Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – Welcome to the DMZ!

Tags

Call of Duty, DMZ, Gaming, Munitions box, Solo operations, Stealth, Stim, Throwing knives, Warzone

One of the new modes of play is the DMZ. It is so much fun. You typically will go into the DMZ with two other players. You can also go in with just one buddy or even solo. What makes the DMZ unique is that there are extraction zones across the map that allow you to exfil from the DMZ whenever you want.

When you first start playing the game, you’ll see a weapon’s slot that is insured and a collection of weapons that are labeled “contraband”. If you die during one of your excursions into the DMZ, you’ll lose your insured weapon slot for an hour before it resets. Any contraband weapons you take in with you, you will lose permanently.

Here are a few tips and tricks from my experiences in the DMZ, so far:

1. Avoid taking in anything you do not want to lose. This is really important, particularly with keys. You’ll gather keys that open certain areas on the DMZ maps that will help you complete missions, provide great loot, or play some part in one of the story missions. If you die, you’ll lose what you brought in.
2. Play with friends if you can. It is the most effective way to play in the DMZ. If you get random players in your lobby, try to figure out if anyone needs to complete a mission. Find out what faction they are working on and what challenges they are trying to complete. If one person finishes the task, everyone gets credit for its completion, provided they have selected that mission for this particular deployment.
3. If you play solo, plan on dying a lot. After while you’ll get better at fighting the AI and know where they are likely to be. You will also know where the loot is in the area you are deployed to. When I go in solo, I only take tacticals, lethals, and a munitions box. The tactical I use is a stim. The lethal I use is a throwing knife. This throwing knife will help you silently kill your first AI and get his weapon.
4. Pay attention to the missions you’ve selected. Some are on Ashika island; others are in Almazra. Some will require you to have certain gear like a stronghold key card, or some specific piece of equipment you’ll need to accomplish the mission.
5. Watch YouTube videos to figure out how to do a particular mission.

Here’s a video I watched to complete the mission called Muddy Waters:

YouTube is my go to for anything involving Call of Duty multiplayer, DMZ, ranked play, and Warzone. If you are stuck, there will be some creator like the one above who walks you through every part of a mission, a weapon build, or a tactical strategy that you can add to your own gameplay.

The DMZ and Warzone are terrific ways to add some variety to your gameplay. If you get tired of grinding camos or camo challenges, try out some stuff in these areas. You may die a few times, but once you get the hang of things, you’ll be chalking up wins, completing missions, and exfilling effectively. But, you’ve got to try them out to get any of the benefits.

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – Power Outages

Tags

Call of Duty, CODM, Contraband, Gaming, Insured slot, items of interest, Key cards, keys, Missions, Power, Xbox

All, we had a power outage kick in last night and it was not resolved until 4:30 PM this afternoon. Luckily, we have a generator, but it is only hooked up to certain items in the house for survival, like our heaters and gas, refrigerator and freezer, and lighting in the main part of the house. Subsequently, I missed most of my gaming today, but did want to offer up some information on the DMZ, which I started playing yesterday. Boy, what a great game.

For those that are unaware, DMZ is another addition to the Call of Duty game. It is a mission-based game, with extraction points across the map. The radiation, which is normally part of the Warzone gameplay, starts within the battle area (Ashika Island or Almazra). Ashika Island is the new addition in battle pass 2. It is terrific! It has vehicles like the ATV and a few trucks on land, and there are boats and skidoos on the water at various places across the periphery of the island.

I have not played much in Almazra, but will after I refine my skills on Ashika Island. I’ll update you some more as I get more proficient. Here are a few pointers for you.

You should create an alternate weapon build for the weapons you carry into the DMZ. When you first begin, you will only have what is called an insurance slot. This slot is a place you can bring in any weapon you currently own. Your build should be composed of at least a suppressor. I recommend maximizing your magazine and bringing the field upgrade called the munitions box. An added recommendation, if you are comfortable, to add thermal sites to your build.

