2021's Vanguard camo grind was no joke and entirely unrealistic, not just for casual players but dedicated fans too. Every weapon took around five to six hours to max out. There were 38 primary weapons, meaning it would take over 200 hours to max out all primary weapons fully.

Thankfully, 2022's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 introduces a new progression system for camos and gunsmiths, making the camo grind much more streamlined. If you haven't already, we highly recommend checking out our guide on how the new weapon gunsmith works to understand the progression system fully.

Basically, players now unlock new Receivers under each Weapon Platform, allowing them to change their weapon to a different one. This unified progression has further expanded into the camos category, making grinding camos much faster.

Base Camos

Modern Warfare II features over 180 unique camos at launch. There are two types of camos - Base Camos and Mastery Camos. The Base Camos are unlocked universally across all weapons by completing challenges toward any weapon's first Mastery Camo.

This may be confusing for some. But, to break it down, you can unlock a specific Base Camo on a specific weapon by completing the challenges, and that specific camo can then be equipped across all weapons universally.

The challenges may vary depending on what weapon you're using and may have one to four different challenges (double kills, triple kills, headshots, kills without reloading, etc.). However, once you've unlocked the Base Camo, it can be equipped across all weapons. You can then move on to the next weapon, which may have more Base Camos with different challenges for you to complete.

Each Gunsmithable Weapon (a weapon with attachments) will have four Base Camo challenges. The first challenge is a basic kill count challenge, available as soon as you unlock the weapon. The other three challenges are unlocked at specific weapon levels, spaced out in thirds, up to the max level.

For example, if a weapon's max level is at level 20. Then you can expect to see a challenge at every 7 levels. For instance, the Base Camo challenges for M4 are as follows:

• Get X kills with the M4. Unlocks the X camo. [Challenge available as soon as the weapon is unlocked]
• Get X or more kills with the M4 without reloading X times. Unlocks the X camo. [Challenge available at weapon level 7]
• Get X double kills with the M4. Unlocks the X camo. [Challenge available at weapon level 13]
• Get X triple kills with the M4. Unlocks the X camo. [Challenge available at max weapon level 20]

Completing all the above for an M4 will unlock its first Mastery Camo, Gold. Note that the weapons that do not have any attachments, such as the RPG, only have one Base Camo challenge, which is a kill count-based challenge. Once you've completed that Base Camo challenge, Gold camo is available for the RPG.

Mastery Camos

Mastery Camos are not universal and are tied to the individual weapon it was unlocked for. This means that while you may be able to unlock Base Camos across all weapons, Mastery Camos are unlocked for only individual weapons.

There are four Mastery Camos in the game. They are Gold, Platinum, Polyatomic, and Orion. After completing Base Camo challenges, you can move on to the first Mastery Camo, Gold. The requirements for the Mastery Camos are as follows:

• Gold: Complete all the Base Camo challenges on a weapon.
  
• Platinum: The Platinum camo challenge becomes available for a weapon once you've unlocked all of the Gold camos for all of the weapons (that were in the game at launch) in that specific gun's category. For example, all Gold Assault Rifles and then you can start the Platinum challenge for the M4 or M16, etc. Or, all Gold for the SMGs, and then you can start the Platinum challenge for the Lachmann Sub or FSS Hurricane.
  
• Polyatomic: The Polyatomic Camo is a step up from the Platinum and follows the same route as the Gold for Platinum. You must get 51 Platinum weapons across all the weapon categories to unlock the Polyatomic Camo. Once it is unlocked, you can do the individual Polyatomic Camo challenge for a weapon you need to unlock this camo for.
  
• Orion: Orion is the final Mastery Camo, and to unlock this camo, you must unlock Polyatomic on 51 total weapons across all the categories. The Orion camo has no associated challenges to use on a weapon. It unlocks immediately and is ready to use. Orion is an animated camo.
  

Weapon Mastery

Weapon Mastery is back and adds to the grind for those looking to earn the completionist title. Once you've unlocked the Mastery Camos (all of them) for a weapon, you gain access to the Weapon Mastery tab for that weapon.

Here, you can find some more challenges associated with the Mastery Camos. Each Weapon Mastery challenge involves getting a set number of kills with a specific Mastery Camo equipped.

You earn unique emblems and calling cards for each Mastery Camo challenge. Once you've completed all four Weapon Mastery challenges, you earn a weapon charm associated with that weapon.