Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – MW2 – Grinding Weapons – CODM – Multiple Challenges

Tags

Attachments, CODM, DMZ, Firing Range, Gunsmith, Kill Confirmed, MW2, Spartakus, Stonemountain64, Team Deathmatch, Warzone

Ok, folks, there is a lot to cover today. First, now that I’ve been playing MW2 for about a week, I’ve got some stuff to pass along. Warzone 2 is out now. I’m currently watching Spartakus on Facebook stream Warzone and it looks awesome. Spartakus is one of the streamers I watch on the weekend, because Stonemountain64 only streams Monday – Friday.

MW2

Weapons

The weapon system and gunsmith are different. You unlock weapons as you max them out. Some weapons can be maxed out at level 14, some go all the way to level 30 or so. At different levels other weapons will unlock. I’m taking the advice of Stonemountain64 by grinding every weapon in the game to unlock all the attachments. This is a huge difference in the gunsmith. When you unlock guns, the other guns, once you’ve gotten them to a certain level will have access to all the attachments you’ve earned before. I haven’t ground any camos yet but will later on.

Weapon tuning is available for a gun when you max it out. Weapon tuning allows you to control recoil, aiming stability (muzzle sway), and other things like that. It is a nice addition. There is also a firing range, which I highly recommend. You can access it in the gunsmith menu. If you’re an Xbox player, you’ll press and hold the Y button to get into it. There’s a door behind you (when you turn around away from the gun range). This door can be used to gauge a weapon’s recoil pattern. Some are really easy to deal with, while others are absolutely atrocious. But each weapon will unlock a unique attachment that is not available to other weapons until it is unlocked. Trust me. Grind all the weapons. You’ll thank me later.

Strategy for grinding weapons

The best modes to play are Kill Confirmed and Team Deathmatch. I was initially just playing Kill Confirmed, but I was dealing with some long queues, so I opted for Team Deathmatch as a means of getting into games more quickly. Some of the streamers were claiming that Invasion was also a good map to grind weapons because there are AI players in the game that are easier to kill. The problem is once everyone caught on to this, the advantages of playing Invasion went away. I get far more kills on Kill Confirmed than I did on Invasion. However, I will be playing Invasion and Ground War when I begin working on Marksman and Sniper rifles. These maps have great lanes for sniping and long-distance shots.

Tier 1

For those of you who like playing hardcore, Tier 1 is the new title. I love hardcore, because it is very realistic. You have no UAV, you have friendly fire, like the real thing, and you kill players with one or two shots. Mind you, they can also kill you that way, as well, but it’s great for grinding pistols, and even shotguns, if you are having difficulty grinding them in normal mode, which is more forgiving.

Special Ops missions

These are AI missions with small teams. If you have a buddy, you like playing with, these are terrific. I’ll be playing them with my brother or a friend I make playing the game. Activision announced that they will have a RAID during the season, but it is recommended you get leveled up in Special Ops missions, so you have the necessary ability to play the RAID mission.

Warzone 2

Warzone 2 is composed of all the maps that are played in multiplayer. It also acts the same as multiplayer. All weapons will be exactly the same. There is looting and inventory management, but the game play is exactly the same. I was thrown for a loop in the previous Verdansk map because they were different. Now the difference between the two are seamless.

DMZ

There is a DMZ mode in MW2 that is an extraction-based game. Think Escape from Tarkov. You get loot, and you take that loot with you, if you can extract from the game. The DMZ mission also works differently from Warzone. Instead of the cloud coming in, the DMZ mode has two radiation sites that expand outward, once the time threshold for the game has been reached. There are multiple missions to complete, and there is now a weapon skin for the M13B in DMZ, which is really cool. I have not played either of these modes yet, but will, once I have ground all the weapons to max.

I’ll cover this more in future postings.

