What is Endgame in Black Ops 7?

What is Endgame?

Endgame is arguably the best co-op mode Call of Duty has offered in years. It's an extraction shooter where you and up to 31 other players drop onto Avalon, a massive open-world map that's also coming to the Warzone Blackout experience.

Unlike traditional multiplayer or Zombies, Endgame is strictly PvE. There's no player-versus-player combat. Everyone in the lobby works together (or independently) to complete missions, level up their operator, fight bosses, and grind camos for the coveted Genesis camo.

Originally, Endgame was locked behind completing the Black Ops 7 campaign. Now it's available to everyone, making it the perfect time to jump in.

The Combat Rating System

Combat Rating (CR) is the most important progression system in Endgame. It determines how much damage you deal, how fast you move, and what abilities you unlock. Think of it as your overall power level.

Combat Rating Damage Multipliers

• CR 1-9: Base damage (1x)
• CR 10: Double damage (2x). Your guns become twice as effective
• CR 30: Quadruple damage (4x)
• CR 45: Maximum damage (8x). You're now dealing serious hurt
• CR 60: All base skills unlocked
• CR 63: True max level. Achieved via World Event bonuses

The jump from CR 1 to CR 10 is massive: your damage literally doubles. This is why the early game focuses on leveling up as quickly as possible through missions.

Multiple Operators = Backup Plans

Here's a pro tip: you can level up multiple operators. Each operator maintains their own Combat Rating. So if your main operator dies and loses everything, you can switch to a backup operator who still has their CR intact. You'll lose your weapons, but you'll keep that crucial power level.

The Four Zones

Avalon is divided into four zones, each with increasing difficulty and better rewards. The zones are color-coded on your tactical map:

Nothing stops you from entering higher zones early, but you'll struggle to kill enemies if your CR is too low. The higher the zone, the greater the rewards but also the greater the risk.

Each time you cross between zones, you'll see an on-screen notification telling you which zone you're in and the recommended Combat Rating.

Weapon Rarity & Upgrades

Your weapons can be upgraded through different rarity tiers, each providing damage bonuses:

1. Common (Gray): Base weapon, no bonuses
2. Uncommon (Green): Slight damage improvement
3. Rare (Blue): Moderate damage boost
4. Epic (Purple): Significant damage increase
5. Legendary (Gold): Maximum rarity, major damage multiplier

How to Upgrade Weapons

There are three ways to increase weapon rarity:

• Jailbreak Workbenches: Found around the map, these let you upgrade your primary weapon one tier at a time
• Command Centers: Clearing these spawns legendary workbenches that upgrade straight to gold
• Loot Caches: Found when completing activities or assignments, may contain higher-rarity weapons

Important: Weapon rarity is tied to your specific gun. If you switch your primary weapon, you lose the rarity upgrade on the old one. Stick with your chosen weapon until you're ready to move on.

Skill Tracks Explained

As you level up, you'll choose between different Skill Tracks that provide passive bonuses. You can select three total throughout your progression. Season 1 added a seventh track (Phantom).

All Skill Tracks

• Gunner: Weapon performance and ammo management. Faster reload/swap speeds, ammo auto-refill over time, and Shocking Reload creates electric bursts. Great for aggressive gunplay.
• Surgeon: Survivability and healing. Faster health recovery, quicker revives, and Off the Floor auto-revives you after kills in Last Stand. Popular for staying alive in high zones.
• Daredevil: Mobility and movement. Enhanced wingsuit handling, Slide Explosions trigger damage while sliding, and increased slide distance. Essential for fast map traversal.
• Tactician: Equipment and abilities. Faster equipment recharge, Equipment Hound improves ammo, and Piñata spawns live equipment after eliminations. Good for ability-focused builds.
• Berserker: Aggressive offense. Increased fire rate, armor regeneration on kills, Fall Explosions deal AoE damage, and crit chain speed boosts. Built for high-kill players.
• Bulldozer: Defensive tank. Explosive Resistance (fully upgraded = total immunity to explosives, including your own), and Tackle for crowd control. Go wild with launchers and C4.
• Phantom (Season 1): Stealth and evasion. Silent movement, increased crit damage from behind, Decoy deploys a distraction when taking damage. For positioning-based players.

When you level up, you'll be given a choice between two skill tracks. Once you pick one, you won't see those two options again. You'll make this choice three times total, eventually having three active skill tracks.

