The 50-tip winning formula to any Blackout game

Whether you’re a rookie, first picking on a Battle Royale, or a veteran with thousands of games under the belt, there is always something new you can learn, especially in a high-octane BR like Blackout. Here, every little detail can make a huge difference between dying five seconds after landing and leaving a massive body count behind you as you bring down your last opponent.

The following guide brings together 50 winning tips to use throughout the three-step sequence that defines any BR – early game, mid-game, late game. And, yes, this is vital for you, Call of Duty veterans, as well. If you’ve never played any BR before Blackout, brace yourselves for an entirely different shooting experience; unlike previous titles in the COD francize, Blackout is no longer hit-scan.

That being said, here we go:

Early Game Tips

This is when the situation is most volatile. Many people will land in hot drops, looking for early good loot like lvl 3 Armor, gold guns, and utility. In the early game, quick thinking, pure reflexes, and a steady heart rate will easily turn the tides in your favor. So long as you:

1. Aim straight down for 1-2 seconds when dropping out of the chopper; it will immediately boost your speed over 60 km/hr, giving you a massive head-start

2. Upon landing, grab the first gun you can find and immediately scan your surroundings for enemies. It is especially important when landing in hot drops

3. If other players land with you in the same area, pick up a weapon and hunt them immediately. They won’t expect the early engagement and the surprise factor will pay off fast

4. Don’t loot the body immediately after an early kill in a hot drop because the gunshots will have most likely attracted the attention of other enemies in the area

5. If you have a lot of enemies landing with you in a hot zone, grab what you can and look for a vehicle for a quick retreat. Remember, the first 5 minutes in any BR are the most difficult to go through

6. Loot SMGs and Shotguns first; you want the superior fire rate of SMGs or the punching power of a MOG for close-quarters combat. Leave ARs and snipers for later, once you have cleaned the area

7. Always try to find armor fast to avoid dying in 3-4 taps

8. Activate any perks you can find immediately upon landing, especially Paranoia, Dead Silence, Skulker, Awareness or Brawler for obvious reasons

9. Try finding high-ground as soon as you loot your first weapons for a better vantage point, which will give you an immediate upper-hand on the situation

10. If the landing zone is too hot, loot fast, find a way out, and wait for the enemies to leave the area; you can then pick them off as they show up

11. As you move to other areas in the early game, mesh-mine access points like bridges and narrow streets to catch early and even late enemy rotations

12. When moving towards the next safe zone, avoid open areas, even if it means making a wider rotation; getting third-partied in an open area is a death sentence

13. If you don’t have sensors, Awareness or Dead Silence, don’t enter other hot zones after leaving your initial landing spot. You’ll most likely run across fully-geared campers, ready to greet you

14. Try reaching the first safe circle early and stick to margins to pick up latecomers

15. Try third-partying any gunfight, so long as you don’t put yourself at risk; you’ll almost always be rewarded with a kill or two

Mid-game tips

So, you’ve survived the first several minutes of the game and you’re now slowly making your way towards the final circles. Since your goal is winning the game, you need to adopt specific strategies to ensure your success. These include:

16. Traverse the rivers as soon as you can; depending where you are on the map, you might need to traverse one or two rivers. Do it early before people start camping the houses near the shores and make your life miserable
17. Avoid bridges as much as possible; all bridges have houses on both ends and they’re almost never empty
18. Prioritize helicopters over any land vehicle. Yes, they are louder and more visible, but you won’t get mesh-mined and you’ll move faster and safer to your next spot
19. Don’t lay mesh-mines anywhere; keep them with you as short-distance “snipers” for incoming vehicles. Most people never expect that and, if aimed correctly, they’ll deliver instant death
20. Whenever in a vehicle, stick a sensor dart to it; it will let you know what you’re getting into ahead of time
21. Always park your vehicle on high-grounds