Silencers will keep you quiet as you pick apart a group of AI and typically will delay any alerts that occur. When the AI is alerted, you’ll begin to see helicopters begin delivering more AI to the battlefield. As far as tactical equipment goes, you’ll want to carry a stim. Your lethal should be either a semtex, thermite, or molotov. Some of the missions you will go on, will involve AI with riot shields. You’ll want to deploy your semtex, thermite, or molotov to kill these guys. Today, we ran across a stronghold with two riot shielders on the inside–we killed one with semtex; the other was taken out by a teammate who had a flanking shot on him.

Speaking of teammates, you’ll want to play with what are called “randos”, unless you have friends that want to play too. I play a lot with my brother and one of his stepsons.

I don’t want to spend too much time on this now, but will get some screenshots put up for you so you can see what I am explaining. It’s a lot easier when you can see what I’m talking about. Anyway, I played the bulk of my time yesterday solo, to explore the map, figure out where things were and that sort of thing. I died a lot. During that process I exhausted my contraband weapons, which are the weapons you use when you die with an insured weapon. Let me explain.

When you enter the DMZ, you will likely take one of your favorite weapons in with you. You can put that in your loadout in the one insured slot you get when you begin playing. If you die, it takes an hour for your insured slot to open again. While your insured slot is regenerating, you’ll have to start using contraband weapons. You’ll start out with 9 contraband weapons when you start playing. If you die in the DMZ with contraband weapons, you’ll lose them.

How do you get them back? Exfils with weapons you pick up on the battlefield or buy from a buy station and exfil with. This also goes for equipment. While you are playing, you’ll have the opportunity to pick up keys, key cards, and other cool items. If you do not want to lose them, make sure you remove them from your inventory before reentering the DMZ. If you have a key card, key or any items that will be useful later and you are not going to use that item on your current excursion, get it out of your inventory. You’ll lose that key if you die, so don’t risk it.

If you want to rebuild your contraband weapons up, you can run specific weapon runs when you go into the DMZ. I did this a few times yesterday in solo mode, and it works.

From what I’ve seen so far, the AI is always in the same place each time you enter. They will move around or do patrols, but typically, the same number of AI is always in the locations they are discovered. The question mark is always the other players that are in your session. I have been ambushed getting on a helicopter to exfil, I have accidentally ran across them on the train on the Almazra map DMZ missions, and also on Ashika island.

Well, that’s it for today, folks.

Happy Gaming! We’ve got power again, and I’m heading down to do some more work on weapon camouflages.

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM and COD MW2

Tags

BP Vault, Challenges, CODM, CODMW2, Diamond, Gaming, JGOD, Polyatomic, Roadmap, Season 2, Vault Coins

I just finished a few challenges in CODM. I am also working on diamond camo for the Lada SMG, ZRG Sniper Rife, EC2 Assault Rifle, and the Dingo LMG. I’m focusing on the Dingo for now. I’m also working on Legendary status in both Battle Royale and Multiplayer. So far so good.

If you haven’t heard of vault coins, check them out. You can get access to character skins, weapons, and all kinds of goodies from previous seasons you may have missed out on. Below is a screenshot of my battle pass. You’ll notice the BP Vault and the current vault coins I have. They’re next to my CP. I currently have 140.

If you click on BP Vault, you’ll be brought to this screen (see below).

You’ll notice that I have completed all of the previously available vaults given. Each battle pass will bring in new ones. It’s great fun! You’ll earn vault coins while you progress beyond level 50 and have completed the current battle pass. I’ve gotten some terrific character skins that I missed out on in previous seasons. It’s awesome!

Call of Duty MW 2 is also really exciting. This Wednesday, February 15, 2023, is the next battle pass. Here’s the new roadmap video provided by one of my favorite streamers, JGOD:

I’m currently working on the Polyatomic camo for Battle Rifles. I’ve completed LMGs and Assault Rifles and the Riot Shield. I’m trying to get as much of this done before the Season 2 Battle pass coming out on the 15th, so I’ll be grinding my butt off for the next few days. This challenge involves getting headshots. I’d recommend using thermographic sites for most of these challenges. I am sticking with plain old Team Deathmatch for these challenges and it is pretty effective. I usually get polyatomic in a few games.

