Everything You Need to Know About Prestige in Black Ops 6
If you're gearing up for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and curious about the depth of its progression systems, you're in the right place. Black Ops 6 brings back some classic elements like traditional prestige, but also introduces fresh twists on weapon camos, mastery badges, calling cards, and medals that all come into play as you advance through the game. In this comprehensive guide, we'll break down everything you need to know about leveling, prestiging, and how you can showcase your skills and dedication in Black Ops 6.
From the basics of player levels and prestige resets to the intricate details of camo challenges and reticle customization, this article covers all the progression systems that will keep you grinding long after your first match. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or new to the Black Ops series, understanding these mechanics will help you maximize your experience and make the most of your time in the game.
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Understanding Player Levels and Prestige in Black Ops 6
Black Ops 6 starts you off with a familiar leveling system from level 1 to 55. During this journey, you unlock a wide array of class items, including guns, perks, equipment, scorestreaks, and more. This progression is the backbone of your customization options for your loadouts. Additionally, eight base operators and a selection of emotes become available as you level up through these initial 55 levels.
What Happens When You Reach Level 55?
Once you reach level 55 in Black Ops 6, you’ll have the option to Prestige, which resets your level back to 1 and locks class items like weapons and perks. To unlock them again, you’ll need to level back up from 1 to 55.
Some things won’t reset, though. You’ll keep your base operators, emotes, and any blueprints or skins you’ve unlocked. These remain usable across all prestiges. However, to use a Permanent Unlock Token on an item, you must reach the level where that item normally unlocks—and then reach that level again during Prestige. So if a weapon like the AS VAL unlocks at level 55, you’ll need to hit level 55 once to access it, then Prestige, and hit level 55 again before you can use a token to unlock it permanently.
This setup makes sure players engage with the full progression system while still rewarding long-term investment with permanent unlocks and cosmetic continuity.
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Prestige Hub and Rewards
The Prestige Hub is your central interface for tracking progress. Each time you prestige, you earn unique rewards such as operator skins, weapon blueprints, and permanent unlock tokens. For example, the first prestige grants a Weaver skin and your first unlock token.
Players can prestige up to 10 times. Each prestige resets your level back to 1 but grants new cosmetic items and a new prestige icon. These icons pay homage to previous Black Ops games, adding a nostalgic flair to your profile.
Once you've completed 10 prestiges, you reach Prestige Master status. From this point on, you can level up to 1,000. Hitting level 1,000 earns you the title of Prestige Legend and unlocks exclusive items like the Samuels "New Orders" operator skin, a PP-919 weapon blueprint, a loading screen, GobbleGum pack, and more.
Permanent Unlock Tokens
Prestiging also awards you a permanent unlock token. These tokens allow you to permanently unlock one item from the level 1–55 pool, so it remains accessible no matter how many times you prestige. You must reach the original unlock level of the item before you can use the token on it. Many players consider using their first token on high-tier perks or powerful weapons.
The “Perk Greed” wildcard at level 54 is often recommended because it gives your class an extra perk slot. However, there have been community-reported issues with using tokens on Wildcards, such as the token being consumed without unlocking the item. As a precaution, it's best to unlock Wildcards manually through leveling or apply tokens carefully via the Level Unlocks menu in the Barracks. Until this is resolved or confirmed stable, players may want to prioritize weapons or perks for their unlocks instead.
Prestige Master and Beyond
After reaching Prestige Master, your journey continues up to level 1,000. Along the way, you’ll earn legacy prestige icons from past Call of Duty titles and unlock additional operator skins and weapon cosmetics. Once you hit level 1,000, you're designated a Prestige Legend and receive rare and cosmetic-rich rewards exclusive to that milestone.
Calling Cards
Calling cards are a visual badge of honor that let you show off your accomplishments. The barracks divide calling cards into four categories: Career, Battle Hardened, Prestige, and Dark Ops. Career cards reflect general progression, Battle Hardened cards reward skill and perseverance, and Prestige cards are earned through the prestige system. Dark Ops cards are hidden and unlock only after completing secret objectives. You don’t need to finish Dark Ops challenges to earn the “100%er” animated calling cards for multiplayer, zombies, or Warzone because those are based only on standard challenges.
Weapon Camo Progression
Black Ops 6 overhauls its camo progression system by removing the requirement to level up a weapon before starting camo challenges. From the moment you unlock a weapon, you can begin camo progression, which is organized into three tiers:
Military Camos: Each weapon features nine base camos that must be unlocked through standard tasks, such as headshots in multiplayer, critical kills in zombies, or eliminations in Warzone.