CODM

CODM has so many challenges right now. I completed one yesterday to convert the M16 from a burst rife to full auto. What a huge difference. The M16 is really accurate. Now with the new Wildfire perk. Today, I’ll be grinding some CODM in Battle Royale. There are multiple challenges to complete and the anniversary map has all kinds of stuff strewn about to pick up. It’ll be great fun.

For those of you who’d like to play together. My callsign is ieatbullets63 on both CODM and MW2. Look me up and send me a note in chat. I’ll respond. We can friend up and play. I don’t care how good you are or bad you are. The game is so much more fun playing with friends.

I play CODM during the day, when I’ve gotten all my stuff done. Usually between 1 pm Detroit, MI time and 5 PM. MW2 is the rest of the evening after dinner, unless I’ve got something going on.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Have a great weekend!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – Call of Duty MWII

Tags

Attachments, Bad, Battle pass, Call of Duty MW2, CODM, Good, Invasion, Weapons

I completed the game and now working on maxing out my weapons. I have a lot to go, but boy is this fun. It was recommended by many of the streamers I follow to play invasion and ignore grinding camos. Just get all the weapons maxed out for the release of Warzone 2.

So a lot has changed in this version of Call of Duty. One change is that I have not played COD on my console since COVID hit. So getting used to a controller again has been a little bit of an issue. That being said, my game play has improved dramatically over the last few days of playing. Well, let’s dig in.

First, if you follow any of the streamers who comment on COD, you’ll get a mixed review of the game. Some will continue playing, while others who have decided to move away from COD will not. There are folks who do not like the game crashing, some who do not like skill-based match making (SBMM), and still others who are bored with the changes to weapon systems, leveling, prestige systems, and all the rest. I, for one, enjoy the game. I always have. Mind you I am not a competitive gamer, seeking to get a lot of wins and high Kill-Death (K/D) ratios. I enjoy the game, do my best to improve my game play, and do it because it is fun.

What are some of the changes. Well, weapons unlock attachments. Each weapon you max out or attain a certain level with, open up other guns, which in turn will do the same for other guns, and so on. When you unlock attachments, those attachments will work on other weapons. So in some respects, leveling up other weapons becomes easier. This game has a few new games like invasion, which I did not recognize. They are all fun. For now, I’ll stick with the advice I got from Stone Mountain 64. I’ll concentrate on maxing out my guns and getting used to controller play again and learn the invasion maps.

Some of the things you will experience while playing. The game will crash from time-to-time. This is normal during game releases. Call of Duty has not “officially” released, so the early access purchasing this game gives you is designed to do the final test of the game before Warzone 2 and some of the other things they are releasing with the Season 1 Battle Pass come into the game. At that point, the crashes will subside, the game play will be more streamlined, and things will normalize. OH! The AI or Bots in this game are ruthless. I don’t know how they did it, but the AI is absolutely deadly. They will snipe you, they will throw grenades at you, they will chase after you, and they will keep coming. I really like that about the new AI engine in this game.

If you play COD, I hope you enjoy the new MWII. I enjoyed the campaign game. I also enjoy playing on my console again. It is a real treat. I am still playing CODM too. Since the new console gaming will take up more of my time, APEX and PUBG mobile will have to take a step back. Right now, I am focusing on getting diamond camouflage on all of the weapons in the game and working through the challenges.

Have a great Saturday, folks.

Happy gaming!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, APEX and PUBG

Tags

APEX, Challenges, CODM, Halloween themed areas, Halloween themes, Haunted Voyage, PUBG, ranked play, Skins

How are you doing? I hope your weekend is going well. Halloween is right around the corner and all of these games have come up with some cool Halloween themes to celebrate. If you’re in Call of Duty Mobile, check out Zombies as a separate game and the multiplayer versions. Also, make sure to have some fun on Haunted Hacienda. If you’re playing APEX, you’ll want to check out some of the cool skins for legends like Ash and Wraith. On PUBG, you’ve now got special Halloween areas all over the various battle royale maps.

