Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched with a massive weapon pool, and leveling guns is more important than ever this year. Weapons need to be leveled up not only to get the best attachments and all the fancy camos, but also because the game’s new weapons Platform system locks many weapons behind the required use of other guns. Here we’ll list some tips for the fastest ways to level up your weapons in Modern Warfare 2.

Make use of double XP

The best way to grind weapon XP is by utilizing any double weapon XP tokens you might’ve acquired. These are going to be scarce at launch, but some Call of Duty promos and the campaign early access rewards did include some weapon XP tokens. There will likely be many more opportunities to score some tokens in the future, so always keep an eye out for those.

Additionally, there is a bonus available if you’re a PlayStation user. Players who party up on PS4 and PS5 will gain a 25% weapon XP boost as part of Sony’s collaboration with Activision. So, play with at least one PlayStation buddy to make the most of your weapon leveling.

Choose your playlists wisely

You rank up your weapons simply by using them and getting kills, so the playlist you choose is important here. One of my favorite game modes is Search and Destroy, but the slow-paced non-respawn mode doesn’t offer as much opportunity to level up my guns, so I’m spending more time in respawn playlists.

Overall, the best playlist to rank up guns is Modern Warfare 2’s new Ground War: Invasion mode. Invasion features a larger playcount than the standard playlists, and the mode is padded with AI opponents, so this is such an easy way to rack up kills.

If you combine slaying out in Invasion mode with a double weapon XP token, you’ll have some guns leveled up in no time.

Another trick works great in standard Ground War. There are several Domination-style points to capture on the map in the standard mode. You can equip the weapon you want to level up, hop in a tank, and you’ll make weapon leveling progress from using the vehicle. This counts when you get kills with the tank and when you capture the objective points while inside of it.

The main perk of choosing standard Ground War is having the option to choose where you respawn after every death. So, if you die, you can respawn in an available tank or squad spawn on a friendly to get right back into the action. These matches tend to play a little longer and there won’t be any AI to farm, but this is still a better choice than just standard multiplayer matches.

Multi-task the grind

Sticking with one or two weapons is usually the best method for making progress faster when leveling guns. However, I think it’s worth mentioning to have a few loadouts set up for the grind. Not every map layout is going to be most optimal for every weapon. For example, Taraq is a very open Ground War map, and I don’t think it’s best suited for leveling up shotguns. I’ve been using assault rifles, snipers, and marksman rifles for this specific map. Sariff Bay, Sa’id, and Guijarro all feature plenty of buildings and close-quarters opportunities, so I save my shotguns and submachine guns for these maps.

If you’re leveling up weapons for the camo grind, meaning you need to max-level them all, I highly recommend equipping a launcher as your secondary and getting those out of the way. These level up much faster in Ground War than standard multiplayer, as the large-scale combat presents even more opportunities for shooting down enemy streaks, and you’ll have plenty of vehicles to destroy as well.

Without weapon XP tokens, it should still only take about an hour or so to max-level a weapon by sticking with the Invasion playlist.

Invasion tips to maximize kills

Everytime you die in Invasion mode, you respawn all the way back in your team’s spawn, and on these larger map sizes, all the sprinting back to the fight can eat up some of your precious time. This makes the Tactical Insertion field upgrade a very helpful item to equip to your loadout, as you can then place the Tactical Insertion down in a sneaky location closer to your enemies, and you’ll respawn there on your next death.

You can also push up close to the enemy’s spawn and watch for the helicopters that drop the squads of AI opponents. You can sometimes get yourself in a good position to get a few easy kills here.

Also, it’s worth noting you want to start out with bot farming at the beginning of the match. These AI opponents will be weaker in the beginning, as the bots that arrive in late game will be equipped with armor and take a few more shots to eliminate.

All of these tips should give you the most success when fast-leveling your weapons. If you’re looking for some powerful guns to try your next match, here we suggest some of the best loadouts for Modern Warfare 2. Also make sure to check out our recommended settings guide, which will help you across Modern Warfare 2’s campaign, multiplayer, and Spec Ops.