Special Camos: After unlocking all nine military camos for a weapon, two unique camos become available. These camos are weapon-specific but can be applied universally once unlocked.
Mastery Camos: These include Gold, Diamond, Dark Spine, and Dark Matter. Gold requires all Military and Special camos, plus additional challenges (like 10 double kills). Diamond is unlocked by earning Gold on all weapons in a category and then completing three-kill streaks without dying. Dark Spine requires Diamond on 33 weapons and further achievements like triple kills. Dark Matter is unlocked after completing Dark Spine across all launch weapons and earning five-kill streaks with each.
New weapons added in future seasons will contribute to these totals, giving players more flexibility over time.
All camos are cross-compatible across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone, allowing players to use their unlocked camos in any mode.
Reticle Customization
Reticle customization in Black Ops 6 lets players tailor their optics across all game modes. To unlock a reticle, you need to achieve a required number of kills while aiming down sights (ADS) with a specific optic. Each optic has its own set of challenges and unique reticles.
Once you unlock a reticle for an optic, it becomes available for use on any weapon equipped with that optic. This system is consistent across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone, offering cross-mode flexibility. Players can apply unlocked reticles via the Gunsmith interface by selecting the optic and navigating to the Customize > Reticles menu.
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Mastery Badges
Mastery Badges are a standout addition in Black Ops 6 that track your proficiency with various items, including weapons, equipment, field upgrades, and scorestreaks. Each item has three badge tiers—Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Earning the Gold tier not only marks your mastery but also activates a visible stat tracker showing your performance with that item.
If you achieve Gold on every item in a category, such as all assault rifles, you unlock the Diamond Badge for that category. This badge not only looks prestigious but also rewards you with bonus XP. Badge progress and rewards are tracked separately in Multiplayer and Zombies, and you can showcase your top three Mastery Badges in your profile's Social Menu.
Medals
Black Ops 6 features over 200 medals across Multiplayer and Zombies, organized into categories such as Streaks, Multi-Kills, Combat, Gear, Scorestreaks, and Game Modes. Medals reward specific gameplay actions, from simple tasks like headshots to more advanced feats like quad feeds or tactical objectives.
A special subset called Distinguished Medals highlights high-skill achievements and appears prominently at the top of each category in the Medal Collection. You can view your medal progress in the Barracks under the Medal Collection tab, where each medal includes unlock criteria and XP rewards.
Medals earned in Zombies and Multiplayer are tracked independently, and in Zombies, multiple medals can be earned in a single match for repeated actions. This robust tracking system helps players measure performance and aim for long-term achievement.
Why This Progression System Stands Out
Unlike many recent Call of Duty games that depend on seasonal caps, Black Ops 6’s progression system is fully available from day one. This freedom lets you immediately begin grinding for rewards without waiting for new seasons to unlock content.
The return of traditional prestige, paired with weapon mastery, challenging camo grinds, calling cards, and medals, offers a satisfying loop of reward and recognition. Whether you're focused on aesthetics or in-game dominance, there’s a meaningful goal for every type of player.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Prestige system in Black Ops 6?
A: It's a classic reset system after level 55 that lets you earn exclusive rewards and unlock tokens.
Q: What resets and what doesn’t when I Prestige?
A: You reset levels and unlocks, but keep operators, emotes, camos, blueprints, and stats.
Q: How do Permanent Unlock Tokens work?
A: You get one token each time you Prestige. To use it, you must first unlock the item normally by reaching its required level, then you can make it permanently available.
Q: What are Prestige Master and Prestige Legend?
A: Prestige Master is post-Prestige 10; Prestige Legend is level 1,000 with exclusive rewards.
Q: Are camos and reticles shared across modes?
A: Yes, they carry over between Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone.
Q: How does camo progression work?
A: No weapon level needed. Complete Military, then Special, then Mastery challenges.
Q: How do I unlock and customize reticles?
A: Get ADS kills with a specific optic, then customize it in Gunsmith.
Q: What are Mastery Badges?
A: They track item use across 3 tiers. Gold unlocks stats; Diamond gives XP bonuses.
Q: How do Calling Cards and Medals work?
A: Calling Cards come from challenges. Medals reward feats; Distinguished Medals highlight top plays.
Final Words
Black Ops 6’s progression system blends the best of old-school prestige with modern refinements. Whether you're climbing through levels, grinding camos, chasing medals, or unlocking every badge and calling card, there’s always something to aim for. With everything available from day one and prestige rewards tied to performance and effort, players finally have a system that respects their time and commitment.
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