One of the best builds for my classes is carrying the battle rifle and a pistol so I can work two weapons at once. I run double time, extra tactical, resupply, and overclock. This way, I can always get positioned with rear protection using proximity mines or claymores. I also carry two smokes that are constantly refilled by resupply. Using smoke, you have some time to zero in on a headshot, while the enemy is blinded. Note: Some players will be using thermographic sites as well. When this is the case, you can forget smoke. They’ll see you too. So you’ll have to deal with that. What I’ve found, however, is that most players do not. So they are blinded while you site in their head.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed the screen shots, the explanation of the vault coins, and the great video by JGOD showing all the great stuff coming on February 15th. Also, you’ll get free access that weekend, along with a 2X XP for new weapons and character experience to speed up completing the battle pass and getting all those great new weapons, characters, and other goodies.

Have a great Saturday, folks. As a reminder. If any of you want to play, you can find me as ieatbullets63 on both CODM and COD MW 2. Hit me up and we can play!!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM and COD MW2

Tags

COD MW2, CODM, Console Gaming, Fun, Gaming, Hobby, Mobile gaming, PC Gaming

CODM recently started its Season 1 Reawakening. It is really cool! We’ve got new characters, new weapons, and some new challenges. Currently we are playing Rice Cake Rumble, which is all surrounding the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit.

The challenges include the Limited Time Ticket Store. Limited Time Tickets can be obtained by playing ranked multiplayer and ranked battle royale. You can obtain tickets from a rabbit robot on special areas of the map, you can shoot yellow balloons over these areas that drop loot, and you can kill other players who will drop tickets.

Another challenge was the Easy Target challenge where all the players on the map are running around with oversized heads. It’s comical and really fun, The first of the weapons challenges also dropped. It was called Target Acquired. If you complete this challenge with sniper rifles, you will attain a signature attachment for the DL Q33 Sniper rifle, which is a new ammunition type that stuns enemies in the surrounding area of the bullet. I’ve tried it out, now that I’ve earned it and it’s sick! CODM is free and you can download it in either the Google Play store or App store on your Apple devices. They have a truckload of stuff to do, and the dev team is really creative. They always come out with some great challenge, new map, or a new game mode.

Call of Duty MW2 has been taking some flak from a lot of streamers who are disappointed with the new game play. Personally, I like all of it. Mind you, I’ve predominantly been grinding camouflages, so the DMZ and Battle Royale I have not done. I have played Coop and that is fun. I’ll be getting into the DMZ and Battle Royale in the 2nd Battle Pass which is now slotted for February 15, 2023. I’m so stoked.

Some of you may be wondering where the streamers are. The big three are Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube. Some folks are streaming on TikTok too. I’ll be putting together a stream in the next few years. I just don’t have time right now, with the non-profit work I do, and all of the things I am doing personally. This is definitely one of my goals.

If any of you try out CODM and want to connect, respond here. I’ll be getting a discord site up and running soon for folks who want to get together and play games on either of these platforms. I love playing with others who I know. Right now, I stick with my brother, his two stepsons, and my nephew. I’m always open to play with anyone.

Here are some trailers for you to view. If you like them, head to your specific app store and get in on the fun. Remember, CODM is free. COD MW2 will run you some bucks and you’ll also need a console or PC.

These are both terrific games. I can’t tell you how much fun I have playing both. I started CODM because someone has to be with my Dad who is suffering from Dementia. Now I can play Call of Duty in the comfort of my living room on my iPad. By the way, you’ll want to get the biggest screen available. For those of you young folks, you can play on your phone. If you are on your phone, I would still recommend playing on the largest screen. I’m talking the iPhone MAX if you can afford it.

