New Call of Duty Black Ops 6 update delivers an XP boost to help you level up faster

New Call of Duty Black Ops 6 patch notes have arrived, fixing a few key issues with multiplayer and CoD zombies in the latest game from Treyarch and Activision. The first Call of Duty to come out on Game Pass day one following the Microsoft acquisition, Black Ops 6 has so far kept me much more entertained than its predecessor, Modern Warfare 3. However, crashes and bugs are still blighting many PC players, leaving the new game with a ‘mixed’ reception on Steam. As it works on fixes, the Treyarch team announces its first CoD update since the official launch.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 multiplayer. Perhaps it’s the lengthy break I took after not clicking with MW3, but the decision to introduce several new high-chaos smaller maps is very much in my wheelhouse, and has kept me locked in for some of my best multiplayer games of CoD in a while. The spawns certainly leave something to be desired, especially on those new close-quarters Black Ops 6 maps, but for the time being, I’ve been too swept up in the mayhem to mind.

If you’ve been playing, you might have noticed that some match types weren’t delivering the experience rewards you were hoping for. I’ve certainly felt like there was a large discrepancy between the payout I was getting at the end of rounds, and now Treyarch confirms that it has just “increased XP and weapon XP rates for modes that were awarding less XP than expected.” This issue affects some of the most popular Black Ops 6 modes, including Team Deathmatch, Control, Search and Destroy, and Gunfight, so it’s a very welcome fix.

That should make it a lot easier to unlock and rank up all the Black Ops 6 weapons you want, although you’ll now no longer be able to earn XP by spamming out decoy grenades. You can now also select any options in the firing range regardless of your progression, meaning you can plan your best Black Ops 6 loadout ahead of time. Additionally, the last-selected loadout should now be correctly highlighted when you open the in-game menu.

Elsewhere, Treyarch has fixed out-of-bounds exploits on Babylon, Lowtown, and Red Card. It’s also fixed “an issue that was occasionally preventing matches from quickly finding a replacement player in the case that another player quit the match.” You’ll also notice improved performance in both the Black Ops 6 Theater Mode and Training Course, and private matches will no longer automatically end if one team has no players.

Over in the Zombies mode, meanwhile, there are a few tweaks. A Terminus side quest that wasn’t ending correctly now should. The undead hordes will no longer stop spawning unexpectedly in Liberty Falls. SAM Trials that were not showing up have been resolved, and the Wonderbar GobbleGum now gives you the Wonder Weapon it promises.

That’s all for this latest update. There are no real campaign changes to speak of, aside from a fix to the ‘mute licensed music’ setting, which was apparently playing up in certain cases. That said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the variety on offer across the Black Ops 6 mission list – when I can tear myself away from those ridiculous rounds of Headquarters on Babylon or Derelict.

Gearing up for your next match? Bring the best Black Ops 6 equipment with you – you’ll be surprised what a difference it makes. Then check in on all the Black Ops 6 campaign rewards to see why you should take the time to play the story mode this year, even if you’re more focused on multiplayer.

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