Best Abilities to Use

Before dropping into Endgame, configure your abilities in the Operators and Abilities menu. You have two ability slots: Major and Minor.

Major Abilities

• Crash Cart (Best for Solo): Gives you a free self-revive that recharges every few minutes. Also lets you revive nearby teammates without running to them. Absolutely essential for solo players.
• Ballistic Shell (Best for Teams): Deploys a protective dome that blocks all incoming damage, including melee attacks. You can shoot out of it. Incredible for team play and boss fights.
• War Machine: Strong damage output but less utility than the above options.
• Hand Cannon: Decent but not as versatile.

Minor Abilities

• Grappling Hook (Highly Recommended): Attaches to trees, lampposts, buildings, and almost any surface. Launches you into the air where you can deploy your wingsuit. Essential for fast map traversal.
• Kinetic Jump: Gets you airborne faster but less precise than grappling hook. Works in open areas where there's nothing to grapple.

Activities & Assignments

There are two main ways to earn Combat Rating points and level up: Activities (green icons) and Assignments (blue icons).

Activities (Green Icons)

Quick, passive events that start automatically when you enter the area:

• Assassinating a target
• Clearing buildings of spores
• Chasing butterflies through the air
• Defending objectives

Activities give around 200-400 power depending on zone. They're fast but less rewarding than assignments.

Assignments (Blue Icons)

Require you to interact with a contract and complete a specific mission:

• HVT (High-Value Target): Hunt down and eliminate a specific enemy. THE fastest way to level up, highly recommended.
• Mystery Cargo: Find and deliver packages. Takes longer.
• Dog Escort: Escort a dog to extraction. Takes forever, avoid unless necessary.
• Quadcore Sites: Infinite enemy spawns until you complete the objective. Great for camo grinding.

Assignments give 500-750 power depending on zone. Focus on HVT contracts since they're fast and efficient.

"The HVTs you can do extremely easily, extremely quickly, and they're extremely beneficial for helping you level up."

XP Farming Tip

If you need to grind weapon camos or XP fast, find a Quadcore Site. Start the event but don't complete it. Enemies will spawn infinitely. Pop XP tokens and farm headshots until you're satisfied, then complete the objective and move on.

How to Extract

Extraction is the only way to keep your progress. You must escape before the 50-minute timer ends or you lose everything.

Step-by-Step Extraction

1. Open your tactical map and look for yellow helicopter icons (escape zones)
2. Head to an escape location with 5-10 minutes remaining on the clock
3. Walk into the purple smoke and interact to call the VTOL
4. Clear the wave of zombies that spawn (15-30 depending on zone)
5. Kill the boss that spawns after the wave
6. Get into the helicopter before it takes off

Extraction Difficulty

The zone you extract from determines how difficult the extraction fight is:

• Zone 1: Easiest extraction, weak enemies
• Zone 2: Moderate difficulty
• Zone 3: Challenging, tanky enemies
• Zone 4: Hardest, very strong boss

Warning: Don't stand directly under the VTOL as it lands. It will knock you back and potentially trap you, causing you to miss extraction!

The Dr. Falkner Boss Fight

Dr. Falkner is the ultimate challenge in Endgame. He's located on Red Skull Island in Zone 4 and requires a recommended Combat Rating of 45+.

How to Spawn the Boss

1. Head to Red Skull Island (marked as "Listening Post" on the map)
2. Destroy approximately 100 plants scattered around the island
3. Fight off waves of enemies that spawn as you destroy plants
4. Once all plants are destroyed, Dr. Falkner spawns on the helipad

Boss Fight Tips

• Bring a rocket launcher (especially the Arrow 109). It melts the boss
• The boss spawns Manglers and other dangerous enemies. Don't get surrounded
• If you're overwhelmed, grapple onto rooftops to catch your breath
• Call out "boss?" in game chat. Other players often want to help
• With a full group, the boss becomes much more manageable

Boss Rewards

Defeating Dr. Falkner guarantees:

• Exotic Weapon: One of six powerful exotic guns with special effects
• No Fear Skin: Unique operator skin for the character you extracted with
• Instant Extraction: You can extract directly from the boss location

About Exotic Weapons

There are six exotic weapon types: Assault Rifle, SMG, Sniper, LMG, Shotgun, and Marksman Rifle. Each has special effects like freezing rounds, electricity, incendiary damage, or even turning enemies into allies.