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

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM and Call of Duty MW II

Tags

Call of Duty MW II, Co-op, CODM, DMZ, Fun, Gaming, Warzone, weapon progression

Boy, folks there is so much to talk about. I’ll start with CODM.

CODM had an anniversary season and just started its new battle pass. Great challenges, some new weapons like the EM2 Assault Rifle and the Lada Submachine gun. They also had some great deals for new skins, characters, and weapons. A few things you may be unaware of. CODM introduced a supply pass, which runs $9 a month. Each day you’ll get all kinds of goodies. They also added what they labeled vault coins to the battle pass progression. You can use these to open previous seasons and have access to the skins, characters, and weapons you may not have been able to get. So now you have access to all of them. You’ll work through individual “battle pass” like progression with each season you open. Typically, each step in the progression for characters, weapons, and such is 10 vault coins. You’ll get 5 vault coins every couple of steps you progress during the battle pass and beyond the 50 marks, once you complete it. I think it’s cool because most seasons I knock out the battle pass in as little time as a week, sometimes more quickly.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare has all kinds of great things to do. There’s the camo progression, there are co-op missions to play and level up your character in, and then there’s the DMZ and Warzone. The DMZ has its own specific missions and is a little different from Battle Royale in Warzone. In DMZ, you can go to any extraction point on the map and leave the area with what you found and/or earned. This season’s battle pass also introduced the Raid. Raid missions require three players, and you all have to be friends. You cannot play a Raid without having two other friends with you. Some have complained about this, but I think it’s a great way to build friendships and community in the game. Luckily, I have a few folks I play with that are huge fans of this game, so I do not have any trouble doing co-op missions, the DMZ, or the Raid.

There’s a lot of complaining out there in the community about the new console game, but frankly, most of it is just whining. I love the game and enjoy it daily. I am almost done with gold camo and will begin working on platinum camo for all my weapons. I just have two launchers to go. I’ve already got platinum for my riot shield, but still have to complete the knife in the platinum category.

If you are playing and still need to max out your weapons, I’d highly recommend doing this before you do anything else. You’ll need maxed weapons for loadouts in DMZ and Warzone. You can play these without having a maxed weapon, but some of the weapons you’ll encounter are quite weak until you have access to all of the attachments. Attachments are unlocked as you progress your weapons. As you know, each player if fully plated up in Warzone need to take quite a bit of damage before taking them out. There is also AI in both Warzone, co-op, Raid, and DMZ missions, and they are quite good. Do not take the AI in any of these game modes for granted. AI snipers are ruthless, and these AI troops act very close to real players. I still have a hard time telling the difference.

The best loadout for maxing weapons is to equip extra tactical and equip decoy grenades, the DDOS, and stick with kill confirmed. Some have suggested playing invasion or ground war, but frankly, I find that sticking with kill confirmed is way more efficient. I’ll leave that up to you.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you have a great weekend, filled with family, friends, and gaming.

See you on the battlefield! By the way, my caller ID is ieatbullets63. Send me a friend request. I accept all takers, because I really like playing the DMZ and Warzone with people I know. Playing with randoms is not too good, because you could end up with some folks who are not interested in team play. I typically go solo when I can’t find any friends to play with.

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Introduction

Tags

Freedom, Gaming, Learning, motivation, Overview, Reading, Spiritual, Ted Talk, Topics, Watching, wisdom, Writing, Writing Schedule

It’s so nice to be back at my desk and creating content. I love to write, and this medium allows me to express myself in specific ways on a daily schedule. Over time, however, I began to get the nudge to write about anything and when you’re on a tight schedule like my blog requires it takes away a little freedom, which I crave. So, from now on, Fridays will be my free writing days. I’ll write about popular topics, but don’t be surprised if I go off on a tangent into other topics just to keep things fresh and interesting. Over the last 4 years, I’ve gotten very good at finding interesting topic areas that I enjoy that many of you have enjoyed too.

