Look, let's be real for a second. The BO6 zombies camo grind isn't just about some shiny pixels on a gun. It’s a test of patience, a literal thousand-round marathon that makes you question why you're staying up until 4:00 AM chasing critical kills on a map you’ve seen a million times.
If you’re here, you probably want Nebula. That swirling, cosmic, reactive beauty that basically screams, "I haven't seen grass in three weeks." But getting there is a slog. It’s not just "kill zombies." It's specific, often annoying, and sometimes downright weird tasks that require a serious game plan.
The Grind Infrastructure: Military to Nebula
Before you even see a hint of purple, you have to slog through the basics. Every single weapon starts with the Military Camos. In Black Ops 6, this means 2,000 Critical Kills. Yes, two thousand. For every. Single. Gun.
Most people mess this up by just spraying and praying. Don't do that. You need a rhythm.
The Path to Mastery
- Military Camos: 2,000 Critical Kills (Headshots).
- Special Camos: Two unique challenges per gun. These are usually things like getting 300 kills while Pack-a-Punched, 300 kills with Napalm Burst, or killing 10 Manglers.
- Mystic Gold: Once the basics are done, you need 10 rapid kills, 15 times.
- Opal: This is where the weapon class matters. You need Mystic Gold on all weapons in a class (like all 7 Assault Rifles), then you hit the Opal challenge: 30 Special Zombie kills.
- Afterlife: This is the "no damage" phase. You need 20 or more consecutive kills without taking a single hit of damage, done 10 times. Oh, and you need Opal on 33 weapons first.
- Nebula: The endgame. Get 10 Elite zombie kills (think Abominations or Amalgams) with the weapon after unlocking Afterlife on 33 guns.
Honestly, the BO6 zombies camo grind feels more like a full-time job than a hobby sometimes. But when that Nebula skin starts glowing and reacting as you fire? It’s a vibe.
Speedrunning the 2,000 Crit Kills
If you’re doing 2,000 headshots the "normal" way, you’re going to burn out. Fast.
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The secret sauce right now is the Citadelle des Morts Oil Trap. If you haven't been using this, you're basically choosing to suffer. You activate the trap, throw a Molotov into the oil pool, and stand in a specific spot (usually with PHD Flopper so you don't cook yourself). Every zombie that dies to that fire counts as a critical kill for the weapon you’re holding.
You can literally knock out the entire Military tier in under an hour. It’s brain-dead easy.
Don't Ignore the Special Challenges
I’ve seen so many players reach 2,000 crits and then just sit there wondering why the next camo isn't tracking. You have to manually check the "Special" challenges.
Some guns, like the AS VAL, want you to kill Parasites. Others, like the AMES 85, require 300 kills at Rare rarity or higher. If you're on a high round and still using a grey-tier gun, you're wasting your life. Use those salvage points. Upgrade the rarity early.
Cracking the "Special" and "Elite" Barrier
Once you hit the Opal and Nebula stages, the game changes. You aren't looking for crowds anymore; you're hunting bosses.
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For Opal, you need Special zombies. These are your Manglers and Shriekers. Terminus is decent for this, but Liberty Falls in "Directed Mode" is actually a hidden gem for the final tiers.
The Elite Kill Hack
Nebula requires 10 Elite kills. In a standard match, you might see one or two every few rounds. It takes forever.
Instead, head into Liberty Falls Directed Mode. Progress the Easter Egg until you get to the canister step. This spawns an Abomination. Kill it, it counts. The best part? You can practically farm these spawns if you know the triggers, making the Nebula challenge take about 20 minutes instead of three separate two-hour matches.
The Weapons That Will Break Your Soul
Let’s talk about launchers. The CIGMA 2B is a nightmare.
Getting 2,000 kills with a launcher is tedious. Getting "Direct Hit" kills or killing 75 Armored zombies with a rocket that has the blast radius of a wet firecracker is enough to make anyone quit.
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My advice? Save the launchers for a Double Weapon XP weekend. Use the "Melee with the weapon" trick if the kills aren't tracking right, or just rely on the Oil Trap method mentioned earlier. If you try to do launchers "legitimately," you will lose your mind.
Why the Order Matters
You can't just jump around. The BO6 zombies camo grind is a ladder.
If you have a favorite gun, sure, gold it out. But if you want Nebula, you need 33 weapons. That means you have to touch the stuff you hate. The snipers. The pistols. The weird semi-auto marksman rifles that feel clunky in a horde.
- Priority 1: ARs and SMGs. They are the easiest and most versatile.
- Priority 2: Shotguns (specifically the Marine SP). They delete specials.
- Priority 3: Melee. Surprisingly fast if you have the right perks.
- Priority 4: Everything else.
Practical Next Steps
Stop playing standard matches to round 50 if you're only focused on camos. It’s inefficient. The XP drop-off is real, and the risk of a random crash or a "server snapshot error" increases the longer you stay in.
- Load up Citadelle des Morts. 2. Focus on rarity upgrades immediately to knock out those "Rare or higher" special challenges.
- Use the Oil Trap for the 2,000 critical kills.
- Exfil by round 30. The spawns get messy after that, and your efficiency drops.
The BO6 zombies camo grind is a marathon, not a sprint. Take breaks. Don't let the Manglers win. Once you have that Nebula skin, though? Every second of that 2,000-crit-per-gun madness feels worth it. Almost.