Important: Exotic weapons do NOT count toward camo challenges. They're powerful but won't help you unlock Genesis camo.

World Event Bosses (Season 1)

Season 1 introduced World Events - massive boss encounters that spawn randomly during matches. These require coordinated teams and reward powerful Exotic Skills you can't get anywhere else.

Colossus of Avalon (Origins Robot)

The iconic giant robot from Black Ops 2 Origins has arrived in Endgame. This isn't just a "shoot the big robot" fight - it's a multi-phase puzzle encounter.

1. Wait for the Colossus to spawn (random, within 5-10 minutes of match start)
2. Climb onto the robot and enter through the access point on its back
3. Inside, defeat the HEL-A27 mini-boss and clear enemies
4. One player stands on the red pressure plate to activate three red lightbulbs
5. Other players destroy the lightbulbs to temporarily disable the core shield
6. Damage the exposed core - repeat until destroyed

Toxic Tyrant Z-Rex

The zombie T-Rex from Black Ops 6 is back and more dangerous than ever. This is a chaotic fight that can wipe half the lobby if you're not prepared.

• High mobility required: The Z-Rex charges and can one-shot players
• Aim for weak points: Focus fire on glowing areas
• Use the environment: Buildings provide temporary cover
• Team coordination: Revive teammates quickly, the fight is a marathon

World Event Rewards

Completing either World Event boss rewards:

• Exotic Skill Case: Unlocks one of 8 Exotic Skills (random)
• +3 Combat Rating: Pushes you toward the CR 63 cap
• Exclusive loot: High-tier weapons and equipment

Exotic Skills

Exotic Skills are powerful new abilities added in Season 1 that completely change how you play Endgame. Unlike regular abilities, these are earned exclusively through World Event completions.

All 8 Exotic Skills

1. Mega Punch: Replaces weapon butt with a deadly punch that knocks back enemies. Upgrades can trigger Phantom Rounds that heal you.
2. Conjuration: Kill enough enemies to summon Toxin Butterflies that harass and damage nearby foes.
3. Echo Shell: Significantly reduces damage taken from behind - great for aggressive pushes.
4. Celebration: Enemies hit by your Equipment have a chance to trigger Mortar Rounds.
5. Frost Cloud: Equipment hits can trigger a Frost Cloud that slows enemies.
6. Resurrection: On fatal damage, become temporarily invulnerable instead of dying (once per match).
7. Shattered Shield: When your Armor Plates break, stun and damage nearby enemies.
8. Graviton Reaction: Taking melee hits summons a black hole that damages and displaces enemies.

Top Beginner Tips

1. Always Carry a Self-Revive

If you're knocked as a solo player without a self-revive, you die permanently and lose everything. Completing activities and assignments usually rewards you with one. If you use yours, immediately do another mission to get a replacement.

2. Master the Grapple + Wingsuit

Vehicles exist but the grapple + wingsuit combo is faster and more flexible. You can cross the entire map in minutes once you get the hang of it. Practice launching off trees and buildings.

3. Focus on HVT Contracts

HVT (High-Value Target) missions are the fastest way to level up. Ignore the target's guards, just kill the HVT and move on. You'll level up incredibly fast.

4. Upgrade to Legendary ASAP

Skip green and blue weapon upgrades. Find a legendary workbench (usually in cleared Command Centers in Zone 4) and upgrade straight to gold. The damage boost is massive.

5. Enable High Contrast Mode

Go to Settings → Interface → Readability → High Contrast Mode. This makes enemies glow and much easier to spot, especially in dark areas.

6. Turn On Squad Fill

Having teammates means you can respawn if they survive for 30 seconds after you die. They also share progress on missions. There's almost no downside to squad fill in Endgame.

7. Watch the Clock

Keep an eye on the timer. Start heading to extraction with 5-10 minutes remaining. The extraction fight takes 2-3 minutes, and you don't want to cut it close.

8. Use the Arrow 109 Launcher

This launcher is the secret weapon for Endgame. It destroys bosses, HVTs, and the helicopter enemies. Find one early and keep it as your secondary.

Explore More COD Central Content

Ready to find your Endgame squad? Check out our other resources:

• Endgame Discord - Find squads for boss fights and extraction
• BO7 LFG System - Quick teammate matching
• Zombies Discord - High rounds and Easter eggs
• Ranked Play - Competitive multiplayer teams
• Warzone Discord - Battle royale squads