How to Earn Merits and Level Up Fast in Blackout

Leveling up in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode can be a bit abstruse at first. Blackout’s leveling system works separately from that of the game’s other two modes, multiplayer and zombies, so players looking to level up fast will need to focus on their performance in Blackout if they want to earn the Merits necessary for leveling up. This guide offers several tips to help players earn Merits and level up fast in Call of Duty: Blackout.

How to Level Up in Blackout

As we mentioned, Call of Duty: Blackout’s progression system is separate from the other game modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. This means that in order to level up, players must perform certain tasks during Blackout matches to earn Merits. 

Merits are essentially like Blackout-exclusive experience points that contribute to your progression bar and allow you to level up your Echelon rank. Your Merit-worthy actions will be tallied up at the end of the match and will increase your total score for the round. Accomplishing certain tasks will reward more Merits than others, so it’s important to focus on actions that earn the most Merits if you’re looking to level up fast in Blackout. 

Complete Challenges

Challenges are a great way to earn extra Merits in Call of Duty: Blackout. There are a wide range of challenges available for Blackout mode, and achieving challenges will reward you with bonus Merits that contribute to your Blackout rank. 

Blackout’s challenges are divided into Career and Operations challenges, which are broken down into further subcategories. There’s even a list of secret Dark Ops challenges in Blackout that net you a good 25 Merits apiece. There are challenges for earning kills, using vehicles, and completing various other in-game tasks. Try to complete challenges that align with your play style to earn some easy Merits in Blackout.

Earn Top Placement 

Finishing in the top ranks at the end of a Blackout match will grant you 50 Merits. If you happen to win the round, then you’ll get an additional 100 Merits for a job well done. Try to survive for as long as possible in each Blackout match to ensure you place within the top ranks to earn bonus Merits for your efforts. 

Aim for Kills

Getting a kill in Blackout is worth 10 Merits, which isn’t a whole lot considering how much is required to level up in Blackout. It’s better to survive as long as possible, as placing in the top ranks will earn you the same amount of Merits as five kills would in Blackout. However, if you are eliminated before getting any kills, then there’s a chance you won’t earn any Merits at all. Getting kills can only help your progression, so if you are good at offensive play and can pull off some solid kills in Blackout, go for it.

Now that you know the best ways to earn Merits in Blackout, you should be able to level up and unlock those Echelon ranks in no time. Check out some of our other Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 guides for more gameplay tips, such as where to find every helicopter spawn in Blackout.