Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 guide

Guide by Lauren Aitken Contributor

Published on Jan. 11, 2019

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably aware that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is now available across all platforms.

Forgoing a single player campaign to focus exclusively on multiplayer, zombies and the franchise's first ever Battle Royale mode, Blackout, Black Ops 4 is Treyarch’s most ambitious title yet.

There are new mechanics and modes added to Black Ops 4 that can be a bit confusing at first, so we’ve created this guide to help you get to grips with the basics with Blackout challenges, as well as a few tips and tricks for finding vehicles and zombies and what we think the best weapons are.

You can check out our review round-up here if you’re unsure if Black Ops 4 is the game for you.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: Blackout

Tips for getting started

If you’ve somehow managed to avoid ever playing a Battle Royale game, it would be worth checking out our beginner's guide to get a good understanding of how it works.

Best drop points and how to land fast

These are the best places to land in Blackout, and we’ve detailed a method of landing quickly to give you a tactical advantage over your opponents.

Zombie locations and loot guide

Here’s where you can find all the zombies on the Blackout map, as well as the kind of special loot they’ll drop. You can either take down the zombies yourself, risking giving away your position or lure them towards an opponent.

Blackout interactive map

The Blackout map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s battle royale mode can now be viewed and studied outside the game as an interactive map and it's absolutely genius.

Blackout challenges, tiers, echelons and merits

For Blackout mode the rewards are merits, which help you level up. Here’s how they work and a list of all the Challenges you should be working towards if you want to reach level 80.

Best perks

There are a number of perks available in Blackout to help give you a bit of an edge over other players. They provide a range of benefits for a short period of time and can make a big difference when you’re down to the last few players.

All helicopter locations

Blackout offers a range of vehicles for you to take advantage of, which are useful for speeding into the safe zone at the last minute or for avoiding enemies. There is none more useful than the helicopter, so here’s where to find them.

Level cap

The level cap in Blackout is currently level 80 and at present, there is no prestige mode.

Emote peeking bug

Players have found an exploit already: when using an emotes, the game goes into third-person view and you can have a good look around for enemies behind you. We imagine this will be changed shortly.

How to unlock Blackout characters

There are 29 characters in Blackout in total, pulled in from the previous Call of Duty games, Zombies and Multiplayer modes, and here's how to unlock them.

Tips for PUBG veterans

Here's a helping hand to those looking to jump into Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode from PUBG.

Best weapons ranking

Our list of the best weapons to carry in Blackout.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 bugs and updates

Razor wire and Hardcore mode bug

A bug has been discovered whilst playing in Hardcore mode, where if you use the razor wire and one of your allies accidentally trips over it, you’ll be booted from the game. Tough luck.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 update

This is the first patch that's nerfed a few items.

October Black Ops 4 update

The big updated that came at the end of October that fixed a lot of bugs and made a few changes to Blackout, Zombies and more.

Skulker perk exploit

Black Ops 4 players have discovered a particularly nasty glitch that lets them move at incredible speeds.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 trophy list

All trophies and achievements

It wouldn’t be a Call of Duty game without a tonne of cheevos, so here’s our list of all the trophies and achievements you can unlock for the base game and upcoming DLC.