Leveling up in Blackout provides you with new characters to play and a different, meaningless, shiny new badge next to your name. Still though, what’s not to like about new characters?
Arguably, the best characters are unlocked via in game missions, but the characters you can unlock via levelling up are below:
| Character | Blackout Level |
|---|---|
| Ranger | Unlocked at Echelon 20 |
| Frogman | Unlocked at Echelon 40 |
| Airborne | Unlocked at Echelon 60 |
| Seal | Unlocked at Echelon 80 |
| Battle Hardened | Unlocked at Echelon 80 Prestige |
Levelling up in Blackout is done by earning merits. You earn merits by getting kills, finishing high and completing challenges. I’m now going to break down each way to earn merits and explain the best way to do each in more detail:
Completing Challenges
There’s loads of challenges for you to complete in Blackout, and each one will provide you with a handful of merits. The easiest challenges are obviously the ones that you would complete over time regardless of whether you’re trying to complete them or not such as “Armored Up”, which requires you to equip Armour 50 times. This challenge in particular is easily completed by simply picking up every piece of Armour that you come across, even if it’s a lower level than the armour that you currently have. You can then simply pick up your higher level Armour again (Sorry exploiters, but you can’t drop and pick up the same Armour multiple times to complete the challenge).
There are three tiers to each challenge, and the requirements get higher with each tier. For example, on Tier 3 of the Armour challenge you’ll have to equip Armour 500 times.
Getting Kills
As with any play mode in every Call of Duty game ever, getting kills will net you points, but in Blackout they net you considerably less points than placing high does. For example, to get the same amount of merits as placing in the top 15 you will need to get yourself 5 kills.
There’s an argument for dropping at densely populated areas—such as Construction Site—just to try and get some early kills. This is a good strategy if you’re confident in your abilities as each kill will net you 10 merits. However, if you’re unlucky enough to drop and die straight away without getting any kills—or surviving to a milestone such as the top 15—then you’ll leave the game with no merits.
Finishing High
Placing high is by far the best way to level up in Blackout. Finishing in the top 15 will net you a whopping 50 merits when playing solo, whereas to get 50 merits when playing in duos you’ll need to reach the top 10, and to get 50 merits while playing quads you’ll need to place in the top 5. The merit reward increases with each milestone e.g. top 5, top 3 and 1st. If you are good enough to finish first you’ll see a tidy 100 merits heading your way.
I feel bad just saying this, but the easiest way to finish high is by camping, especially if you’re not very good at the game. Everyone hates campers, but sitting in the corner of a room is the most surefire way to last until later in the game, unless you’re unlucky with the circle of course and end up having a long run in the open. The only problem with this strategy is that we all hate campers, don’t we? All of this being said, camping isn’t the only way to finish high, go take a look at our best tips for Blackout guide.
Conclusion
If you’re good enough then the best strategy to level up quickly in Blackout is undoubtedly to drop at a popular location, pick up a few early kills and then survive until you hit the top 15 at a minimum. I know this is easier said than done, but even if you die a couple of times right off the bat—which can be very frustrating, so be patient—you’ll still most likely earn more merits like this rather than camping a room, and you should complete some challenges along the way.
Don’t forget to check out our other Blackout guides:
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