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How prestige works in Call of Duty: Vanguard

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Working your way up the ranks in multiplayer is what makes every Call of Duty game so addicting. From the original Modern Warfare up until the newest entry, Call of Duty: Vanguard, we’ve loved seeing those ranks go up and eventually hit max level. But the developers of this juggernaut series knew that people would reach that top rank, whatever it might be, and still want more. That’s why they cleverly created a way to keep those who are always looking for the next dopamine hit of ranking up coming back for more: The prestige system.

The prestige system is core to the Call of Duty experience at this point. It has long been the ultimate mark of a player’s dedication to the game, and each game gives players a new reward for that commitment. The basic concept of how prestige works hasn’t changed too much from one entry to the next, but it had evolved quite a bit by the time we reached Call of Duty: Vanguard. If you’re interested in diving deep into the multiplayer of this game and want to know how prestige works and what you can get for achieving it, here’s a full breakdown.

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What is the prestige system?

Character with weapon in Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The prestige system first came about with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In this game, once you hit the highest rank in the game, you were given the choice to prestige or not. If you did, you would be reset to level 1 all over again, losing all the unlocks you had so you could earn them all again. However, you were given a special emblem that showed you had reached the highest rank and chose to start again from scratch. Not only that, but if you hit max rank again, you could enter a second prestige with a different emblem. In fact, you could do it 10 times in that first game before you hit the limit.

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Since that introduction, the prestige system has evolved to have different positives and negatives to hitting prestige. No matter what, though, it always works as a sort of an end game system for players who push themselves to go above and beyond the normal ranks.

How does prestige work in Call of Duty: Vanguard?

Earning prestige rank 3.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The prestige system has undergone many changes from its introduction up to Call of Duty: Vanguard, but it isn’t much different from how it was in the last game, Call of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War. What hasn’t changed since the beginning is that you will earn your first prestige rank once you finish ranking up from 1 to 55 and get all the weapons, attachments, and other unlocks that come with these levels. The negatives associated with hitting prestige — all your unlocks and progress being reset — haven’t been implemented in several titles now and are also not back for Call of Duty: Vanguard. Because there’s no downside, you will automatically begin the prestige system once you hit the necessary amount of XP instead of it being a choice to opt into or not.

Call of Duty: Vanguard combines your total Player level with XP you earn from both multiplayer and Zombies modes. There are 55 normal ranks to go through before hitting what they call Seasonal Levels as a replacement for Player levels. At this point, your rank will be Commander, but it will also set you at prestige rank 1. To raise your new prestige rank, you will need to level up your Season Level 50 times. For every 50 Season Levels you’re able to earn, you get one additional prestige rank, with the maximum rank being prestige rank 200.

What do you get for each prestige rank?

For right now, Call of Duty: Vanguard is technically in the preseason, so things will work a little differently until the first season officially starts. However, for this preseason, we know what rewards you can earn for hitting various prestige ranks.

If you hit prestige rank 1, you will get a sticker and battle pass tier skip. Hit rank 2, which requires you to hit Season Level 50, and you get another sticker, a weapon blueprint, and a second battle pass tier skip. Prestige 3 is the highest level you get a reward for in the preseason and is just another sticker and battle pass tier skip.

Until the first season officially starts, we won’t know what prestige rewards we will get, but odds are they will look something like these preseason rewards.

How do seasons impact prestige?

Promotional art of squad in Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The name Season Level may have tipped you off, but you can’t take your time and hit prestige rank 200 over months and months of casually playing. Every time a new season begins your Season Level will be reset, but not your prestige rank. What that means is if you hit say prestige rank 2 and are Season Level 66 when the new season starts, you’ll still be prestige rank 2, but your Season Level will drop back go 50. So, if the season is coming to an end and you’re in between prestige ranks, you’ll need to decide if you’re close enough to want to try and grind up to the next one before all that progress is lost, or accept that you will be starting over again.

Every season has a set number of prestige ranks that will be added. We start with just the three mentioned, but season 1 will have seven, and season 2 is said to have 11. Getting to the maximum prestige rank in any season will earn you a prestige master rank, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep earning Season Levels. Why would you want to? Well, once you’ve earned everything in the current season, every 50 Season Levels beyond that you earn will unlock anything from prior seasons you missed.