If you haven’t seen it yet, MW2 just released for Call of Duty on Console. If you’re like I am, you can’t wait to get your hands on this one and start playing the campaign. Stone Mountain and a few of the streamers I watch played through it, and it looks outstanding. I have not played, yet, but will keep you updated. I’m looking to get back onto console after a long hiatus, concentrating exclusively on mobile gaming.

As a side note, many of you who follow this part of my blog, may not be aware of my father’s condition. He has dementia and cannot be left alone when he’s up. I’ve been tasked with staying with dad and this caused me to move to the mobile arena of games because that was all that was available to me. I’m still thinking of a way to get back on my console, but it may take some adjustments to my sleep schedule to make that happen. I’ll keep you posted.

Anyway, if you are on console and playing the new MW2, congrats and have a great time. I’m still working on ranks in APEX and PUBG, and working on diamond camouflage for my assault rifles. I’m also working on Gold for the ZRG 20mm sniper, the new Krig 6 assault rifle, and attempting to complete the battle pass for Zombies.

I have not done this yet but will be creating a server on Discord where folks can join me on the various games I play. I’ve discovered that APEX particularly is difficult to rank up if you are playing entirely with random players, particularly those who are from foreign countries who do not speak English. The only type of game play available is trios. Unlike PUBG and CODM, I can play battle royal solo, which is my preferred method of play when I’m ranking. I’ll notify you here when I’m up and running. I’m currently taking a Discord course that I should finish in the next few weeks.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, APEX Legends, PUBG

Tags

Apex Legends, CODM, Haloween, King's Canyon, Mobile gaming, PUBG, video gaming, World's Edge, Zombies

All, happy Saturday! I’m getting ready to fire up CODM this morning after I get done some of my to-dos. I schedule my day around 4 primary contexts: Physical (exercise, eating, sleeping, water intake), Mental (Learning, Reading, Writing), Social (Blogging, social media, etc.), and Spiritual (Spiritual exercises, reading, journaling). The rest of my day is gaming.

CODM’s new battle pass is awesome. They’ve brought back Zombies. They have some Halloween-themed maps and some great challenges. I was surprised they didn’t do anything for the Battle Royal side of things, but that’s ok.

APEX has a new legend called ASH. She has some great powers and I’m working on attaining her tier 3 battle powers. I’m up to Gold II. This season reset ranking, so I’m back at it. The goal this season is to get to Master level. I’m still learning the game, and also learning the new map system which is called World’s Edge. This is the map that was console only, prior to this season, but this time around, they are rotating between the maps they always used in mobile and World’s Edge. It’s cool. King’s Canyon is also cool. I like all the neat things World’s Edge has. They have trains, flying supply boxes, a vault, if you get a vault key, and all kinds of neat terrain–even lava, which will burn your character.

PUBG has also started a new battle pass and have specific areas on the map that are denoted by a jack-o-lantern. These areas are high-quality loot areas and also very busy with players looking to kill you while you are hunting around for weapons, scopes, and healing stuff. I’m still learning the best strategy for this game. I’m currently diamond level and working toward the next level in the rank progression.

Well, that’s it for now, folks. Have a great Saturday.

Oh! If any of you are interested in playing some games, reach out to me on any of these games. My character’s name is ieatbullets63. Once I’m done with a class on discord, I’ll be creating a server for gaming, where people can join my server and find people to play with. Finding good people to play with is really important if you are going to achieve the higher ranks. Playing with “randos” will not work. By having a server dedicated to my gaming, I’ll be accessible to everyone, regardless of what game(s) I’m playing. Well, that’s it for now, folks!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, APEX, and PUBG

Tags

APEX, Battle pass, CODM, devotion LMG, Diamond Camo, EVO-9 auto shotgun, Krig 6, melee weapons, PUBG

I’m sorry I missed you folks last Saturday. I had a lot on my plate last weekend and did not post on either Saturday or Sunday. There’s a lot to cover today, so I’ll get right to it.

