Vanguard players delighted as devs make Atomic grind way easier

Liam Mackay
Vanguard player fighting in Shipment

Every year, CoD players grind out weapon challenges to earn Mastery Camos, the ultimate bragging right. Vanguard players found this year’s challenges particularly time-consuming so the devs just made the Atomic grind much easier.

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s camo grind is perhaps one of the longest ever, with almost every weapon having 70 levels for players to work through. And on top of that, players needed to complete challenges such as getting 100 Longshots and 30 Bloodthirstys — and then sometimes repeat them with specific attachments.

Realizing how tough the grind is, devs Sledgehammer Games increased weapon XP rates and made some challenges easier. And on the April 7 update, they made the Atomic grind much quicker and easier.

Vanguard player on Radar map

Vanguard’s April 7 update made some significant changes, altering spawns in Tuscan and Gavutu, and fixing the completely silent Armaguerra. However, players found the camo challenge adjustments the most impactful.

Sledgehammer Games revealed that they “Reduced Headshot and Longshot requirements for several Camo Challenges.” They didn’t just shave off just a few either, with players only needing to achieve 50 Longshots instead of the previous 100.

This change went under the radar for many but has gone down well with those who noticed. “Legit got three guns gold in two days thanks to this,” said Reddit user JouleS88. “A very welcome change.”

“Good. longshots are by far the worst challenge, after launchers,” explained dancetoken. “its the main reason why i didnt even attempt to go for the main camo.”

However, some players feel that Sledgehammer introduced the change frustratingly late in Vanguard’s lifecycle. “Really wish they did this months ago, could’ve saved hours off my life aiming and waiting impatiently,” said Pappa 312.

“They waited until almost everyone who cared had them finished already,” explained another. “better late than never I guess but ffs we’ve been asking for this type of change for months.”

With players able to gain weapon XP faster and the camo challenges made easier, unlocking Atomic camo should be much quicker and easier than it was a couple of months ago.

You can also check out when the next Double XP event will be, where you’ll be able to fly through weapon levels thanks to the bonus XP.

Image Credit: Activision

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About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam made use of his passion for FPS games, including Call of Duty, by writing for sites such as The Nerd Stash, Red Bull Gaming, and GAMINGbible before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].