Here's Why Your Rank Just Dropped on "Call of Duty: Warzone" (and How to Gain XP)

Those precious hours, wasted?! (Not quite.)

If you just downloaded the latest update for Call of Duty: Warzone, you would have gotten a few surprises, not all of them good.

Sure, each new Season offers you a bunch of bonuses. That’s good!

But, if your ranking within the game was above 56—even if you had made it all the way up to 155—you would have suddenly found yourself at a lowly 55. That’s bad!

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If you’re unsure why the CoD gods decided to downgrade you after you spent all those hours completing daily missions and acquiring XP, well, I'm afraid I have no satisfying explanation. All players have simply been brought back down to level 55 for parity’s sake, meaning players have to each start from scratch and rebuild their status for this (and every future) Season.

Many are unhappy, but get used to it, pals.

If you’re a newbie whose ranking is somewhere in the low teens, and you keep getting killed by more experienced players whenever you land, you probably don’t even know what we’re talking about, and that’s just fine. You do you, boo!

But if you actually want to get better and want to know how to gain XP and grow in your rankings, here’s everything you need to know:

What is XP in Call of Duty: Warzone and how do I get it?

XP stands for Experience Points, and after each round of Warzone, you’ll get a Match Summary that explains how much XP you earned. Depending on how many kills you notched, contracts you completed and the length of your survival on the map (among other things), you’ll earn Weapon XP (which levels up your primary and secondary weapons) and regular XP (which allows you to unlock new weapons).

For a full list of ways in which you can earn XP, check out the official CoD site. There you'll also find an explanation of Mission Challenges, In-Game Actions and Match Bonuses. (You’ll also want to keep an eye on the Warzone homepage/barracks for daily and weekly challenges; additional ways to gain that sweet XP.)

How do I increase my ranking in Call of Duty: Warzone?

The eternal question! You’ll actually progress pretty quickly when you start playing and earning XP, but it gets harder and harder to increase your ranking as you go on. During this process, you’re basically growing what's known as your Enlisted Rank, which is capped at rank 55. You’ll never get reset to a rank lower than 55 once you hit that threshold.

However, anything above level 55 is known as your Officer Rank, and these are seasonal. They’ll get reset anytime there’s a new Season update to download. Don’t try and avoid them, either: you can’t play Multiplayer or Warzone mode without updating when a new Season emerges. Resetting comes for us all!

You can—and should—spend the Season racing to the max rank of 155, unlocking some primo weapons and loadouts. At the end of each season, you’ll return to rank 55, but your benchmark will be recorded in the barracks (your homepage) and contribute to your Career Level, which is, yes, another thing completely. Though that one really just gives you bragging rights.

Have fun out there, soldiers.

Call of Duty: Warzone is now available for free on PS4, Xbox One and PC. (However, you'll have to pay for your Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online.)

Header Image: Activision