22. Prioritize grapples over anything else; literally, everything else
23. Prioritize frag grenades over clusters for obvious reasons; just like mesh-mines, they are deadly when used properly
24. Consumer is your best friend, followed by his close buddies – Paranoia and Dead Silence
25. Try exchanging your bandages for med-kits and traumas; bandages are pretty much useless in stressful situations, when you need to heal large portions of HP fast
26. Always have a concussion ready and don’t worry too much about the misconceptions; concussions exist, they give you a clear advantage in the fight, use them. Maybe have two
27. If you’re playing an AR, prioritize the silencer over the long-barrel; the silencer decreases your sound signature on the map. You will get away with murder every time, without getting any third-party unwanted attention
28. Stick to the edge of the circle; the middle is the death zone

29. Patrol high-ground areas like hilltops and roofs
30. Always make sure you have an escape route or cover in case you get caught by surprise or third-partied
31. When in storm, never fire at someone in the safe zone; they have an inherent advantage over you
32. Always heal, repair your armor, and scan your surrounding area after winning a gunfight, instead of looting immediately after the kill

Late game tips

If you’ve made it this far, you need to make sure you don’t blow it. Fortunately for you, unlike the early game, the final stage is the easiest one, so long as you stick to several vital strategies. These include:

33. Never-ever enter any houses or complexes, as those are always packed with campers. It’s not uncommon to have two campers in the same house, one room away from one another, which is always funny; sad, but funny.
34. If you absolutely must enter a house, have Brawler, a sensor, or a close-quarter weapon ready, like MOG, Daemon, or SG12
35. Try reaching on top of buildings or hilltops and bunny-hop your way around the area, while scanning your surroundings. This tactic will usually make you more visible to other players, but harder to hit at the same time, while allowing you to secure the nearby area

36. Prioritize Consumer, Paranoia, and Dead Silence for the final circle, over anything else
37. Loot fast, only if you absolutely need it, and only when you are 100% safe and hidden from sight
38. Never, and I mean never, prone when looting. Master the art of strafing, to avoid sniper headshots. If you’re already on your feet, you will also be able to bail out faster in case of a cluster landing near you, or a noob frag (uncooked)
39. If possible, patrol the edge of the circle that has the high-ground
40. Always go for early, fast, silent rotations to the final circle
41. Nobody sticks to the middle of the circle in the final two collapses, which means you will only need to secure your three and nine-o-clock, while having your back to the storm
42. Don’t be a bush-boy, don’t prone, and don’t hug rocks; you need visibility and mobility, otherwise you will be caught off-guard by people making rotations with Dead Silence, Skulker, or simply bulldozing their way through the final circle
43. Don’t fight for too long – if you didn’t kill the guy in several shots, hide and rescan your surroundings. You will easily get third-partied in the final circle if you lose focus and awareness

44. Brainstorm your opponents’ locations – If you hear gunshots north of you, you now know the location of at least two enemies
45. Avoid using vehicles in the final two circles, since you will easily get third-partied or mesh-mined
46. Only use a vehicle if you have a sensor on it and looking to get from point A to point B fast
47. Don’t go all-in during a fight. If your opponent beams you, hide and reset. Being smart will always outweigh being aggressive
48. Try changing your location after an unsuccessful engagement, preferably undetected, to bamboozle your opponent; just make sure you don’t run across a bush-boy or a rock-hugger who hasn’t read this article
49. If you have any grenade and don’t know the locations of the last enemies, throw it somewhere as bait; they might peak for the opportunity to third-party, allowing you to collect their heads with a sniper, an AR, or grenade their location
50. In the 1v1 scenario, if you’ve damaged your enemy with the sniper or an AR, and they’ve managed to hide behind a rock or a tree, immediately grapple to them and finish the job; don’t give them time to heal and reset

As any “Best Tips” type of list, there will always be rogue players who have different winning strategies. If you’re a more aggressive BR player, with ungodly reflexes and impeccable aiming, who loves to storm the map and cause carnage, you might prefer a different approach. After all, you don’t need much strategizing, if you’re already owning everyone, no matter the handicap.

But, if you’re the average Joe on the path to self-improvement, looking to score as many wins as possible, this guide should be your personal Bible. Take it, adapt it to your style, and, most importantly, don’t forget to taunt the last kill. Happy hunting!

Also be sure to check out:

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CoD Blackout Best Guns (And 5 Worst)

Top 5 Cod Blackout Best Loadouts

The 9 Best CoD Blackout Settings To Frag Like a Pro