There’s a new battle pass in CODM. They’ve brought back a new area for Zombies along with all kinds of goodies you can earn. The new battle pass is Halloween based, with a map that is going to drop in the next week, called Haunted Hacienda. I love the Halloween-based themes in all the games. Apex has not done that, but PUBG did. They have a new addition to the map called Strange Town. You can find all kinds of great loot there, but beware. Everyone goes there so if you’re playing ranked, you better have a great team that is really coordinating, because it is absolutely deadly.

APEX has a new battle pass as well, but it was shortened to only 20 levels. Still there’s lots of good loot, but a few of the areas in the last battle pass have disappeared. One thing I did notice is that they brought in the Devotion LMG, and the EVO-9 auto shotgun. These used to be only available with care package drops. The have also added some backstory videos on many of the legends. Bloodhound has one, Lifeline has one. Pathfinder has one. Wraith has one. Loba has one. Fade already had one, but these are really good. They add some depth to the legends and it’s a nice addition to the game.

I know I said I was dropping PUBG, but I reloaded it, and glad I did. Solos in ranked isn’t that much fun, but quads is ok. I also enjoy the bigger maps. The smaller maps are just too deadly for my level of game play, since I am still learning the game mechanics, which are I admit, very clunky, compared to CODM and APEX.

Playing with Random Players or (Randos), is still painful, but most of the teams I played with yesterday were pretty good. I won one of the matches by myself, since my team landed far away from me and were dead within a few minutes of the game’s opening. It was a cool ending as I was facing down with a sniper and positioned behind a tree. I knew he was in a tower on the opposite side of that tree, and the zone shrunk. He died in the cloud. It was a great win.

I just got gold camo for the butterfly knife and began working toward diamond camo in CODM. I got diamond camo for the M16 and moved to the Peacekeeper assault rifle. When I’m working on weapon camos I tend to stick with hardpoint, because it is a long enough game to get my 10 kills. When I am running melee weapons like the butterfly knife, I don’t care what the game type is, because you only have to rack up kills. For melee weapons, you have to get 500 kills to get the diamond camo. Oh! There is also a new assault rifle they introduced. It is called the Krig 6. This was a great weapon in the console version of COD Black ops. I still have the ZRG 20 mm sniper rifle to work on too, but will stick with assault rifles until I’ve got diamond camo for the entire collection.

On the APEX front, I maxed out all the legends battle skills, except Crypto. I am working on tier 3 for him. Once I’m done with him, I’ll move back to ranked. I’m assuming there will be a rank reset in the next season, so I’m going to just play unranked until the new season reset. I don’t know how far back they kick you when they reset ranks, but once I know, I’ll be able to plan better in the future.

So, this is how I organize my gaming day. I play about 4 sessions a day. For those without that kind of time, you may want to figure out what days you play a game and focus on tasks that day. First session is CODM. Second session is APEX. Third session is PUBG. The fourth session will be Zombies in CODM, since it really is a separate game. Each time I play a game, I shoot to get daily missions completed first, then any clan or club missions. Then I work on weapon camouflages. If challenges pop up in the game, like CODM or APEX, I’ll focus on those first.

Well, folks that’s it for now. Oh! I would also recommend checking out Twitch, if you haven’t already. I just started watching some streamers there, and boy, there are some good channels for PUBG, APEX, and COD. I have not seen any CODM channels on Twitch, but I’m sure they are there. The other avenues for streamers are YouTube and Facebook. Currently I follow Stonemountain64 on Facebook, Dr. Disrespect on YouTube, and Nickmercs on Twitch. All are very entertaining, particularly Stonemountain64, who really gets into strategies and walks you through his decision-making process while he plays. If you are trying to learn battle royal tactics and gameplay in Warzone, there is not much better of a resource out there. He broadcasts 1 PM eastern daily, Monday – Friday. If you subscribe to his channel, it will run you $5 a month, which is really cheap, considering the value he provides.

Well, that’s it for now. Have a great Saturday, folks.

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – It’s My Birthday!

