Call of Duty Black Ops Tribute event and rewards explained

The Black Ops Tribute event is now in full flow, with plenty of free rewards available to claim while celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the Call of Duty: Black Ops games. By racking up experience points playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone you can add a fresh Scorestreak to your locker, the Nail Gun to your loadout, and even an all-new operator skin to equip, among many more cosmetic items that are exclusive to this celebration.

As with most Call of Duty events, the Black Ops Tribute is only running for a limited time following its launch on April 17, so you have just two weeks to secure the goods and once the event concludes most of the rewards will no longer be obtainable. The only exceptions are the weapons, which will become unlockable via armory challenges in the future to ensure that nobody misses out on the coolest new gear. To find out more, here's everything you need to know about the Black Ops Tribute event.

Black Ops Tribute Event Rewards

There are a total of 17 free rewards to earn in the Black Ops Tribute event in Call of Duty:

• "Intimidation Tactics" Weapon Sticker (15,000 XP)
• "Bomb on Wheels" Spray (40,000 XP)
• "Striped Beauty" Weapon Charm (40,000 XP)*
• "Liberating Air" Loading Screen (76,000 XP)
• "On the House" Gobblegum (76,000 XP)*
• "Operatives" Large Decal (123,000 XP)
• Thermite Lethal Equipment (180,000 XP)
• Close Shave Perk (180,000 XP)*
• "Call It In" Emblem (326,000 XP)
• "Violet Sight" Reticule (326,000 XP)*
• 45 Minute Double Weapon XP Token (414,000 XP)
• "Crate Power" Gobblegum (414,000 XP)*
• "Blazing Win" Calling Card (511,000 XP)
• "Steer" Melee Blueprint (617,000 XP)
• Death Machine Scorestreak (617,000 XP)*
• Nail Gun (Mastery)
• John Black Ops (Mastery)*

While you can earn XP in any Call of Duty mode, you have to own Call of Duty Black Ops 6 in order to claim all the rewards. If you're a free-to-play Call of Duty Warzone main, then you can only claim around half of the event rewards.

Anything marked with an asterisk (*) on the list above is exclusive to Black Ops 6 owners. In case you forget which rewards are exclusive, the in-game reward page has a "BO6 Reward" tag to denote which items require you to own the full game.

How to Get John Black Ops

The new John Black Ops operator is a mastery reward for the Black Ops Tribute event, so you can only unlock him once you claim every other reward the event has to offer. John Black Ops is exclusive to Black Ops 6 owners as well, so free-to-play Warzone players won't be able to add John Black Ops to their roster unless they purchase the full game.

Since John Black Ops is at the end of the reward track, you'll need to earn a whopping 617,000 XP across multiplayer, Warzone, and Zombies in order to claim every reward and unlock this new operator. Once unlocked, you can deploy John Black Ops in any game mode, including Warzone.

Black Ops Tribute Event Schedule

The Black Ops Tribute limited-time event will last for two weeks in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone. The event kicked off on Thursday, April 17, and runs through Thursday, May 1.

Since this is an XP-centric event, it's highly recommended to jump in early and start grinding as soon as possible. You have to earn over half a million XP to claim John Black Ops, the Nail Gun, and all the other rewards, and that's going to take at least a few hours of gameplay. There are no bonus event challenges to complete, so it's strictly based on game time and completed matches.

Best Ways to Grind XP for Black Ops Tribute

Since the Black Ops Tribute event only requires you to grind a bunch of XP, the same strategies that Black Ops 6 players have been using to power level and race through prestige ranks work well here. Thankfully, there are great grinding methods across all three core game modes.

Best Black Ops 6 XP Grind

If you want to play Black Ops 6 multiplayer to progress through the Black Ops Tribute event, then we recommend playing objective-based game modes like Domination in order to maximize your XP gains. These playlists have more ways to earn points and XP than kill-focused modes like Team Deathmatch.

You should also avoid the small Strike maps like Stakeout and Nomad. Many players report that playlists focusing on these maps have reduced XP gains to prevent players from blazing through the leveling process. That means playlists like Nuketown 24/7 may not be the best choice for XP grinding despite their fast pace and high kill counts.

Ultimately, you should just pop as many Double XP Tokens as you can and grind objective-based multiplayer modes to maximize your XP gains during the event period. It's a long grind and there's no way around it.

Best Zombies XP Grind

If you get tired of PVP, then Black Ops 6 Zombies is also a great way to earn XP for the Black Ops Tribute event. There are even some Gobblegums on the reward track, which is nice for Zombies players.

Zombies XP is throttled pretty heavily at higher rounds, however, so quick matches are key to grinding XP. Extractions also offer huge chunks of XP as well, so the goal is to play until round 16 or 21 and then leave the map alive. It's a good idea to craft a Chopper Gunner before attempting to extract, too, just so you can be sure that you can clear the landing zone before the timer expires.

While you're playing, try to complete as many SAM Trials as possible. These give a solid chunk of XP upon completion and can significantly speed up the grind. Enabling the Rampage modifier at the start of the game can help, too, provided you can keep up with the increased aggression.

Best Warzone XP Grind

Warzone is the slowest of the three modes for XP grinding, but it's still a solid option for battle royale fanatics. The key to Warzone XP grinding is to avoid the usual battle royale modes and instead opt for respawn modes like Plunder or Resurgence.

Plunder is the safest bet, but if you have a solid squad, you can squeeze more XP out of Resurgence as long as you can secure enough kills and get an occasional victory. The XP grind will be slow regardless of which Warzone mode you pick, however, so we recommend playing Black Ops 6 multiplayer or Zombies to complete the event.

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