How to Prestige in Black Ops Cold War: Prestige Keys, Rewards, more

Andrew Highton
cod black ops cold war season 2 prestige keys

The Prestige system in Black Ops Cold War rewards players with Prestige Keys for leveling up to unlock exclusive blueprints in Season 5. This guide will show you how to Prestige and earn keys.

Treyarch took a different approach to Call of Duty this year with its Prestige system. Usually, once you reach the max Military Rank, you earn your first CoD Prestige. In previous games, this would result in your entire loadout and level being reset, whereas this is not quite the case in Black Ops Cold War.

Cold War Season 5 brings more Prestige milestones, challenges, and rewards. One reward is for reaching a new Prestige rank is a shiny Prestige Key to unlock new icons.

Here is everything that you need to know about using how to unlock Prestige Keys and use them in Black Ops Cold War. Also, check out the fastest ways to level up too!

Black Ops Cold War Prestige

How to Prestige in Black Ops Cold War

Prestiging is the most notable way of informing the player that they are progressing in the game. It means you’re ascending through the levels, which means you’re unlocking items in the Battle Pass, obtaining new blueprints, attachments, perks, equipment, and presumably acquiring Prestige Keys.

The only way to earn these rewards is to play through Treyarch‘s Black Ops Cold War and Prestige. To do so, you must reach level 55 and then Prestige. This will earn you a Prestige Key, and you can now go through and reach Season Ranks, with every 50 earning you a new Prestige Key.

Every time you reach a new Prestige Rank, the game will give you a new sticker, emblem, and a Prestige Key. You get these as rewards after passing through every 50 Season Levels. Other rewards include exclusive weapon blueprints and Battle Pass Tier Skips for the Battle Pass.

For a more detailed look at how the Prestige System works, you can look here.

cod black ops cold war prestige info season 2

How to Use Prestige Keys

Once you’ve got a Prestige Key in your hands, you may be wondering how you can use it. Its purpose is to unlock Legacy Prestige Icons when you use them at the Prestige Shop. These icons will be from the previous Call Of Duty games, and you can add them when you reach Prestige Master.

Thanks to a new update, Treyarch has graciously included every single Prestige Emblem from all previous Call of Duty games. Going all the way back to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, to 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot.

Whether it’s the classic Gold Cross, 10th Prestige Icon from Call of Duty 4, or Black Ops IIII’s glowing-eyed Samurais, there is now a wealth of possibilities for you to pick from.

You can keep earning XP up to level 1000 and then get milestone rewards after crossing 50 levels. This means you can get 20 milestones when the season resets.

Prestige Shop rewards

In addition to the usual calling cards and emblems available in the Prestige Shop since it was first released, the Season 5 Reloaded for Black Ops Cold War has also added a new batch of content for players to purchase with their keys, including exclusive weapon blueprints.

There are four Prestige Blueprints in Cold War Season 5:

  • Hidden Terror – ZRG 20mm
  • Dream Crasher – Magnum
  • Dark Horse – MP5
  • Confrontation – Krig 6
Hidden Terror Blueprint in Cold War

There’s still plenty of time for players to level up and acquire new Prestige Keys before Season 5 makes its inevitable transition into Season 6.

Image credits: Treyarch Studios