Tags

APEX, Birthday, CODM, Crypto, Diamond Camo, M16, Senior Gamers, Zombies

All, It’s my birthday today. I’m 59 years old.

To celebrate, I’ll be gaming all day long. It’ll be a great day. The family is taking me out to dinner tonight. I’ll be playing APEX and CODM. I’m working on my final character Crypto to get his tier 3 perks. In CODM, I’m working on getting diamond camo for the M16 and working through the battle pass for both primary game play and Zombies, which they just brought back for Halloween month.

Hopefully my age will motivate other senior gamers to get into the mix. You’re never too old to play some great games and there are so many. Have a great gaming Saturday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – APEX Legends

Tags

Apex Legends, Battle Royale, CODM, Diablo Immortal, Gaming, PUBG, Ranking Systems, Team Death Match

This weekend I’ll be focusing on APEX Legends mobile and CODM. After playing PUBG for a few weeks, I’ve decided to put that game to the side. It’s ok, but just a little too clunky. Weapon control, aiming, and movement mechanics are really bad, compared to APEX and CODM.

I’m moving through the ranked system on APEX. The ranks start at Iron V and progress to Iron I, then there’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Predator. I’m currently at Diamond V and working my way to Diamond IV.

There are three game modes in APEX. Team Deathmatch, which is much like CODM, but only has a few maps. Then there is Battle Royal, which is non-ranked. In this mode, you’ll run up against folks spanning a larger span of ranks than in ranked.

In this game, you won’t be working on weapon camouflages, you’ll be working on Legends. Each legend has powers, and these powers are earned playing matches. You can play team deathmatch or battle royal. It doesn’t matter. APEX also has a battle pass, which is worth it if you like collecting trinkets and weapon skins. There are also leveling-up awards, which could be legend skins, weapon skins, and so on.

If you’re coming to APEX from CODM you’ll discover that APEX has a longer time to kill (TTK), which means you’ll have to improve your aiming a bunch, particularly when you have an enemy that is sliding and jumping everywhere. Each character has both health and armor that have to be taken out to kill them. Armor in this game can be increased by using the various devices and goodies sprinkled around the battlefield. This all requires constant monitoring of your health, armor, and ammunition.

I’m still relatively new to the game, so be patient. I’ll continue to add more as I learn more. Here are some places you’ll probably want to visit to check out the game, learn more, and participate in a forum where other players will help you out. There are some streamers on Facebook that play APEX. One I follow is Queen Eliminator. On Twitch, I follow NICKMERCS. Nick is well known in creator circles, and this is one of the games he focuses on now. You can also find a number of APEX Legends games on YouTube. I’ve stuck with the two I mentioned above, but if neither of these streamers interests you, I’m confident you’ll find others on YouTube and Twitch.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m off to work on Diamond IV in APEX and finishing up some challenges in CODM, including achieving diamond on the M16 Assault rifle.

Happy gaming, peeps!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, Diablo Immortal, PUBG, Apex Legends

Tags

Apex Legends, CODM, CODM World Championship, Diablo Immortal, Dr Disrespect, NICKMERCS, PUBG, Stonemountain64

Happy Saturday, folks! Tonight is the night I usually pull an all-nighter gaming and knocking out my daily tasks. I’ll probably hit the sack around 3 or 4 am. Anyway, this week’s games are CODM, Diablo Immortal, PUBG, and Apex Legends.

My ranking so far. I’m Legendary in both Multiplayer and Battle Royale on CODM. I’m Gold ranked on PUBG and Apex Legends, and I’m approaching level 200 on Diablo. I really enjoy playing ranked, because it adds more intensity to the game. If you play ranked, you gain points if you do well, and you lose them if you don’t do so well. It gets harder as you progress, because the level of play gets very “sweaty” the higher you go. Diablo is the only game where there isn’t ranked play, but I’ve always been a huge D&D fan and it has a flavor of playing D&D, with wizards, knights, and all the rest.

So this week, I’d like to cover the folks I follow, who stream their games.

