alive longer than running around blindly. Setting your sights on those common corners and keeping your finger primed on the trigger can net you some easy kills and keep you alive longer.

Upgrade Your Guns

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Knowing your guns is a surefire path to success

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As you use your weapons in Cold War, they will level up and gain fancy skins and new attachments. Whilst the skins can be good for some quick bragging rights or for living up your guns with a bit of bling, the most important part of this is the attachments. Each one will improve your guns in specific ways, and this is the key to tailoring your gear to your playstyle.
As you start to feel out how quickly you need to switch from sprinting to aiming, certain attachments will attain priority for you. A lot of these attachments require some commitment to unlock, so make sure you look ahead to when you’ll get the kit you want and choose where to put your time carefully. You don’t want to massively level a gun that doesn’t fit your playstyle in the hopes that you will slather it in attachments later. Instead, focus on the ones that already work and make them better. Chances are if you like an attachment on one gun, you'll like how it works on another one, too.

Always Check Your Six

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Stay frosty and keep an eye on your six to prevent ambushes

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There are three things that are certain in life. Death, taxes, and someone running up behind you in a CoD match. Make sure you make gratuitous use of things like proximity mines, spy planes, and field mics to keep an eye on your rear at all times – especially if you're covering a static vantage point like a window. If you are pushing forward towards an objective or enemy position, ensure you take a moment to hold your ground and sight up the route you just came through. Chancers are everywhere in CoD.
You will be surprised how often you can catch someone trying to sweep in from the flank. Always keep an eye on your minimap but remember that even that is fallible as suppressors and the Ghost Perk can prevent people from showing up. This works in reverse, too – if you get an opportunity to chase down an enemy charging down a lane alone, you should probably so so.

Use Sound To Your Advantage

Keep your ears open as audio can give you a huge amount of information when getting the drop on other players, or warn that they are getting the drop on you. When players run, they make loud footsteps which can be used to track movement. Suppressed enemy shots can be heard even though they do not appear on the minimap. Equipment such as field mics and the RC-XD are audible to allow you to detect them. Playing with a decent set of headphones will help you isolate and respond to audio cues.
Catching bits of supporting equipment should limit your opponent’s ability to spot you, and taking cover or being prepared to kill an incoming explosive RC Car can save you and your teammates from an avoidable death. If you listen carefully then you can even anticipate enemy numbers as they approach your position, as well as catch people moving up behind you. Any time you hear those loud footsteps you should make sure you know whether it is a friend or foe to avoid being caught out by flankers and catch people mid-sprint when they are most vulnerable. If you pay attention to the audio clues then you can easily increase your kill count simply by being aware. It's a simple trick, but one that'll quickly and easily set you ahead of the pack.

Play the Objective

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Play the objective, and you're more likely to get kills

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If you want to get more wins or more kills, it is especially important to play the objective. The objective locations are usually convergence points for players so keeping involved with the mission goal will ensure you stay in the middle of the action. Even if you are just skirting the edges of the objective, you can rack up kills by picking off your opponents as they rush in themselves, and chances are your teammates will soften them up somewhat, too.
Make sure you do put some effort into actually securing or capturing the objective though, or else the enemy may still get the win. In modes like Kill Confirmed, there is no specific objective location, but if you keep an eye on where dog tags seem to be appearing most you can identify the hotspot of the current fight. Moving around this area or firing into it from a distance can net you some kills. It is also important to know that completing objectives will add to your current score streak getting you closer to dropping heavy ordinance on the enemy team and picking up a few more easy kills.

Exploit Equipment Versatility

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Loading out with the right equipment will help you secure victory

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Using equipment, tactical items, and lethal items can be useful for more than just dealing damage and securing kills. Sometimes you want to check a corner before you push it or occupy someone while you reload. Throwing a quick item out and causing your enemies to flee or take cover while their vision returns. This can be used for you to reposition or push in, catching your opponent by surprise before they recover. Of course, you should never forget to throw those lethals out to snag a lucky kill or finish a wounded opponent, too.
With these tips, you should find yourself slicing through the competition and racking up some decent strides towards those scorestreaks. Experimenting with different load-outs will help you find your style and equipment to make the most of each match. All these combined should lead to some easy wins in your future.
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