Today, I just wanted to explain what Fridays would bring, so you would not be surprised that my funny Friday postings had disappeared. I will still inject some humor or may drop a Youtube video here that I find funny, but wanted to have an opportunity to write about anything that comes to mind on Friday.

For those of you who are new to my blog, here is my weekly schedule of writing. If you see any topic that is interesting, feel free to visit me on those days.

Monday Motivation

Ted Talk Tuesday

Wisdom Wednesday

Reading, Watching, and Learning (Thursdays)

Free Writing Friday

Gaming Saturday

Spiritual Sunday

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Friday and have some nice plans set for the weekend. For me, it’ll be running some errands, going to the gym, reading my books, and GAMING! I’ll be exploring the DMZ this weekend on Call of Duty MWII. It’ll be great fun!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – COD MW2

Tags

Call of Duty MW2, Campaign, Competitive, Enjoyment, Excitement, Fun, Gaming, Ranking, Weapon camos

Well, I finally got to play COD MW 2. I played it on an XBOX console. Wow! What an experience. I have not played the multiplayer games yet but wanted to say that the campaign was terrific. It took me about 7 hours to beat, but what a ride! If you are a Call of Duty fan, this one did not disappoint.

I got the basic version, which runs $69 US. I highly recommend it if you enjoyed previous versions of COD.

On the mobile front, I just achieved the CROWN rank in PUBG, Diamond in APEX, and still legendary in CODM in both multiplayer and battle royale. CODM had a truckload of challenges this week. Wow! If you haven’t used C4 yet, boy is that fun, particularly on the shipment map playing hardpoint. It is so satisfying to get a C4 charge inside a canister and set it off. Multi-kills arise!!

One of the things I wanted to address is the mindset for ranking. Ranking in any game can be frustrating. In CODM it is frustrating to play with random players as you approach the higher ranks. When you lose, points are deducted. Wow, that sucks. This is the same in each of the games you rank in. If you lose you’ll lose ranking points. It’s all part of the process. The key to ranking is sticking with it and grinding. It’s the same way with grinding weapon camouflages. You have to grind to get 150 10-kill games to diamond out a golden assault rifle. But, it will happen if you stick with it.

This is the key to all of these games. You have to stick with it and drive through. Some of you who read this blog may be casual gamers. You’re not in it for diamond weapons or predator rank. You’re in it because it’s fun. I’m totally fine with that. I like to compete. I like to finish challenges. I like to rank up. These are the things that drive my game play.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I’ll be diving into CODM, APEX Legends Mobile, and PUBG Mobile today. Have a great Saturday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Holiday

Tags

Chill out, Gaming, Holiday, Monday, motivation, Movies, Reading, Relax

Today’s a national holiday, so I’m taking the day. Have a great one, 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 World Championships

Tags

CODM, FPS, Fun, Gaming, Mobile gaming, Stage 4, World Championships, YouTube

Boy, what a weekend. I’ve been watching Stage 4 of the CODM World Championships and really enjoying them. This weekend is Japan and Europe. Japan’s teams are competing for their one and only slot to go to Stage 5, where they will compete with top teams from other countries. Europe’s teams are competing one of three slots given to them for the final stage.

If you’ve never seen these before, you’ll learn quite a bit watching them. You’ll see some great spots to get to in each map. You’ll also learn how to play Search and Destroy, Hardpoint, and Control. I am pretty decent at Hardpoint, but not that great with Search and Destroy or Control. Watching these gives me a better idea of how to tackle each of these game modes when I play.

Here’s the YouTube link for all things CODM: https://www.youtube.com/c/CODMEsports.

I achieved Legendary in Multiplayer and Battle Royal this last week. Man, I’m so happy. This is something I added to my task list for playing the game and so glad I did. Next Saturday, I’ll give you some tips and tricks for achieving Legendary status in both sides of the game.

Well, that’s it for now.

Happy Gaming!

Dave