CODM – StoneMountain64. He is on Facebook. If you hit the gaming tab on Facebook, look for his name. He’s pretty easy to find. He has millions of followers.

Apex Legends – Nickmercs. You can follow his streams on Twitch.

Gaming in General – Dr Disrespect. You can find him on YouTube.

I haven’t really watched any PUBG or Diablo streamers, but I know they are out there.

Also, if you are watching it, the final stage for the CODM world championship has been slated for December 2022. It will be in North Carolina where all the gamers meet and compete. It’ll be a great watch. I know they will be streaming live on YouTube.

Well, that’s it for this week. If there’s anything you’d like to discuss or have any questions about getting started with any of these games, hit me up in the comments. I’ll be happy to help you out and give you some pointers.

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, Apex Legends, and PUBG

Tags

Aiming, Apex Legends, Battle Royal, Challenges, CODM, PUBG, TTK, Zombies

CODM came out with a few challenges this week and brought back Zombies for a bit. These challenges drop the new melee weapon the Butterfly Knife. There’s another challenge also that will last for some time. It’s the seasonal challenge and you have to grind a lot to get the points to move through various clues, collecting them on the way.

I tried out Apex Legends and PUBG this week. My initial thoughts. Apex is fun. It has some great graphics, the legendary characters are a blast (my favorite is Loba). They have both Battle Royal ranked and unranked and they have team deathmatch. I am playing ranked because I enjoy the competition and the ability to increase my rank, which is ordered by color. You start at Iron and work your way up.

PUBG is a little clunky and I still have a lot to learn, but it’s fun. Between the three the time-to-kill (TTK) is high in PUBG, Medium level in CODM, and low in Apex Legends. Your aiming has to improve the slower the TTK. I started out unranked in both APEX and PUBG, but moved to ranked once I got the swing of things.

If you’re looking to mix it up a bit, but still enjoy Battle Royal, try these out. You may like them or not. For me, I’ll always be a CODM fan, but APEX and PUBG are also really fun to play and will improve your game play in CODM, just because you have to learn different skills in both of these games that will contribute to your BR and Multiplayer play in CODM.

Try them out. They’re both free and they’re both mobile.

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM and Diablo Immortal

Tags

Adler, Butterfly knife, CODM, Data Cache, Diablo Immortal, Express, Mobile gaming, Park, ZRG Sniper

This last week, both CODM and Diablo Immortal are offering new battle passes. I love it when the new battle passes come out. I love the new challenges, the new weapons, and the new character skins. We also got a new map – Express!

There are a slew of new challenges that dropped in the first few days. Two are battle royale oriented, and one was set for the new Express map. The new weapon is the ZRG 20mm sniper rifle. Later in the season (season 8), we’ll be getting a new melee weapon –the butterfly knife. Lots of new characters too. Adler is back and he has a new skin that you’ll earn when you complete level 50 of the battle pass.

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend following CODM on both YouTube and Discord. While I’m at it, you may want to do that for Diablo Immortal too, if you play that one. I haven’t done this yet, but thinking about playing Apex Legends. Nic Mercs, one of the PC streamers I follow has been playing Apex Legends forever.

Anyway, there are a lot of things to do in this battle pass. It’s a lot of fun. Oh! You have to play the Battle Royale challenges. This one has a data cache which appears on the map randomly. You get it, and every player on the map knows where you are. Win the game with the data cache and you get all kinds of good loot. I finished that one on my third or fourth try.

Well, I’m still working on completing the Assault Rifle class. It’ll be awhile. I’ve got a lot of them left. I also have to work on the ZRG sniper rifle and the new melee weapon when it drops. Oh! They’ve also introduced another perk. It’s called Spycraft. This will allow you to hack opponent items like trophy systems, trip mines, sentry guns, etc. That will be an interesting addition!

This short YouTube video will give you an idea of what to expect if you purchase the Season 8 Battle pass.

Well, that’s it for now. Have a great weekend folks!

Happy Gaming,

Dave