Treyarch games have always been more about the gunplay than the scorestreaks, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is no different. The streaks we had access to in the beta were mostly fire and forget, with a couple of notable exceptions. We’ll rank all the streaks we know about now and add the rest at full release.
Best Scorestreaks in Black Ops 6, Ranked
As of the open beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, we know of eight scorestreaks. Of them, five are fire-and-forget, requiring no additional player input to work. Four of those eight are also non-lethal but still provide a huge benefit to your team. And with perks like Bankroll and Dispatcher, getting those non-lethal perks has never been easier. For my money, though, there are only two streaks you should always run, and we’ll get into those now. We’ll talk about the other streaks, too.
#?: Chopper Gunner
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t able to unlock the Chopper Gunner during my time in the Black Ops 6 beta, and I never had it used on me, either. If it’s anything like the Chopper Gunner from Black Ops 1 or the VTOL from other Black Ops games, it is an absolute menace that will kill anything within seven square miles. If it follows the other lethal streaks in Blops 6, it’s a massive waste of space in anything but the best player’s hands. And for 1,600 score, I sorely hope that it’s the former.
#7: Watchdog Helo
An expensive like the Watchdog Helo should not be A) so easy to shoot down and B) so ineffective. I don’t think any of mine got more than one or two kills, meaning I would be better off using my gun. Sure, it takes some enemies out of the fight for a little bit while they destroy it, but if I can do more damage in less time and the streak that’s supposed to protect me can’t, what’s the point?
#6: RC-XD
The Treyarch specialty, the RC-XD, is as cheap and useful in Black Ops 6 as it’s been in every Black Ops game of the past fourteen years. You can hear the thing coming from across the map, but it’s fast and small enough that unless you’re really on top of things, you’ll either die to it or an enemy while trying to get away. Even Flak Jacket won’t stop a point-blank RC-XD explosion, and unless you have quick-thinking teammates, don’t expect to escape.
#5: Interceptors
This streak’s ranking depends entirely on how dominant airborne streaks are on launch. In the beta, the instant a helicopter entered the map, everyone on the opposing team would start shooting it, and it might get two or three kills for all the effort it took to acquire. Interceptors are great if the enemy team is spamming endless UAVs and other airborne streaks; they’ll clear the skies entirely. The main reason I’ve ranked them relatively low is their cost. Without the streak guarantee we got in Cold War, Interceptor’s 1,100 score cost is asking a lot for a single sky wipe when said sky could easily be filled with more streaks in under a minute.
#4: Scout Pulse
I would rank the Scout Pulse slightly higher if it functioned similarly to a CoD Ghosts‘ SatCom and caused a radar blip for both you and nearby allies rather than just for yourself. That would be a bit overpowered for such a cheap streak, I know, but I think it would be a nice benefit. Speaking only about the streak itself, it’s a good way to get your hands on the UAV and Counter UAV more easily, or any other lethal options if those are more your speed.
#3: Hellstorm Missile
A classic Treyarch scorestreak, the Black Ops 6 Hellstorm Missile is different from its past counterparts. Now, you can control missiles as they fall from the sky rather than choosing a place for a large cluster of smaller projectiles to land. This fact not only makes the Blops 6 Hellstorm quite a bit like the Predator Missiles of old but also gives much more control over where and how you rain death.
Tied for #1. UAV
Radar control is paramount in Call of Duty, and until we know if there’s an SR-71 or Orbital VSAT equivalent in Black Ops 6, the UAV remains the king of keeping your team in the game. Its function is the same as it’s ever been: any enemy not using Ghost will show up as a red dot on the minimap every few seconds. If even one of your other teammates has a single functioning eye and a brain cell to spare, they’ll be more aware of threats and can act accordingly. I imagine Ghost will become more of an issue on release, but in the beta, no one cared to use it, and the UAV was frighteningly powerful.
Tied for #1: Counter UAV
I am a UAV and Counter UAV enjoyer and have been since Black Ops 2. And like that game, stacking UAV and Counter UAV is a great way to build toward your highest-tier streak. Every assist you get for having one up adds 15 score to your streak, for 30 per kill with both active. Oddly, that bonus functioned after death as well, so if you get UAV+Counter and then die, you can call in both when you respawn for a quick and easy way back to them. Gameplay-wise, many players rely on the minimap way too much (I do), so having a Counter UAV up is a massive nerf to their effectiveness.
Those are my current rankings for all the scorestreaks in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. When the game launches, I expect the number of available streaks to at least double, as well as include attack dogs in the upper tier. I just hope they’re Black Ops 1 or 2 dogs to be a real threat. For more on Black Ops 6 on release, stay tuned to our guides hub.
Published: Sep 10, 2024 04:57 am