The Ballistic Knife was an absurd but memorable weapon in the original Black Ops game, and it’s finally making its return in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This weapon silently shoots out retrievable blades that instantly kill enemies, and as it comes with a second knife, this doubles as a quick and effective melee weapon as well. The Ballistic Knife is viable at both mid-range and close-range, so it is fitting that the unlock challenge for this weapon requires you to eliminate enemies in both ways.

Multiplayer Unlock Challenge

The multiplayer challenge for unlocking the Ballistic Knife reads, “Get a One Shot, One Kill medal and a Melee kill in the same life in 15 different matches.”

Keep in mind that you earn the One Shot, One Kill medal for taking out an enemy’s health entirely — shooting someone that has already been damaged by a teammate will not count. For this challenge, we recommend having a loadout with a sniper rifle and a melee weapon. Shotguns can nab you that one-shot kill, but you’d need the Law Breaker Wildcard if you want a melee weapon too — that gun butt might not do you too good.

Loadout recommendation

  • Primary: LW3 – TundraSecondary: MacheteTactical: StimshotLethal: TomahawkField Upgrade: Field MicPerk 1: ParanoiaPerk 2: TrackerPerk 3: Ghost or Ninja

Obviously, run with any weapon combination you are comfortable with, but an easy bet is to have the LW3 – Tundra as your primary and the Machete as your secondary. The Tundra is a fairly reliable and easy-enough-to-use weapon for those one-shot kills, and the Machete has good melee reach compared to the Combat Knife while also being quick compared to other options like the Sledgehammer.

Become a master of stealth with the rest of your loadout — the Field Mic and Tracker will be helpful for finding enemies in your vicinity, and Ghost or Ninja will help you sneak up on those enemies for melee kills. Paranoid and the Stimshot will help with your survivability so you can try to get your kills in one life. Your general goal is to snipe people from afar, and melee kill anyone who dares to approach you. You’ll be vulnerable at mid-range, however.

The Ballistic Knife in Call of Duty: Warzone

While the Ballistic Knife was available in Black Ops Cold War at the launch of Season Three, it was not usable in Warzone until the Season Three Reloaded update.

Zombies Unlock Challenge

You can also unlock the Ballistic Knife through Zombies-specific weapon challenges — the challenge for this weapon reads: “Kill 300 enemies while you are using a Special or Melee weapon that is Epic or Legendary quality.”

The Special category of weapons also includes the M79 and R1 Shadowhunter crossbow. To upgrade your Special and Melee weapons, go to any Arsenal station on the Zombies map you’re playing in — using Pack-a-Punch will not have the same effect. Again, use any of the applicable weapons you are most comfortable with, but the Machete is sure to be quick and deadly enough to reach this goal.