Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War scorestreaks explained

Black Ops is back and so are scorestreaks. For all you history buffs out there, Killstreaks and scorestreaks have been in the series since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched back in 2007, and it’s fair to say they played a significant role in catapulting the series into the mainstream. There have been some pretty significant tweaks to how this system works over the years, and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War makes the biggest change we’ve seen yet.

Instead of streaks only lasting for as long as you remain alive, Black Ops Cold War allows you to keep your streak going no matter how many times you die. The caveat here is that scorestreaks are very, very pricey now so they’re almost impossible to get if you’re dying all of the time.

You’ll now earn ‘bonus’ scorestreak points based on the number of consecutive eliminations you get, so going on killstreaks is still – ironically – crucial to earning scorestreaks.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War scorestreaks

Here are all of the Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War scorestreaks:

Combat Bow (500 points)
RC-XD (800 points)
Spy Plane (1,000 points)
Counter Spy Plane (1,200 points)
Armor (1,600 points)
Care Package (1,800 points)
Sentry Turret (2,000 points)
Napalm Strike (2,100 points)
Artillery Strike (2,500 points)
Cruise Missile (2,600 points)
Air Patrol (3,200 points)
War Machine (3,500 points)
Attack Helicopter (4,000 points)
Chopper Gunner (6,000 points)
VTOL Escort (8,500 points)
Gunship (10,000)

Combat Bow

Arrows burn targets and the surrounding area

RC-XD

Remote controlled car strapped with explosives that can detonate on player command.

Spy Plane

Reveal enemy positions through the fog of war

Counter Spy Plane

Scramble enemy mini-maps and disable hostile SAM Turrets for a short time.

Armor

Reduces incoming bullet damage. Destroyed after it absorbs too much damage

Care Package

Airdrops a random scorestreak. Crate self-destructs after use

Sentry Turret

Deploy a deadly automated turret that targets enemy players, vehicles, and equipment.

Napalm Strike

Launch a targeted carpet bomb strike of explosive napalm.

Artillery Strike

Launch three targeted explosive strikes. Unused strikes can be saved for later.

Cruise Missile

Steer a trio of missiles with boost and air brake controls. Secondary missiles auto-fire at painted targets

Air Patrol

Call in a squadron of jets to attack and destroy enemy air-based Scorestreaks. Counter enemy Air Patrols.

War Machine

High-explosive grenade launcher.

Attack Helicopter

Call in an armed, AI-controlled support helicopter.

Chopper Gunner

Be the gunner in a close air support helicopter.

VTOL Escort

Lay waste to enemy infantry and vehicles from the cockpit of a powerful VTOL jet

Gunship

Be the gunner in a close air support gunship

How do you earn scorestreak points

As these are scorestreaks, you can earn points in a number of ways. A kill is worth 50 points in standard modes, with more points awarded for situations like getting a kill while defending a flag.

Streak bonuses are rewards for getting consecutive kills. So, after getting your second kill in a single life you’ll earn 50 points and a bonus of 50 points. Your third kill will up the bonus to 100, then 150 at four kills, and so on. There is a bigger leap up to a bonus of 450 points after hitting your fifth consecutive kill. For this reason, it’s still incredibly important to be hitting those higher consecutive kill counts or you will still be nowhere near the high-end scorestreaks in a standard multiplayer match.