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Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox has been a writer at Digital Trends for over four years and has no plans of stopping. He covers all things…
The best Wildcards in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Kill Order gameplay in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

The concept of a Wildcard might sound like a risky endeavor in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, but this part of your loadout isn't random at all. We haven't seen this system since Cold War, and even those who remember it from that game will need to learn all the new cards there are in Black Ops 6. You can only equip a single Wildcard on your loadout, but they are powerful enough to completely redefine your playstyle. So far, there are only six to unlock while grinding through the levels with your friends, but picking just one is still a tough choice, especially if you want to use a permanent unlock on one after hitting Prestige. We've ranked all the Wildcards in Black Ops 6 so you can always have the winning hand.
All Black Ops 6 Wildcards, ranked

There is a level of personal preference in which Wildcard you will find better than others, but in most cases, the ones we've ranked as the best will help every player gain an edge in online matches. Here's our ranking of each Wildcard from best to worst, along with what level you unlock them at.
Perk Greed - Level 54
The last Wildcard you unlock is easily the most powerful. Perk Greed lets you unlock a fourth Perk to your loadout instead of being limited to three, which can borderline break the game if you choose the right set of Perks. It is also the most versatile of the Wildcards since it gives you the most options to play with instead of a specific bonus you may not find useful. It can also more easily unlock the special bonus buff you get for equipping three Perks from the same category.
Gunfighter - Level 33
Right in the middle of the unlock list, Gunfighter is one Wildcard you could easily make a case for over Perk Greed in some situations. This one increases your attachment points for your primary weapon by three. If you're rocking a top-tier weapon already, this Wildcard can let you tweak its stats even higher. We rank it second because it only applies to one weapon and thus is a bit more limiting.
Overkill - Level 24
For such an early Wildcard, Overkill is quite a powerful choice. This card lets you equip any weapon (except melee weapons) in your Primary and Secondary slots instead of the ones typically reserved for each. That means you can build a loadout with two Primary weapons and be far more versatile on the battlefield. Instead of having to trade off range, damage, rate of fire, mobility, or any other aspect of your game, you can cover almost all your bases by picking two Primary weapons that cover each other's weaknesses.
Prepper - Level 45
Field upgrades are powerful, don't get us wrong, but having two instead of one isn't always that much of a game-changer. It's a bit less useful than Gunfighter only because field upgrades are more situational and require more attention to use to their full potential. If that's you, then this is a great choice.
Danger Close - Level 38
Who doesn't want another grenade, Molotov, or combat axe? Is getting a second Lethal worth the Wildcard slot, though? Not in our opinion. Most of the time, Lethals are used in desperation or as a way to deny enemy movement for a time, and even then, they are risky because of how vulnerable you are while using them.
Tactical Expert - Level 15
The first Wildcard you get is better than nothing, but only just. It's exactly like Danger Close, only you can hold two Tacticals instead of Lethals. This is, by nature, a little worse since Tacticals don't have the ability to kill an enemy (unless you get super lucky and you directly hit an enemy with one who is on low HP). You can get some use out of them, but you're better off upgrading as soon as you have another option.

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The best Perk-A-Colas in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
A screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's zombies mode.

There's nothing more refreshing than taking a nice big swig of a Perk-A-Cola during an intense Zombies match with your pals in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides tasting great (we assume), these colas empower you with buffs that will keep you alive until the later rounds. These bonuses are just as important as the Pack-A-Punch, but come in a wider range of flavors. It is possible to stack them all, but that gets expensive very fast so you need to be thrifty about choosing which ones are most valuable early on. These colas come in eight different types that may or may not be worth your Essence to chug. If you want to know which ones are the best in Black Ops 6, check out our ranking.
Best Perk-A-Colas in Black Ops 6

We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
Every zombie has a weak spot, which is most often the head. Deadshot Daiquiri makes a critical hit hurt even more than normal, plus increases your auto-aim on those weak points when you aim down sights (ADS). That second part shouldn't factor much if you've got good aim, which is why this is only a decent Perk-A-Cola.
PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.

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The best Call of Duty games, ranked
Soldier holding weapon in Modern Warfare II.

Few video game series are as influential and popular as Call of Duty. The annualized franchise throws players into fast-paced battles across various historical time periods -- along with fictional eras as well. Call of Duty has taken us to World War II, the Cold War, a modern setting, and even to the future.

Although it's one of the most successful video game franchises out there, Call of Duty's quality varies significantly from game to game, with some fantastic entries in the series, but many mediocre ones as well. But which Call of Duty games are worth your time and which ones should you skip? To answer that question, we've ranked all the mainline entries in the series, with details about why you should or shouldn't play a particular game.

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