The XM4 is basically the reliable old friend of the Black Ops 6 armory. It doesn’t have the flashy, high-damage kick of some of the heavier rifles, but in the chaos of a round 40 run on Liberty Falls, reliability is everything. If you're hunting for those elusive mastery camos, you're likely staring down a long list of requirements that feel like a massive chore. Let’s be real. Nobody actually wants to spend six hours straight aimlessly shooting at the undead without a plan. You want that Mystic Gold, and you want it now.
Grinding out the XM4 zombies camo challenges is a specific kind of test. It isn't just about clicking heads. It's about understanding how the spawns work, which ammo mods actually count toward your goals, and why you should probably stop buying the Nuke power-up when you're on a roll.
Starting the Grind: Military Camos
Before you even look at the special stuff, you have to clear the basics. In Black Ops 6 Zombies, the military camos for the XM4 are all tied to one thing: critical kills. You need 2,000 of them. It sounds like a lot. Honestly, it is. But if you’re playing efficiently, you can knock this out faster than you’d think.
Critical kills are just headshots. Simple. But when the horde is sprinting at you and the Manglers are firing cannons, hitting that tiny hitbox gets tough. I always recommend staying in the early rounds as long as possible. Don't pack-a-punch too early if your base damage is still one-shotting zombies in the jaw. Why? Because once you upgrade, the recoil can sometimes make you "overkill" the target, hitting the chest after the first shot kicks up. Keep it steady. Aim high.
Most players make the mistake of running full-speed through the map. If you want those 2,000 crits, find a bottleneck. The staircase in the comic book shop or the narrow hallways in the Terminus prison blocks are perfect. You want them lined up like a buffet.
The Unique XM4 Challenges You’ll Actually Hate
Once those 2,000 headshots are done, the real game starts. This is where the "Special Challenges" live. For the XM4, these are designed to make you change how you play, and some are way more annoying than others.
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One of the first big hurdles is getting 10 kills rapidly 30 times. This sounds easy until you realize the timing window is tighter than a drum. You can't just pick them off one by one. You need a group. This is where the Decoy Grenade becomes your best friend. Throw a decoy, wait for the crowd to gather, and then let the XM4 rip.
Then there’s the challenge involving "Elite" or "Special" eliminations. In the current meta, "Special" zombies usually refer to things like Manglers or Shriekers. To make this count for the XM4 zombies camo challenges, you have to be the one dealing the final blow. If you're playing in a squad, your teammates are basically your biggest enemies here. They will "steal" your kills constantly. Play solo if you want to keep your sanity.
Dealing with the 10 Kills Without Taking Damage
This one is the absolute worst. You have to get 10 kills without being hit, and you have to do it 20 times. One little slap from a stray zombie behind you resets the counter.
- Use the Sentry Turret: It doesn't count as your gun killing them, but it keeps the area clear while you focus.
- Perk Priority: Get Stamin-Up immediately. If you can't outrun them, you can't finish this challenge.
- Field Upgrades: Aether Shroud is a lifesaver. Pop it, and you have a few seconds of total invisibility to rack up those 10 kills without any risk of being touched.
The Road to Mystic Gold and Opal
After you finish the individual weapon challenges, you enter the Mastery tiers. This is where the XM4 starts looking truly prestigious.
To get Mystic Gold, you usually have to get a certain number of kills while the weapon is Pack-a-Punched. This is actually the easiest part of the whole journey. By the time you reach this stage, you've probably spent ten hours with the XM4. You know the recoil pattern. You know how many bullets it takes to drop a heavy.
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Opal is the next step. This requires you to finish the Gold challenges for every AR in the class. It’s a marathon. If you’re focusing only on the XM4, you’re going to hit a wall when you realize you have to go back and do the Ames 85 or the AK-74. My advice? Rotate. Do the military camos for all ARs first, then go back and do the specials. It keeps the gameplay from feeling too repetitive.
Why Ammo Mods Matter (And Which Ones To Avoid)
Ammo mods can either help or completely ruin your XM4 zombies camo challenges.
If you are going for critical kills, Brain Rot is actually kind of a nightmare. A turned zombie starts killing other zombies, and those kills do NOT count toward your headshot progress. It’s wasted XP and wasted kills.
On the flip side, Dead Wire is incredible for crowd control, but again, if the electricity kills them, it might not count as a "weapon kill" depending on the specific challenge tracker. For pure gun challenges, Cryofreeze is king. It slows the zombies down, making their heads much easier targets, and it doesn't usually "steal" the kill with an elemental explosion.
Expert Strategies for High Round Efficiency
If you’re trying to finish multiple challenges in one go, you need to manage your "Essence" (points) perfectly. Don't waste money on the Mystery Box. The XM4 is a starting weapon or a wall buy; stick with it.
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I’ve found that the best way to burn through the 2,000 critical kills is to stay in the starting area until round 8 or 9. The zombies move slowly, they don't have armor, and they head towards you in a predictable line. Once you hit round 10, the "sprinters" show up, and your accuracy will naturally drop.
When you move to the mid-game (rounds 15–25), focus on your "Special" kills. Keep a look out for Mangler spawns. The XM4 has decent penetration, so if you can line up a Mangler behind a row of normals, you can work on two challenges at once.
The Hidden Difficulty: Weapon Leveling
You can't even see the camo challenges until your weapon is a certain level. This is the "hidden" grind. To level up the XM4 fast in Zombies, you actually want to exfil early. Weapon XP gain drops off significantly after round 20. It’s often faster to play to round 15, exfil, and start a new match than it is to grind to round 40.
Final Steps for the XM4 Camo Hunter
To truly master the XM4 zombies camo challenges, you need a checklist that isn't just a list of numbers. You need a flow.
- Solo Play: Stop playing with randoms. They pull the zombies away from your training spots and steal elite kills.
- The "Train" Method: Learn to "train" zombies. Run in a large circle to gather 20+ zombies into a tight ball, then turn around and aim for the neck level.
- Wall Buys for Ammo: If you run out of ammo, don't wait for a Max Ammo drop. Know where the XM4 wall buy is located on the map so you can refill for a few hundred points mid-round.
- Muffled Commando: If the game offers you an attachment that reduces muzzle flash or improves aiming stability, take it. Seeing the zombie's head through the fire and smoke is half the battle.
The XM4 is a workhorse. It doesn't have the one-shot potential of a sniper or the raw spray of an LMG, but its versatility makes it one of the most fun guns to gold out. Just remember to keep your thumb on the stick, stay out of the corners, and focus on those red eyes.
Before you jump into your next match, check your current progress in the armory menu. There is nothing worse than finishing a three-hour session only to realize you were five kills short of a milestone because you didn't check the requirements. Look at the specific numbers, set a goal for the match (like "today I get 500 headshots"), and stick to it. Once you see that Mystic Gold pop on your screen, all the grinding will actually feel worth it.