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Black Ops 4 Blackout Merit sources, how to earn Merits fast and Eschelon levels listed

How to get Merits and start going through Blackout's many Escheon levels.

Black Ops 4 Blackout Merits are the experience points you earn in Black Ops 4's Blackout mode.

Unlock enough Merits, and you'll level up your Eschelon rank, giving you new rewards including Blackout characters.

How to earn Merits in Black Ops 4's Blackout mode fast

Interestingly, unlike other multiplayer and Battle Royale games, you can actually complete matches without earning Merits at all. Here's the ways in which they are unlocked:

  • Kills - 10 Merits each
  • Top 15 place (solo), Top 10 place (duo) or Top 5 place (quads) - 50 Merits
  • Win - 100 Merits
  • Challenges - Varies

Playing matches will see you earning Merits from Blackout Challenges naturally, as seemingly every action within the mode has a Challenge tied to it. However, to start ranking up, you need to place highly and rank up kills.

Want to earn Merits quickly in Blackout? With every match you play, last as long as you can.

Getting into a top ranking will get to 50 Merits - that's the same as five kills, and arguably a lot easier. And of course if you can win, that's an additional 100 Merits on top of the placement points you get.

Additionally, learn to identify Challenges that align with your playstyle, or even go after some Dark Ops objectives, which are one-off tasks which can be easily done at any time.


Operation Grand Heist is here, and so are four new Blackout character unlocks. If you're only just getting started, our Black Ops 4 Blackout tips and tricks can help, as well Mystery Box and zombie locations for useful loot and how to get Merits fast to level Eschelons. We also have a Blackout Challenges and Black Ops 4 Dark Ops list. Meanwhile, here's how to unlock Create a Class in Black Ops 4 multiplayer, and finally, the best Blackout weapons, guns and multiplayer weapon damage stats.


Black Ops 4 Eschelon levels listed

Here is every Eschelon level and the amount of Merits required to unlock them.

Echelon levelMerits requiredUnlocks
10None
2100None
3300None
4500None
5700None
6950None
71200None
81450None
91700None
101950None
112300None
122650None
133000None
143350None
153700None
164050None
174400None
184750None
195100None
205450Ranger character unlock + card
215900None
226350None
236800None
247250None
257700None
268150None
278600None
289050None
299500None
309950None
3110500None
3211050None
3311600None
3412150None
3512700None
3613250None
3713800None
3814350None
3914900None
4015450Frogman character unlock + card
4116000None
4216550None
4317100None
4417650None
4518200None
4618750None
4719300None
4819850None
4920400None
5020950None
5121600None
5222250None
5322900None
5423550None
5524200None
5624850None
5725500None
5826150None
5926800None
6027450Airborne character unlock + card
6128100None
6228750None
6329400None
6430050None
6530700None
6631350None
6732000None
6832650None
6933300None
7033950None
7134700None
7235450None
7336200None
7436950None
7537700None
7638450None
7739200None
7839950None
7940700None
8041450Seal character unlock + card
80 Prestige44200Battle Hardened character unlock + card
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