Once you hit the maximum level on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, you’re faced with a quandary: You can either stay put on your current rank or lose it all for the chance to win it back with extra rewards.
Take the plunge and unlock Prestige, the upper echelon in the game’s progressional system. This comes with new skins, weapon blueprints, calling cards, and emblems.
But, is it worth upgrading or should you stay put? Here’s all you need to know about Prestige.
Black Ops 6 marks the return of the classic Prestige system after a six-year absence. For newcomers, this means that instead of the level cap increasing with every new season as in Modern Warfare 3, it stops when you complete level 55.
At this point, you can enter Prestige and start all over again…sort of. Your level will be set to Prestige 1, most of your weapons and items will be relocked, and your loadouts will be reset to default.
The 10 main levels of Prestige and their corresponding icons are based on previous Call of Duty games
Activision
The resulting wipeout will leave you with just your base operators and emotes; weapon progression, camos and reticles (which are virtually useless until you unlock your arsenal again); and owned weapon blueprints and skins (including the items from the Vault Edition and the store).
With this process repeating across 10 regular Prestige levels, each with rewards based on past Call of Duty games, it’s one hell of a grind. But, at least you get many exclusive goodies, including Prestige icons that show everyone you’re a cut above. When it’s over, you’ll unlock Prestige Master, with another 1,000 levels to progress through uninterrupted.
Peep the rewards that lie ahead in the Prestige menu in Barracks
Activision
With that in mind, entering Prestige can be intimidating, especially for new players. It’s the game’s way of saying “Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough.” After all, you made it to level 55, right? You should be able to amass kills and wins regardless of the weapons you use.
Still hellbent on moving up? This is how you do it.
How do you enter Prestige?
You can unlock Prestige manually at any time after completing level 55
Activision
Sticking to only the multiplayer mode took us around 24 hours of play to reach Prestige. However, you may be able to do it in less time by playing Zombies.
Irrespective of how you reach the top, the main thing you need to know to avoid confusion is that simply hitting level 55 doesn’t automatically unlock Prestige. You need to complete that level first and then manually choose to enter Prestige.
There are two ways to do this: agreeing to unlock Prestige from the introductory pop-up message or going into Barracks > Progress > and selecting Prestige. Hold down either the X or Triangle button depending on your console and you should be good to go.
Start from scratch and earn new rewards in Prestige
Activision
Still undecided? Don’t fret; you don’t have to level up straight away. You can play as normal until you’re ready for the promotion.
What happens when you unlock Prestige?
However, to tempt you into making the jump, the game offers a few incentives alongside the additional rewards.
Firstly, you’ll earn extra XP for completing daily challenges, which can help you progress through Prestige faster. Plus, you’ll get a Return of the King trophy or achievement, which is ultra-rare at the time of writing.
These are the rewards in level 1 of Prestige
Activision
More importantly, there are some instant rewards up for grabs. As soon as you unlock Prestige, you’ll snag the Nacht Raider skin for Weaver. Like the rest of the treats in Prestige 1, this is an homage to the origins of Zombies in Call of Duty: World at War.
But, by far the most useful reward for new Prestige members is the permanent unlock token.
What is a permanent unlock token?
This single-use consumable lets you grab one item from the level unlock inventory (including weapons, field upgrades, perks and Wildcards) that you can keep across all Prestige levels.
Even more rewards are on offer across the 1,000 levels in Prestige Master
Activision
To give you a helping hand on your journey, you’ll get one of these tokens each time you hit a new Prestige. Choose wisely and you should have a handy little loadout by the halfway point.
What should you unlock first? We’d recommend grabbing the Perk Greed Wildcard immediately because it gives you a game-changing extra perk slot. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until level 54 to get your hands on it.
What are the Prestige rewards?
You’ll have to unlock the game’s best perks again upon entering Prestige
Activision
Alongside the permanent unlock tokens, here’s the full list of rewards that await across all 11 levels of Prestige, including Prestige Master.
Prestige 1 (inspired by World at War Zombies):
- Nacht Raider Weaver Operator Skin
- Der Riese Loading Screen
- Perk-A-Cola Gobblegum Pack
- Zombie Breach Emblem
- Insta-Kill Charm
- Teddy Is A Liar C9 Weapon Blueprint
Prestige 2 (World at War Death Cards) :
- Jungle Warfare Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Madness Unleashed Emblem
- Berserker Death Card Charm
- Warrior’s Blood Weapon Blueprint
Prestige 3 (Black Ops campaign):
- Interrogation Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- The Numbers Emblem
- MACV-SOG Charm
- My Name Is… Payne Operator Skin
Prestige 4 (Black Ops Nuketown map):
- Welcome to Nuketown Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Doomsday Emblem
- Nuked Spray
- Atomic Commando Weapon Blueprint
Prestige 5 (Black Ops 2 Menendez drone attacks):
- Battle For LA Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Claw Emblem
- Cords Die Spray
- Absolute Loss Toro Operator Skin
Prestige 6 (Black Ops 2 Zombies):
- The Docks Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Tedd Emblem
- Jailbreak Charm
- Robot Abomination Weapon Blueprint
Prestige 7 (Black Ops 3 specialists):
- Miniature Mayhem Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Have A Nice Day! Emblem
- Tiny Treat Charm
- Specialist Fan Maya Operator Skin
Prestige 8 (Black Ops 3 AI and Frozen Forest):
- Frozen Forest Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Corvus AI Emblem
- Boom Train Spray
- VMP Elite Weapon Blueprint
Prestige 9 (Black Ops 4):
- Welcome to Blackout Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Where We Dropping? Emblem
- Wall Buy Spray
- Samantha’s PJs Grey Operator Skin
Prestige 10 (Black Ops: Cold War):
- Break on Through Loading Screen
- Bite Chews Gobblegum Pack
- Red Door Emblem
- Perseus Charm
- Art of War Bailey Skin
Upon reaching Prestige Master, players unlock:
- Legacy Prestige Icons
- Marshall Operator “Sitting Bull Reborn” skin
- Animated AMES 85 Blueprint “Classified Arsenal”
Additionally, Prestige Master players can continue levelling up to 1,000, unlocking Legacy Prestige Icons from past Call of Duty games at specific levels:
- Level 100: Prestige Legacy Icon 1
- Level 200: Prestige Legacy Icon 2
- Level 300: Prestige Legacy Icon 3
- Level 400: Prestige Legacy Icon 4
- Level 500: Prestige Legacy Icon 5
- Level 600: Prestige Legacy Icon 6
- Level 700: Prestige Legacy Icon 7
- Level 800: Prestige Legacy Icon 8
- Level 900: Prestige Legacy Icon 9
- Level 1000: Prestige Legacy Icon 10.